Meh I see the point of the seal difference but in my opinion there's no real reason for it. The idea you have is that only collectors will care whether it is first, or second printing and that's why the seal is different - I don't think we (speaking as a collector myself) do care as this deck has very minimal collecting quality. No offense meant but you know why I got mine - the attracting thing to me is the different colours... It's great for magic and flourishing - but in terms of what collectors look for:
-Big name reputable company (this is your first deck)
-Few available (as soon as they ran out you said you'd print more)
-Intrinsic and time heavy design (it's just the riderback design coloured)
-Unbuyable (Gold arcane cough... In matter of fact we are half funding these)
-Specifically Designed for collectors (Red artifice etc, these were designed for magicians)
-Not designed to be sold (some magic decks make it big in the collecting world)
So like I say nice design, but apart from the bicycle name I don't think this is ever going to be collectable.
I have to differ with you on the points you've raised.
Some magicians actually do collect tricks as collectible items as well as useful props. To them, yes, there would be a difference in the first and second printings, just as there would be to card collectors in a "regular" custom playing card deck.
The other points:
- Big name reputable company Apparently you aren't familiar with his work in creating card magic tricks and devices. He is a known name, not someone out of the blue. I own his Joker Monte, though I haven't quite mastered it yet, as well as one or two other tricks he's created! I'm not sure what magic decks he may have made before, but he has a good deal of experience in making cards just from the assorted gaffs he's had created.
- Few available The first run is indeed a limited run. The second is not an infinite run, either. Both runs combined are only 5,000 decks - fewer than some D&D decks, I'd wager, and both runs are equal in quantity to a single print run of some of the rarer new decks on the market, like every single rare deck made by Ellusionist, the Black New Fan Backs, and so on.
- Intrinsic and Time-Heavy Design The cards are still being tweaked, the box was redesigned twice, selecting the right shades may sound easy but it's not, and the work involved in printing this must be insane in terms of different inks and printing plates needed. I would guess this is a five-to-seven-color job including black and spot colors. It's not the most difficult deck ever made, but it wasn't like he took a stroll in his garden in the morning, decided "Hey, I'll make a deck today!," and had a finished design by dinner time.
If you count handmade prototypes, he's spent over TWENTY YEARS working on this deck's design and functionality as a magic deck. It's not just the pretty shapes and colors, it's how it works in front of the spectators that went into the design of this deck.
- Unbuyable With only 5,000 decks made in both print runs, and the first run of 2,500 already sold out before the first deck's been printed, you won't exactly be finding this in Kmarts across the country... Even the Gold Arcane you referenced in your example is "buyable", just not from Ellusionist. Unbuyable would be an ancient Chinese deck from the first millennium CE which resides in a PRC museum, not Gold Arcane!
- Specifically Designed for collectors (Red artifice etc, these were designed for magicians)
First, as stated earlier, some people do collect magic props - this would be one of them. Second, they're not available in unlimited quantities, which is another thing that gets a collector's juices going.
Lastly, the Artifice deck v.1 was NOT "specifically designed for collectors", in either color. Every deck Ellusionist's made, even the limited-edition decks, were meant to be functional magic and cardistry decks as well as (with the exception of all the gaffed decks) a good set of playing cards. Otherwise, why bother with things like Magic Finish? If it never leaves the box and sits on a collector's shelf, the finish could be made of sandpaper and you'd never know the difference.
Collectibility is something the market determines, not something built into the design from the beginning - those who try making a deck collectible from the start with inadequate foundation for it to be so (Mismag822/AFCCC's "there's only five" decks, the Big Gun decks) don't usually fare very well. You can't sit there with a straight face and tell me that a 1920s Racer Back deck, a pack of Jerry's Nugget, a deck of pre-USPCC Arrcos or even a pack of Smoke v.1 was "specifically designed for collectors", but they are all highly sought-after by them.
- Not designed to be sold This baffles me. There are the giveaway limited-edition/premium decks like Ellusionist has. But are you trying to say that Smoke & Mirrors v.1 were NOT DESIGNED TO BE SOLD? Or any of the above-mentioned collectible decks, with the exception of "premium" decks like E's rarities? Think about this statement for a moment...
If you don't like the difference seal colors, more power to you - you're not being forced to buy the deck with either seal on it. But as I see it, your statements about what makes a deck collectible are just plain wrong.
