You are Here:
House of Playing Cards Project from The Blue Crown (Launches May 8th!)

Author (Read 26352 times)

 

vmagic

  • Guest
Perhaps it's just me, but I think this site was over-hyped. With exception to the whole "Create your own cards" concept, there's nothing really new here. Just a couple of new decks and a rehash of a few others. So much for being "like no other". That, and what kind of company doesn't show pictures of the deck faces (for NOC)?? Make me think they're the same faces as the crown decks (which weren't really great from the start).

You should definitely check out the vid on their Facebook then, they will have other stuff also.

Ok. I just realized I can't access the site through Google Chrome. It works through Safari though.

Really, I was able to access it on Chrome.

I got 2 purple, 2 red, and 2 blue NOC decks!
What did you get?

I got 2 of each color! Would have gone 3 each color but then it would have ended up costing me like $100.
 

 

NathanCanadas

  • King of Hearts
  • *
  • 2,767
    Posts
  • Reputation: 65
  • Check out my sales post in my signature!

  • YouTube:
Ok. I just realized I can't access the site through Google Chrome. It works through Safari though.

Really, I was able to access it on Chrome.

Ya, really. #Technical difficulties.
Reylek, any reasons as to why you've made this a completely different site from thebluecrown.com?
 

 

Aaron

  • Haven Citizen
  • *
  • 1,296
    Posts
  • Reputation: 64

  • Facebook:

  • Skype:

  • YouTube:
Picked up one of each color. They look like nice decks so I decided to get some. Although, I cant find pictures of the faces. :-\
People say nothing's impossible, but I do nothing everyday.

Today I found something that reminded me of you. But don't worry I flushed and everything went back to normal.
 

 

VortexHead

  • Discourse Veteran
  • *
  • 290
    Posts
  • Reputation: 31
 The CYOD idea is a good one imo, I may be tempted to use it myself if it's open to international peeps. I dont think I'll be buying the NOC decks because there are many other decks I want that imo are better, simplistic is nice sometimes but simplistic like the black crown box or ltd deck, the NOC decks remind me of friar casino decks which I own and do like but not enough to buy these. Maybe it's because I only practice flourishes and no magic but I prefer a nicely detailed deck to look at while flourishing but I see the uses for magic. I was expecting more from the jerrys nugget hint.
UC
 

 

vmagic

  • Guest

Ya, really. #Technical difficulties.
Reylek, any reasons as to why you've made this a completely different site from thebluecrown.com?
[/quote]

Yeah i'd like to know too, why a new site was needed? Why not just use thebluecrown.com instead of creating a new site?
 

 

Evan

  • I AM EVAAAAN!
  • Ace of Spades
  • *
  • 3,754
    Posts
  • Reputation: 74

  • Facebook:

  • Twitter:

  • YouTube:
Picked up one of each color. They look like nice decks so I decided to get some. Although, I cant find pictures of the faces. :-\
I asked Kevin about that and he said that the faces are "Standard USPC faces and colors, with the exception of our custom Ace of Spades and Jokers"
 

 

NathanCanadas

  • King of Hearts
  • *
  • 2,767
    Posts
  • Reputation: 65
  • Check out my sales post in my signature!

  • YouTube:
I think it would have been nice if we had seen the sides and back of the box as well as the Joker. According to the site, the faces are standard, but the jokers and AoS are custom. They've shown us most of the box, the backs and the AoS, why not also show the jokers?
 

 

Kenneth

  • Forum Regular
  • *
  • 105
    Posts
  • Reputation: 26

  • Facebook:

  • YouTube:
My gosh shipping to my country is 21 bux!!craaazy
Ao No Exorcist - Finished
Stein's Gate - Finished
FMAB - Finished
One Piece - Currently watching 
Hunter X Hunter 2011 - Currently watching
Hitman Reborn - Currently Watching

Playing Card Collection: https://picasaweb.google.com/117868386827354506649/PlayingCardCollection?authuser=0&feat=directlink
 

 

NathanCanadas

  • King of Hearts
  • *
  • 2,767
    Posts
  • Reputation: 65
  • Check out my sales post in my signature!

  • YouTube:
My gosh shipping to my country is 21 bux!!craaazy
For how many decks? I believe usually international shipping for 1-5 decks costs 7-12$.
 

 

Kenneth

  • Forum Regular
  • *
  • 105
    Posts
  • Reputation: 26

  • Facebook:

  • YouTube:
My gosh shipping to my country is 21 bux!!craaazy
For how many decks? I believe usually international shipping for 1-5 decks costs 7-12$.


2 decks lol yeah if there's no chance of them lowering it down I'll just hope for eBay sales
Ao No Exorcist - Finished
Stein's Gate - Finished
FMAB - Finished
One Piece - Currently watching 
Hunter X Hunter 2011 - Currently watching
Hitman Reborn - Currently Watching

Playing Card Collection: https://picasaweb.google.com/117868386827354506649/PlayingCardCollection?authuser=0&feat=directlink
 

 

zaganh

  • Discourse Deity
  • *
  • 573
    Posts
  • Reputation: 14
  • Hakuna matata feet up sippin java ^^

  • Facebook:

  • YouTube:
i got 24 noc decks and 2 americana =D wasnt bad shipping 52 dollers
 

 

jmrock

  • 52 Plus Joker Member
  • Discourse Deity
  • *
  • 650
    Posts
  • Reputation: 29
Am I really the only one who's having trouble with this??? $35 shipped for five of the most mediocre, basic, nothing decks... No design elements whatsoever... Oh I forgot - A minimalist approach - give me a break... Studied Art History... Been to all the Museums in NYC dozens of times and the Louvre twice...

Is this what I waited for the House of Playing Cards for?  For them to pimp their ridiculous decks?  And I do not read one critique in these posts... not one?  Just collector after collector talking about how much $$$ they're giving HOPC for these silly NOPC... Which stands for what exactly? NO (Design) Playing Cards, NO (Effort) Playing Cards? I'm going to go with NO (way in hell am I giving a dime of my hard earned money to these @$$) Playing Cards...

Really? No one's with me on this one???
 

 

Aaron

  • Haven Citizen
  • *
  • 1,296
    Posts
  • Reputation: 64

  • Facebook:

  • Skype:

  • YouTube:
Am I really the only one who's having trouble with this??? $35 shipped for five of the most mediocre, basic, nothing decks... No design elements whatsoever... Oh I forgot - A minimalist approach - give me a break... Studied Art History... Been to all the Museums in NYC dozens of times and the Louvre twice...

Is this what I waited for the House of Playing Cards for?  For them to pimp their ridiculous decks?  And I do not read one critique in these posts... not one?  Just collector after collector talking about how much $$$ they're giving HOPC for these silly NOPC... Which stands for what exactly? NO (Design) Playing Cards, NO (Effort) Playing Cards? I'm going to go with NO (way in hell am I giving a dime of my hard earned money to these @$$) Playing Cards...

Really? No one's with me on this one???
I am, I think I got caught in the hype when I bought these. :( Now that I think of it these have NO customization to them at all.
« Last Edit: May 08, 2012, 10:16:28 PM by Aaron »
People say nothing's impossible, but I do nothing everyday.

Today I found something that reminded me of you. But don't worry I flushed and everything went back to normal.
 

 

zaganh

  • Discourse Deity
  • *
  • 573
    Posts
  • Reputation: 14
  • Hakuna matata feet up sippin java ^^

  • Facebook:

  • YouTube:
i think they look awesome and theres not so many yellow decks so that will be good could of had a better stock i think but will be awesome to use im not sure why i got so many noc though and only 2 americana now i think about it i should of got more americana shame the courts arnt the colour of each deck like iaocp when they were terqoiuse looked really cool

i really want to know more about the secret deck the blue crown made and never released anyone have any ideas or know anyhting ?
« Last Edit: May 08, 2012, 11:27:04 PM by zaganh »
 

 

lordlupus

  • Forum Regular
  • *
  • 123
    Posts
  • Reputation: 16
Am I really the only one who's having trouble with this??? $35 shipped for five of the most mediocre, basic, nothing decks... No design elements whatsoever... Oh I forgot - A minimalist approach - give me a break... Studied Art History... Been to all the Museums in NYC dozens of times and the Louvre twice...

Is this what I waited for the House of Playing Cards for?  For them to pimp their ridiculous decks?  And I do not read one critique in these posts... not one?  Just collector after collector talking about how much $$$ they're giving HOPC for these silly NOPC... Which stands for what exactly? NO (Design) Playing Cards, NO (Effort) Playing Cards? I'm going to go with NO (way in hell am I giving a dime of my hard earned money to these @$$) Playing Cards...

Really? No one's with me on this one???

Hahaha... the design is so minimal that I do not see it as paying $4.50 for a deck of cards. I see it as paying $4.50 to buy a lottery ticket for a chance to win a Jerry's Nuggets.  8)

At least the price is not $10+ a deck for so little customization. So they are quite practical.
 

 

Paul Carpenter

  • 52 Plus Joker Member
  • Extraordinaire
  • *
  • 1,071
    Posts
  • Reputation: 74
  • Encarded makes custom playing cards.

  • Facebook:

  • Kickstarter:

  • Twitter:

  • YouTube:
At $4.50 a deck, the NOC are cheap but not so cheap I'd envision buying dozens for use by a performing magician. The plainness of them does not appeal to me personally and since I have plenty of decks to use I won't be getting any. A minimalist deck with sweet, minimized court designs would be very appealing, but if they are all standard Bicycle then I'll pass.

The create your deck part will be a boon for designers that don't have the marketing/web/biz savvy to get a full deck together and sell it. I do not in the least envy the staff at HOPC though. With the huge volume of highly questionable "design" we see on Kickstarter, I think they will spend a lot of time shaking their head in disbelief and having to explain why the latest deck design simply won't work.

HOPC will take some time to mature but will be cool down the road. There are some advantages for designers going that route like CCC did for Americana. However, giving up 30% of your profit primarily with assistance in shipping might be a little much. For now I think I'll go it alone and maintain full control over my design, product and marketing. Taken together, it can be a lot of work to take a deck from nothing to shipped out, but each part is easily doable with proper organization. If you don't have the time or inclination to work through those things, then HOPC will be great. That's my take at the moment, but that could easily change someday depending on how the market develops.
Paul Carpenter
Designer - http://encarded.com

Tendril Ascendant & Nightfall  /  Standards /  Chancellor, Zenith, Deco, Aurum, Tendril: Sold Out
 

 

Gunshy1

  • Discourse Deity
  • *
  • 546
    Posts
  • Reputation: 31

  • Twitter:
i picked up just one of the green and purple. the other colors were to damn bright and hurt my eyes! the boxes for the NOC decks are pretty cool i thought.

will the NOC decks be reprinted? I plan carrying around these decks and not worrying about whether or not my hands are clean before i use them.
have you heard the word???
 

 

moonexe

  • Lurker
  • *
  • 0
    Posts
  • Reputation: 26

  • Facebook:
could of had a better stock i think
Premium bike stock is actually really good, I think. The stock used for custom decks is better than the one used for rider backs; add to that better quality control and the durability boost of magic finish, and you've got yourself a really nice deck.

As for the design, I think sometimes we have to accept minimalism as something more than laziness. I personally love them and at this price, I consider it worth it.
That said, I didn't get any because international shipping is a b****. ::)
Grin like a Cheshire cat, and remember: we're all mad here.
 

 

anep21

  • Elite Member
  • *
  • 131
    Posts
  • Reputation: 20
i picked up just one of the green and purple. the other colors were to damn bright and hurt my eyes! the boxes for the NOC decks are pretty cool i thought.

will the NOC decks be reprinted? I plan carrying around these decks and not worrying about whether or not my hands are clean before i use them.

yes they will. "First editions are available in very limited quantities".
 

 

zaganh

  • Discourse Deity
  • *
  • 573
    Posts
  • Reputation: 14
  • Hakuna matata feet up sippin java ^^

  • Facebook:

  • YouTube:
could of had a better stock i think
Premium bike stock is actually really good, I think. The stock used for custom decks is better than the one used for rider backs; add to that better quality control and the durability boost of magic finish, and you've got yourself a really nice deck.

As for the design, I think sometimes we have to accept minimalism as something more than laziness. I personally love them and at this price, I consider it worth it.
That said, I didn't get any because international shipping is a b****. ::)

awesome that makes me feel better i was thinking rider back shipping to the uk was quite good cheaper than circle city cards is for americanas to the uk
 

 

rainking187

  • True Member
  • *
  • 65
    Posts
  • Reputation: 3
Yeah, I don't get it. I wasn't a huge fan of the simple back design to begin with, but was willing to overlook that if the faces had a lot of effort put into them. But it's only a custom ace of spades and jokers? I know it's only $5, but I'd rather spend a little more on something that looks like it had more effort put into the design.
 

 

Jin Jian

  • Haven Citizen
  • *
  • 1,276
    Posts
  • Reputation: 27
this is crazy !! $5 for a custom ace of spades and jokers .. the box look very simple and i like it but the back design i do not really like it .. but i will be getting a few for collection and for the contest prices.. the card stock is also just bicycle stock .. i think that the deck is only good for magician and that it .. if i really want to perform magic i would just use a riderback
 

 

LeonJL

  • Elite Member
  • *
  • 175
    Posts
  • Reputation: 17
  • En ce monde il n'est point de parfaite sagesse...
I'm going to pass on the NOC deck.. Not even going to get one of each for collection purposes. I like simplicity, but like the previous two post... just custom jokers and AoS is not worth $5 IMHO. Guess I'll wait for the Mystery Deck instead.. At least they said that their faces will make the deck worth while.
 

 

CBJ

  • Former Moderator
  • 52 Plus Joker Member
  • Jack of Diamonds
  • *
  • 1,648
    Posts
  • Reputation: 50

  • Facebook:
I passed on these.  And if this is the path that TheBlueCrown/HOPC continues down.. I'll pass on the rest of their decks.

I think it's just a cash cow for them...

CBJ
  I was the featured collector on UC for May/June, check it out: http://bit.ly/UC_MyCollection

Also, follow me on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/BicyclePlayingCards
 

 

Reylek

  • 52 Plus Joker Member
  • Discourse Lover
  • *
  • 216
    Posts
  • Reputation: 21
Hey everyone.  Forgive me for not making individualized replies - quite busy with everything that's been going on in the last 16 hours!

First off - thanks to everyone for your support and comments.  It's been very gratifying to see the orders come in.  We also appreciate all of your comments, good and bad.

HOPC is a separate site from The Blue Crown because it is dedicated to cards, whereas The Blue Crown is dedicated to magic.  Interest in playing cards goes far outside the magic world (Collecting, Flourishing, Gaming, etc). So we want to keep the primary focus on the cards themselves at HOPC.

The Blue Crown will still offer decks on the main site, but the primary focus there is magic.  Likewise, HOPC offers a small handful of basic books/DVDs on the "core" areas of card interest, but the main focus will be cards.

It is a little disappointing to see that some people are equating the HOPC launch only with the NOC deck.  There is a lot more to HOPC than any single deck.

We realize that this board is primarily home to collectors, and generally customization is preferred by that particular interest group.  That is why we also have customized decks.  But keep in mind that while collectors are important, they are not our only customer base.  The NOC is a great deck for poker games, magic, flourishing, etc.  It is intended to be a simple, yet familiar face.  When you bust these out at your weekly poker game, nobody will be distracted by faces that they're not used to.

If you don't like these, or any other deck, for whatever your purpose is (collecting, magic, etc) then it's OK if you don't buy them.  I always say to buy what you like.  Different decks will always appeal to different people.

Some of you might think we're lazy, and that's OK.  We know we're not.  I would hope that our history of offering custom decks (Vaudeville, 100% custom, 10 months in the making) would show that we do indeed also know how to make custom decks, and we're far from lazy.

For the NOC stock and finish - they feel great.  And I do believe I'm the only person posting in this thread who has actually handled them.  I don't know why people all over the web these days tend to knock Bicycle stock.  It's really quite good.  But again, that also comes down to personal preference.  Some people like softer, more flexible stock.  Others like a really thick and stiff stock.  I find that Bike stock offers a really good middle ground.  Different strokes for different folks.

In regards to pricing of decks and cost of shipping - It costs a lot of money to make decks, and we feel we price them quite fairly.  To USPC, a custom back is a custom back.  Doesn't matter how complex the design is.  The NOC is a custom deck.  In fact, it also has the first tuck to be printed inside and out at USPC.  Previously, any tucks with printing on the inside had to be done by an outside 3rd party.  USPC is now doing this in-house, and we were happy to be the first to utilize this process.

We also offer a heck of a lot of ways to get stuff.  Our new Ad Card Advantage system lets you get discounts, we're going to be giving away Jerry's Nuggets all year.  Yes, you have more chances to win if you buy stuff, but everyone can enter for free.  Each of our 4 decks has 3 raffle prizes (12 prizes in all), which can also be won without making a purchase.  And this isn't mentioned on the site yet, but we will be randomly picking 1 review each month to receive a discount coupon, so make sure you post some reviews!

We hate shipping.  It's our least favorite aspect of what we do.  Not the act of it, but the costs.  Our warehouse space is not free, nor does our shipping team work for free.  We use actual table rates from USPS, and often use flat rate when available.  We have a modest handling fee.  We never profit from shipping costs, and often lose money on it.  With that said, we know it's frustrating to have a large sum of shipping tacked onto your order.  We're  always looking for ways to offer more affordable shipping options.  But please keep in mind this involves a lot more than the cost of shipping itself.  We have to think about site implementation, how options work for a global audience, how it will affect the processes within the warehouse, etc.

We feel that the "meat" of the site is our program for working with designers.  The profit share we are doing is unheard of in the custom card world, and designers never send us one dime.  I use myself as a personal example.  I have self-funded and produced 2 decks over the past few years.  And my future decks will very likely be done through HOPC.  We feel that the fact that people do not have to front any money is awesome.

If you compare what we're doing with the Kickstarter process, I think it's a no-brainer.  With most kickstarter decks, the deck is sold out before it's even printed.  People who find out about the deck after the fact are out of luck.  For the creator, you're tasked with not only designing the deck, but also spreading the word about your KS project, hoping it is successful, and then storing/shipping all of the decks yourself.  By the time you subtract the cost of the run, KS and Amazon fees, and postage, your profits are pretty slim.

I have crunched the numbers in a variety of different ways, and I think if you do the same, you'll find that our program is really offering something special.

With that said, our program is definitely geared towards the individual.  For someone who actually does want to create your own company, and doesn't mind doing the storage/shipping/etc, and you have the funds to get yourself rolling, then go for it!  We are perfectly willing to work with companies though.  Our relationship working with Circle City Cards has been great!

Before you submit a design to us, look at what we already offer.  The Americana is a perfect example of what we're looking for.  Fabulous work by Russell, this deck is amazing.  We are looking for designers who can push the envelope.

Our plan for HOPC is to launch one new deck per month.  Our next ones are awesome.  If you disliked the NOCs because they were too simple, I think you will definitely like our next decks.

Sorry for practically writing a novel here!  We are very customer/community oriented, and we know you guys give us a lot of support, so we like to be able to keep you in the loop of where we're coming from with things!

Thanks again for all of the feedback and support.  It is always appreciated!

Kevin
Kevin
Production Manager
www.penguinmagic.com