New TBC Products

[Don Boyer]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Gold-Crown-Playing-Cards-RARE-Bicycle-Blue-Crown-LAST-DAN-DAVE-T11-/160848109875?_trksid=p5197.m1992&_trkparms=aid%3D111000%26algo%3DREC.CURRENT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D14%26meid%3D772751013011248684%26pid%3D100015%26prg%3D1006%26rk%3D1%26#ht_806wt_1304

Wow... $305... Shame on you for continuing to be involved in the foolishness...  Absolute insanity, which I will have no part of...

21 bids already at that amount?!?!  My gawwd.  I'm gonna laugh when the rest of us get this deck (as another promotional item down the road or what have you) for much much less.

I truly believe that going to happen. It happened with almost every magic company in existence, why not them?

Ellusionist had the LTD decks.
Theory11 had the White Centurions.
And I believe TBC's next.

Well, to be a bit more accurate:

Ellusionist had the BG1E, first as a special "in-house" deck, then as a premium.  Then they made Gold Arcane (premium deck from the start), Red Artifice (3,000 of 5,000 sold, the rest are premiums) and the LTD (limited-time premium).

Theory11 had White Centurions and White Monarchs - but when first introduced, BOTH were available for sale like any other limited-edition deck, and only after did they become premium decks.

TBC/HOPC has the Gold Crown - primarily an in-house deck like BG1E, and only 50 released to the general public.

BY THE WAY, GANG - I believe I know who that seller is!

His eBay handle is juju7210.  The profile there states he's based in France.
We have a user here, jujuforce, who is also France-based AND is a playing card reseller!
Who here thinks this isn't just a coincidence?

Did you also happen to notice that he's got a SEALED BRICK of White Monarchs for sale?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/White-Monarchs-Playing-Cards-SEALED-BRICK-Theory11-Monarch-LAST-ONE/160842848796?ssPageName=WDVW&rd=1&ih=006&category=1438&cmd=ViewItem

I mean, dude - he's ONLY asking for EIGHT HUNDRED BUCKS...that's a steal, right? 

Guys, just so you know - I'm playing a little; I don't mean any ill will towards Jujuforce, and he does operate a shop that not only is very convenient for our European users, but he also offers us a coupon code just for Discourse members!  It's worth checking out; it's on our coupon code list, which has been made part of the New Deck Report, a stickied topic at the start of the PCP.

[Evan]

The Gold Crown deck on ebay is going for the price of a Jerry's Nuggets deck... something is wrong here.

[Don Boyer]

The Gold Crown deck on ebay is going for the price of a Jerry's Nuggets deck... something is wrong here.

Well, if you think about it, right now there's fewer of them in circulation than there are J-Nuggs...

With the two contests they're running for the release of the London 2012 deck, the "gold prize" winner of each will get, among other things, a Gold Crown deck, making a grand total of 52 out in the wild.

But...if you want to get some J-Nuggs for BELOW MARKET VALUE, check this topic!
http://aethercards.com/discourse/index.php?topic=2963.0

[MSimonart]

That's just insane. Never thought these grown decks would be so popular...

[Evan]

The Gold Crown deck on ebay is going for the price of a Jerry's Nuggets deck... something is wrong here.

Well, if you think about it, right now there's fewer of them in circulation than there are J-Nuggs...

With the two contests they're running for the release of the London 2012 deck, the "gold prize" winner of each will get, among other things, a Gold Crown deck, making a grand total of 52 out in the wild.

But...if you want to get some J-Nuggs for BELOW MARKET VALUE, check this topic!
http://aethercards.com/discourse/index.php?topic=2963.0

Just because there are fewer, doesn't meant they are worth the same amount and they are sought after as much as Jerry's

[Joker and the Thief]

The Gold Crown deck on ebay is going for the price of a Jerry's Nuggets deck... something is wrong here.

Well, if you think about it, right now there's fewer of them in circulation than there are J-Nuggs...

With the two contests they're running for the release of the London 2012 deck, the "gold prize" winner of each will get, among other things, a Gold Crown deck, making a grand total of 52 out in the wild.

But...if you want to get some J-Nuggs for BELOW MARKET VALUE, check this topic!
http://aethercards.com/discourse/index.php?topic=2963.0

Just because there are fewer, doesn't meant they are worth the same amount and they are sought after as much as Jerry's

I have to agree with you there Evan, the price is currently sitting at over $400 and has 33 bids...

[Don Boyer]

The Gold Crown deck on ebay is going for the price of a Jerry's Nuggets deck... something is wrong here.

Well, if you think about it, right now there's fewer of them in circulation than there are J-Nuggs...

With the two contests they're running for the release of the London 2012 deck, the "gold prize" winner of each will get, among other things, a Gold Crown deck, making a grand total of 52 out in the wild.

But...if you want to get some J-Nuggs for BELOW MARKET VALUE, check this topic!
http://aethercards.com/discourse/index.php?topic=2963.0

Just because there are fewer, doesn't meant they are worth the same amount and they are sought after as much as Jerry's

I have to agree with you there Evan, the price is currently sitting at over $400 and has 33 bids...

Well, there's at least one person out there who disagrees with you both - and is putting their money where their mouth is!

[KPopFever605]

The Gold Crown deck on ebay is going for the price of a Jerry's Nuggets deck... something is wrong here.

Well, if you think about it, right now there's fewer of them in circulation than there are J-Nuggs...

With the two contests they're running for the release of the London 2012 deck, the "gold prize" winner of each will get, among other things, a Gold Crown deck, making a grand total of 52 out in the wild.

But...if you want to get some J-Nuggs for BELOW MARKET VALUE, check this topic!
http://aethercards.com/discourse/index.php?topic=2963.0

Just because there are fewer, doesn't meant they are worth the same amount and they are sought after as much as Jerry's

I have to agree with you there Evan, the price is currently sitting at over $400 and has 33 bids...

What's even more surprising is that it still has 3 days left.

[Evan]

For some reason, the listing is gone!

[Don Boyer]

For some reason, the listing is gone!

The seller relisted it - two decks available with a Buy It Now of $499.99 EACH.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/Gold-Crown-Gift-Box-Playing-Cards-RARE-Bicycle-The-Blue-Crown-LAST/160850993285?ssPageName=WDVW&rd=1&ih=006&category=1438&cmd=ViewItem#ht_764wt_1152


He must have seen the direction this deck was taking and decided that he'd rather set the terms than have someone else set them for him in an auction.

[Evan]

I think that someone may buy it at $499 but he'd have better luck at $399

[anep21]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Gold-Crown-Playing-Cards-Gift-Box-Blue-Crown-NOT-a-pre-order-/160850581767?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2573711907#ht_500wt_1183

someone already bought it at $499. damn. i hope bluecrown won't cancel their plan on giving more Gold Crown after seeing this.

[Siegismyname]

I am curious how many people bought these just for the sake of reselling them. Hmmmmmm.

[Evan]

I remember The Blue Crown saying that they didn't want the Gold Crown deck to be a badge of honor for those with the most money.... and now they're $500 on ebay! 

[Paul Carpenter]

I watch all this stuff with keen interest, planning for that day when I can sell a subset of my own cards directly (bypassing the eBay resellers) and people will happily pay $500 for one deck.

MUAHAHAHAAA!!!!


(but what really fascinates me about this is that the market wasn't super interested in the printing plate for Tendril, of which TWO, ever, will be available but they'll spend $500 on one deck of cards that, lets be real here, is pretty basic and almost certain to have more available someday. Market forces are truly intriguing and unpredictable)

[walther]

I am curious how many people bought these just for the sake of reselling them. Hmmmmmm.

That may not have initially been the case, but looking at what's going on with the price it's easy to rationalize it. I mean I get a Gold deck for $100 (and I get $100 worth of free merchandise from the Blue Crown)  Now I can sell it for $400-$500 dollars  knowing that it probably won't be that long before I can pick another one up in another offer for around the same $100. Maybe not, but it's a good gamble for that kind of profit.

[Don Boyer]

I watch all this stuff with keen interest, planning for that day when I can sell a subset of my own cards directly (bypassing the eBay resellers) and people will happily pay $500 for one deck.

MUAHAHAHAAA!!!!


(but what really fascinates me about this is that the market wasn't super interested in the printing plate for Tendril, of which TWO, ever, will be available but they'll spend $500 on one deck of cards that, lets be real here, is pretty basic and almost certain to have more available someday. Market forces are truly intriguing and unpredictable)

Regarding you plates, I think the low interest had a lot to do with the fact that it was an entirely unknown quantity.  For comparison, look at what happened with the first-ever Star Wars poster.  Roughly a year before the movie was released, Lucas and company were trying to drum up interest in it at the San Diego Comic-Con.  A prominent comic book artist named Howard Chaykin was already working on a comic book version of the film based on the original script - which is why there are a number of scenes that occur in the comic that never occurs in the finished film; they were cut out during editing.  Anyway, they asked Chaykin to create a Star Wars poster based on the comic book imagery, just to have something to sell at the convention.  It was the only time these posters were released for retail sale (not counting after-market sales), and the price was one dollar.  There was some interest in it, but many convention goers passed, not quite grasping the film - it was more of a comic book convention back then, and sci-fi was very different in the early-mid '70s before Star Wars came out; a lot of sterile environments or visions of a post-apocalyptic future after nuclear war (which was still considered a viable option then) and things along those lines, with none of the "used universe" concept that Lucas used throughout the film.  It's been said that only a thousand of these posters were printed, though some argue the number is higher.

Today, that same poster is considered one of the rarest Star Wars poster ever made and typically sells in the low four figures.  This place is selling it for $2,995.

The point being, your card plates will likely become a famous, rare, expensive artifact - in the future.  But for today, it's so rare and so different, many collectors have no idea what price to value it at.  As such, they may be skittish about buying something that potentially (in their view) be worthless as easily as it could potentially be valuable.  Look at Massa decks - when they came out they were fetching premium prices for their awesome fanning abilities.  But as soon as people discovered how quickly they wear out, the price plummeted.  I got mine for $2 each, and I've heard of one after-market seller using them as a protective layer when shipping valuable decks!

[Evan]

They couldnt have printed less than 2500 decks, so really, they aren't that limited... just hard to acquire.

[Don Boyer]

They couldnt have printed less than 2500 decks, so really, they aren't that limited... just hard to acquire.

At 2,500, assuming that's the amount, they're more limited than most decks on the market.  Black Ghost 1st Edition is twice as common, and they go for $100-200 these days, depending on market fluctuations.  So is Gold Arcane, Red Artifice, etc.  And some companies with longstanding working relationships with USPC get shorter print runs - Zenneth Kok ordered 5,000 Gold Seal New Fan Backs in black, but only 1,000 in white.  So it's very possible that fewer were made - I work there on occasion and I don't even know how many were made.  If I see Kevin and Alex tomorrow, perhaps I'll ask - if it's not some company secret, I'll let you guys know.

And you do know that my previous post, from start to finish, was about Paul's Tendril card plates and not about the Gold Crowns, right?  You couldn't really compare the two; they're related but very different products.

[Evan]

They couldnt have printed less than 2500 decks, so really, they aren't that limited... just hard to acquire.

And you do know that my previous post, from start to finish, was about Paul's Tendril card plates and not about the Gold Crowns, right?  You couldn't really compare the two; they're related but very different products.

I know, I was just throwing it out there.

[Don Boyer]

They couldnt have printed less than 2500 decks, so really, they aren't that limited... just hard to acquire.

And you do know that my previous post, from start to finish, was about Paul's Tendril card plates and not about the Gold Crowns, right?  You couldn't really compare the two; they're related but very different products.

I know, I was just throwing it out there.

No problemo.  But yes, it's possible they made 2,500 - but it's also close to even odds they made noticeably less.  Either way, it's anything but common.

[Reylek]

Quantity is a funny thing with decks.  It seems to have minimal impact on after-market value just as frequently as it does.  In other words, it's a toss-up.

For example, my Lefty Deck and White Arrco runs were only 5k each, same as 1st ed Black Ghosts, Red Artifice, and several other collectible decks that go for high prices.

However, you don't see anyone paying $50 for a Lefty Deck!  Lefty decks may even be more rare at this point, as most of the run has been opened and used.  So out in the world, probably fewer sealed Lefty Decks exist than 1st Ed Black Ghosts.  Yet, they'll never go for the kind of prices that the BG goes for.  That's just a matter of desire.

So, quantity is an influence, but it's not everything.

[Don Boyer]

I finally got the go-ahead to post some Gold Crown photos!


The box itself is a lot like the Black Crowns in terms of style, but the texture is a matte finish on it.  It looks COOL.


The backs - what did you expect, they're Crowns, after all...but they do look mighty nice.  It's hard to show, but that's metallic gold ink.  Sexy!


The fronts - tell me you weren't expecting anything different from Arrco faces, right?


The deck comes in a preset order, not standard - I forget if it's one faro or one anti-faro away from the Tamariz stack.


Let me know what you think!

[Aaron]

They are nice but honestly not what I expected. I expected solid gold with the white on the crowns and the other detail, not a black crown with gold ink. I actually am disappointed by these.

[KPopFever605]

I agree partly with Aaron. I expected much more from the deck because how the box looked, but, like they always say, you can't judge a book by it's cover. I agree with Aaron when I expected the back design to be White & Gold, but, aye, if TBC wants to do that, let them. To me, it's like comparing the Gold Monarchs (sold out version) with the White Monarchs. They both contain metallic ink, and look identical, but which would you prefer. In both scenarios involving the Gold Crowns and the Gold Monarchs, I would prefer the White version because it simply looks cleaner. Oh well, I'm still not downing in jealousy (only slightly) because I wasn't able to score on one of these decks, I'm just okay with it. Thanks Don for posting up pictures. I have a sure-fire feeling that not many pictures of the Gold Crowns are going to be put up anymore now that people realize its prestige.