London 2012 ltd. ed. deck - New HOPC Release

[vmagic]

Just noticed HOPC is teasing a new release on their Facebook with these posts:

Question of the Day today has nothing to do with magic BUT is another hint at our upcoming deck next week! Can you take anymore guesses?

What's your favorite sport to play/watch?

#7days #commemorate

Question of the Day: What country are you from? #8days #newrelease

Anyone know what it is?

[MSimonart]

Most certainly an Olympic deck! I'm 99% certain. I would be surprised would there be no deck regarding this event... Certainly with this custom playing card mania going on right now!

[Paul Carpenter]

From Facebook

To commemorate these games, House of Playing Cards is releasing a series of London 2012 collectable decks. The cards feature an elegant navy blue back design with a gold leaf border. The center of the back has a green garland wreath with the Union Jack flag design inside. The tuck cases are available in Gold, Silver, and Bronze versions that feature foil accents. When laid out in sequence, the boxes connect to display “2012”.

In the spirit of their commemorative nature only 1,200 of each deck was made.

On Friday, July 27th at 8PM eastern time we will be offering pre-order sales of these special decks. The pre-order price will be below the MSRP, making this the best time to claim decks for your collection. If pre-orders do not sell out, the London 2012 decks will be available for sale at the full MSRP on Tuesday, July 31st. Supplies are limited and we expect these decks to sell quickly!

Note - The cards inside each of the 3 different tuck cases are identical, featuring the navy blue back design.

[MSimonart]

I'm not really excited about this deck. The description of the cards doesn't really appeal to me, but that's only a description. Once we see some pictures, we'll be able to judge...

[KPopFever605]

Although the description might not sound appealing, when something comes from HOPC, you know it's going to be good. So, I'm slightly stoked, and I'll be there. May, or may not buy. I sure am curious to see which site receives more traffic during their release: HOPC or D&D - : )

[Joker and the Thief]

Although the description might not sound appealing, when something comes from HOPC, you know it's going to be good. So, I'm slightly stoked, and I'll be there. May, or may not buy. I sure am curious to see which site receives more traffic during their release: HOPC or D&D - : )

Honestly, I like the idea of this deck, very interested to see how it turns out. What is Dan and Dave releasing?

[KPopFever605]

Although the description might not sound appealing, when something comes from HOPC, you know it's going to be good. So, I'm slightly stoked, and I'll be there. May, or may not buy. I sure am curious to see which site receives more traffic during their release: HOPC or D&D - : )

Honestly, I like the idea of this deck, very interested to see how it turns out. What is Dan and Dave releasing?

We are unsure of that yet, but back on topic! Have anyone seen the blurred teaser of this deck, it looks very simplistically interesting.

[Evan]

This is definitely a London Olympics deck and it sounds like there will be more than one deck released.

[Don Boyer]

This is definitely a London Olympics deck and it sounds like there will be more than one deck released.

It's not really more than one deck - it's the same deck in three different boxes: "gold", "silver" and "bronze".  But the concept is pretty cool - it commemorates the idea of "London 2012" more so than the Olympics, since those five rings (practically ANY design using five rings) is considered a copyright of the International Olympic Committee.  Just ask the guys who created the collectible card game "Legend of the Five Rings" - Asian-themed game, nothing to do with the Olympics, but they had a back design with five linked gold rings in a circular pattern.  They got slammed with a cease-and-desist and had to redesign the card backs.  Sounds ridiculous, but true.

[Evan]

This is definitely a London Olympics deck and it sounds like there will be more than one deck released.

It's not really more than one deck - it's the same deck in three different boxes: "gold", "silver" and "bronze".  But the concept is pretty cool - it commemorates the idea of "London 2012" more so than the Olympics, since those five rings (practically ANY design using five rings) is considered a copyright of the International Olympic Committee.  Just ask the guys who created the collectible card game "Legend of the Five Rings" - Asian-themed game, nothing to do with the Olympics, but they had a back design with five linked gold rings in a circular pattern.  They got slammed with a cease-and-desist and had to redesign the card backs.  Sounds ridiculous, but true.

So... just a way to get more money from us.
Same deck, same box with different colors.

[Russell CircleCityCards]

You don't have to buy all three...

[Aaron]

This is definitely a London Olympics deck and it sounds like there will be more than one deck released.

It's not really more than one deck - it's the same deck in three different boxes: "gold", "silver" and "bronze".  But the concept is pretty cool - it commemorates the idea of "London 2012" more so than the Olympics, since those five rings (practically ANY design using five rings) is considered a copyright of the International Olympic Committee.  Just ask the guys who created the collectible card game "Legend of the Five Rings" - Asian-themed game, nothing to do with the Olympics, but they had a back design with five linked gold rings in a circular pattern.  They got slammed with a cease-and-desist and had to redesign the card backs.  Sounds ridiculous, but true.

So... just a way to get more money from us.
Same deck, same box with different colors.

No it is a way  to make a nice commenerative deck for London 2012. Not get more money from us. It is showing Bronze Silver and Gold for the medals. I think it makes a cool set for te olympics. If you only want 1 buy 1 deck.

And they are a business obviously they want to make as much as possible. I am tired of people who get mad a deck is too expensive. Doesnt the creator deserve to make some money off the deck he has spent hours designing?

[Reylek]

If we were all about money, we never would have started HOPC to begin with.

When we work with outside artists, they retain the rights to their work, and they receive the majority of the profit from it.  Much better on our end if we just bought the rights for a flat rate and kept all of the profits.

However, we're more concerned with making cool decks.  Luckily, turning a profit allows us to continue to make cool decks.

Our primary goal with any design/release is to best serve the theme or story of the deck.  For these London 2012 games, it made sense to us to do Gold, Silver, and Bronze.  Only 1200 of each!  Yes, the cards inside each tuck are the same.  But they do make a lovely set!

If you're not already on the HOPC facebook page, hop on over there.  As always, we're running contests where you can win decks and sheets.

[xela]

You guys do realize that you don't have to buy 12 of each type of deck released right? Several new movies come out in theatres every week, and how many of those do you go see? One? Less? It's not about making more money from people, although profit is certainly a goal.

It's about creating product X to fit the demands of Y. In this case, folks who adore the Olympics can have a commemorative deck to accompany them.

In this case, three colors makes sense. I think it's hilarious that people go ga-ga over Theory11 releases (gold monarch! blue monarch! white monarch!) but then when something like this comes along folks freak out a bit.

I personally don't buy new decks anymore, but I'd love to have these three on display in my collection, if the tuck case is awesome, that is.

I'm not sure if there is a point to teasing this deck.

[Don Boyer]

So... just a way to get more money from us.
Same deck, same box with different colors.

In addition to the other points raised by people before me, like "you don't have to buy more than one (or even one, for that matter)" and "HOPC wants to bring you new, cool decks and support the artists who design them", I'd like to add that the fanciest, most expensive deck from HOPC costs less than eight bucks - and they have selections going all the way down to as little as $4.95.  There are many Kickstarter decks that aren't that cheap - and you get this sent to you within a business day or so of your order, not months down the road while you wait for it to be printed!

If it wasn't for HOPC, that cool Mechanic deck would possibly have been made available only in the UK, since the artist is British, and would also have cost a good deal more as a result.  I see people putting down HOPC, when unlike many other card design houses they're willing to literally take submissions from all comers and offer them a chance to get the deck of their dreams made a reality, make some money on it, AND make their customers happy by streamlining the entire process instead of forcing good deck designs to go through Kickstarter where there's usually only a single print run, nothing more, by default creating a limited edition that becomes hard to find.  For most HOPC decks, if people like them and want to buy, don't worry - they'll print more!

So I'm really failing to see what you have to gripe about.  If you think it's a rip-off, remember that no one is twisting your arm and forcing you to place an order, just like I had the freedom of choice to not order a single Ace Fulton's Casino deck or any of the multiple editions of the Doomsday deck with no regrets.  There are plenty of other people who'd love to have this limited-edition set, so if you want to pass them up, that leaves more for them.

[Evan]

So... just a way to get more money from us.
Same deck, same box with different colors.

In addition to the other points raised by people before me, like "you don't have to buy more than one (or even one, for that matter)" and "HOPC wants to bring you new, cool decks and support the artists who design them", I'd like to add that the fanciest, most expensive deck from HOPC costs less than eight bucks - and they have selections going all the way down to as little as $4.95.  There are many Kickstarter decks that aren't that cheap - and you get this sent to you within a business day or so of your order, not months down the road while you wait for it to be printed!

If it wasn't for HOPC, that cool Mechanic deck would possibly have been made available only in the UK, since the artist is British, and would also have cost a good deal more as a result.  I see people putting down HOPC, when unlike many other card design houses they're willing to literally take submissions from all comers and offer them a chance to get the deck of their dreams made a reality, make some money on it, AND make their customers happy by streamlining the entire process instead of forcing good deck designs to go through Kickstarter where there's usually only a single print run, nothing more, by default creating a limited edition that becomes hard to find.  For most HOPC decks, if people like them and want to buy, don't worry - they'll print more!

So I'm really failing to see what you have to gripe about.  If you think it's a rip-off, remember that no one is twisting your arm and forcing you to place an order, just like I had the freedom of choice to not order a single Ace Fulton's Casino deck or any of the multiple editions of the Doomsday deck with no regrets.  There are plenty of other people who'd love to have this limited-edition set, so if you want to pass them up, that leaves more for them.

I love HOPC! I've bought multiple of every deck that HOPC and The Blue Crown has put out. It just bothers me that they are making 3 of the exact same deck with a different colored box and making them very limited leading to a lot of collectors wanting to buy all 3.

[Don Boyer]

I love HOPC! I've bought multiple of every deck that HOPC and The Blue Crown has put out. It just bothers me that they are making 3 of the exact same deck with a different colored box and making them very limited leading to a lot of collectors wanting to buy all 3.

...and the problem with that is, what?

They are in the business of selling cards, after all - and doing it in an artist-friendly, consumer-friendly way.

You'll probably spend less on three of this deck than you would for a single deck of Blood Blades 1st Ed.  You'll nearly certainly spend less on these three than you would on a complete set of NOCs!

Collectors have complete and total freedom of choice.  Buy, don't buy, only buy one...  Since when is having variety in addition to freedom of choice such a bad thing?

As I see it, from the perspective of a collector who loves to play with his decks and not simply keep them in brick boxes or mount them on my wall, it's ALL good.  Bubble?  What bubble?  I don't care if my collection goes up or down in value, because I'm getting a far greater pleasure value out of simply using them!  So I recognize that with all this variety, there's competition, and where there's competition, there's usually reasonable pricing.  All hail variety!

As such a collector, I don't worry so much about getting every new deck out there.  I let plenty of decks slide past, not because I'm not interested at all (OK, well, sometimes because of that) but more often because I recognize that I have a budget to work within, that I don't have unlimited funds and can't just buy every little thing.  After a point, you start to realize there's only so many black decks a person could want, or trick decks, or rare decks, etc. - and you get more selective.  Not one collector is being coerced into purchasing so much as one pack of the London 2012 decks.  You want it, you buy it; you can't afford all three, just get one; you can't afford one, don't buy it; you can afford it but don't like it - well, you see where I'm going here, right?

[Joker and the Thief]

You guys do realize that you don't have to buy 12 of each type of deck released right?

You know what, I notice that a lot.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, yes get cards for your collection, but get the real gems for a collection and the rest to use. Geez, no wonder some people are broke, they spend soooo much money on collecting when the decks really just sit there and collect dust and are not used to their full extent.
If you Are going have some decks to collect, have some nice rare ones, it's more fulfilling... Trust me...
It's also fulfilling having the experience of using the deck. If you really really love the deck by all means go ahead and buy tonnes

I may have opened a can of WERMS here (see what I did there), but say what you will but that's my spiel on it all...

[vmagic]

Well they are out and aren't cheap, at $12 each that is about double what most new decks from Theory11, E, and Blue Crown usually cost. I only got 1 of each anyway.

I agree with the previous comment though, why buy decks of cards to have them sitting there collecting dust. I have many rare decks, you name it I have it, except for JNuggs, and I have opened them all. It's more fun that way I guess.

[CBJ]

$12 a deck is outrageous.

then they post this..

"The more you buy the more you save! They go down to $10 a deck...not bad at all when you compare it to a cup of coffee these days! Enjoy everyone!"

$10 per deck is not a good price for these.  they look like something you'd see in a souvenir shop.

[vmagic]

Yes they have successfully pissed off almost everyone on their Facebook with this outrageous price, even some guy who won a set was whining about it more than anyone else. He won a set, he should shut up, lol.

[loldudex2]

I too think this is crazy at $12 a deck/ $36 a set. I'm just happy that I won a free set with my playing card bobsled 

[Joker and the Thief]

It's quite a nice design, but way way way way overpriced. 

Well anyhow!

Let the 2012 London Olympic games begin!!!

Woooooo, who's with me?

[Aaron]

Guys it is 2012, It is fitting for them to be $12 a deck. Stop whining and appreciate a gorgeous deck.

(for those of you who dont catch on I am kidding these suck.)

[Evan]

Last time I checked, $12 for ONE deck of a 3 deck set is not cheap! Using a basic stock, Magic Finish, not custom faces, nice box.... hmm.... doesn't T11 have decks like that for half the price of these?

I usually support HOPC but this pricing is just outrageous.