Red Arcane

[bhong]

I think Don's point 6 hit is best. When a company sees an opportunity of course they're going to take it. I can't fault them for it. I wish I was a Black Club member to get a complimentary deck. I'll have to wait until the Holiday Sale to see what kind of promotion they're running.

[Don Boyer]

I think Don's point 6 hit is best. When a company sees an opportunity of course they're going to take it. I can't fault them for it. I wish I was a Black Club member to get a complimentary deck. I'll have to wait until the Holiday Sale to see what kind of promotion they're running.

There's nothing on this green Earth stopping you from joining BEFORE the November 14th deadline, other than your present financial status.  Then you'd be able to get the deck.

You'd join first.  You might be able to use the deck code in the same purchase as your mebership, or the computer might force you to wait until after you've bought the membership to officially be a member, in which case you could place a small, shippable order thereafter.  Asking E customer service would be a good idea if this was something you wanted to attempt.

[Xntrix]

I don't think I will believe anything any of these companies say any more on the forums or elsewhere. Ellusionist are liars...

Uh, excuse me? Say what you will of other companies (actually, that said I can't think to fault Dan and Dave on the honesty front either) but I'm not going to sit here while you libel against a company where I personally have been in charge of the marketing and public outreach for three years.

At no time has anything we've said been a lie. There have been cases beyond our control where timeframes have changed (Pure Smoke Colors anyone?) and instances where our business decisions have changed over time, always to the benefit of the customer - but no point when we could be accused of being 'liars'.

1) They considered and designed a red Arcane deck.
2) They did a test print of uncuts.
3) For whatever reason, it wasn't made.
4) The uncuts go on sale.
5) People eat 'em up, love the design, beg E to actually make the deck.
6) Seeing an opportunity, they make the deck as a holiday 2013 premium.
7) They toss Black Club members a free deck - in essence, tossing them a bone to make them happy they're members, also making them more inclined to renew said membership, which by now has pretty much paid for itself or is close to it for most members.

I'm happy I'm in the Black Club, that's for sure.  It wasn't cheap, but it was worth it in the end.

Nail. On. Head.

Point 3. I honestly don't think the case of sheets was even opened when they arrived in the Texas warehouse. I think they were just moved to some corner and literally forgotten about - inventoried as whatever other sheets they arrived with (possibly Black & White Arcane uncuts) until Texas was shut down and everything moved back to Cali.

Points 5 & 6. Exactly. I initially wasn't a fan of getting these turned into decks. I liked the idea of only the sheets existing - it's never been done before. A sheet of cards for a deck that doesn't exist? That's awesome. But, I can't pretend the onslaught of comments asking for it to be made into a deck didn't convince me we should do it. Facebook, Twitter, Emails and Reviews all lit up saying they wanted the deck to be made of these. And - we wanted to do a Christmas deck as well, so - the Red Arcane was born, and is (almost) literally hot off the presses. Those Black Club members that ordered today will likely get to hold the finished deck in their hands even before I do. Pete had them overnighted to him as soon as they hit the warehouse so he could get me photos for the Email today, and my own couple of decks are probably still sitting in a distribution centre in LA somewhere, before they make the hop across the pond.

Point 7. Very true. Whilst an email will go out closer to the BC anniversary to remind people what being a Black Club Member has meant during its first year, there is an element of 'Here's another Freebie' to it as well. However, what people don't realise is that the majority of our Black Club Members didn't join until after February this year, which is another 4 months away, so giving them a Red Arcane deck now isn't as much of a 'renewal boost' as it was us realising that it's about time we put out another member bonus.

On the absolute level - my own thoughts were that giving away a free deck this close to the Holiday Giveaway would assuage tempers somewhat that Black Club Members would not get the usual 24hour PreSale for those products released on the 19th (as mentioned in the email). The major reason behind that is that we didn't want to open up the BC Presale the day before the Holiday Giveaway was to start. Black Club members who ordered on the 18th would be pretty damn annoyed they didn't get their free gifts or entry into the Giveaway Competition, and it wasn't possible to allow the Free Gifts only to Black Club members with the system we developed, so a compromise was reached. And I personally hope that people do not feel put out that this was the course of action we had to take. Hence - Free Stuff.

So, yes wall of text  - but it's at the benefit of transparency.

TL;DR
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Victor, I'm not sure if you're some unstable conspiracy theorist, or simply a Troll (that's coming from Jake as a representative of himself and no other company or entity) but either way, whether you're a good customer to Ellusionist and other companies or not - I'm sure none of them will take kindly to being wantonly and undeservedly defamed.

Also - Red Arcanes free to Black Club members. This is not Free Candy from a suspicious looking White Van, there's no catch, we're just rewarding our Black Club Members and letting you know we can't offer 24 Hour PreSale on the 19th of the month.

For those who have enquired about whether they can get a Free Red Arcane if they sign up before the 14th, I'm going to make an executive decision now, and say yes. If for some reason you find after you've purchased BC that you can't add the Red Arcane to your next order (I'm not sure that you can do it with the Membership still in your cart - but try) then email me (address is in my signature) and I'll personally make sure it's fixed up for you straight away.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks folks.

-J

[Nurul]

Hats off to you jake and the whole ellusionist team. Unfortunately, victor has a habit of moaning like a bitch for every reason, I don't truly believe he enjoys collecting cards. I have a feeling he does it for the sake of "haha look what I got and you haven't" moment.

Anyway, on topic, I ordered some stuff immediately to get this awesome freebie. Any chance you can tell us the print run of these? Or is that classified? :p

EDIT: I'm also absolutely stoked iParcel has been made available again

[John B.]

This is definitely a cool thing. If I had the cash I would join black club, I would love to have a red arcane since I love the design. Personally though there are to many limited decks/decks in general and a lot go into promotions which I totally see works since people buy to get them. But its not something that I really worry about anymore. I am basically done buying new decks. I have enough for now, and wont use kickstarter since the shipping problem with quicksilver, so no chance I will be getting it.

[Phegget]

Welp.. if any of you black club members are crazy enough to let go of theirs.. I'm right here! Would be happy to buy/trade for one.

[Don Boyer]

I don't think I will believe anything any of these companies say any more on the forums or elsewhere. Ellusionist are liars...

Uh, excuse me? Say what you will of other companies (actually, that said I can't think to fault Dan and Dave on the honesty front either) but I'm not going to sit here while you libel against a company where I personally have been in charge of the marketing and public outreach for three years.

At no time has anything we've said been a lie. There have been cases beyond our control where timeframes have changed (Pure Smoke Colors anyone?) and instances where our business decisions have changed over time, always to the benefit of the customer - but no point when we could be accused of being 'liars'.

Jake, I honestly think the kid was just kidding, despite my responding to him as the straight man.  He ended that sentence with "lol" and followed with a statement about how he's getting one - he's likely a Black Club member.  Many people rant for silly reasons about company promotions, regardless of the company, 'cause they just want to buy the deck and be done with it, especially collectors that have little to no interest in magic or cardistry, or they can't afford to "cross the hurdle" to get the deck.  This is especially common with The Blue Crown - they give something away for free, people find ways to moan and whine about it.  I think it happened when E offered the Black Club in the first place, because of the exclusive deck that was part of the membership - a number of people wanted the cards and nothing else and felt it was "outrageous" that they couldn't simply buy the deck (some people don't understand premiums, I guess).  I felt, on a second reading, that Victor (vmagic) was simply spoofing one of those rants.

Even I thought a Black Club membership was costly, but I joined.  I had faith that it would be worth it in the end.  There was the discount - I didn't use it as much as I might have, but only because I did less magic shopping overall this year.  But with everything that the membership included, both initially and with the free giveaways you've had since I joined, yes, I think it was very worthwhile, and most folks who aren't members and complained back when the club opened are probably regretting not having joined back then.  It's extremely generous of Ellusionist to allow people to join now, before the deadline, and take advantage of the offer - it's not something every company would do.

Now, if only the Black Club ring came in a better variety of sizes...    I still need to get mine resized.

[Xntrix]

Jake, I honestly think the kid was just kidding, despite my responding to him as the straight man.  He ended that sentence with "lol" and followed with a statement about how he's getting one - he's likely a Black Club member. ... I felt, on a second reading, that Victor (vmagic) was simply spoofing one of those rants.

If that's the case, then Victor - I apologise. I missed the context of your post.

Now, if only the Black Club ring came in a better variety of sizes...    I still need to get mine resized.

I hear you on that point. Mine's just slightly too small to be worn on any of the three middle fingers, and just slightly too large to be worn as a pinky ring.

For those who aren't Black Club members and want the deck - you will have a chance to get them at the end of the month as part of our Holiday Giveaway. Think 'LTD' of two years ago.

As for the print run, something in the back of my mind recalls USPCC ran just short of 5000 on these. It was supposed to be 5000, but they can do anything +/- 10%.

iParcel isn't back 100% yet, but if it's available to you - use it. We've put it up to gather data for our and their IT teams to ensure that all the bugs are worked out in time for the Holiday Giveaway. There were instances before this latest update of people being overcharged (even though it was cheaper than UPS) or being charged duties/taxes again when the shipment arrived in their country - so we've worked with iParcel to get this fixed. We believe now everything should be fine, but don't want to announce it's back until we're sure all the bugs are gone.

-Jake

[loldudex2]

I know this is kind of off topic of the rest of the conversation, but has any other club member not recieved te promotional email?

[agera94]

Can't wait to get my hands on one of these - was very surprised to read the email and very thankful for everything E has done.

[10ofclubs]

I know this is kind of off topic of the rest of the conversation, but has any other club member not recieved te promotional email?

Did you try the spam folder?

[Don Boyer]

For those who aren't Black Club members and want the deck - you will have a chance to get them at the end of the month as part of our Holiday Giveaway. Think 'LTD' of two years ago.

For just a half-second, I thought you were talking about the Black Club deck in that sentence... 

[Jonathan]

I'm not a black club member.
I emailed ellusionist support and they were really good at getting back to me, very prompt.
I tried what they suggested - no joy on the code putting a red arcane deck in my cart.
Putting the black club membership in my cart did activate the 5% discount, but not the red arcane offer .
So looks like non members can't join and take advantage of the offer.

Although, if anyone does join and the code works AFTER you've bought the membership... please tell me/post here? Pretty please ?

[Don Boyer]

I'm not a black club member.
I emailed ellusionist support and they were really good at getting back to me, very prompt.
I tried what they suggested - no joy on the code putting a red arcane deck in my cart.
Putting the black club membership in my cart did activate the 5% discount, but not the red arcane offer .
So looks like non members can't join and take advantage of the offer.

Although, if anyone does join and the code works AFTER you've bought the membership... please tell me/post here? Pretty please ?

As Jake (Xntrix) mentioned below, if you have problems getting the deck deal after joining, contact him.  His email address is in his signature at the bottom of all of his posts.  He works for E and can get you squared away.

[Jonathan]

As Jake (Xntrix) mentioned below, if you have problems getting the deck deal after joining, contact him.  His email address is in his signature at the bottom of all of his posts.  He works for E and can get you squared away.

On one hand Don, thanks for pointing that out to me . I missed that Jake works for Ellusionist.

On the other hand... dammit now I have more things to try and stretch my limited funds over XD *prepares to crunch budgeting numbers*

[Card Player]

If that's the case, then Victor - I apologize. I missed the context of your post.

No need to apologize. I don't think he is kidding.

https://twitter.com/vjose32/status/394586473564880896

[Nurul]

If that's the case, then Victor - I apologize. I missed the context of your post.

No need to apologize. I don't think he is kidding.

https://twitter.com/vjose32/status/394586473564880896

Not to mention he's said it on one of his YouTube videos. Has anyone received a deck yet?

[mirciusx]

As Jake (Xntrix) mentioned below, if you have problems getting the deck deal after joining, contact him.  His email address is in his signature at the bottom of all of his posts.  He works for E and can get you squared away.

On one hand Don, thanks for pointing that out to me . I missed that Jake works for Ellusionist.

On the other hand... dammit now I have more things to try and stretch my limited funds over XD *prepares to crunch budgeting numbers*

It worked for me when I was joined to the Black Club I've got the two limited Black Artifice decks per member in the same order. Too bad I didn't join BC before the two or three orders that I've made. I hesitate to make that decision...but sometimes wishes do not coincide with money and other problems.

[mirciusx]

As Jake (Xntrix) mentioned below, if you have problems getting the deck deal after joining, contact him.  His email address is in his signature at the bottom of all of his posts.  He works for E and can get you squared away.

On one hand Don, thanks for pointing that out to me . I missed that Jake works for Ellusionist.

On the other hand... dammit now I have more things to try and stretch my limited funds over XD *prepares to crunch budgeting numbers*

It worked for me when I was joined to the Black Club I've got the two limited Black Artifice decks per member in the same order. Too bad I didn't join BC before the two or three orders that I've made. I hesitate to make that decision...but sometimes wishes do not coincide with money and other problems.

LE. Not yet. I will make this order after 6th Nov. I want to get some nice goodies also...shipping to Romania, Europe isn't fun. Shipping kills us. Sometimes I use my friendship to a good friend to get this orders in NY.  Last time he send me almost 30Kg of playing cards and uncuts.

Sorry for the double post.

[Don Boyer]

If that's the case, then Victor - I apologize. I missed the context of your post.

No need to apologize. I don't think he is kidding.

https://twitter.com/vjose32/status/394586473564880896

Not to mention he's said it on one of his YouTube videos. Has anyone received a deck yet?

If that's the case, then he's acting like an idiot and deserves what he gets.

BTW: that Twitter link points to a recent post about Dan and Dave's supposed S&M v8 deck release which never happened.  He was assuming the purple deck was v8, I believe.

[Card Player]

If that's the case, then Victor - I apologize. I missed the context of your post.

No need to apologize. I don't think he is kidding.

https://twitter.com/vjose32/status/394586473564880896

Not to mention he's said it on one of his YouTube videos. Has anyone received a deck yet?

If that's the case, then he's acting like an idiot and deserves what he gets.

BTW: that Twitter link points to a recent post about Dan and Dave's supposed S&M v8 deck release which never happened.  He was assuming the purple deck was v8, I believe.

He looks more the fool. What do you expect from a guy that proclaimed himself "the king of playing cards". LMAO