Cats! Playing Cards (KS)

[badpete69]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1141951673/cats-a-54-card-deck-of-cat-playing-cards

[Don Boyer]

Wait...hold on...(hurk-huah)...I think I feel a furball coming on...(BLEAYECK)!!!  Woah, that's a big 'un...

Do I even need to say "pass?"  It's not even a good deck by cat deck standards.

[PurpleIce]

Since we are on a topic of cats, I felt the Krazy Kats deck (http://www.playingcardforum.com/playing-card-plethora/krazy-kats-deck-re-launch-%28ks%29/msg91165/#msg91165) was much better in comparison. This is just slapping 4 cat faces all over a deck.

I wonder why there is a "slashed" zero as well. It seemed the designer just used a font type and it happened to be there. No cat-related reason whatsoever. And....$700 goal to get a white tuck box....nice...

[Shebhnt]

Looks like they are just going to use makeplayingcards.com and are hoping to make some quick money.  The stretch goals (especially the $900) seems to fit this as you need to order so many from them to get custom tuck boxes.

The thing is that it seems like they could have done more but instead got their four cat faces and just quickly made each suit.  I kind of like the design but wish there was much more variety.

[Don Boyer]

Looks like they are just going to use makeplayingcards.com and are hoping to make some quick money.  The stretch goals (especially the $900) seems to fit this as you need to order so many from them to get custom tuck boxes.

The thing is that it seems like they could have done more but instead got their four cat faces and just quickly made each suit.  I kind of like the design but wish there was much more variety.

MPC is becoming the go-to company for people who want a deck and either want a short run or can't afford USPC.  I've heard their quality is OK and I know of designers using it for making prototype decks.

[PurpleIce]

Looks like they are just going to use makeplayingcards.com and are hoping to make some quick money.  The stretch goals (especially the $900) seems to fit this as you need to order so many from them to get custom tuck boxes.

The thing is that it seems like they could have done more but instead got their four cat faces and just quickly made each suit.  I kind of like the design but wish there was much more variety.

MPC is becoming the go-to company for people who want a deck and either want a short run or can't afford USPC.  I've heard their quality is OK and I know of designers using it for making prototype decks.

But in a way, affordability and short runs could end up having more "sub-standard" decks floating around. I don't mind people bringing competition to USPC. But it will also attract a lot of "designers" who have an undeveloped idea, not enough time, and not enough commitment and responsibility.

[Don Boyer]

But in a way, affordability and short runs could end up having more "sub-standard" decks floating around. I don't mind people bringing competition to USPC. But it will also attract a lot of "designers" who have an undeveloped idea, not enough time, and not enough commitment and responsibility.

Sub-standard?  Who sets the standard?

There will be people who love this deck, think it's awesome, etc.  To them, it's perfectly fine.  From a collector's perspective, it's no big deal - the print runs are so short as to be nearly non-existent.

MPC does nothing to make the process faster than USPC, though it would be hard to go slower than USPC when it comes to making decks, especially with the whole factory taking vacations all at once two times a year.

Commitment and responsibility don't automatically come from hiring USPC as a project's printer.  Just ask the people who backed the Founders deck, or the Bicycle Asylum deck, or the countless others that never delivered.

Hey, if more people want to make crazy-different decks that only a mother can love, so be it.  No one's forcing me to buy them.  And if MPC is the go-to business for catching the projects that USPC raises its nose at, more power to MPC - it's not a bad niche to work on, seriously.

[PurpleIce]

But in a way, affordability and short runs could end up having more "sub-standard" decks floating around. I don't mind people bringing competition to USPC. But it will also attract a lot of "designers" who have an undeveloped idea, not enough time, and not enough commitment and responsibility.

Sub-standard?  Who sets the standard?

There will be people who love this deck, think it's awesome, etc.  To them, it's perfectly fine.  From a collector's perspective, it's no big deal - the print runs are so short as to be nearly non-existent.

MPC does nothing to make the process faster than USPC, though it would be hard to go slower than USPC when it comes to making decks, especially with the whole factory taking vacations all at once two times a year.

Commitment and responsibility don't automatically come from hiring USPC as a project's printer.  Just ask the people who backed the Founders deck, or the Bicycle Asylum deck, or the countless others that never delivered.

Hey, if more people want to make crazy-different decks that only a mother can love, so be it.  No one's forcing me to buy them.  And if MPC is the go-to business for catching the projects that USPC raises its nose at, more power to MPC - it's not a bad niche to work on, seriously.

When i say sub standard decks, i did not mean this deck. What i meant was reasons such as affordability and short runs will result in more people diving into a playing card project without considering factors such as time and effort required.

It is like a shopping mall saying it is providing free or dirt cheap rent for anyone who wants to start a business. You can rent a shop for a month as compared to maybe a year. I'm sure there will be many who jumps in and start selling anything they can grab, and bringing old, unwanted items out in hope that someone may buy them. But how many of this businesses will survive and how many will fall? As compared to someone who needs to plan and research what he needs to sell, put in time and effort to mind his shop and upgrade his products simply because of the high requirements/rent set by the shopping mall in the first place. Of course there will still be people who have no regards of this requirements. Like what you said and the examples you have listed, commitment and responsibility doesn't come from such requirements, but it acts as some sort of deterrence from having too many.

While I'm sure there is no exact standard to decks, and i definitely did not mean to bring the term "sub-standard" out here to imply any relation it has to this deck, I feel there is a gauge to where a certain deck lies in terms of quality of design. Maybe there is no exact points as to deck A might be 99 points while deck B is 50 points, but i believe there will be decks where the mass majority of us (excluding families and biased, sympathetic friends of the designer) would say it is not a good deck. Just like art where not all of us can enjoy the concept behind every art piece, we simply say we don't understand or it is not to our liking. But when everybody starts saying it is horrible work, and where the artist can neither explain the concept nor the reason he used certain methods in his process of design, then i believe it is safe to assume that the piece of work is "sub-standard".

[Don Boyer]

When i say sub standard decks, i did not mean this deck. What i meant was reasons such as affordability and short runs will result in more people diving into a playing card project without considering factors such as time and effort required.

It is like a shopping mall saying it is providing free or dirt cheap rent for anyone who wants to start a business. You can rent a shop for a month as compared to maybe a year. I'm sure there will be many who jumps in and start selling anything they can grab, and bringing old, unwanted items out in hope that someone may buy them. But how many of this businesses will survive and how many will fall? As compared to someone who needs to plan and research what he needs to sell, put in time and effort to mind his shop and upgrade his products simply because of the high requirements/rent set by the shopping mall in the first place. Of course there will still be people who have no regards of this requirements. Like what you said and the examples you have listed, commitment and responsibility doesn't come from such requirements, but it acts as some sort of deterrence from having too many.

While I'm sure there is no exact standard to decks, and i definitely did not mean to bring the term "sub-standard" out here to imply any relation it has to this deck, I feel there is a gauge to where a certain deck lies in terms of quality of design. Maybe there is no exact points as to deck A might be 99 points while deck B is 50 points, but i believe there will be decks where the mass majority of us (excluding families and biased, sympathetic friends of the designer) would say it is not a good deck. Just like art where not all of us can enjoy the concept behind every art piece, we simply say we don't understand or it is not to our liking. But when everybody starts saying it is horrible work, and where the artist can neither explain the concept nor the reason he used certain methods in his process of design, then i believe it is safe to assume that the piece of work is "sub-standard".

The are as many opinions about what is good art and what isn't as there are a$$holes in the world - and they're both equally as "fragrant" compared side-by-side.  You can argue the opinions of art scholars if you want, but you won't convince some people that the worst decks on Kickstarter aren't of some interest to someone out there, someone who thinks they're magnificent.

[CthulhuWho1]

I just posted this elsewhere, but I want to share my thoughts with everyone I can:

My wife and I are owned by several cats, so we had to pledge for a deck of these cards.

And this is what I just posted in the comments section of Kickstarter for this project:

"Wow!

My beautiful deck of cards arrived today. and the wife and I are both very impressed!

And considering how long many other card projects take to "deliver the goods," receiving these cards on April 12, 2014 in Fullerton, California, when your project was just funded about four weeks ago on March 10, 2014, has left me blown away be the quality of your work, and the extremely fast fulfillment of this project!

I guess this means I'll have to visit your UndefinedKnowledge.com web site to purchase more decks, including your Draw Blood Card Game too as a Thank You!

Will Hart"

The cards have a nice air-finish look, with the same basic dimples as Bicycle cards, feel a little thinner than USPCC cards; and are identified on the bottom of the colorful tuck case as, "Assembled in China."

I would happily buy more cards from these folks.

[Don Boyer]

I'm glad the cats own you rather than the other way around! 

It's good to hear.  I've heard that MPC does decent work, and this would appear to reinforce that hypothesis.  I know a number of designers use them for making prototype decks.

[Paul Carpenter]

MPC cards are perfectly acceptable for a normal person. In fact, they handle better than quite a few of my older USPCC decks. I've had about 10 prototypes made through them and they fan quite well, have quite solid border consistency and are more than usable. The vibrancy of the print is probably the biggest issue, they always seem a little more dull than you hope, but they are not bad cards at all.

As to this cat deck, I actually think it's far better than most that stick to the godawful photo/clip art themes.

[CthulhuWho1]

I don't believe these cards were made by MPC; unless MPC cards are labeled "Assembled in China" as I mentioned this deck was.

Are MPC cards made in China?

I'm still waiting for my first decks from them, but I suspect these Cat Playing Cards were a very quick turn-around project out of Taiwan instead of an MPC deck.

Will Hart

 

[Don Boyer]

Must have gotten this deck mixed up with another that used MPC.  I believe MPC manufactures in the US.

[Paul Carpenter]

MPC is part of the QP group, a large printer in Hong Kong. They've got a very nice online system for putting a custom deck together, and quite quality.

[Don Boyer]

MPC is part of the QP group, a large printer in Hong Kong. They've got a very nice online system for putting a custom deck together, and quite quality.

I see - good to know.