American Originals Playing Cards by Montague Collection (renamed-relaunch KS)

[Rob Wright]

American Originals Playing Cards by Montague Collection (renamed-relaunched KS)


Montague Collection Inventors Playing Cards

A playing card series presented by the Montague Collection® inspired by African American Inventors with artwork by Josh Kennedy.

[Rose]

Well... African-American Inventors is a Very oddly specific genre/topic !?!
Top points for originality...

[Don Boyer]

Well... African-American Inventors is a Very oddly specific genre/topic !?!
Top points for originality...

In the US, it's actually not all that odd at all.  While things have improved for blacks in America, bigotry and racism still exist in this country.  For too long, there were a lot of white (and still are, sadly enough) who believed that black men and women were intellectually deficient due to some genetic flaw tied to their race.  It's the most ridiculous argument one can make in the modern world, but there are those who still make it.

History in general is lost on many young people today - unless it's a history of who broke up with Jennifer Aniston or what Lady Gaga wore last week.  A project like this is aimed at raising awareness of the history of black inventors in America, people who created things that are still used or were considered major milestones.

Take for example Dr. Charles R. Drew.  He was a surgeon and medical researcher active in the mid-20th Century.  He developed techniques for the preservation of blood that made large blood banks possible when he helped spearhead a project to send donated blood to the UK.  His work saved thousands of lives during World War II and resulted in the creation of the American Red Cross Blood Bank.  There's a myth, one that was popularized by a popular TV show of about 35 years ago, that he died by being injured in an automobile accident and being refused a blood transfusion by a hospital because of his color.  It's a colorful story, but not accurate - he received immediate medical attention, but his injuries were too severe and a transfusion would only have hastened his death in his condition.  What is true, however, is that he spoke out against the racial segregation of blood donations as there was no medical evidence of any difference - and for that, he was fired from his job.

Ask a thousand people on a busy street almost anywhere in this country, I doubt one person would know the doctor and the truth.  Perhaps ten or twenty would recall the myth about his death, but they probably wouldn't know the doctor's name, only that he was black.  Blood donations save millions of lives, but we know who invented the telephone or the radio better than who created blood banks.

OK, tangent over.

The deck isn't an extraordinary design - it's rather pedestrian, in fact.  It's not the kind of thing a lot of people would use for poker.  None of that matters in terms of the target audience for this deck - but what does matter is the pricing.  It's way too expensive for a deck this plain, even for a novelty deck, albeit an informational one.

[Rose]

Yeah, I did not mean to imply African-Americans are odd, I was thinking the 'Inventors' part coupled with African-Americans is very specific. I would feel the same about an 'Irish Pilots' deck.

[Don Boyer]

Yeah, I did not mean to imply African-Americans are odd, I was thinking the 'Inventors' part coupled with African-Americans is very specific. I would feel the same about an 'Irish Pilots' deck.

No, I got that part - and all that was my point.  "Irish Pilots" would seem odd, but in the US, anything that focuses a positive light on African Americans and positive achievements is not that hard to find, largely due to the years of oppression they suffered here and a desire to show positive role models.

[Montague]

I'm new to the site and wanted to present my Kickstarter Montague Collection Inventors Playing Cards:

HELP! Our family owns The Montague Collection of African American History, Art and Memorabilia. This collection is one of the largest and most comprehensive collections in the world owned privately. We're excited about our newest project -- African American Inventors Playing Cards with 64- brilliant color illustrations. Please check out our project at the weblink below. You can also follow us on Instagram @themontague
Instagram.com/themontague
and Facebook.com/montaguecollection


CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW TO VIEW PROJECT:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/186121560/montague-collection-inventors-playing-cards

[Rob Wright]

Montague,
I merged your post with the topic we already have started. Just to keep things tidy.
Good luck on your project.

[Don Boyer]

I'm new to the site and wanted to present my Kickstarter Montague Collection Inventors Playing Cards:

HELP! Our family owns The Montague Collection of African American History, Art and Memorabilia. This collection is one of the largest and most comprehensive collections in the world owned privately. We're excited about our newest project -- African American Inventors Playing Cards with 64- brilliant color illustrations. Please check out our project at the weblink below. You can also follow us on Instagram @themontague
Instagram.com/themontague
and Facebook.com/montaguecollection


CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW TO VIEW PROJECT:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/186121560/montague-collection-inventors-playing-cards

Welcome to the Discourse.

If I may offer a few suggestions...

Find a less expensive printer.  I can point you to a few that have a presence right here on this forum that do high-grade work for less than USPC charges.

The reason for finding that cheaper printer is that you can also lower the price of your decks.  The concept is a very good and noble one, but you want it to be a successful concept as well - lower prices help you to achieve this.  Would you rather sell 10 decks at $10 each or 20 decks at $7 each?  Find your product's "sweet spot" - a price high enough to cover costs and afford some margin of profit, but low enough to encourage the maximum number of decks sold.  Also remember, nearly every printer's price list I've seen offers per-deck discounts on larger orders - price this just right, sell the right amount and your costs can actually go DOWN on a per-deck basis.

Re-examine your goal.  Even designer custom-made, high-quality playing card decks can be funded for about half of what your goal is.

Start a new project when this one is completed.  Promote just ONE deck.  Make the second deck a stretch goal.  I've seen many perfectly fine decks fail because they were offering too much to start off with and it drove their goal too high.

Speaking of your offerings, that calendar has nothing to do with the deck's theme other than having the name of the Montague Collection on it.  I wouldn't offer it the second time around.

The math on your tier levels is way off.  One tier charges and extra $25 over the previous tier and the only difference is the addition of a single silver deck.  That will not attract backers and it indicates to them that you might be too inexperienced.  Carefully check your tiers - if anything, higher tiers usually charge a discount, not a premium, for buying more of the project's offerings.

Use Backerkit to help you manage your add-ons.  You'll be glad for the simplicity it offers - AND it can help you sell more items to your backers after the project has already closed.

DO NOT be discouraged.  There are a lot of very popular decks that sold quite well which failed the first time they were presented.  If the inventors presented in your deck gave up on the first try, your deck would be a lot thinner.

Best of luck on your second attempt.

[Rose]

I'm new to the site and wanted to present my Kickstarter Montague Collection Inventors Playing Cards:

HELP!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/186121560/montague-collection-inventors-playing-cards

I invited you to share your project here the day it went on Kickstarter and now with 1 week to go you come here to say "HELP".
I am sure you won't even bother to read this...so I will not bother to write anymore...

[sprouts1115]

@Montague - Keep all your "Fluff" items like the calander off the tiers unless it's like a bundle package.  People just really want the cards.  Add-ons are optional...

[Rob Wright]

American Originals Playing Cards by Montague Collection (renamed-relaunched KS)

[Fess]

The tiers are better now, but only slightly so. Funding goal is now much lower.

I don't think a relaunch is going to be good enough to get these funded. There didn't seem to be much interest in these the first time around Why should that fact be any different now when there doesn't seem to be any change in the deck design? At some point shouldn't the little light go off that says, something isn't working here lets see what we can change to give it a broader appeal?

Good luck either way.

[Don Boyer]

I basically agree with Fes.  This should have been marketed by other means, out of the fact that there's not as much interest in the crowdfunding community.

And I see no good reason why the silver and gold editions have to cost as much as they do - and that the gold one is more expensive.  It's not made with REAL gold!