Perspective Deck (Club 808)

[PurpleIce]

Perspective Deck from Club 808

[Fess]

I do like the Orange inks they used. The colors of those two orange hues look pretty nice.

Good or bad, I guess it's all in your perspective. In my perspective, Perspective 808 is easily among the worst five decks of the year. I struggle to understand how someone thought this was a good idea and should see it printed, can't even grasp why it would warrant the club 808 seal. At the moment it's definitely not for me. I won't count out as a never will purchase though. Who knows what craziness will take my fancy 50 years from now? I may decide to buy one of these off the dusty shelf they'll still be sitting on. Only time will tell.

[piratebear81]

I may decide to buy one of these off the dusty shelf they'll still be sitting on. Only time will tell.

Interesting perspective...  I agree with Fes.

[Don Boyer]

Yeah, this was not a very good idea at all.  Which is bad for them, because it's what people will be looking at when it comes time to renew, as the club is approaching two years old in, what, February?  I can see how they were shooting for a fun but heavily designed deck, but the end result just doesn't look like a deck I'd ever use.  It's not terribly practical, either, with the perspective lines on the faces extending into the bleed in different places - might as well have marked the deck while they were at it, because effectively speaking, that's what it is now.

I actually haven't even logged into the club in a while now.  If this is what I was missing, I didn't miss much.

[Rose]

When I read "Perspective Deck" I imagined some sort of intriguing optical illusion type of deck art. Indeed this is hard to read and not what I hoped for...

[Will W.]

When I read "Perspective Deck" I imagined some sort of intriguing optical illusion type of deck art. Indeed this is hard to read and not what I hoped for...

My perspective is that this is bad just bad!! 

[BiggerDee]

Want to boost membership? How about having Jackson design a club-exclusive deck, maybe a free renewing/new member deck. That would jam membership through the roof!

[10ofclubs]

Want to boost membership? How about having Jackson design a club-exclusive deck, maybe a free renewing/new member deck. That would jam membership through the roof!

Which wouldn't be too hard for them to do, would it? Isn't he already a designer or partner with USPCC?

[Fess]

Out of mild curiosity, with this kind of deck coming out of 808 and our ability to get much better decks ANYWHERE, why would anyone want to concern themselves with club 808's well being?

USPCC is not in trouble. They can afford to do these things. A few missing club 808 memberships won't hurt their bottom line at all. Even though, given this kind of swill, it should be hurt. They bill this club as "The most exclusive club for fans of bicycle." this is what they produce to sell to those fans. Call me crazy, I find it offensive.

The general public club has it better than 808 members, they don't even have to know this deck exists. (Insert dramatic expression and covering of the eyes, all that.) Ignorance is bliss, I miss that bliss. I've seen this deck. I can never again have that bliss back. I know this exists, lurking on the dusty shelf fifty years from now, it will still be there, waiting in the darkness. (End dramatic expression)

[Don Boyer]

Fes, you've heard me mention on many occasions about how collectors like us are a fraction of a fraction of the entire playing card market, right?  Well, because of how much profit is made on custom decks and how outsized the buying power of collectors is due to the much larger number of decks we buy compared to the general population, we make up a healthy enough percentage of USPC's profits that they would REALLY miss us if we were gone.  I suspect that only the casino deck business is larger for them profit-wise than the custom card market.

Club 808 was a really cool thing when it started, or at least we thought it was.  It was new, it sounded like fun.  But they never really made a "club" out of anything, really.  They'd post a few articles a month, some of which were utterly ridiculous, and they'd hold an occasional contest - you couldn't interact with the club or its members in any way other than to enter a contest.  That was some really cutting-edge stuff back in the dark, old pre-Internet days - today, it's kind of lame.  Their biggest foray into "high tech" over at USPC was "Jacked Up" decks and an app with rules for card games.  Woo AND hoo, really...

If they made Club 808 more like what the PCF is today, they'd be beating off new members with a stick - a really big stick.  Instead, we're watching the club sputter along as if it's running on fumes and the tank's on empty.  This deck is just another wrong turn.  Even if they got Jackson to make a deck for them, you'd still have most of the people interested in it talking to him about it HERE, not THERE, because THERE, all information flows in one direction, from the company to you, and that's it.

Wow, I must be feeling ranty tonight...

[Collector]

I can only ask, "USPCC, what is this?" 

[Fess]

Wow, I must be feeling ranty tonight...

haha, I was feeling it too for some reason. Out of character for me. I think it's due to this mess of a deck. Every time I look at it I feel like, Grrr. May have the same effect on you haha.

Some possible marketing bits USPCC could use to sell this amazing feat.
"Club 808 Perspective Deck, for when you're smiling just a little too much."
"Need to let someone know how you feel but are to polite? Nothing says this was a bad idea like Club 808 Perspective Deck! Gift one of these gems and they'll never speak to you again."
"Club 808 Perspective Deck. . .because !@%* #^&  that's why!"

May as well have fun with it.

[PurpleIce]

Wow, I must be feeling ranty tonight...

haha, I was feeling it too for some reason. Out of character for me. I think it's due to this mess of a deck. Every time I look at it I feel like, Grrr. May have the same effect on you haha.

I think it is simply a matter of expectations. We are already expecting lesser and lesser from USPC, at least give us a freaking good deck on Club 808. It's like they were out of ideas and brainstorming for a new club 808 deck and hit a brick wall....until someone said, "why don't we try looking at it from another perspective?"

[John B.]

I actually really like it. I feel for the layman just wanting some cards these could work. I would say the face cards could have been done different but not bad IMO

[Fess]

I actually really like it. I feel for the layman just wanting some cards these could work. I would say the face cards could have been done different but not bad IMO

It's cool you like it. I'm really glad someone does, shows there is a market for them after all. Question though, Club 808 is for laymen who just want some cards? I don't know many people who just want a deck of cards to mess with that go above key words which make give us pause and lead toward pass, "plastic coated". Those few that do are quite content with standard backs for a buck and a half, or mavericks for a buck. I don't mean to sound elitest or anything like that at all, honestly, but Club 808 decks command a price a bit higher than those just mentioned.

It's not that it's a bad deck of cards that make people react in a negative manner. It's that it's a bad deck and it's a club 808 offering. The Club 808 bit makes a pretty big difference in how it's seen and accepted. If this was just another Warrior Horse, a vastly superior deck in my humble opinion but readily offered without any club 808 fees or price, I think I'd have a slightly different opinion.

[Don Boyer]

It kind of reminds me of this old deck release notice that "xela" last posted over a year ago...

Warning - you might wet your pants laughing... 

[John B.]

For club 808 its probably not the best market, but if they put these out in wal marts they would sell well.

[Don Boyer]

For club 808 its probably not the best market, but if they put these out in wal marts they would sell well.

At Club 808 prices?  I doubt it.

Anything will sell at WalMart if it's cheap enough.

That's not the point, though.  Club 808 is a premium club with a paid membership.  One would expect that the decks being offered would be premium quality as well, in manufacture, design and artwork.  This does not live up to that description.

[John B.]

For club 808 its probably not the best market, but if they put these out in wal marts they would sell well.

At Club 808 prices?  I doubt it.

Anything will sell at WalMart if it's cheap enough.

That's not the point, though.  Club 808 is a premium club with a paid membership.  One would expect that the decks being offered would be premium quality as well, in manufacture, design and artwork.  This does not live up to that description.

Yea I agree with the view on club 808, and I dont know what its currently selling for at club 808 but for a bit more then a standard deck I could see it doing ok.

[Don Boyer]

Yea I agree with the view on club 808, and I dont know what its currently selling for at club 808 but for a bit more then a standard deck I could see it doing ok.

The first two Club 808 decks - not including the membership deck, which isn't for sale - were $5.99 each.  The subsequent six decks sold fro $7.99 each.  The Perspective deck is presently only available as an uncut sheet for $20, but I think it's safe to say that when it releases, it will cost at least $7.99, making it anywhere from twice as expensive to about eight times as expensive when compared to most other paper decks that sell at WalMart.  They'd sell out eventually, I'm sure, but probably not before a price cut - or if all the other, cheaper decks were sold out.

It's also worth nothing that Club 808 decks are manufactured in quantities of only 5,000 decks.  That means that if you counted just WalMarts in America, you'd get not more than two decks into each store with an even distribution.  As of the end of 2013, there are 4,177 WalMarts in the US, not counting the Sam's Club membership stores.  It wouldn't be worth the effort.

(As of April this year, there are 11,088 locations including Sam's Club and all wholly-owned subsidiaries worldwide and an employee roster of 2.2 million people, making them the world's largest employer, as well as world's largest retailer AND world's largest company based on revenue [over $476 billion last year alone], with over 50% of its shares remaining in the control of the Walton family.)

Yes, the Internet can make anyone a trivia king! 

[Rose]

It kind of reminds me of this old deck release notice that "xela" last posted over a year ago...

Warning - you might wet your pants laughing... 

WOW that is really hilarious!

[John B.]

Well Don, walmart was just an example. I am sure there are smaller chains they could sell them to, I know they sometimes have odd decks that you cant find at the others. I always look as not every walmart has the same decks so they could just send them to 200 walmarts.

[Don Boyer]

It kind of reminds me of this old deck release notice that "xela" last posted over a year ago...

Warning - you might wet your pants laughing... 

WOW that is really hilarious!

Yeah, he was a bit...um..."outspoken"...when he wanted to be...

If he kept up the ad campaign, we might be up to 15,000 cards in the deck by now!  Sprouts, are you taking notes!?    I imagine that would make poker REALLY simple, no?

Well Don, walmart was just an example. I am sure there are smaller chains they could sell them to, I know they sometimes have odd decks that you cant find at the others. I always look as not every walmart has the same decks so they could just send them to 200 walmarts.

If two bricks went to each store, they'd be able to distribute to between 200 and 250 stores.  For a chain with thousands of stores, it's hardly worth the effort - there's no efficiency in purchasing in bulk.  These cards would end up in roughly 5% of all the WalMarts in the US.  Sure, they do place different goods in different stores - it gives people a reason to go to more than one WalMart store, making them more likely to spend more money.  But what criteria would they use for a product like this, something that would probably sell out in under a week at a distribution of only 24 decks to a store?  WalMart is very statistics-driven when it comes to their supply chain - if they can't find a good home for a product, where it will make a lot of money and cost little to obtain in bulk, there's no point in carrying it for them.  5,000 of an item to them is more like a rounding error.

These would sooner end up in "odd-lot" stores than WalMart.  They taken leftovers of anything, regardless of amounts; buy cheap, sell nearly as cheap.  They're like the poor man's WalMarts - yes, there are people out there who just can't afford even WalMart prices so they have to go lower in the retail food chain.  Odd-lot stores are a baby step above thrift shops, but have the benefit of selling brand new products, even the occasional major name brand, and they have a variety similar to many WalMarts.  I once donated an inexpensive 2.1-channel home theater sound system to a zendo which I picked up at an odd-lot store - I think I paid about $70 for it and that was maybe five years ago if not longer.  (It enhanced their "movie night" showings quite a bit, I'm told.)

But no matter how you slice this, we're getting way off topic...