I agree actually. When we started informing etc. making even 500 decks sounded too much! (mistake? probably.) Getting 1000 - I think that someone here would kill me
So, we found ourselves wanting 700 decks (then turned to 666 but that's another story). Anyway, our general trouble is - we are from Europe, but we are not from European Union. Customs is really harsh :/ Another problem was with Australia - triple cost for shipment etc. etc.
Anyway, we are here now. I learned a lot from you guys, so who knows - maybe next time I will ask for help someone here (shipment, printing advices etc.) should I done that before? Probably But as chas said - we had in mind phans (phantom fans) and if some collectors join - cool.
But, I must say again - this doesn't mean we wont make good deck. Supported or not - I'll post pictures here once they're done. I'll give my best.
O, someone said (I think not here) that he actually dont like that deck is linked to animated feature. I'm curious what you think about that. Isn't good thing for deck to have some story behind? We're actually offering the Art of as booklet, which is version of the Art of POTO from our previous campaign. Phans were asking for that, so why not...
Anyway, what's your thoughts about that? Did anyone here watched the trailer for film?
Thanks.
P.S. if admins think this isn't a thread for this question - its ok, I'll stop it.
Actually, your questions are the right ones for this thread.
Honestly, your project isn't a project for a pack of playing cards, despite the statements you've made. If you stop and think about this and look at the items you're offering on the reward tiers, it's really a project to raise awareness of your movie by selling merchandise related to the movie, among which there so happens to be a deck of playing cards.
You've mentioned the harshness of Customs and shipping and so forth - these are not insurmountable problems. It's been pointed out to you here that there have been dozens if not hundreds of successful projects done for less money that made excellent, professional-grade playing cards. I think you're being extremely over-ambitious by making a gilded deck and using a company not known for its expertise at making playing cards. If you took your project to, for example, Expert Playing Card Company or Legends Playing Card Company, they could make you cards that are casino-grade. Legends offers order fulfillment services, and Expert, last time I checked, was experimenting with using fulfillment services straight from the factory. For a LOT less money than what you're asking for to make this project, you could have made a great deck of cards AND by using a fulfillment company outside of Serbia you could have completely dodged the issue of your country's high Customs and mailing costs because most of the decks would never have ended up crossing the border into Serbia in the first place - just those that you wanted to distribute domestically.
All you really needed to do to solve these issues would have been to come here first, before launching your project, and asking a few intelligent questions. In fact, even that is "overkill" - just reading about other projects with similar circumstances would have been enough, but by asking for yourself, you'd be getting information that's practically custom-tailored to your needs.
When people see a project that:
- doesn't have a vendor to make the final product picked BEFORE launch,
- doesn't use a vendor that specializes in making that product, and
- provides vague and unusual answers to simple inquiries about the product,
...it raises a lot of red flags. Far better projects have failed for less. Seriously, how could you even set your goal without knowing what the printing of the deck would cost? Making the deck as expensive as it is when you don't even have a clear, well-defined budget (which you can't yet have because you haven't even selected and finalized a deal with the printer BEFORE launch, like nearly every single other playing card project ever launched on Kickstarter) just seems like the work of an amateur, not a professional; like you're trying to solve the problem of getting the decks made by throwing money at it - the money of your backers! So forgive us if we seem so skeptical.
Since I'm fond of metaphors, here's how I see this... Think of this project like a mountain in your path, one that's so big, it looks like it can't be climbed. Most people, when they see this mountain, will plot a course around it, or perhaps will hire some kind of aircraft and fly over it. Some hardy souls might even attempt that climb, buying the equipment and hiring the sherpas needed for the journey - and with care and patience, they might succeed. Your solution is more like trying to fling yourself over the mountain on a trebuchet...it's difficult, costly, untested and among the riskiest of solutions to the problem at hand. When easier, more effective, tried-and-true solutions exist - USE THEM!