Kickstarter Card and Deck Projects Report - replaced by New Deck Report on PCP

[Don Boyer]

Just checking in, at about 5:30am New York time:

With just 14 hours remaining, Lance Miller's Black and White Actuators are building up steam and raring to go at 157% of his $14K goal met.  It was little surprise that he made it across the finish line with a respectable margin for error.

At 13 days to go, Amanda Cleal's Crimson Gate looks unlikely to make it out of the gate, with only 13% of her $16K goal met.  I know her deck wasn't very popular around here, but still...it's not like she designs for Merz67, that purveyor of fine playing cards, Billy Bob products and fart machines...  (I kid you not; just go to merz67.com and see for yourself!)  One-stop shopping for all your hillbilly needs!

With a mere 16 days left, Sean Whelan's Galvanic deck is also on shaky though somewhat better ground - he's received 39% of the $15K he requested to get his deck charged up.  Anyone want to give his deck a jump start?  The consensus around here was that it was a design worth seeing daylight.

With just over a month remaining, Ruth Miller's fantasy of creating a Fairy Tale deck based on the art of Arthur Rackham may actually become a reality, having so far met 38% of her $8,800 goal.  Why so low a goal, you may ask?  She's not printing with the USPC, instead opting to use an Indian manufacturer, despite the tuck box mockup on her site clearly stating by the barcode (in very tiny print, I'll admit) that it's a product of USPC...  Naughty, naughty...  But if you're into the artwork and the really cool-looking pips, go for it and help it get over the hump(-ty dumpty)...

Coming in at around a month as well is the Deck of the Living Dead, another non-USPC deck by Chris Pallace of my home state of New York.  His $22K goal is only 24% met so far, but I believe this one will be shambling past the graveyard rather than becoming a resident - his design is very attractive and in addition to the European-style four indices per card, he adds a unique feature of a fourteenth card, the Grim Reaper card, to each suit, bringing the total number of cards to 60 per deck.  It's the more cartoony side of Goth, really...  (That's a GOOD thing - they take themselves way too seriously, those Goths...)

If you haven't checked out the other decks Pallace's Bent Castle Workshop (http://www.bentcastle.com/Bentcastle/Bent_News.html) is offering, I feel they are not to be missed. There's Pegleg Pete's Deck of Royal Rogues (http://www.bentcastle.com/Bentcastle/Pegleg_Petes.html), a pirate-themed deck in two colors, also with a fourteenth suit card (Serpent) but with only two indices instead of Living Dead's four, and the Pippoglyph deck (http://www.bentcastle.com/Bentcastle/Pippoglyph.html), a beautiful reinterpretation of the classic face design in red backs only.  No, they aren't USPC decks, but they're damned pretty...

 

[xela]

I'm moving this to Des&Dev - I think Kickstarter-related items, aside from "new deck" topics should be there. :]

I hope Sean's deck makes it. As for the rest, I don't care that much. The DOTLD looks like it took a lot of work and effort, so my best wishes goes to the designer. Just because it's not my cup of tea, doesn't mean it shouldn't be  many others'. It's fantastic artwork.

[phantom1412]

I think it's because of too many decks are released. So, people became very picky.
If they found at least one reason not to buy the deck, they just won't pledge.
Those reasons are Eg. non-uspcc decks or the deck has nothing stand out from the others.


So, from now on, if anyone wants to produce some decks, he/she has to make sure his deck has something different form others. And also, it must be in good quality decks.

[Jin Jian]

all the deck are good but i like the galvanic deck more..i think that the reason his deck fund is so less is because of the cheap uncut sheet

[phantom1412]

I think Gulvanic is the best among those likely-to-be-unsuccessful decks.
I didn't pledge on that, because I have to stop and think more about my expense.
So, I will say goodbye to the kickstarter decks that are not catching my eyes.

[Jin Jian]

same too .. i did not pledge of either of them but if the funding is really success and have those kind of upgrade i will get a few

[MrLukeCarroll]

If I was going to get any of those cards it would be the Galvanic, but I'm not 100% sure on if I should get them or wait for something else to come out.

[Jin Jian]

if i were you i will pledge for the deck .. but not really sure if the deck will be funded .. 15 days to raise 9k not easy

[KPopFever605]

The only deck I'm really looking forward to is the Galvanic deck, as the Actuators have already succeeded. I like its' sci-fi theme, but sadly, I doubt it will make it.

[Jin Jian]

The only deck I'm really looking forward to is the Galvanic deck, as the Actuators have already succeeded. I like its' sci-fi theme, but sadly, I doubt it will make it.

ya same i really like the ace of spades the back design all those stuff of the deck but raising 9k in 15 days is totally impossible .. hope miracle happen

[Don Boyer]

same too .. i did not pledge of either of them but if the funding is really success and have those kind of upgrade i will get a few

Why wait?  If you like it, get it as a Kickstarter deck.  If you wait, it might never see the light of day!  KS prices are usually lower than retail to start with.

The only deck I'm really looking forward to is the Galvanic deck, as the Actuators have already succeeded. I like its' sci-fi theme, but sadly, I doubt it will make it.

It won't if you don't back it!

I hear people saying, "Oh, I like this, but I'll wait 'til it hits retail."  Hello?  Without the backing, it WON'T hit retail stores.

It's like the recent study that finds your best chances of getting aid in the event of an assault in a public place are if just a small number of people witness the act as opposed to an entire crowd.  When the crowd mentality kicks in, most of the crowd assumes that someone else is either summoning help or going to help them, so in the end, practically (or in some cases, exactly) no one stops to help.  With fewer witnesses, this assumption doesn't hold as much water, so people will be more likely to offer aid.

A crowd of people are saying they like this deck, but only a small percentage of them are actually backing it.  With a prevailing mental attitude like that, no, it won't succeed.

[KPopFever605]

The only deck I'm really looking forward to is the Galvanic deck, as the Actuators have already succeeded. I like its' sci-fi theme, but sadly, I doubt it will make it.

ya same i really like the ace of spades the back design all those stuff of the deck but raising 9k in 15 days is totally impossible .. hope miracle happen

well, when your talking about miracles, it could happen. I believe that one of lance's decks didn't make it until' the last day. so as long as you have faith it could happen.

[xela]

The only deck I'm really looking forward to is the Galvanic deck, as the Actuators have already succeeded. I like its' sci-fi theme, but sadly, I doubt it will make it.

ya same i really like the ace of spades the back design all those stuff of the deck but raising 9k in 15 days is totally impossible .. hope miracle happen

well, when your talking about miracles, it could happen. I believe that one of lance's decks didn't make it until' the last day. so as long as you have faith it could happen.

I recall both the Actuators and the B&W Actuators easily meeting their goals.

If you're right, though, then Lance's initial goal on the actuators was very small. I know how hard it is to raise even $5000.

The reason the Galvanic might not succeed is because it takes a great deal of marketing to actually have the deck spread by word of mouth. I created this community and the Facebook page to aid me in that, and of course I had 2000 subscribers on YouTube. I spent all day posting on different forums and getting people to send out the link in their newsletters.

Every day I would contact pledges and talk with them about what they could afford and when they could pledge.

A 10 hour work day seven days a week got me to $32k. The quality of your product doesn't matter if it's not yet tangible and nobody knows it exists.

EDIT: This is not meant to be boastful, but rather some good advice for anyone that wants to succeed on KS.

[Don Boyer]

So, here's what I'm seeing, Tuesday December 6th, 1:21 in the morning...

Crimson Gate is VERY unlikely to succeed, practically no chance.  The deadline's in four days and she's only raised 13% of the requested $16K.  Someone call the casket maker and order up a fresh pine box...

Galvanic is now looking like it will fail, with only 41% of his $15K goal met and only 7 days to cross the finish line.  Hey, make that TWO pine boxes...

Deck of the Living Dead seems to have less steam, but there's still a good deal of time left; 22 days to get from 31% of his $22K goal all the way to 100% or more.  It could happen.  (Just don't hold your breath waiting for the celebratory "goal met" dinner party.)  The deck may still see the light of day since it's being made by an established card company rather than a single designer with a dream.  I get the feeling they wanted to try KS just to see if they could make a deck without having to front all the costs themselves.  The jury's still out on the answer to that.

The Fairy Tale Art Cards are also chugging slowly along, having met 41% of her $8.8K goal with 25 days to go.  She's more likely to get over the hump due to such a low goal, but her cards aren't likely to appeal to this crowd anyway, having thus far been met here with an indifferent shrug.

There's been two outright failures in the playing card category - the "Deck the 1% - Occupy Wall Street" playing cards only made it to just short of 10% of its $16K goal, and that wacky Triple-Topper "three-dimensional" deck managed to raise only $90.00 - a mere 1.5% of the $6K goal.  (So, that's thirty from mom, thirty from dad, and thirty from that crazy guy at work, right?)  It was pretty much doomed from the start, being such an alien concept in a market that likes design innovation more than a total rebuild of how playing cards are supposed to work.  I think it's safe to say that the Triple-Topper is the worst deck fail in the history of Kickstarter, and perhaps in the top ten or so of worst failure in any category.

The new entries:

"Outland" playing cards.  Anyone not in the SCA will scratch their heads at this one.  It has a miniscule goal that's already 8% met, but any deck printed on a thousand-dollar budget screams "I'm crap!!" with the volume turned to eleven.  And it's another alien concept, with its seven "barony" suits...

The Typestache deck is an odd but not unheard-of concept - a deck created solely to advertise a product, in this case an app for smartphones to place down-facing curly brackets on people's faces in photos.  I'm sure it's cute, but an app like that is about as important to the world as the numerous fart sound effect apps and fake lighter flame apps and lightsaber apps and beer mug apps...  The deck is bridge size, really cheaply made with only a $1.2K budget, and is already at 59% of its goal.  But this is the same deck that only give you cards for a reward if you're in a completed "bracket", a multiple of what's needed to get the next print run of cards made.  No one knows what the poor souls who get caught in the last, incomplete bracket will get, but it won't be cards...  Is it even legit to do that on Kickstarter?  Wave a prize at you and tell you there's a chance you won't even get it despite being a backer?  My head hurts just thinking about it.

There you have it.

[sinsandman]

Hey Sabacc, I just stumbled across this thread. I really like what you are doing here. Might you have some experience in journalism? Seems so. Anyway, digging it, you have brought to my attention a couple decks I had not seen on KS before. Thanks

[Don Boyer]

Hey Sabacc, I just stumbled across this thread. I really like what you are doing here. Might you have some experience in journalism? Seems so. Anyway, digging it, you have brought to my attention a couple decks I had not seen on KS before. Thanks

Thanks.  I've always been good at writing.  In ye olden days when the SATs only had two 800-point sections, I scored a 700 in English.  (550 in math, despite my logical mind...)

It's long past time for another update.  I have to put it in another post - I tried here but hit the character limit for post size, which until now I didn't even realize existed...

[Don Boyer]

As of today, Sat. 31 Dec. 2011 at 1:47am, here's what we're seeing on KS...

Another two bite the dust - Crimson Gate failed on December 17th (no surprise), and the much-liked Galvanic deck died three days later (again, no surprise).  No word on whether CG will come back - my tea leaves are saying no, but they're fickle.  The Galvanic is expected to return in the spring with a more-polished design including custom court cards, giving it a better chance of life.  Long live Galvanic 2.0...
 
 A firm called Mitee Games pushed out a deck called "Whot!" which according to their hype is better than UNO.  But since it's not a standard 52+jokers deck, they've passed by here utterly unnoticed.  They're at 3% of the needed of the $5,500 goal with only seven backers so far (I guess the designer tapped out all the family he/she could find) and five-and-a-half weeks to go.  Don't hold your breath.
 
 The butt-ugly and totally alien Outland playing cards are indeed dying the ignominious death I predicted here earlier - even with such a low goal, they've only hit 29% (all of that from a mere 8 backers!) with 9 days remaining.  Somebody call the coffin maker; he's gonna need some more pine...
 
 In what is to me a bit of a shock, the attractive project for the Day of the Living Deck deck is barely over a third of the way to its $22K goal with a mere four days to go.  Only a hail Mary or an angel investor will save this project.  I'll be sad to see it go, but there were a number of factors working against it, not the least of which being the current deck glut, manufacture by a company other than USPC and people's checkbooks and credit cards groaning under the strain of plain-old holiday shopping, not to mention the "our prices/prizes/premiums are insane" marketing tactics of some of the usual magic/playing card suspects we all know and love/hate.  With any luck, this deck will see the light of day without a Kickstart, since the company putting it together is not exactly inexperienced at this and has apparently done OK with KS so far.
 
 Fairy Tale Art Cards - a week to go, not quite halfway to the goal.  More pine!
 
 With just 67 backers, the Typestache deck hit its goal and has seven days left.  But before you decide you want to jump on the bandwagon and get a deck, read the fine print.  The only people receiving rewards beyond the first 100% are those who manage to get the deck to the next "multiple" of the original goal, representing an additional printing of the deck.  They're only 105% funded now, so that next multiple (the 200% mark) won't likely get reached before the deadline - anyone backing now will just get consolation prizes of an unknown nature.  Woo.  AND hoo.  (Not.)
 
 The Modern Hanafuda deck is running strong despite the completely non-Western playing cards.  I think some pluses in designer Sarah Thomas' favor are that the cards are slightly larger than poker sized rather than the traditional miniature size most hanafuda decks are printed in, in addition to very beautiful and simple modern graphics.  With two weeks to go she's at 97% of her $6K goal - it's practically a shoe-in.  Interesting bonus - invest $1K and you get to collaborate on the back design AND get a credit as collaborator on the tuck box!  If you appreciate art and/or design, this might just strike your interest.  If you like to flourish, it would be like flourishing pieces of art.  If you're a magician, the oversized non-standard cards would present a challenge, but imagine the unique trick routines you could devise, factoring in that the cards represent months in the calendar.  It would have strong appeal with a Japanese audience in particular.  The only unknown - quality of the print job.  Ms. Thomas says she's working with casino-quality card stock - but Gemaco puts out "casino quality" cards as well, and most of them are less than ideal at handling.  No mention of the finish, either.
 
 Lastly - the Internet Meme deck.  It's ugly, like "please turn down the volume of that Technicolor Father's-Day-gift-from-a-blind-kid tie" ugly.  It's a gimmick deck, better suited to the bargain bin at Barnes and Noble.  But it's a wild card - there may be just enough people who mainline the Internet from Gigabit Ethernet cables jacked directly into their veins that it could succeed.  It wouldn't surprise me to find this item for sale at ThinkGeek, purveyor of all fine products nerdy and Internet.  It's just not a collector's deck (unless that collector is a novelty/Internet/junk collector), it's too painful to the eyes for flourishing and with such a cheap Kickstart goal I can't imagine it's made to any quality standards that a magician would appreciate.  They have a month and a half to go, so reaching their goal isn't far-fetched.  They're at 13% of $4.2K.

[phantom1412]

I didn't think the hanafuda cards will be funded.
But as for now, just only 1% left.

[dmbaggs]

Honestly, it's not looking good for a lot of the decks. The meme decks and the other playing card games don't have a large target market so it is difficult to get funding. The decks that are intended for this market are really put to the test in today's onslaught of decks. I'm sad the Galvanic didn't make it but I think it will make its return as a more beautiful creation

[MrLukeCarroll]

Yeah not many are going to make it by the looks of it, but it sends a message that we don't support every Tom Dick and Harry that puts out some custom playing cards.

Yeah the Galvanic's sad but it's probably a blessing as they will come back better than they were

[moonexe]

I'll try to pledge for a deck of hanafuda, that way you guys will all see how they turn out. And if it handles well, it'll definitely be an interesting experience.
What I really can't wait to see is that transformation deck that's being designed by Ncyclopedia. The Tendril deck should be pretty nice, too.

[Don Boyer]

I've already pledged for two hanafuda decks - my girlfriend may want to strangle me, but with her engagement ring arriving in the mail today along with our wedding bands, perhaps she'll be more forgiving... 

[MrLukeCarroll]

Well the Hanafuda's just cracked over 100% so as long as they get more backers then people that pull out in the next two week they will be successfull

[moonexe]

Alright, I'm in for two decks as well Let's hope it all goes well!
My last purchase of the year, though it doesn't really count as this year with the transaction being later...

[NathanCanadas]

So Don, will you be keeping this thread going? That would be awesome. You sure are a good writer!