The Planets: Mercury by Vanda now live on KS

[serubi]

"A deck of Stellar Playing Cards — Vanda Artists Series designed by Srdjan Vidakovic"



This is the first deck in a series of 8.

[vasta41]

So much to like here... and so much to hate. Obviously amazing tuck, good courts, cool pip arrangement, nice backs and USPCC printing. Also $10 per deck is a good price, even if shipping is a few bucks more (hoping it's included but doubt it). I hate how this will be an 8 deck series (and not because I think it should be a 9 deck series but I digress). I would have liked this much better if there were just two campaigns of 4 each instead. In fact I think this method of one-at-a-time might backfire when the series gets to Jupiter because people will be board of it.
For now I will keep an eye on this because the artwork and customizations are very nice but 8 different KS campaigns will be pushing my ADD.

[Räpylätassu]

Maybe if this does well, they can fund multiple planets in one campaign in the future so that they don't have to do 8 different campaigns. This is amazing design but Vanda is not a huge name on the market yet and funding big projects in Kickstarter is really challenging right now. So I do understand the start with just one planet.

[badpete69]

It is kind of easy to figure out where this guy gets his inspirations. The tuck is obviously a T11 clone type tuck and the back is a cheap copy of Lorenzo's Heretic decks... Plus eight different campaigns......Probably a pass

[Bradius]

I do like the looks of it, but honestly another huge set? I also tend to run away from those when I can.

[davegk]

Wow, you guys are brutal!

In case you haven't seen it yet, check out the thread about this deck on the drafting board:
http://www.unitedcardists.com/viewtopic ... 10a43bda46" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

@vasta41:
Thanks for the positive comments! As much as I would love to launch the entire series as a single campaign, I can't afford to pay up front for the artist fees required to create that much custom artwork and I wouldn't want to run a campaign with artwork that wasn't already finalized and proofs already approved by the printers. Also, the cost and logistics of printing 8 decks all at once and trying to sell enough of them through a single kickstarter campaign would be rather insane. While serious collectors may be interested in dropping enough cash at once to purchase 8 decks, I think the majority of backers wouldn't be able to spend that kind of money in one go and would have to pick a deck or two from the eight. The result would be insufficient funding to print the whole series and everyone loses. That said, if there is an exceptional amount of interest in the first deck, we may be able to fund the rest of the series in fewer campaigns.

@badpete69:
Sorry to hear you're not a fan of the artwork. I think Srdjan has done an amazing job with the illustrations for this deck and many others are very impressed and excited about the results. While I appreciate Lorenzo's work and think he's a fantastic artist as well, I assure you the design for this deck was in no way copied (and certainly not cheaply copied) from the Heretic design and any similarities are coincidental. If you look hard enough you'll find that all design looks similar to something else that already exists. Nobody is forcing you to purchase all 8 decks...if you like it, buy it.

I look forward to seeing you all at the launch on sunday!
-David

[Bradius]

Your look is much more modern than Lorenzo's Heretic deck. Are you going to use different court card designs and such for each deck in the series?

[davegk]

Your look is much more modern than Lorenzo's Heretic deck. Are you going to use different court card designs and such for each deck in the series?

Yes, different court designs for each planet.

[Azazaaz]

Yes! I'm gonna get milked 8 times by shipping fees and customs charges! I can't wait!

[Bikefanatic]

My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pies.

I guess the decks will be released in that order without Earth.

[Bradius]

8 decks: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Pluto is bumped out. Although, based on the recent New Horizon's flyby, it is a really interesting dwarf planet or whatever with a lot of geologic activity going on (and a cool heart shape on it).

[serubi]

Reading all this critique makes me want to express how I feel about this deck.

I followed David's thread back when the deck was revealed in February, and I really feel like he and Srdjan Vidakovic have listened to the community.

The tuck case definitely has a Theory11 vibe going on, which I'm 100% fine with. It looks so good

And the court cards... well, they look absolutely incredible in my opinion. It doesn't seem like any detail was spared.

Along with foil, embossing, custom seals (for LE), and a fully custom design, I think a $10 price tag suits it very well. Especially compared to the overpriced decks being released nowadays.

And with the rest of the decks in the series also having different court designs, I don't have a problem with getting the whole collection.

Recently, I feel like there has been a bunch of junk on Kickstarter (in the playing cards department anyways), so it's really refreshing to see a deck like this on Kickstarter.

I wish you the best of luck with this series!

[davegk]

@Azazaaz:
Not sure what to tell you...I apologize for offering you so many great products to purchase. If you'd prefer, I'm happy to let you pre-order the entire set up front for a lower shipping charge and I can ship you the entire 8 decks in one package after they've all been printed, though I'm not sure how long it will be.

@serubi:
Thanks for the support and kind words!

Also to note: The reward prices do not include fulfillment/shipping costs. I wish there was a way to produce and distribute playing cards at a much lower cost but unfortunately to get a high quality of artwork, printing, and fulfillment it costs money.

[shermjack]

The decks look great, Dave and I am definitely in for a pair! Looking forward to the rest of the series!

[badpete69]

The decks look great, Dave and I am definitely in for a pair! Looking forward to the rest of the series!

Look at you brotha.... kissie kissie kissie

[shaitani]

I'm very interested in these. Not quite sure what more one could ask for out of a deck. Everything custom, beautiful artwork, uspcc, pips, indices, backs, the tuck. Everything is solid.

The main drawback is the number in the series. But i like to think about it this way, just focus on this one deck as is, it meets every criteria for a deck you'd pick up. Like if Theory 11 was releasing this deck with this artwork, id pay the $10 +shipping no questions asked.

Legit question here, for projects in the last year or two, what is the average shipped cost for a single fully custom (non vector art) uspcc Deck?

[badpete69]

Now live

[Azazaaz]

@Azazaaz:
Not sure what to tell you...I apologize for offering you so many great products to purchase. If you'd prefer, I'm happy to let you pre-order the entire set up front for a lower shipping charge and I can ship you the entire 8 decks in one package after they've all been printed, though I'm not sure how long it will be.

Sorry if my message came across as harsh. I just wanted to point out how international backers may feel about the series. Anyway I'm in for 2+2 decks, love the artwork on these!

[montecarlojoe]

The international gripe is valid - though I'm in for 1+1 myself.

I've accepted that shipping is just part of the hobby for me now. However yesterday I ended up paying customs fees for two sets of rewards that I shouldn't have had to (since I did not actually purchase the decks). I'm not sure of the proper way to fill in the customs form for KS but some mark it as a gift (technically true) or quote the base materials value (also technically true) and that usually falls below the tax threshold.

(incidentally I also payed the fee for the latest UUSi sponsored tarot - but that was a commercial transaction so I had no complaints there.)

Though I should make clear I am NOT suggesting Vanda playing cards has done this!

[Bradius]

Congrats on a good start to your campaign. Ghaah. I'm in too. I am glad this is not like some other decks like the zodiac decks that don't create new face cards. I also might be interested in just holding my decks until the whole campaign is over to save on shipping. Other than that, you have me hooked too. Good luck.

[davegk]

IMPORTANT UPDATE:

You can now pre-order the entire 8-deck series. More details found here:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/go ... ts/1986734

[serubi]

@davegk, what happens if a deck in the series doesn't get funded?

[davegk]

@davegk, what happens if a deck in the series doesn't get funded?

Given how much interest I've seen so far, I doubt this will happen, but in the event it does I have some other options to get these decks produced. Worst case is I would refund backers for decks not produced but I think that will be very very unlikely at this point.

[Bradius]

Thanks for listening to us and trying to accommodate us as much as possible. I am in for a 1+1 series set. I am not worried about the series not funding. Congrats on getting funding reached for the first series. I can't wait for comments on the second to last deck in the series.

[vasta41]

IMPORTANT UPDATE:

You can now pre-order the entire 8-deck series. More details found here:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/go ... ts/1986734

Niiiice. Pledging as soon as I get back from vacation in 1 week. Bon Voyage, UC!

[Räpylätassu]

Awesome add! I am happy that this campaign is doing so well!

Where are you going Vasta? Funny story actually about your handle, in Finland sauna is a national past time, a big part of cultural heritage, a place of relaxation but also kind of an holy place. Anyways, sometimes some Finns like to take twigs from birch trees with the leaves on and use them in the sauna to strike themselves in the back, the sides, in the forearms etc. The name for the birch twig used in sauna is a vasta. Or is it? There is an age old, neverending debate in Finland which is the proper term, vasta or vihta. This has been another, SuomiFinlandPerkele story for you UC.

[JuFiN]

So you will need to fund 8 decks in about a year for the timeline to deliver the whole series to work out. Meaning not only do you have to design 8 decks of quality equal to this one which started 7 months ago (atleast publically on this forum). But you have to fund a deck every month and a half or so (so almost back to back projects) with the last one funding before the first is even delivered.

Because most of the biggest fans of the deck will have pledged upfront on this campaign for all the decks there is a smaller pool of people to raise the money from for future decks. Its only a few hours from the new pledge tier launch and already I calculate around 10k of the funding is from full series pledges, pledgers that will not pledge for any future project as they already plan to receive all of the decks. With a funding goal of 18k per deck this seems like an insanely ambitious quest you are taking on.

Yes there is a lot of enthusiasm, but the most enthusiastic people will have pledged for all 8 decks on this campaign and will not be there for future ones. So basically you will have to have a lower goal for those campaigns and use the money from this campaign to off set the loss. Seeing as there is no reason to not pledge for all the decks now assuming you want them we have to conclude that the backers of just this deck will not back all future decks and the backers for all 8 decks also will not back ANY future decks. so future decks will fund FAR FAR less than this one.

It is very easy for me to see this crashing and burning for this reason.

I dont want to sound too pessimistic so ill end by saying I love the deck and altho right now im pledged just for this deck ill probably up my pledge to include all 8 despite my belief its a mistake to offer it.

[davegk]

Fear not, ye of little faith! I realize it's a large undertaking but I've learned much in the 5 years that I've been doing this and am absolutely ready for a project of this scope.

1. I intentionally waited until we hit the funding goal of this project before unlocking the full series tier options just to make sure that the Mercury deck could be funded on its own and new backers are continuing to sign up.

2. Because some of the decks from each of the remaining planets are already purchased, the funding goals for the other decks won't need to be as high.

3. I have a list of wholesalers who have already committed to purchasing decks if/when I make them available for wholesale so there's additional funding available if need be.

4. If we're still short on funding, I have a few other resources willing to help pay for production costs.

5. Yes, the timing will be a little tight. My plan is to run campaigns back to back. Venus won't launch until after backers have received their Mercury decks to ensure they are satisfied with the results of the campaign and ready to sign up again. At that point I think backers will feel comfortable backing additional decks before receiving the previous ones knowing that I'm pushing the timeline to reach a goal of getting the whole series out by the holidays. The rough plan is to launch a deck once per month starting january 15th and ending july 15th so the final campaign will end in august leaving plenty of time for production and fulfillment before december.

6. I actually think that having the first deck in hand will inspire backers to share their excitement with friends, thus creating a larger backer base for subsequent decks in the series.

7. Marketing, Marketing, Marketing. Thus far for the Mercury campaign I've actually done zero marketing aside from sharing with my existing email list and social media networks. I believe this deck theme is perfect for ad campaigns to reach a much broader audience of backers. I'm planning to run a few ad campaigns to see what the results are but I'm pretty sure that will help to drive additional interest.

See? Nothing to worry about...now go forth and back with confidence!
-David

So you will need to fund 8 decks in about a year for the timeline to deliver the whole series to work out. Meaning not only do you have to design 8 decks of quality equal to this one which started 7 months ago (atleast publically on this forum). But you have to fund a deck every month and a half or so (so almost back to back projects) with the last one funding before the first is even delivered.

Because most of the biggest fans of the deck will have pledged upfront on this campaign for all the decks there is a smaller pool of people to raise the money from for future decks. Its only a few hours from the new pledge tier launch and already I calculate around 10k of the funding is from full series pledges, pledgers that will not pledge for any future project as they already plan to receive all of the decks. With a funding goal of 18k per deck this seems like an insanely ambitious quest you are taking on.

Yes there is a lot of enthusiasm, but the most enthusiastic people will have pledged for all 8 decks on this campaign and will not be there for future ones. So basically you will have to have a lower goal for those campaigns and use the money from this campaign to off set the loss. Seeing as there is no reason to not pledge for all the decks now assuming you want them we have to conclude that the backers of just this deck will not back all future decks and the backers for all 8 decks also will not back ANY future decks. so future decks will fund FAR FAR less than this one.

It is very easy for me to see this crashing and burning for this reason.

I dont want to sound too pessimistic so ill end by saying I love the deck and altho right now im pledged just for this deck ill probably up my pledge to include all 8 despite my belief its a mistake to offer it.

[vasta41]

Awesome add! I am happy that this campaign is doing so well!

Where are you going Vasta? Funny story actually about your handle, in Finland sauna is a national past time, a big part of cultural heritage, a place of relaxation but also kind of an holy place. Anyways, sometimes some Finns like to take twigs from birch trees with the leaves on and use them in the sauna to strike themselves in the back, the sides, in the forearms etc. The name for the birch twig used in sauna is a vasta. Or is it? There is an age old, neverending debate in Finland which is the proper term, vasta or vihta. This has been another, SuomiFinlandPerkele story for you UC.

Well I was going to Naples, FL but that obviously didn't work out... so luckily my wife and I were able to get a full refund and used the money to go on a 7 day Boston to Bermuda cruise! Hopefully Jose stays away now. And my handle is actually my last name. All I know about it is that it comes from Sicily (where my Dad's family is from).

[Azazaaz]

IMPORTANT UPDATE:

You can now pre-order the entire 8-deck series. More details found here:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/go ... ts/1986734

Thank you so much for doing this!

Unfortunately for me, I won't be changing my 2LE + 2SE pledge as I missed the Limited Edition Sets. Being on holidays can be cruel

Let's hope for me that some LE sets will be available on the next campaigns!