UC2019 (Nº7) Annual Deck by Montenzi: Fulfillment in Progress

[Eric Lee]

UC No.7

Nice, short and simple. Plus you will see lots of 7 hidden all over the deck!

[montenzi]

I have no idea how to work with Cartamundi. They don't respond to requests.

I sent three quote requests on 14/Jun, 17/Jul, 30/Jul. All requests were sent to at least two addresses + one DM via Instagram.

We should consider printing with USPCC without foil and without EU friendly shipping.

[hsbc]

As a bystander it's very strange to me how some people seem to have no trouble with Cartamundi and others say it's like pulling teeth to get them to respond - JR had (has??) similar issues

Seems like a great way to lose customers

[Decknowledgy]

Seems to me a whole lot of people are having a hard time getting in contact with Cartamundi… JR, Elephant, Gakondo… all have issues with late to no response from Cartamundi…

[montenzi]

Seems to me a whole lot of people are having a hard time getting in contact with Cartamundi… JR, Elephant, Gakondo… all have issues with late to no response from Cartamundi…

Jirs is busy, and he will be back after Aug/12 They should have a dedicated person who sits in the office and works with designers/production/pre-production.
The second contact is on holidays till Aug/5. I can use old quotes but need confirmation. Printing standard decks is not a big deal as prices are standard.

I told many times before - USPCC is the best in terms of customer service. They work like expensive Swiss watches.

After Hello Tiki and this project, I'll heavily update my plans.

[Fud]

I told many times before - USPCC is the best in terms of customer service. They work like expensive Swiss watches.

I don't know - I have tried to work with USPCC as well and found their process, options, communication and pricing very unclear. It was nowhere near as bad as communicating with Cartamundi (in that I did get responses), but it was never definite information. Always large ranges on price, time, etc. It did not inspire confidence.

I am hoping that after the merger calms down and Cartamundi restaff a bit, they can get on top of their customer service and make the process smooth.

[montenzi]

I told many times before - USPCC is the best in terms of customer service. They work like expensive Swiss watches.

I don't know - I have tried to work with USPCC as well and found their process, options, communication and pricing very unclear. It was nowhere near as bad as communicating with Cartamundi (in that I did get responses), but it was never definite information. Always large ranges on price, time, etc. It did not inspire confidence.

I am hoping that after the merger calms down and Cartamundi restaff a bit, they can get on top of their customer service and make the process smooth.

You should try USPCC! Ttheir ranges are not that bad. Most of the time you need 1-1.5 months to print a deck with USPCC after signed contract. Prices are constant for years, free shipping out from the factory.

All you need is:
1. Confirm prices and inform that you are going to print a deck You may skip this part.
2. Upload your artwork via special site. No emails, nothing.
3. They will send digital proofs
4. You can request hard proofs
5. Send one email to confirm proofs
6. They will send a contract to sign digitally
7. Pay an invoice. Wait. Done.

Everything is very predictable and without stress. I remember my chat sessions with WJPC... it's a nightmare.

In average, I spend 20-30 minutes of my time to print a deck at USPCC (emails, contracts, confirmations).

[Fud]

You should try USPCC! Ttheir ranges are not that bad. Most of the time you need 1-1.5 months to print a deck with USPCC after signed contract. Prices are constant for years, free shipping out from the factory.

All you need is:
1. Confirm prices and inform that you are going to print a deck You may skip this part.
2. Upload your artwork via special site. No emails, nothing.
3. They will send digital proofs
4. You can request hard proofs
5. Send one email to confirm proofs
6. They will send a contract to sign digitally
7. Pay an invoice. Wait. Done.

Everything is very predictable and without stress. I remember my chat sessions with WJPC... it's a nightmare.

In average, I spend 20-30 minutes of my time to print a deck at USPCC (emails, contracts, confirmations).

Interesting! Seems you had the same experience with WJPC that I had with USPCC, and vice versa. I will get in touch with them again for a short run project to test them out in a few months. Thanks for the info - I had pretty much given up on them TBH.

[theCapraAegagrus]

Sounds like Cartamundi hires automotive supplier project engineers.

I cannot even try to count the amount of times that I have had to ask a coworker to respond to a customer's email or request (in addition to the original email). It's god damn ridiculous and annoying. Do your f&*king job!

[Mike Ratledge]

Seems to me a whole lot of people are having a hard time getting in contact with Cartamundi… JR, Elephant, Gakondo… all have issues with late to no response from Cartamundi…

Jirs is busy, and he will be back after Aug/12 They should have a dedicated person who sits in the office and works with designers/production/pre-production.
The second contact is on holidays till Aug/5. I can use old quotes but need confirmation. Printing standard decks is not a big deal as prices are standard.

I told many times before - USPCC is the best in terms of customer service. They work like expensive Swiss watches.

After Hello Tiki and this project, I'll heavily update my plans.

We'll, Jirs IS that person. I think I would want to wait for him regardless.

[montenzi]

I think I would want to wait for him regardless.

Yes, maybe! I want to see some foil on cards + EU friendly shipping And I am still working hard on the art.

LTD vs STD: ... I don't know. My current mood : to produce all decks as Kickstarter and montenzi.nz exclusive.

Any ideas about this back? One issue here - I'll need to cut some of the designs and produce decks in one style, so I am not sure about one color back.

[BaconWise]

Those are classy AF, Alex. Incredible

[Harvonsgard]

This one is a strong classic back. Awesome one, I really dig this.

[montenzi]

Thanks.

I'll show you the same image with foil. You should see green lines on the border under some angles only. At least it's a plan.

cut1809.png (849.84 KiB) Viewed 2970 times

[irtjames14]

So... it's already Aug 18th.. any updates on the launch date for KS for this crazy / absolutely stunning looking deck?

[Mike Ratledge]

So... it's already Aug 18th.. any updates on the launch date for KS for this crazy / absolutely stunning looking deck?

Alex is still waiting to get the quote from Cartamundi as far as I know. I will let him answer further.

We are trying to get ready for one of the next two weekends.

[montenzi]

Alex is still waiting to get the quote from Cartamundi as far as I know. I will let him answer further.
We are trying to get ready for one of the next two weekends.

I confirm! Please don't worry about the progress. But I need a quote from Cartamundi to plan KS and to decide which back design will be produced.

I MUST post KS date and some final art this week!!! We'll have to print all decks by 15th of Nov to deliver this year. More details soon.

[montenzi]

I posted my last artwork update a couple of weeks ago. Ok. I should troll you now. There is a new feature on Instagram - pay-per-view Stories. An updated King head sketch posted there (1/4 of his head actually). This Story will be available next 24 hours. Yes, I think that my style heads are much better for this deck.

If you are ready, it's just $1 per view. Follow my Instagram, check the latest Story, pay, view! It's easy!

Remember, it's a sketch! ... you know

p.s. if you post a screenshot here, I'll ban you forever

[BaconWise]

I posted my last artwork update a couple of weeks ago. Ok. I should troll you now. There is a new feature on Instagram - pay-per-view Stories. An updated King head sketch posted there (1/4 of his head actually). This Story will be available next 24 hours. Yes, I think that my style heads are much better for this deck.

If you are ready, it's just $1 per view. Follow my Instagram, check the latest Story, pay, view! It's easy!

Remember, it's a sketch! ... you know

p.s. if you post a screenshot here, I'll ban you forever

It looks great, Alex!

[montenzi]

It looks great, Alex!

Yes, thanks! You have not seen his hairs yet! They are classic. Old heads are not bad, but I have spent an abnormal amount of time to make everything works together. This new look helps me to fix everything in this deck!

And I already have more ideas on how to finish. Unfortunately, the classic one-color back design will not be produced in this campaign (most likely). I made a quick sketch of new line art with this head, but I need more time to finish. Not in this campaign as I love the idea! Most likely I'll use that classic back with new courts later.

But in this deck, I'll use lots of colors on backs and courts.

I'll produce that green back design, 100%! I am not sure about the other borderless design. There are two options - borderless back plus white background on cards. Or the same back with borders and again white background on cards. I am talking about my original back. I really want to have one of the deck to be white on courts. Ahhhh...with borders. I don't know.

By the way, I'll show you something. We can try to produce two LIMITED backs. One of them in some crazy colors. Something like this. Please note - it's a quick sketch, so all other colors should be updated to balance.

I cannot decide as I am still waiting for a quote from Cartamundi.

bbb-22.png (558.44 KiB) Viewed 2629 times

[BaconWise]

I cannot decide as I am still waiting for a quote from Cartamundi.

Did Cartamundi take that long when you did the Hello Tiki V2 - Black? It seems like they are sh*tting the bed lately with Jackson Robinson (Invocation) and now with the delayed quote issue for UC No. 7. I just want them to get the ball rolling, if only for the selfish reason of wanting another cold foil Montenzi creation

[Bradius]

Keep in mind that Jirs basically handles the custom card side of Cartamundi and he was on vacation for I think a month. He just got back and started fixing several issues, including the tuck issue another creator had. From what he said, he was expecting someone else to take on his work while he was out, and that didn't happen. I say that to just point out that while not an excuse, at least we keep in mind that it is a company made up of humans. Jirs was expecting some others to handle things while he was gone and they didn't. I imagine Jirs is running crazy trying to get issues that have been sitting in his absence moving again. I know when I go on vacation, I still check my email and often do just as much work as I do at the office so things do get handled. That said, I don't expect everyone to be as insane as I am. I am sure this will get handled shortly and we will get back on track quickly enough. It can't be as late as last year...I hope

And if waiting is what I need to do to get this deck design blinged out in cold foil, then that is what I at least am prepared to do.

[montenzi]

For Hello Tiki, they gave me an instant quote as it was a running Kickstarter campaign. I did not plan to produce White Tiki. But you maybe know, I added the Black Tiki deck on the third day!!! How crazy??? The reason for that - they delayed a quote, so I decided to print with USPCC. I starter HT campaign and got a quote. That's why Black Tiki is the reality now.

We can still wait for a quote at this moment. Jirs is the Superhero anyway Give him some time! No worries!!!

BUT it is more important for us to print decks without delays. Our deadline is the 15th of November. Strict but possible.

Most likely we'll start KS within the next 7-14 days. I'll work hard.

UPDATE: QUOTE RECEIVED.

[daddobrendt]

Did anyone else hear Jackson mention on IG that Cartamundi does not print during the month of August?

[portcullis]

Did anyone else hear Jackson mention on IG that Cartamundi does not print during the month of August?

Not a surprise. The school summer break in Belgium - this year at least - is pretty much the whole of July and August (1/7-30/8)

[vasta41]

BUT it is more important for us to print decks without delays. Our deadline is the 15th of November. Strict but possible.

Agreed! And thank you for your hard work.

[montenzi]

Quotes received. One small (or big?) issue here - I planned to use cold foil and premium paper for boxes, but cold foil is only possible on standard boxes (standard paper stock).

Hahaha! Now I understand that even if I wanted, it was not possible to produce NEO:WAVE Ultra box with cold foil on better paper!

Ok. I don't want to use hot-stamped foil. And it's impossible with this design!!! Or I should design something standard.

I like my cold foiled NEO LTD box (produced in China). It was funny! I designed this box with 5 foils and then tried to find where to print it. Cold foil was the only option for me (2017!).

We can try to add a matte finish, inner printing, and use standard paper for boxes. Any ideas?

One of the options - letterpress without foil or printed/embossed boxes.

p.s. plain white boxes for those who never open decks...

[Romeril]

I posted my last artwork update a couple of weeks ago. Ok. I should troll you now. There is a new feature on Instagram - pay-per-view Stories. An updated King head sketch posted there (1/4 of his head actually). This Story will be available next 24 hours. Yes, I think that my style heads are much better for this deck.

If you are ready, it's just $1 per view. Follow my Instagram, check the latest Story, pay, view! It's easy!

Remember, it's a sketch! ... you know

p.s. if you post a screenshot here, I'll ban you forever

How did I miss this?? I would paid a buck to see!

[montenzi]

How did I miss this?? I would paid a buck to see!

You have seen! That was trolling.

[Bradius]

Another Montenzi victim. Welcome to the club.