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Pablo393 wrote: ↑Mon Nov 01, 2021 12:11 pm I think the year runs October through September. At least that is how I was charged last year. Anyone else have their charge history?

I think you are correct. I could not find anything definitive but there was an issue with those signing up in September of last year being charged for September. So, that leads me to believe it is Oct through Sep.

Thanks!

Pablo393 wrote: ↑Mon Nov 01, 2021 12:11 pm I think the year runs October through September. At least that is how I was charged last year. Anyone else have their charge history?

I can confirm this is correct. The first payment for the 20/21 Subscription was taken on the 1st October 2020.

My Patreon charge is now pending since today so I guess the lockdown is final now.

Has any shipping dates been announced?

I had to leave Patreon due to finances so I no longer receive messages there.

Thanks for any info

LOL - dead silence (Which I don't mind since Lotrék shall print decks and ship them, instead of procrastinating on patreon).
Last update regarding the Silk decks was when he posted on instagram some days ago, that they're currently still printing.
No update on the Patrons exclusive deck itself.

Latest word is the front sides are done and the backs will presumably take us into March. From the pics he shared, these look pretty sweet!

March. That's ambitious of you to say

Where are those pictures from?

Lotreks newsletter https://shoutout.wix.com/so/1eNy4CmSa?l ... 45b3beb679

It would be nice to have some reward sent to backers after 17 months of making payments. I would see it as a sign of good faith, as we as backers have shown him. This is not intended to disrespect in any way. I know Lotrek delivers on the goods but this is an unreasonable amount of time in my opinion. I respect the man and his work, and in the end the results will be fantastic as usual but something to show would be nice.

Well spoken James. I honestly had some call for his head thoughts already but I'll try to stay patient.

bdawg923 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 16, 2022 5:39 pm March. That's ambitious of you to say

Heh. I didn’t say what year…

I am afraid it just comes down to patience or pick up his decks after they are fulfilled. I don't have any additional information. However, based on what he has stated here and in several other places, we can understand a few things. We know that The Tempest decks and material he produced for that campaign took way longer than he expected and basically put him a year behind (yeah, that is a year). At this point, Lotrek has said "No" to all outside work. From what I have seen, that even means tucks. You should notice that even Lorenzo is using another firm for his new tucks. I am sure he would have used Lotrek if he could have done so (for a lot of reasons). So, I think Lotrek is really serious when he said that, at least for the time-being.

Also, Lotrek is a small operation, so he can't push his weight around and get priority attention at the printers. He just gets limited access. So that not only means it takes him a long time to print anything, when there are issues and stuff needs to be reprinted, that just makes a bad situation worse. Because Lotrek is compelled to print in ways that have never been done exactly the same way, errors will happen.

As he stated in this latest update, projects like Silk require tons of time at the printing facilities, to which he already has limited access (for further details see above paragraph).

I don't mean this to excuse Lotrek, nor do I think Lotrek excuses himself. I am just explaining that it is kind of the nature of his work that stuff often involves huge delays.

In the past, Lotrek's original solution was to work in the dark and just issue a finite number of wonders when they were ready. Put his 350 wonderful creations up for sale and have them all sell out in 30 seconds to mostly folks that will resell them immediately on eBay and elsewhere for twice the price even as Lotrek counts his money. Why should Lotrek care? He doesn't get complaints about being late and he sold what he had in a few short seconds. He can now handle the cash flow issue.

The other option is to pay in advance. Let Lotrek work in silence, and get his wonders when they are ready. I am sure Lotrek would probably prefer the first option because it is less stress on him. I am also sure Lotrek would be fine with limiting the number of Patrons so he can make sure his production is a manageable given his limited production capabilities.

I for one much prefer paying in advance and just waiting. I've been down the other path and didn't like paying to buy these off others or trading off my other whales to get what I couldn't secure in the shark-fest that is a limited Lotrek release.

I honestly wish there was a better option as well. Feel free to recommend something better for Lotrek keeping in mind he can sell everything he produces quite easily.

Oh yeah, also note that one box of Wylenti decks has vanished in/from US Customs. If those aren't found, Lotrek will have to make more of those decks. I think from what TGW said in a post, that Lotrek should be able to use extra uncut sheets he has to make up the needed decks, so that work might be able to be done without impacting his other printing works by finishing the missing Wylenti decks while in-between printing jobs. 60 people are directly impacted including me for 3 decks.

Is this something Lotrek should have planned on? Maybe. I don't know, but just giving a latest real story how this stuff falls downhill...yeah we are all downhill. Thanks shipping/customs gods.

It would be nice at the very least to have more updates on Patreon - most recent posts are Nov. 9, Dec. 19, Jan. 3, and Jan. 30 - especially since his is the most expensive out of the four people I support on Patreon right now. Meanwhile Lorenzo has posted 12 times this month and it's less than half the cost! I honestly don't mind waiting months (and months and months, even) but I would just like some updates

24 plates for one deck... Coming from a print industry background, I still can't grasp that madness, lol.
Lotrék is possessed. POSSESSED I SAY!

Harvonsgard wrote: ↑Thu Feb 17, 2022 3:37 am 24 plates for one deck... Coming from a print industry back ground, I still can't grasp that madness, lol.
Lotrék is possessed. POSSESSED I SAY!

Ours may be a small community in the larger world of playing cards, but it's filled with a very diverse group of people (or Odd Fellows as what Lorenzo would describe us) who are involved in the same or similar industry. Really appreciate these types of input and that shows just how extremely difficult it is to do what Lotrek is doing.

Probably why we're so incredibly patient with Lotrek, compared to crowd who claimed that TGW and Lotrek are basically scams. I would be as well if I was a new backer who knows next to nothing about how complex printing can be when you're doing what Lotrek is doing.

I'm patient on the deck delivery (probably more than I should be, after all we are at nearly 18 months since first payment for some of us, even for Lotrek that is overboard) but I agree that there should be more frequent communication on Patreon. At this point even Encarded has posted more on Partreon this year than Lotrek has! I will be reconsidering backing for a few Patreons for next year and not sure that this one will make the cut, I'm sad to say, unless we do see some improvement.

Fok updates... bring me Han Solo! Ehm decks I mean.

Bradius wrote: ↑Thu Feb 17, 2022 12:46 am I am afraid it just comes down to patience or pick up his decks after they are fulfilled.

I don't mean this to excuse Lotrek, nor do I think Lotrek excuses himself. I am just explaining that it is kind of the nature of his work that stuff often involves huge delays.

I honestly wish there was a better option as well. Feel free to recommend something better for Lotrek keeping in mind he can sell everything he produces quite easily.

Brad, you will get no disagreement from me on the points you have made. He has said he is making adjustments, the best one being no longer producing for others. He is certainly not making excuses for himself either. Yes, his decks will sell no matter what. But all I am asking for is at least something to show good faith in his supporters. I'm a collector. I'm for supporting him, but in the end it's primarily about the decks and the enjoyment I get from owning them, as selfish as it sounds. I'm not speaking for anyone but myself here, but I think more than a few members would agree. I'm not backing out, but I'm not as happy as I once was about being a patron.

I totally get your point James. I just remember I missed the first of a two phase release for I think it was the Arabesque Silver. I was more than a little sore as I purchased no less than seven Arabesque gold, and most of those sight unseen. Then I had to fight with everyone for a more limited set of Arabesque Silver and got completely skunked. I mean I had the decks in my order and then finished my order of several decks (4) with a note saying only two left, placed the order again and failed, only one left. Then placed my order a third time and was rejected again, none left. You can imagine how pissed I was, even when I managed to get my four decks in the second wave. I tried to cool down for several hours. If I have ever done a scorching thread here, that was it!

Lotrek actually gave a thoughtful reply and said part of him wanted to say he was fine. HIs decks sold out in seconds. He got his money. It works for him. But he went on to explain his struggle for a workable business model when he has finite time and ability. He initially pushed back on the whole Patron thing because at the time the model was something like what Kings Wild does, at that was just too much business work for Lotrek that he was not prepared to deal with. Luckily, Gio and Lorenzo had gone down the Patreon path and showed something like that could possibly work for Lotrek.

Here is a link to my actual comment and Lotrek's reply if you want to check it out: http://unitedcardists.com/viewtopic.php ... &start=330 If anyone wants to check out a comment from me when I am pissed, there you go.

I agree, more communication would be appreciated by me as well. One of the things I love about being a Patreon with Lorenzo, is he engages us in the design process and even choices. Gio just overwhelms us with stuff. As has been mentioned we are a small group, but we do spend a ton in this obscure hobby and are quite passionate. Reaching out to us in Patreon is easy and helpful on so many levels. I agree!

Bradius wrote: ↑Thu Feb 17, 2022 2:04 pm
Here is a link to my actual comment and Lotrek's reply if you want to check it out: http://unitedcardists.com/viewtopic.php ... &start=330 If anyone wants to check out a comment from me when I am pissed, there you go.

Umm, I hate to tell you but you really need to update your "pissed" game. Unless you meant it in the UK sense (which means really drunk) and even then I'm not seeing it.

I get the UK version of "pissed". I worked in London after college (my office actually overlooked the Tower of London).

Yeah, I need to up my pissed game. No doubt.

I don’t know if its a good idea to try to talk a squirrel with a machine gun into getting more pissed, regardless of the meaning…

I’m a patron since last october, and figure if I get my reward a year later the surprise may be too much for my heart to handle - getting it by the following June is in my expectations, and I doubt I will think of getting pissed about it until at least August.

Certainly I came into this late enough to have my eyes wide open on the way in - Paul Masson has nothing on Lotrek for when they release - and I prefer it that way

Most of us are used to the patience. I'm not excited for Maestro and Codex until the Royal Silks are in my hands.

This might be a stupid question, and I don't even know if I want the answer lol. With all the bluster behind the Moresque, Royal Silk, Codex, and their Patrons editions, do we actually know whether the "Patrons" playing cards are ready to go? I'm talking about the Patreon-exclusive deck from which the court renders are being posted one at a time.

I echo many of the sentiments posted above.

Err no. As far as I'm up to date Royal Silk gets produced currently - no clearity about which version though and if all three are indeed ready in March then.
No update on "Patrons" itself.
Codex sheduled to be a late (lol) spring kickstarter.
The final foiled Morésque is not announced.
Maestro was posted on instagram these days but no info on a when and where.
I hope you found the answers you were looking for or never wanted to read, haha.

Bradius wrote: ↑Thu Feb 17, 2022 2:04 pm I totally get your point James. I just remember I missed the first of a two phase release for I think it was the Arabesque Silver. I was more than a little sore as I purchased no less than seven Arabesque gold, and most of those sight unseen. Then I had to fight with everyone for a more limited set of Arabesque Silver and got completely skunked. I mean I had the decks in my order and then finished my order of several decks (4) with a note saying only two left, placed the order again and failed, only one left. Then placed my order a third time and was rejected again, none left. You can imagine how pissed I was, even when I managed to get my four decks in the second wave. I tried to cool down for several hours. If I have ever done a scorching thread here, that was it!

Lotrek actually gave a thoughtful reply and said part of him wanted to say he was fine. HIs decks sold out in seconds. He got his money. It works for him. But he went on to explain his struggle for a workable business model when he has finite time and ability. He initially pushed back on the whole Patron thing because at the time the model was something like what Kings Wild does, at that was just too much business work for Lotrek that he was not prepared to deal with. Luckily, Gio and Lorenzo had gone down the Patreon path and showed something like that could possibly work for Lotrek.

Here is a link to my actual comment and Lotrek's reply if you want to check it out: http://unitedcardists.com/viewtopic.php ... &start=330 If anyone wants to check out a comment from me when I am pissed, there you go.

I agree, more communication would be appreciated by me as well. One of the things I love about being a Patreon with Lorenzo, is he engages us in the design process and even choices. Gio just overwhelms us with stuff. As has been mentioned we are a small group, but we do spend a ton in this obscure hobby and are quite passionate. Reaching out to us in Patreon is easy and helpful on so many levels. I agree!

Y'know Brad, you are totally right about Lorenzo. He gives the perfect amount of info to the Patreon members. Not too much, not too little. Just right. I think that, along with him being right on time with his rewards works perfectly. I do like Gio's output of decks though. I don't know how he does it. And then there's Lotrek...a different animal altogether

I am patron to Gio and Lorenzo as well, but I think we can all admit, there is no deck of either that could be mistaken for a Lotrek deck. They are different animals altogether.

in al honesty

the guy says he can barely get to the printing press bc he has to "get in-line" due to other orders which are first in priority in front of him. ok..!?

does he not pay for printing/press time??? what kinda sh$t show are you running LOTRÉK?????

so between all the down time of NOT being at the press / one would think communication would come 2nd to his loyal supporters 1-day a week leads to 6 days of free time... ummm take a page from Lorenzo would u

im another supporter here waiting on something to come in the mail some 17 months n without communication

zippo nothing

the lack of communication is what kills his overall reputation