RADIA, The Spiritual Successor to AURUM by Encarded

[Trungbreezy]

Just checked my order also, no tracking as of nov. 10. Has anyone received their order?

[badpete69]

only a few decks have gone out so far... I hear the bulk of them will start shipping this weekend.. We will have them in our hands very soon just a little more patience hehe

Edit: Just posted on Fb from Paul:

Packed up the first gross of Radia this afternoon. More are coming Tuesday and I'll be getting all of them on their way asap! Thanks for your patience everyone.

[Stepchild]

to any who like me may open a deck: do not touch the numbered seal as the numbering will rub off at the slightest contact with your fingers. Oop!

[Bikefanatic]

I received my deck. It looks nice, the card backs is unique, my 3 of Clubs was bent, the diamond pips are a darker purple shade than the hearts, the cards have a smell to them and I think they were ok for the $30 price.

[PrincessTrouble]

to any who like me may open a deck: do not touch the numbered seal as the numbering will rub off at the slightest contact with your fingers. Oop!

I opened one of my mine. The number on the seal looked slightly blurred/smudged to begin with, but I ran my finger across it several times and it didn't get any worse.

[Cardician_82]

So I received my deck. First thoughts were the packaging. For an international shipment I was quite shocked to only see a padded envelope with a piece of flimsy cardboard folded over the deck with some bubble wrap as a way to ship a "collectors deck" as Paul stated. Having to spend $40.55US for one deck it should be coming in a small box not a padded envelope. I'm not saying my deck came damaged, but a bit more protection is all I'm saying.

Second, being on his site at the time of launch/pre-order I would've thought I'd see a much lower number other then being in the 280+. I've been thinking about supporting Paul on his Patron as he offers the following.

Screen Shot 2017-11-22 at 5.38.30 PM.png (54.28 KiB) Viewed 7617 times

I want to know exactly what he means by "we will set aside the lowest serial number for all level 20 patrons". At what number does that start at cause I'm sure Paul keeps the lowest numbers for himself and/or for a private reserve batch. So does it start at 50,75,100?? Maybe Paul can shine some light on that.

I mean, if I support your work for years to come and give you a nice meal for $240/year I'd hope that I could continue to get the same serial number for all your future decks you release as a level 20 patron. Is that even possible considering you fulfill everyone's order yourself? Paul recently made a statement on FB regarding fulfillment and why he chooses to not use a fulfillment company.

So now on to the positives of the deck. As I don't open my decks I must say that Paul was right about the shine, the deck SHINES and definitely stands out within my collection. To me, it was worth the $30 that everyone was a bit nervous about prior to seeing pictures including myself.

What I would like to know is the handling. It was said the Chinese factory was the reason for the dislike to begin with as they were known to produce cards that didn't fan or spring well. Has anyone open their decks and worked the cards in to give an option? I'm really curious to this.

Cheerio,

[guru]

to any who like me may open a deck: do not touch the numbered seal as the numbering will rub off at the slightest contact with your fingers. Oop!

I opened one of my mine. The number on the seal looked slightly blurred/smudged to begin with, but I ran my finger across it several times and it didn't get any worse.

It looks smudged to me as well....

[akicer]

I opened one Radia to celebrate the black Friday, and I must say I'm both super satisfied and also disappointed

The deck is awesome - tuck box is well-designed, and holding the cards feels like holding a brick of gold.

At the same time, the handling of the deck is aweful. Not super surprised since the deck is made in the Taiwan factory, but little bit surprise that Taiwan factory + the new feature on the back design = not even able to fan smoothly.

I think if we pay 35 dollars for each deck, Paul should be able to print the deck in USPCC and make some good amount of money even it's a 1000 print run. After Deco every deck is printed by this aweful factory, to me this is kind of an insult to Paul's great desgin.

[Cardician_82]

Thanks for the review akicer. In other words, not a deck for magicians.

Sad to hear the cards being produced overseas is of such poor quality considering the price point of this deck specifically.

[PlanisViator]

When can we expect these to arrive?

[bigskybaby]

Probably USPCC cannot print the shiny material on the deck? I am not too sure. But, I agree that EPCC's deck is shit and is kind of an insult to Paul's design.

[Trungbreezy]

I received my decks the other day, I was about to email them regarding one deck was missing the top part of the cellophane. However, I forgot that I asked for one of them to be signed, oops.

[PlanisViator]

I STILL have not received my order.
Anyone else still waiting for theirs?

[vincero]

Still waiting for my order...

[Bradius]

I have been in contact with Paul and was advised that the manufacturer is evidently sending the decks in two shipments. He has sent out as many orders as he could with the first shipment of decks, but is waiting on the second shipment of decks to finish the orders. I have been advised it will be sent soon, but the fulfillment of the orders is out of Paul's hands. I am stuck too. So much for being one of his Patrons.

[theCapraAegagrus]

I haven't received my order, either.

I'm disappointed as I have been really looking forward to receiving them. I usually have a NYE party and play a decent amount of poker. Would've loved to play this deck then...

[Cardians]

Paul has not commented on this page since September 29th.

He could give us the courtesy of knowing what is taking so long and what is the holdup/reason for such delays. For a 1000 deck print run, there is no reason why the printer couldn't finish this deck in one shot. Most do! So now why would a printer stop printing after 500 sheets?? Why only ship half 500 and delay the rest for 2-3months.

I don't mind waiting, I just hate when creators go silent without giving their supporters a clear transparency as to why production was haulted in the first place. So most (including myself) have to now wait until Mid-January/February to receive a paid deck that should've come wayyy before New Years.

As much as Paul has great artwork and creativity his fulfillment dates are horrible.

[sms69x]

Paul has not commented on this page since September 29th.

You can always go to his facebook and read the sparse updates he posts in there... But since Paul didn't thought his costumers are worth an email explining the why of this delay, I'll also not copy and paste those updates here...

He could give us the courtesy of knowing what is taking so long and what is the holdup/reason for such delays. For a 1000 deck print run, there is no reason why the printer couldn't finish this deck in one shot. Most do! So now why would a printer stop printing after 500 sheets?? Why only ship half 500 and delay the rest for 2-3months.

This can have a simple explanation, probabily Paul paid for a part of the production to get the things moving, and expected to pay full once he started the pre-orders, but something must went wrong along the way and of course the factory suspended the printing of the decks.
Paul is going away from KS but he is using the same principle for his pre-orders, he just found a nice way to save on fees (not that is reflected on the final price of the products, but after all we're just costumers)

I don't mind waiting, I just hate when creators go silent without giving their supporters a clear transparency as to why production was haulted in the first place. So most (including myself) have to now wait until Mid-January/February to receive a paid deck that should've come wayyy before New Years.

I think Paul is kinda going the same path as JR, for the lack of posts from him after his fiasco with this deck, I guess he must feel that there's too much negativity here, because this forum is only good to promote your decks and get your ego grown. When you start get too much criticism (most of it self-inflicted) then the best thing to do is go away (there are very few creators here that can stand it).

[badpete69]

Saw this on facebook a few minutes ago

Radia update: EPCC tells me that despite them pushing the factory everyday, they missed the 20th completion date and are trying to get them done asap.

This is crazy annoying all the way around, because I have literally zero control over it and have made people wait for an exceedingly long time. I am waiting and hoping they finish up this week so I can get these out during Christmas break. This is highly unusual and I haven’t had a situation come up like this in the past 6 years, so I fully understand your frustration.

On the plus side, I am going to guess that Radia is going to be a rarer item than we originally thought in the sense that this process is so hard to do for the factory that they might not want to do it again. Radia may end up the only deck of its kind!

I’m really sorry fo the wait and am going to try to give some little perk to folks that have had to wait.

[Gareth]

Thanks Pete for the info. I continue to be disappointed with Paul not manning up and posting here tbh.

It seems UC is a good place to push your decks, but not to admit delays or issues. As I have (probably monotonously) said about JR - it's not his art or decks which let him down as much as his Customer Service. Hoping Paul doesn't go the same way.

[alric]

The deck artists I appreciate the most are the ones who come here to unitedcardists and become a part of the community. They don't just post in threads related to the decks they sell, but contribute on multiple topics and threads. Off the top of my head, Lotrek, Guru, and Randy Butterfield come to mind. I'm sure there's others.

Unfortunately, Paul Carpenter is not on that list. He's basically only here when he has one of his decks to promote and that's about it. Its been said here before, but it just would be nice if Paul put as much time and effort into fulfillment and customer service after his decks are printed as he does in hyping up his decks and trying to get our money before his decks are printed. Just sayin'.

[Cardians]

Paul had the courtesy to post on FB & IG that he received the remaining decks today, but fails to notify anyone here that shipments are on their way.

So I thought I'd do it for our UC members still waiting on their decks.

This will be the last time I support/purchase anymore of Paul's decks. For someone that self funds his own decks he sure didn't have a problem taken pre-orders faster then the decks were actually completed as a WHOLE!

Bad business practice IMO.

[shaitani]

For someone that self funds his own decks he sure didn't have a problem taken pre-orders faster then the decks were actually completed as a WHOLE!

In what world are pre-orders ever NOT done "faster than" the product is produced? Because it's not this one.
Anyone paying for a pre-order knows the product isn't necessarily created and in hand yet.
Also, of course he didn't have a problem taking pre-orders, that's the one part of the process he has the most control of, once it's in the hands of the printers, he has no control of it anymore.

[badpete69]

OK time to cool it all as this is getting pointless...enough with the bashing between some of you. Locking topic for now

EDIT: Topic re-opened. I know we have lots of passion on this thread but let's keep the cursing and name calling out of it. Thank you

[theCapraAegagrus]

I received mine yesterday and took a brief look. My lord. An absolutely gorgeous back design on well-thought-out material layering.

Huge problem: There are random nicks and scratches on a lot of the cards. You won't notice them when the light reflects off, but looking at them dull to appreciate the actual artwork, they're all over the deck. EPCC China did not take care of these AT ALL while packaging into the tucks. I am severely disappointed. I haven't evaluated their play-ability, handling, etc.

The seals are nice, but as previously stated, the ink rubs off very easy. Also sad.

[vasta41]

let's keep the cursing and name calling out of it. Thank you

Screw you, Pierre.

[RichK]

TwoPieceFeed,

What, if any, perks did you get for waiting that Paul mentioned above?

[Cardians]

TwoPieceFeed,

What, if any, perks did you get for waiting that Paul mentioned above?

Likely a sticker for your troubles....

[Bikefanatic]

I think we know now that just because something is an industry first doesn't always mean it'll be very spectacular.

Once again, this deck is worth the price but I'm still not blown away with the back design.

[theCapraAegagrus]

TwoPieceFeed,

What, if any, perks did you get for waiting that Paul mentioned above?

Cardians nailed it... A %^&*in' sticker...