Stories (Vanda Artists Series / Srdjan Vidakovic)

[DiminishedSeventh]

I emailed GW to ask them about Centurio, since he said it was a week away from shipping over two months ago. I got this response:

It is in assembly phase.

That is the response in full. Do with it what you will.

I heard GW got hit with COVID and had to quarantine around the first week of January so that may be causing additional delays, but I agree it’s not looking good for Stories. I don’t even think the art was sent to print yet. Wasn’t the last real update that there had to be “tweaks” to the artwork? And he couldn’t find anyone to print the large deck? *sigh*

[Strag]

Worth pointing out that his website is offline and has been for a few weeks now. Wonder if his last "one time only" sale got fulfilled or not. I don't see this project getting fulfilled at all.

[Bradius]

Not sure. I did get some decks from him recently during his sales.

[GandalfPC]

Vanda website back up again, for what it’s worth…

And the surprising bit, make of it what you will, stories pre order appears on the home page now after centurio rotates out…

Perhaps it was always there and I hadn’t noticed…

[kasuma99]

it's new, i am quite sure.

[Strag]

He's got some big ones, that's for sure...

[GandalfPC]

Solid brass

[EvilDuncan]

I was very surprised to see this update in my inbox. Seems like things are finally moving forward. The timeline below pretty much confirms that the project ran out of money and David had to procure new funds. Also looks like the jumbo tuck box won't be happening, though not for lack of trying it seems.

However, if the timeline is to be believed, he acquired new funds back in May and apparently things have been continuously happening since then and David has neglected to inform the backers until now. Honestly, I find his apology to be quite lacking. I see no reason why he could not have told us about all of this a lot sooner.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello backers,

I realize that this project has dragged on far too long and you have been waiting for a ridiculously drawn out amount of time to see any results from this campaign. I will share more details and explanation for the ongoing delays and lack of updates later in this post but first I want you to know I have only good news to share today!

PRODUCTION STATUS
Cards — Volumes I/II/III are printed and received by GW, Volume IV is printed and in transit to GW, Volume V printing should be complete soon

Stickers/seals — Completed, ready to be applied

Tuckboxes — Completed, ready to be assembled

Coins — Completed, ready to ship

4-Deck Set Boxes — Proof is printed and received, full production run will be underway soon

DESIGN UPGRADES/UPDATES
As a token of appreciation for your ongoing patience, I’ve been able to work in a handful of awesome upgrades to the items that you’ve pledged for. There’s also a few important updates...

• UPDATE—Volume 4 (black) is now printed by Legends w/ gold foiling on card backs. The proofs look amazing! (photo below)

• UPDATE—Volume 5 (purple) jumbo sizing was unfortunately not going to work out (Cartamundi didn’t print the correct dimensions, other options were way too expensive for the resulting quality/features), so...

• UPGRADE!—Instead, purple deck is now being printed standard size by USPC with metallic inks and every non-display deck will be gilded with purple foil for a more premium quality result. These gilded decks will also be more valuable and desirable than the initial jumbo decks planned.

• UPGRADE!—Outer box will now include a magnetic closure (originally box was going to be open on one side). Slight updates to the design but same aesthetic style (brown paper + gold foil). These outer boxes are way more premium than initially planned.

• ADDED!—Gold deck is a new addition to the collection. A limited quantity of 100 black decks will be gilded with gold foil and packaged in a gold tuckbox. These will be made available via lottery draw. Lottery winners will be randomly selected and eligible to add on the gold deck just before orders are fulfilled. More details on this will be shared in another update.

• UPGRADE!—All display decks will now come in printed tuckboxes instead of plain white ones. Red, blue, green, and purple display tucks are printed by USPC and black display tucks will be identical to regular black deck tucks, just without a sticker seal.

• UPGRADE!—All Volume 5 (purple) display decks that were pledged for through Kickstarter or Backerkit will be automatically upgraded to a gilded purple standard deck for free!

TIMELINE (Future dates are estimated)
Note: I've been working on moving this project forward for the past 7+ months and here are just some of the milestones that took place since then...


MORE DETAILS...
First of all, I want to apologize for the extended radio silence. I needed to ensure I had a complete plan in place with specific timelines before sharing any further updates since my previous updates tended to trigger a deluge of follow up questions/comments that I didn’t have time (or accurate information) to address.

Due to inflation + pandemic-related supply issues + rising postage fees, costs for everything have gone up significantly since the campaign was launched. I am personally eating those costs rather than passing them on to you because I know you’ve already waited way too long and it was the least I could do to show my appreciation for your understanding. It took extra time to generate enough sales to cover the additional production costs though (~$26,000), which in turn led to longer delays.

Thank you for your ongoing patience. More updates to come soon as well as some exciting announcements about other projects that have been underway in the meantime...

-David


Ace of spades (USPC / Red deck)


King of clubs (USPC / Green deck)


Back design (USPC / Red deck)


Back design proof (Legends / Black deck with gold foil)


Red tuckbox + sticker seal (GW)


Purple tuckbox (GW)


Gold tuckbox (GW)


Tuckboxes - Vol 1-4 (GW)


Tuckboxes (USPC display tucks on top, GW standard tucks on bottom)


Gold coins


4-deck set + outer box


Outer box proof w/ magnetic clasp


Outer box foil closeup

[Harvonsgard]

Seems like 2023 is off to a good start.

[kevork]

Wow, I want these when they fulfill. I wasn't a collector back then.

[PiazzaDelivery]

as well as some exciting announcements about other projects that have been underway in the meantime...

Is there any way a new Vanda project gets support from anyone who isn't completely new to the space? The update is undoubtedly good news, but as far as I'm concerned, it in no way rehabilitates his reputation.

[bdawg923]

Yep agreed. Not a chance in hell I'd back anything from this dude ever again

[rousselle]

as well as some exciting announcements about other projects that have been underway in the meantime...

Is there any way a new Vanda project gets support from anyone who isn't completely new to the space? The update is undoubtedly good news, but as far as I'm concerned, it in no way rehabilitates his reputation.

This certainly isn't sufficient, but it was absolutely necessary, and it'll be interesting to see how future steps play out.

It seems to me that one way he might work further toward rehabilitating is, perhaps, offering the next few projects through a third party (or in partnership with a third party) who is reputable and rebuild good faith by proxy. Cosmo Solano has accomplished this.

I agree with everybody's frustration, but I continue to hold out hope that he'll regain his footing. Still... one step at a time. Fulfill this, then take further steps to reestablish himself / his brand.

[bdawg923]

He could partner with Santa claus and I wouldn't back him out of principle.

[krystalie]

Seems like the trust in him is really gone, I joined the raffle for the fun of it and won. With my luck, i am 90% sure its due to low number of rafflers. My luck stinks. Now I needa find out how to remove the deck cause I was of the impression it was free should I have won.

[STLBluesNut]

i had to look into this. so, this lottery as he specifically calls it, if you win you then have to pay $50 or $55 for the deck? for a campiagn that is what, 3 years late? aye aye aye.

the update was pretty specific about having to pay for it but wow. it appears you will need to pay in backerkit if you want it. remove it from backerkit if you dont once he open it back up. he should have been eating the cost of those 100 decks to give free for the delay and lack of communication for a long period of time.

his previous update said fulfillment begins mar 3rd. the update on mar 17th says ''The 4-deck set boxes are completed in production and have been shipped to Gamblers Warehouse, where they will soon be assembled.'' more delays. at least it seems they will actually fulfill at this point but has this been a mess. at minimum, i am guessing another couple of weeks for assembly, shipping and delivery.

[bdawg923]

You're not obligated to pay for the deck if you don't want it. Just tell him you changed your mind. It was pretty clear from the start it was $50 if you won the raffle though

[krystalie]

Ah I see, thanks I will try that method. I didn't read the update fully until I saw that I won, I thought eh raffle let me try my luck. Best comment did go out to the dude who said "At this rate, if I win the raffle I think it's you who should be giving me $50." I LOL-ed at that one.

[GandalfPC]

Tell him you will send him the 50 bucks, but it may be delayed several years and he may not hear from you in the mean time - then in two years send him an update that if he enters a raffle and pays 50 bucks you will send it to him early

[Bradius]

I guess I didn't read this raffle well myself either. I was also under the impression that if I won the raffle that the deck would be added for free to my order. I know I am in the majority and am still fine with David, even after all of this. That said, yeah I would prefer to just get my stuff already paid for and call it a day. I am passing on a lot of gilded and "limited" stuff these days, so it is just just David. "limited" has a much different meaning to me with playing cards than it did when I started collecting. That is not to say that I can't get trapped by "limited", but not near to the extent in the past.

[hsbc]

Since I had no idea what raffle you guys are talking about, here's a recent KS update...

As I mentioned in a previous update, I'm offering an additional bonus item that was not included in the Kickstarter campaign: Stories Gold Deck. This deck will be available to selected backers in Backerkit for $50 USA / $55 Int'l.

[Click here to enter the gold deck lottery]

The gold deck is a gold gilded version of the black deck (printed by Legends with gold foil on the back of each card) packaged in a unique gold tuckbox with gold foil. We are only producing 100 gold decks so these are extremely limited.

100 lucky backers will be selected at random from the lottery entries. Winners will be notified by email and a gold deck will be added to your order in BackerKit prior fulfillment.

[davegk]

the update was pretty specific about having to pay for it but wow. it appears you will need to pay in backerkit if you want it. remove it from backerkit if you dont once he open it back up. he should have been eating the cost of those 100 decks to give free for the delay and lack of communication for a long period of time.

Hi guys,

I did opt to upgrade a lot of aspects of these decks (at additional cost to me that was not passed on to backers) since this has been delayed for so long. I saw the gold deck as an extra bonus for dedicated collectors who want a gold gilded deck from this project that was part of a very limited run of 100. As much as I would like to make the gold deck free, I can't since I'm already overextended on this project due to various additional costs as mentioned in KS updates.

-David

[Harvonsgard]

Never had any eggs in the Vanda basket but ... wow.
As I grow older I'm barely surprised. Like really not impressed by stuff like a global virus pandamic. Even a third world war would get barely more than a shrug from me... Seeing how the majority of humans behave and thinks, makes me expect those aforementioned things.

But wow... Like really wow... coming back with that post without any explanation of the radio silence indeed left me baffled. Almost speechless. Kudos David. Thanks for bringing the biggest surprise in the otherwise more or less stagnant for years card scene.

[GandalfPC]

Seeing that he has been communicative to some level recently on the campaign and seems to be committed to fulfilling it I am less demanding of a statement here - glad to see he is coming through it - hope he makes it all the way through and far far out the other side.

[Harvonsgard]

All's well. As mentioned never bought a Vanda deck or overly interested in them. Nobody needs to do anything but just as a consumer I'm letting this producer know that if he would be interested in my money he would have to do more to gain some trust - which for me is the common basis for commerce - from me.

[brownsl]

I got an email that my reward has shipped.

[shermjack]

I did, too! I am very much looking forward to my rewards! Srdjan does nice work!

As for Dave, it was extremely frustrating these past few years, but I hold no ill will and give him credit for coming back and fulfilling the project without holding backers for ransom to cover the increases in cost, unlike some other campaigns. Whether I will back his future projects is yet to be seen, but as for Stories, better late than never.

[EvilDuncan]

Got mine as well.

But I agree, this project has been quite frustrating. Particularly because he doesn't want to address the elephant in the room more than a few token sentences. I'm sure he has some (potentially) valid reasons for the delays, but his communication regarding them is very lacking.

[Bradius]

I just received my Stories decks today. I am excited to get these. I know it has been a long time coming, but he is by no means the only one that has some seriously delayed projects. David did get it done finally. I am just glad David was able to finally get this project finished and delivered. $99 for 8 decks and one nice custom 4 deck case. Artwork by Srdjan, printing by USPCC and shipping included. I will probably not see those deals anymore. Sigh. I really like these court cards.

[Harvonsgard]

Pics or it didn't happen fellows! Do I really have to wait for hsbc to get his decks; as a proof they exist?