MEMORIA by Thirdway Industries [KS March 1 2022]

[Bradius]

I knew this was going to be pricy. If for no other reason that the current production and shipping costs. I wish my salary would keep pace.

I was able to go for a mini box, but wanted an Oblivion Box, but they were already sold out. Yeah, thanks Gio. Lock me out...again.

[brownsl]

The pricing has stunned me into inaction at this point. Apparently the pricing is not bothering too many though as the funding is going quite well.

[Bradius]

Yeah, it is getting tough. Gio just added a few more Oblivion Boxes, so I grabbed one. One of each deck, plus the coin for 100 Euros more. Tough, but I can live with it. I also keep in mind shipping is included, which is no small cost anymore.

[TheGentlemanWake]

I can say from first hand knowledge that production cost increases are no joke.

[james001a]

Everything is getting so expensive, not blaming Gio at all. I cut back and just went in for the gilded decks this time. They are gorgeous, but I have to agree with above that I was almost shocked into inaction at first after seeing the prices. Glad to see it funded and happy to be a part of it.

[TheGentlemanWake]

Just out of curiosity. What is an acceptable (non shocking) price point for a deck? What about LTD with foil? What should a deck with a special tuck and gilding cost?

[Thirdway Industries]

I confirm the production cost of these is very high - I've picked basically all the most "expensive" production options here
Consider these are full-custom (premium paper, 2 layers of foil outside, embossing, probably inner printing and -most important- foil on back on both decks).
Boxes are produced in Italy by Boschiero&Newton, sent to Belgium to be assembled and then sent to Germany and USA to be shipped. All these moves add shipping cost (and maybe taxes, not sure since it's the first time I am doing this).

My original idea was keep the prices higher (similar to Apocalisse/Apoteosi, who share the same specs, more or less).
However, since I am aware that a total of 4 decks is "heavy" for backers pockets, so I decided to keep these as low as I could - I think that the 2 "standard" decks at €44 (w/shipping included for USA) should be reasonable; at least I hope. For sure I won't keep these prices when the decks will be released

[Bradius]

I was just looking at the monster box set of 12 decks. I figured it would just be some standard fair decks with a few interesting things...wrong!

Those are some seriously good decks in that "extra" brick:

• Monolith Sagittarius
  Egoism Peacock
  Conquerors Justitia
  Apoteosi
  Apocalisse
  Monolith Singularity
  Monolith Horizon
  Order Occultus
  Italia Magica
  SINS Red Corpus
  SINS Blue Mentis
  Wicked Tales

It may be an additional 300 euros over the Oblivion Box, but that packs a punch.

[STLBluesNut]

oh boy, this one was hard to swallow. however, i do really appreciate the 2 special decks being offered as a pair and separately, not available only in bundles or gated behind expensive non playing card items. i normally would not go for gilded at all but i like the tucks much better with the characters on them. this is much more than i would pay for from anyone else. i have come to grips long ago that Gio's decks are just more expensive than pretty much anyone else, generally (not looking at you gilded cherries for $250 or you bicycle NFT deck for $300 gtfo). only Gio, and probably Lorenzo, could get this kind of cash out of me.

already started typing so i dont think i can quote:
"Just out of curiosity. What is an acceptable (non shocking) price point for a deck? What about LTD with foil? What should a deck with a special tuck and gilding cost?" -TGW

Keep in mind, i know nothing of the costs to produce nor do i really give 2 s$%ts about limited and rarity. these are probably prices from when i started collecting over 3 years ago. this is what i have been used to.

deck with plain glossy tuck $10
deck with upgraded tuck- foil embossing matte stock $15
deck with foil on one side of the cards and upgraded tuck $17 to $20
deck with foil on both sides of cards and upgraded tuck up to $25
any of the decks above with gilding +$5 to $10

yes, some limited editions are more because of a lower run, well don't limit the run, lower your costs and sell more. artificial rarity is bulls#$t and i dont care about the image you are trying to impart on your brand to be luxury or exclusive. these days some creators are also applying 'limited' and the 'limited' pricing to runs of 1k+. that is a standard run. stop with the hype.

yes, costs have gone up in pretty much all industries. i can accept $1 or $2 more in some case where the art really grabs me, but these prices for the copy paste crap that many are putting out these days... not on your life. you better design more than a card back with standard courts pasted on and a tuck to get my money. slowly i think i will adjust but with some now asking $15 to $18 plus for plain decks with plain glossy tucks, nope. plenty of creators are close to, if not the same as, the pricing i have mentioned above. you can charge whatever you like. won't be in my collection regardless how many others you get to bite.

[TheGentlemanWake]

deck with plain glossy tuck $10
deck with upgraded tuck- foil embossing matte stock $15
deck with foil on one side of the cards and upgraded tuck $17 to $20
deck with foil on both sides of cards and upgraded tuck up to $25
any of the decks above with gilding +$5 to $10

I just think there is generally a poor grasp of what it takes to run a company making playing cards in 2022. People see the inflated KS numbers and thing 'OH WOW, that guy/gal made bank!" without really understanding what goes into it.

$15 for a premium deck with 'upgraded' tuck... This would be a quick way to go out of business.

Let me walk you through this...

First the cards need to be printed. Cartamundi's prices for instance have gone up 20-30% since four years ago. Not sure what EPCC is charging these days BUT do you really want to risk decks coming from China with the current world shipping situation? Not I as a creator who needs to have fulfillment go smoothly as possible (especially after dealing with massive delays I can tell you know one wants that). What about Noir?--bless their hearts--They are in Ukraine. They have enough to deal with. Legends? Same issue as EPCC. That leaves Bicycle--with their piss poor registration and the ridiculous prices they charge for cold foil... er I mean metalluxe. How many decks are you printing? The cost per deck SKY rockets depending on how little you print. Wanna know why 'LIMITED' decks are so expensive? It's not because of false scarcity. It LITERALLY costs more to print less decks. How much? I can tell you from personal experience that it can be as much as $10-$15 a deck DIFFERANCE on top of the standard costs. You read that right. And 'add $5-10 for gilding'... Gilding can COST that for each deck just for the factory process alone. Companies like T11 are spoiling the market because they make $10 decks seem standard. When in reality they print at such obscene numbers that they can DRIVE their prices down.

Then consider Tuck Box costs. What does 'upgraded' mean? Foil on premium paper? Ok. What about embossing? Is multilevel embossing or just one layer? Sculptural emboss plates--which are typically hand sculpted? What about inner tuck foil? How MANY foils is it? 1, 2 or more? Each one requires it's one plate. Does the tuck have a seal? Is it HAND signed or numbered? Is there an outer sleeve? Is that foiled? Embossed? Does the deck have some bells and whistles in the form metal castings (Like Minty's Ascension decks)?

Then consider shipping from tuck box printer to assembly. Then the freight from assembly to fulfillment center. Followed by the costs of included shipping (which applies for most creators these days in USA and Germany--at least it does for Myself and Lorenzo and I think Gio).

Let's not forget that KS takes 5% of your funding. Stripe takes another 5% for processing your funds. Backerkit takes 5% for handling your surveys. So off the top %15 of that $15 is gone. Add in all the above costs and then what? The difference between $15 and $19 or $20 Is actually literally the profit that will keep a creator afloat and creating. How much work does an artist put into a deck? Hour-wise? What about the time a creator/producer puts into getting price quotes and interfacing with vendors and prototyping and generally stressing that things get done correctly and in the right order? What about customer service? How many emails can consume an hour of a creators time? Is this PROFIT? Or is it compensation? Are these projects being produced in a vacuum or an office space? Are utilities being paid to run the computer? Internet bill at the very least.

I URGE folks to consider that perhaps there may be more to the price hikes. I hope this reply had some educational value and perspective.

Having said that--and I apologize to Gio for hijacking his thread--prices across the board are up. 7% inflation in the US doesn't help.

[hsbc]

Let's not forget that KS takes 5% of your funding. Stripe takes another 5% for processing your funds. Backerkit takes 5% for handling your surveys

I would have expected Kickstarter itself to be higher, and BackerKit to be lower

[TheGentlemanWake]

Let's not forget that KS takes 5% of your funding. Stripe takes another 5% for processing your funds. Backerkit takes 5% for handling your surveys

I would have expected Kickstarter itself to be higher, and BackerKit to be lower

The ACTUAL number can vary a bit. Backerkit has multiple plans. Some require 3% but then have a per backer cost associated etc. For ease of my explanation I went with the blanket rate of 5%, which makes sense in larger campaigns.

I neglected to include prototyping costs and marketing costs in my breakdown. Which I really should have. They don't factor in to Gio's story much since he uses renders and I don't think Gio advertises... but I'm not sure. I know that on Tempest we spent quite a bit of money on prototypes. Some of that cost can be recovered (i.e. the embossing plates for the tuck boxes will be reused when the final run is printed). But those things add up. Let's say you spent $1500. It would mean selling 1500 decks with an additional dollar built into the price just to break even on investment. Nevermind time and energy and talent. Selling 1500 decks for some creators is NO EASY FEAT. Obviously not the case for the Gios and Lorenzos of the world. Those prototype costs become much easier mitigated. But costs are costs.

On Tempest we spent about %1 of the raised funds on ads. Not sure what the ROI was on that. Can't remember, but I want to say it was close to breaking even. I'm exploring different options on successor for instance.

BACK TO GIO'S CAMPAIGN!

Typically great work as always Giovanni!

[Timmargh]

I just think there is generally a poor grasp of what it takes to run a company making playing cards in 2022. People see the inflated KS numbers and thing 'OH WOW, that guy/gal made bank!" without really understanding what goes into it.

$15 for a premium deck with 'upgraded' tuck... This would be a quick way to go out of business.

Let me walk you through this... [...]

Jesus H. Christ; I got high blood pressure and an ulcer just from reading that!

[hsbc]

these are probably prices from when i started collecting over 3 years ago. this is what i have been used to.

Expect prices to go up

[brownsl]

I am 100% for someone making a profit/living off of their work. For me, it is solely how much I want to spend on a deck, regardless of how much it costs to make said deck. Solely, a personal decision. Lately this has been getting more difficult as I keep telling myself I need to cut back on my spending. I have done so somewhat by not backing every deck by every unknown creator that shows up on KS.

There is a list of creators (Lorenzo, Lotrek, Alex, Gio, Montenzi, Jocu, TGW) that even spending more per deck I know I will get my money's worth but it does not make the decision to do so any easier.

I am getting to the age where I give pause to all my possessions and the burden I will leave my family when I am gone. What are they going to do with 8,000 decks of playing cards that they have no interest in?

With all that said when Brad posted that a few more Oblivion boxes opened up, I jumped on one of them!

[TheGentlemanWake]

I just think there is generally a poor grasp of what it takes to run a company making playing cards in 2022. People see the inflated KS numbers and thing 'OH WOW, that guy/gal made bank!" without really understanding what goes into it.

$15 for a premium deck with 'upgraded' tuck... This would be a quick way to go out of business.

Let me walk you through this... [...]

Jesus H. Christ; I got high blood pressure and an ulcer just from reading that!

Haha, yeah... I remember way before Parlour when I met with Asad Chaudry post his mega-successful Mint 2 campaign. I said "500k! You are set!" and you know what he did? He didn't look excited or happy or relieved. He politely smiled and said 'sure' in as earnest a delivery he could muster--so I was sure he meant no sarcasm. At the time I chalked it up to humility. Looking back on it, sure production prices at that time weren't as crazy as they are now, but there were a lot of bells and whistles to that campaign. He gifted a gaff pack to large orders and there were some metalluxe decks too. He must have had serious production costs. He printed a lot of decks with 5000+ backers. I bet he printed north of 40k decks. Thats a BIG order by custom standards. Chris Ramsay probably prints 50k each run of 1st decks. Both those numbers track, since at the time Assad had about 1mil subs on youtube. Although I bet Ramsay now surpasses that. Anyway, my point is there was probably a lot of stress and exhaustion and turmoil in what I interpreted as 'humility'. Probably a little bit of "i didn't win the lottery, this was hard work!" lol

[STLBluesNut]

. How many decks are you printing? The cost per deck SKY rockets depending on how little you print. Wanna know why 'LIMITED' decks are so expensive? It's not because of false scarcity. It LITERALLY costs more to print less decks. How much? I can tell you from personal experience that it can be as much as $10-$15 a deck DIFFERANCE on top of the standard costs. You read that right.

dammit i did a big post that did not show up lol. let me try to recreate.

so you are agreeing that making a lower number of decks costs more. that much is kind of common sense. the creator is making a choice to print less than the standard run or is choosing to print less decks. this isnt really a limited resource, you can print as many as you like. it isn't like you are a grower of prized peaches and your limited land and trees actually limits the number that can be grown and sold. this makes them more rare artificially, by choice, for whatever reason. this lower print run makes them cost more. therefore, artificially limiting the run causes the price of decks to go up. so yes, artificial rarity and false scarcity increases the price and makes them more expensive. whether they decide to charge even more for the 'rarity' above and beyond just the increase in cost is up to them and i submit many do.

the point i was making on limited decks is that no one is making any creator reduce the number they print. the creator is choosing a lower number for whatever reason. this choice to limit the number created is what is driving up the cost. this in turn is obviously passed on to the consumer. so print and sell more at a lower price. many of these 'limited' decks just piss off fans due to high prices or not being able to spam the buy button quick enough to get one. so great you can sell 500 deck at $25 for $12500 or you can sell 1000 decks at $15 for $15000. so now you have lost money, pissed of customers and just raised the secondary marked prices which you get none of. (as an example because i do not have real actual numbers).

so yes, when you choose to limit a print run, you are creating artificial rarity (false scarcity) and it does raise the cost. yes, there are creators that use this to charge above and beyond the cost of production difference. gilded cherries for $250 anyone? that $10 to $15 difference does not make a $10 or $15 deck $35 to $50.

TGW, i love you brother. i love being able to have these conversations with you and your contributions here and to the community as a whole. however, unless someone starts showing some actual numbers of cost on a 250, 500, 777 'limited' deck versus a 1000 or 2000 run deck, you're not going to convince me on this whole limited business beyond knowing the fact that lower print quantities equal higher cost. even then it is still artificially limited for hype, brand name, luxury, etc.

again, this is all from the perspective of someone that does not care if a deck has 500 copies or 5000. the design, quality, features needs to match a reasonable price. i am not interested in resale, hype or investment.

[Thirdway Industries]

Hehe prices are always an hot topic
There are many factors, and I can confirm all that Omar said.

However, even if generally speaking prices are going up, I am trying to release also unexpensive decks (some "Egoist" Patrons can confirm ) and I am trying to keep "expensive" decks reasonable at launch.
As said before, Memoria decks have the same (or probably even more) features than Apocalisse and Apoteosi, but are cheaper.
I could say that 2022 TWI prices were lower than 2021, and I don't think to raise them during the next months.

Anyways, prices apart, I hope you're enjoying the campaign and the story - I really had fun with this one.

A huge thank you to everyone got these during the very first hours - I am very grateful

[brownsl]

Hehe prices are always an hot topic
There are many factors, and I can confirm all that Omar said.

However, even if generally speaking prices are going up, I am trying to release also unexpensive decks (some "Egoist" Patrons can confirm ) and I am trying to keep "expensive" decks reasonable at launch.
As said before, Memoria decks have the same (or probably even more) features than Apocalisse and Apoteosi, but are cheaper.
I could say that 2022 TWI prices were lower than 2021, and I don't think to raise them during the next months.

Anyways, prices apart, I hope you're enjoying the campaign and the story - I really had fun with this one.

A huge thank you to everyone got these during the very first hours - I am very grateful

Definitely with your campaigns we are not getting just decks of cards we are getting an awesome story and that takes your time which also 'costs' money.

[laitostarr777]

And not to mention
The period of funding is just WAAY short this time.
Welp, in next week time, better be prepared to get hitted by a cannonball (a.k.a. Spending 100 euros in one go)

[TheGentlemanWake]

so you are agreeing that making a lower number of decks costs more. that much is kind of common sense. the creator is making a choice to print less than the standard run or is choosing to print less decks. this isnt really a limited resource, you can print as many as you like. it isn't like you are a grower of prized peaches and your limited land and trees actually limits the number that can be grown and sold. this makes them more rare artificially, by choice, for whatever reason. this lower print run makes them cost more. therefore, artificially limiting the run causes the price of decks to go up. so yes, artificial rarity and false scarcity increases the price and makes them more expensive. whether they decide to charge even more for the 'rarity' above and beyond just the increase in cost is up to them and i submit many do.

Yes and no. Let me explain--i wasn't clear. Printing less decks IS more expensive. For argument sake let's say printing 100 decks costs $2000. That's $20 a deck. Well, the printers (like Cartamundi for instance) are very shrewd and tactful. They want to incentivize you to print more because the more you print the more money they make. THIS Is ABSOLUTELY TRUE. But they don't want to charge you $1 or $2 a deck. They want to maximize profits. How do they do that? By reducing the cost per deck to $10 but only if you buy 1000. Again these numbers are just placeholder examples--the actual quotes are more specific. So you get 50% discount but you have to order 500% more decks. Your $2000 deal is now $10,000. This is NOT cheaper than spending $2000. The one obvious advantage is you can charge a lower price and now make twice as much profit per deck which in the end works out in your favor. But 1000 decks is LOT harder to sell than 100. Even with a cheaper price. Let's agree that it may in fact be easier to get 100 people to spend $20 than it is to get 1000 to spend $10.

Another thing to consider is that the 'rare' decks have higher production costs because they feature many more bells and whistles. SO let's say even if you wanted to print 5000 decks with cold foil on both sides, PMS inks and gilded edges. Your savings per deck printing larger quantities become a LOT less stark than say on a simple CMYK ink on paper deck.

So yeah, its making less decks costs more PER DECK. and yeah, the creator is making a choice to print less BECAUSE he may not be able to sell more even at a reduced cost/price and because its generally much more expensive to print decks with special features. There's a lot less ARTIFICIALITY than you think. And of course you do need to consider that decks with limited numbers sell better. I'll give you an example. The Black Parlour deck on my webstore has SOLD about 10x than any other deck in the week and half since TheGentlemanWake.com has been live. Why is that? Well I can tell you the same number of Blue Parlour decks were printed as Red or Black. You could argue that the black is a nicer deck (although more expensive). But the real reason? Is because you can't find them anywhere else. SCARCITY creates demand. Eventhough out there is the EXACT same number of Black decks as there are Blue or Red ones, the simple fact that more people bought them (for whatever reason; maybe they liked the color more or the gold foil or because they were numbered) the black Parlour is much more sought after.

[laitostarr777]

TL:DR version - so basically that's why decks that have lower print run will cost more - even if those said decks don't have all those pizzas?
I think that is the case with decks made by Ade Suryana a few years back - Merah Putih decks

[laitostarr777]

As said before, Memoria decks have the same (or probably even more) features than Apocalisse and Apoteosi, but are cheaper.

I hope it can be MORE features than Apocalisse and Apoteosi, so those two decks and these new decks stand out for themselves. Your decks series are easily distinguished, not just from artwork, but from the finishes on the cards and tuckbox.

[STLBluesNut]

Let's agree that it may in fact be easier to get 100 people to spend $20 than it is to get 1000 to spend $10.

agreed, partially. i can see this being a valid argument when applied to demand. if you are a newer creator, or maybe a less popular creator, who averages selling say 300 decks, i will concede buying 1000 at a higher overall cost to get a bulk discount wouldn't be prudent. printing only 300 decks wouldn't be for the purpose of making them rare, it is just responsibly buying what you expect to be sold. just as the corner gas station buys a small amount of milk because that is what they sell. they would lose money buying it cheaper per gallon by the pallet. however, if you were a creator with a history or knowing that a deck is going to be in higher demand and then you choose to make less than what demand will be in order to call it limited, knowingly raise your cost for the deck and knowingly produce less than what your supporters would buy to raise demand and the price, i think that is kind of crummy. just like walmart doesn't buy one case of milk and then charge triple for it on a first come, first served basis. i think this is where we may ultimately disagree, you see it as building exclusivity, demand and luxury into your brand, i see it as pissing off your loyal fans by either pricing them out of a deck or making some of them miss it because they weren't fast enough to get one or weren't able to be at the sale in that small window. you MAY make a little more by selling less for more but the big winners in that are the bot resellers, gouging the aftermarket and the big losers are your fans. without seeing real numbers, i still contend you would make more on high demand decks by selling more for less.

There's a lot less ARTIFICIALITY than you think.

less than i think is still artificial. the amount of artificiality was never my contention and in some cases, there is a lot of it. and a lot of price hiking. see $250 cherry casinos and $300 bicycle NFT deck (although this is probably more likely just a sh!%%y practice of walling the deck behind buying an NFT which actually may have been costly to mint in order to sell NFT's) and many more.

But the real reason? Is because you can't find them anywhere else. SCARCITY creates demand. Eventhough out there is the EXACT same number of Black decks as there are Blue or Red ones, the simple fact that more people bought them (for whatever reason; maybe they liked the color more or the gold foil or because they were numbered) the black Parlour is much more sought after.

in this case, if i am to understand correctly, your website is the only outlet (not including scalpers on Ebay) to buy the black deck? if this is the case then this is a poor example. of course you are going to see more sales of it because you are the only place that has a reasonable price. they aren't scarce in quantity, you're just the only outlet. although, i think you may have hit it on the head somewhat with that being a more popular color and being numbered, another thing i really could care less about but the lemmings just jump off the cliff for.

i know you have said that we, on the UC forum, are but a small amount of the community and customers but i am sure you have seen the numerous posts in numerous threads of more and more people not willing to buy into hype and pay over inflated prices for decks. i think it would be a mistake to think that only the people posting here are feeling that way. people are getting fed up with recolors, tuck swaps, just gilding the same cards that are in other offered decks. You asked for prices above and i was the only to answer. i understand that you truly know the cost of the items but that is, albeit one, a consumers perspective on price expectations. i assume other are probably more forgiving than i am but at some point, no matter what the cost was to produce it, some number of people are just not going to buy it because the price is unreasonable, from a consumer standpoint. perhaps i have misread and i am alone on these points but i don't think i am.

anywho, i do really appreciate the open dialogue and sharing of perspective with you, Omar. thank you. i really do think the creators/designers that come here and engage with us, have better care and understanding for their customers.

[TheGentlemanWake]

i know you have said that we, on the UC forum, are but a small amount of the community and customers but i am sure you have seen the numerous posts in numerous threads of more and more people not willing to buy into hype and pay over inflated prices for decks. i think it would be a mistake to think that only the people posting here are feeling that way. people are getting fed up with recolors, tuck swaps, just gilding the same cards that are in other offered decks. You asked for prices above and i was the only to answer. i understand that you truly know the cost of the items but that is, albeit one, a consumers perspective on price expectations. i assume other are probably more forgiving than i am but at some point, no matter what the cost was to produce it, some number of people are just not going to buy it because the price is unreasonable, from a consumer standpoint. perhaps i have misread and i am alone on these points but i don't think i am.

I do think this is true. Which is why I try hard to not make my decks mere recolors/tuck swaps, etc. I try hard to make sure each deck has a reason for being. We're taking a step further with successor by adding additional features and even having a second back design for the Dynastinae and Prism variants.

anywho, i do really appreciate the open dialogue and sharing of perspective with you, Omar. thank you. i really do think the creators/designers that come here and engage with us, have better care and understanding for their customers.

I really appreciate the discourse too. ANd I certainly learn from our and from other discussions. Thank you for that.

[Bradius]

I wrote a long response. My main point though is to "Vote with your wallet". A better way to say it (and means really the same thing) "Buy what you like". It may mean that you like the deck(s), but not at the price point being sold. In the end, it comes down to the same thing. For whatever reason you like or dislike the package, vote with your money.

[laitostarr777]

I wrote a long response. My main point though is to "Vote with your wallet". A better way to say it (and means really the same thing) "Buy what you like". It may mean that you like the deck(s), but not at the price point being sold. In the end, it comes down to the same thing. For whatever reason you like or dislike the package, vote with your money.

I think it is MORE to "Vote with your Heart" - you just need to like the thing in order to buy. Though heart is a fickle thing - you might say: Ugh I don't think I like the design, but then money comes in and say - GET IT! It would worth a lot in few years time. Sadly, the other way around is also a heartbreaking: Heart says want, but Money says No

[portcullis]

Hmm, I may have to split this given I only get 1 pay between now and the end of the campaign (naughty Gio!) That of course assumes the gilded pair will be available later. Or do I back the gilded pair now and bakerkit the standard pair?

[Thirdway Industries]

@laitostarr777 - Memoria will be definitely different from Apocalisse and Apoteosi in term of boxes, since they're printed in Italy with completely different materials.
I never printed with Boschiero&Newton before, but I have high expectations seeing the decks they did for other creators.
I also have the physical samples to all papers and foils (which are all made in Germany and Italy) and these are absolutely fantastic.

[Thirdway Industries]

Hmm, I may have to split this given I only get 1 pay between now and the end of the campaign (naughty Gio!) That of course assumes the gilded pair will be available later. Or do I back the gilded pair now and bakerkit the standard pair?

I am not planning to use BackerKit on Memoria!

The gilded decks will be available later, but with an higher price (probably influenced from how many I'll have left).
For example, I just finished the excel for Poison shipping, and I realized I have very few Poison KingSlayer (which were 888, like the Memoria Gilded) - the last ones will be availabe with a very high price!