The Origin by Skymember Presents and Austin Ho

[macstrat]

The art looks incredible, however I think I'm going to pass on this for a few reasons:

1. The price: It seems to be justified by many versions with different tucks. As a designer I LOVE the packaging options, but options also wind up spreading a higher cost across the board. The lowest price is $33 with shipping for a "special edition" but how can you have a special edition if you dont have a standard edition? If this was any other deck, a $33 entry cost would be a no-go without something that sets it apart from the pack. and aside from the packaging, I just dont see that. Along these same lines, I have yet to see what the "special edition" look like. Are they the same? There seems to be no clarity on this and even @BaconWise's video shows the deluxe top tier deck.

2. Lack of options: Ironically, with all the different diecuts available, I dont want to be locked into a single option if I just want one deck. Im not a fan of the adam and eve diecut for the single deck. but would consider the Tree of Knowledge.

3. The layout of the campaign page raises flags: Its very confusing, There is a lot of information to take in with little clarity as to an organized thought. This makes me concerned about how chaotic fulfillment will be. Compared to Olympians, its not just a step up, its a full flight of stairs.

All these combined into a hard pass from me, which makes me sad because they look amazing.

[brownsl]

IMO, this campaign is an absolute mess. Way too complicated for my simple brain. I have a feeling the decks will be nice but the pledge levels are confusing and too many different variations. Plus, the costs are sky high. I am probably in the minority though as the funding is doing great.

[james001a]

I love the decks, hate the campaign. My OCD compelled me to get on on one of the very expensive "includes everything" tiers, but after a good night's sleep, I decided to scale back and just get the collectors deck and an add on for the Olympians deck. I feel good about that.

[macstrat]

IMO, this campaign is an absolute mess. Way too complicated for my simple brain. I have a feeling the decks will be nice but the pledge levels are confusing and too many different variations. Plus, the costs are sky high. I am probably in the minority though as the funding is doing great.

The campaign is prolly funded because 1 deck requires you to mortgage your house.

[bdawg923]

So comments by the creator are making me very nervous.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Our team is working on the new update. Catch us up again in the next few hours.

Almost 2 days later still no update, then:

Initially, we planned to have the backer unbox the deck themselves, like unwrap the Christmas gift for a greater experience. But we didn't expect more and more people hoping to see the deck itself before backing.

Our initial goal is to reserve the fun of unboxing to our backers like Theory 11's Mystery deck. Life is boring if we know the fun thing ahead. But after receiving many requests to see the artwork itself, we will put some artwork in our next layout update. Stay tuned!

They again said they'd release more info, still waiting. But it's like this isn't even a playing card project to them? I don't know, seems weird. I'm still pledged but it's setting off red flags for me.

[andreac75]

BTW. What are "Privileges access to special events and behind the scenes." ?

[Strag]

Too many warning signs including TCC who is just horrible to deal with if you have any problems, which you do about half the time.

[BaconWise]

Not trying to spam my IG account here, but I did a review of the cards in July and more recently about a week or so ago. I go through all of the artwork on the cards if you would like to see before you pledge. The artwork is absolutely stunning and the handling is superb. I know the campaign is difficult to understand in places but trust me when I say the quality is there. It really is a stunning experience and I do get their desire to keep some mystery.

Keep in mind I actually paid for the review set I got, so I wasn't compensated

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CCzblnUF-o ... _copy_link

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CJZ7xuHFQ7 ... _copy_link

[jerichoholic]

Too expensive and as other mentioned overly complicated and also why are there like no images of the actual cards or at least the faces anyway?

[Decknowledgy]

Don't want to sound like I'm vouching for them, but English isn't their first language and sometimes I have to think a while to understand what they're staying in our private messages, but they are genuine and listen to feedback. My honest thoughts are that they probably tried too hard to push this at the start of this year; the one-day delay from the originally planned Jan 1st launch was due to them trying to manage the campaign page. And thus now as it seems, a lot of people are still confused and unsatisfied by the layout of the project. They consulted me for things that are unrelated to the project page but more on what people would like and the pricing. If they had asked me about the Kickstarter launch situation or given me a preview of the page, I would have told them to give it a bit more time before launching the project to clean up the descriptions.

That said, they are reading this thread and looking to satisfy people's feedback. However, as much as they like to provide the information:
(1) English isn't their strong suit.
(2) Most of the professional photoshoots were outsourced, so more shots would take time.
(3) They've made the assumption that people would watch the promo video; that's where they answered many of people's questions. I told them that people don't really care to watch THROUGH the whole promo lol...
(4) Once Kickstarter is launched, there's not much margin to change the description page as far as I know (creators should know more than I do).

In terms of red flags, yes, this project on surface value would tick some of them. However, Skymember Presents is a well-established magic company in Malaysia who produces tricks and gaffs more than playing cards. I would think they would avoid wrecking their reputation. They nearly went bankrupt trying to establish TOPCC solely for the sake of this project, to hone the tuck printing, cards, and gilding. My first preview of this deck was mid 2020. This should give folks an idea how dedicated they are with this project.

[bdawg923]

Don't want to sound like I'm vouching for them, but English isn't their first language and sometimes I have to think a while to understand what they're staying in our private messages, but they are genuine and listen to feedback. My honest thoughts are that they probably tried to hard to push this at the start of this year; the one-day delay from the originally planned Jan 1st launch was due to them trying to manage the campaign page. And thus now as it seems, a lot of people are still confused and unsatisfied by the layout of the project. They consulted me for things that are unrelated to the project page but more on what people would like and the pricing. If they had asked me about the Kickstarter launch situation or given me a preview of the page, I would have told them to give it a bit more time before launching the project to clear up the descriptions.

That said, they are reading this thread and looking to satisfy people's feedback. However, as much as they like to provide the information
(1) English isn't their strongsuit
(2) Most of the professional photoshoots were outsourced, so more shots would take time
(3) They've made the assumption that people would watch the promo video; that's where they answered many of people's questions. I told them that people don't really care to watch THROUGH the whole promo lol...
(4) Once Kickstarter is launched, there's not much margin to change the description page as far as I know (creators should know more than I do.

In terms of red flags, yes, this project on surface value would tick some of them. However, Skymember Presents is a well-established magic company in Malaysia who produces tricks and gaffs more than playing cards. I would think they wouldn't want to wretch their reputation.

I noticed the language barrier too. In the new FAQ it says the deluxe edition is a brick when it's actually 3 decks afaik. They need to hire a translator to write the FAQs before they overpromise stuff accidentally.

Also I hope I'm not the only person who has never watched a Kickstarter video

[Strag]

I appreciate what you are trying to do to help support them, but fact remains that the lack of professionalism is a big part of what worries me, especially in these uncertain times.

[Decknowledgy]

They finally showed more details of the faces:

https://vimeo.com/508141580

[shermjack]

Finally...Unfortunately, this campaign has been a train wreck from day one and continues to be so. They finally sent out two updates today, the first apologizing for not communicating to their backers for 33 days and with only 7 days left in the campaign. Furthermore, their excuses for not communicating made no sense at all (at least to me) as why they were silent for all this time:

(1) What does the fact that reviewers not receiving their deluxe sets have anything to do with non-communication?
(2) The Malaysian Movement Control Order was announced in mid-January, so what about before the MCO was announced? Why no communication before then? Also, just because the backend team couldn't meet with each other, doesn't mean that they can't write an update online.
(3) Limited manpower - even if the team was busy with other priorities (I.e. their main business of producing magic tricks instructional products), no one had the time to write a simple update to inform their 756 backers that have contributed over 140K USD of what was going on?

Then they came out with another update almost immediately announcing the unlocking of the first stretch goal, which was reached on day 1, but what makes it more comical is that they didn't even provide information on how to add the new item, the Romance Edition.

With only 7 days to go in the campaign, it does make me a little nervous about their ability to deliver everything on-time (April) and I am seriously considering dropping my pledge as I don't need to tie up so much just to wait for things to be completed. Not that it will really be a problem for them as it seems that many are still clamoring to add-on the Romance edition. In the end, they need to learn how to better manage a KS project before trying to do this again.

[Harvonsgard]

Very repetative designs...

[Strag]

With only 7 days to go in the campaign, it does make me a little nervous about their ability to deliver everything on-time (April) and I am seriously considering dropping my pledge as I don't need to tie up so much just to wait for things to be completed. Not that it will really be a problem for them as it seems that many are still clamoring to add-on the Romance edition. In the end, they need to learn how to better manage a KS project before trying to do this again.

yeah, brings to mind 10 foot poles for me.

[james001a]

Hey, anybody have news on this deck? I thought Skymember was a legit company. I cannot remember any recent communication from them.

[bdawg923]

Hey, anybody have news on this deck? I thought Skymember was a legit company. I cannot remember any recent communication from them.

Update about a month ago saying some stuff is delayed and other stuff being assembled

[Bradius]

I came across this video, which was interesting. This is the person that developed the Kickstarter Video on this campaign.

[Sir Toddalot]

Deckin around did a deck unboxing which has got me really hyped to get these!
https://youtu.be/Ltvx4FpBQN8

[james001a]

Thanks for the video link... this has renewed my hope in this deck.

[Kage X]

I received mine about 3 weeks to a month ago. But then again, I am from the same country as the creator, so that explains why I was able to get the decks so early.

[laitostarr777]

I received these a few ago, and I am non-backer, so I just got from the pre-order page in Backerkit. Jeezums, the decks are so freaking expensive, and not to mention, my local customs f****ed me up with the tax calculations, so the costs of the decks become even higher X.X

I got the Collectors and Special - both actually has significant differences in colors, as well as the Queens that portays Eve. Also, I am definitely intrigue on the size of the double deck tuckbox, probably slightly bigger than Passione's traditional double-deck editions.

Shot with iPhone's latest macro photography tech, and it is just a beauty~

[hsbc]

[james001a]

So I ordered the deluxe edition set. Has this gone out to backers already, or just the special edition ones?

[Fenrir]

Still waiting on mine with no updates. Looks great though.

[Fenrir]

The lack of communication on this campaign has been disappointing.

[james001a]

The lack of communication on this campaign has been disappointing.

Agreed. I understand delays but not reaching out to backers is just irresponsible and rude. This will be the last project I back for them.

[Fenrir]

The lack of communication on this campaign has been disappointing.

Agreed. I understand delays but not reaching out to backers is just irresponsible and rude. This will be the last project I back for them.

Couldn't agree more. We all understand delays, especially with covid. We just need someone to explain what is going on instead of the radio silence.

[Strag]

Thank you Jamie for posting this!!

I just spoke with the guys via IG and they kindly shared a trailer with myself.
I just gota say WOW!! Everyone is in for a real treat - they're doing something extremely innovative and a first in playing cards history. This will set the bar for sure and will defo be a contender for DOTY 2021.

I don't know how much I can say about the trailer as of yet, but it gives a good breakdown of what they're planning to do for this project and everything really does look in check.
What I will say is, if you're a fan of foiled cards, this is defo not to be missed.

Well this post didn't age well. Maybe DOTY for '23?