The Successor by TGW/Kevin Cantrell

[shkorc]

Since Lotrek said he's not doing decks for other people anymore, ...

... or any decks lately, lEl...

Apologies... couldn't help it.

And it's getting pretty old.

[sms69x]

Quite sure I'll sit this one out.... Again, the same strategy to grab as much money from supporters as possible by forcing them to buy a lot of stuff, that you don't care or want to at least be able to have the choice to get what you may want... I don't understand this mindset as I can only think of it as a money grab move, there's no reason to not have all the decks available for purchase separately, even if you have to price tag some of the decks for $200 or $300... At least this way you give a chance to people to get what they may want.

I did the mistake to go all-in for Tempest but I'll not repeat it again, I'm left with dozens of decks that I couldn't care less about and now need to put the effort and time to move then out of the door...

I like Cantrell's artwork and I'm sure this one will fund, so I'll wait for the decks to hit the market and get them from a reseller, as for what I see the "standard" editions usually are cheaper in the aftermarket...

Good luck nonetheless, as I like you as a member of this community and as a card reviewer, but as a card business I hope you change your views, otherwise I fear for you.

[STLBluesNut]

Personally, I love the look of the box and am really looking forward to this campaign!

the look of the box is not the point being made by myself and others here. the box is undeniably gorgeous.

[GandalfPC]

I get Standards, and wouldn’t mind a flag deck in my collection, but I’m not a Standards lover by any means - just not my cup of tea, more just artwork I can respect and enjoy on a particular level - a niche - I like a small representation in my collection of such decks, not the 8 deck boxed set for my left kidney.

Not saying that this box isn’t nicer that that box, nor that the price here is kidney sized (though I suspect it will be) - I will still evaluate whether and how deep to go into this kickstarter once its up and all the details are out

[TheGentlemanWake]

The great thing about business models is that they evolve over time. If this campaign does not do better than the last or if the box set proves unpopular then I will gladly reevaluate. But I don’t think UC is generally a good predictor of campaign success. This is actually a really really small community here. It’s why I can recognize almost 90% of the names of folks posting. I value this community’s opinion. I just don’t agree on some things. Which is ok. Business is all about risks. Every campaign thus far has been riskier than the last. Chances are there will be a correction. But I’m going to continue to push the envelope in the direction I, as a collector, would want things to go. I’ve been following my instinct with regards to that since day one. And every choice I’ve made from partnering with Lorenzo and Lotrek, to choosing launch dates, to deciding how many decks a campaign will have to determining which decks are limited and which aren’t has been decided based on those “collector” instincts. I would want the box. That’s me. That’s why I designed it. There’s no money grab. In fact, the profit from the box isn’t even significant—it’s that expensive to produce. But I have a feeling it will be sought after one day. Just like the standards box is now.

[Sir Toddalot]

the look of the box is not the point being made by myself and others here. the box is undeniably gorgeous.

I understand that is not the point being made, I’ve read all the complaints and concerns as well as their responses. I understand both sides, and didn’t feel like I needed to add anything to conversation. That horse has already been beaten enough. I just wanted to express some positivity towards this campaign, which is I love the look of the box, and am looking forward to the campaign!

[STLBluesNut]

the beauty of the box, nor the success of the campaign is in question at all. Omar you are a great guy and make great videos and campaigns. also, whether a campaign should have these types of offerings or not is not really the question either. many collectors will love the box and i am sure you will sell many probably prompting your future campaigns and other creators to do similar things. as a collector myself, i love seeing these other items in campaigns, especially items like this box. however, as a playing card collector, i collect playing cards and rarely get the extras. i understand that this box is what you would like to see in a campaign yourself but would you want to have to buy it in order to get the actual item you collect?

i just feel if people like the box and would buy the box, they would get the box and others shouldn't have to be forced to buy the box in order to get a deck. same with Ramsays latest offering. love the deck but you have to buy an escape game to get the deck. at least that is on he magnitude of only $30, which i am still not buying. i would also think as a playing card collector you would understand that many want the playing card decks only. you love the box and would want to see one so you made it. i get it. what i don't understand is why having an option to not have to buy the box cannot be a thing.

anyway, you are set on gating one of your decks behind this box and and walling off a portion of your fans from obtaining a part of the set. we just see it differently. im sure your campaign will still go down as one of the top successful campaigns in Kickstarter playing card campaigns just like your other campaigns. i personally do not recall ever seeing this as a money grab, just a decision which alienates a portion of your fanbase because they either do not want or cannot afford a fancy, expensive item.

[TheGentlemanWake]

Just got off the phone with printer....

"I've never heard of a tuck with 5 foils (plus 1 interior) with Debossing AND 3D Sculptural embossing... INSIDE an embossed and foiled sleeve featuring a metal plate sculpture."

Yeah, neither has my project budget. :/

It will be glorious.

[Harvonsgard]

Shoot for the stars they say. You'll rock this Omar . Godspeed for your nerves already .

[laitostarr777]

Just got off the phone with printer....

"I've never heard of a tuck with 5 foils (plus 1 interior) with Debossing AND 3D Sculptural embossing... INSIDE an embossed and foiled sleeve featuring a metal plate sculpture."

Yeah, neither has my project budget. :/

It will be glorious.

*gulp* now I am fearing for my life X.X
That 3D sculpt embossing, does it looked like what Ark Playing Cards did in Kinghood?

[TheGentlemanWake]

Yes. The embossing is multilevel 3D sculptural.

[TheGentlemanWake]

Shoot for the stars they say. You'll rock this Omar . Godspeed for your nerves already .

Staring at spread sheets of what this all will cost and I’m either crazy fool or a genius or a bit of both. I’ll let you know a month after the launch. But yeah my nerves will be stretched thin. Every time i think about “we’ll i can save a little bit of money if I do X” I recoil. I just want this to be amazing.

[Eric Lee]

Just got off the phone with printer....

"I've never heard of a tuck with 5 foils (plus 1 interior) with Debossing AND 3D Sculptural embossing... INSIDE an embossed and foiled sleeve featuring a metal plate sculpture."

Yeah, neither has my project budget. :/

It will be glorious.

Staring at spread sheets of what this all will cost and I’m either crazy fool or a genius or a bit of both. I’ll let you know a month after the launch. But yeah my nerves will be stretched thin. Every time i think about “we’ll i can save a little bit of money if I do X” I recoil. I just want this to be amazing.

Woah, be careful there! You're starting to sound like Lotrek! (not that there's anything wrong with that...)

[TheGentlemanWake]

Don't have a KS preview page up yet because I'm waiting on pictures. But I've been working the numbers and trying to arrive at prices for everything. I think they prices are fair considering (a) these are not lotrek decks thus are more affordable generally than the tempest counterparts, (b) they are commensurate with the market pricing and (c) they have a LOT of bells and whistles.

So right now I have the following individual prices (there are discounts for bundled items as usual -- i.e. 36 for the Pair of standard decks rather than $38)

DISCLAIMER: THESE PRICES ARE NOT FINAL AND SUBJECT TO ADJUSTMENT

$19 ea. The Regal Red/Royal Blue. (Premium decks with metallic inks--most likely--in premium tucks with 5 foils/1 foil interior and deboss/3d emboss)
$25 The Imperial Black & Gold (5000 count) (Premium Decks with Cold Foil on backs and faces in premium tucks with 5 foils/1 foil interior and deboss/3d emboss)
$75 The Monarch White (2000 count) (Premium GILDED Decks with Cold Foil on backs and faces in premium tucks with 5 foils/1 foil interior and deboss/3d emboss PLUS Foil Embossed Sleeve with METAL SCULPTURE PLATE)
$65 The Dynastinae Rex (777 count) (Premium GILDED Decks with Cold Foil on backs and faces in premium tucks with 3 foils and deboss/emboss)
The Dynastinae Rex Prism (400 count) WOULD be about $115 if sold separately (Premium HOLO GILDED Decks with Cold HOLO Foil on backs and faces in premium tucks with 3 foils/1 foil interior and deboss/3d emboss PLUS Foil Embossed Sleeve with METAL SCULPTURE PLATE)
The Sarcophagus is $450 (shipping included in US and Ger--which is a BIG deal considering these weigh 6 lbs.) Includes one of each of the above and would likely include any stretch goal items released (coins, metal card, gift deck etc.) Split bricks, uncut sheets, uncut tucks are NOT included but can be added.

The tiers I have are as follows (all of these are free shipping in US and Ger):
$19 one deck tier
$25 black deck tier
$36 standard pair tier
$59 deck trio
$134 white deck plus trio
$199 5 deck set (red, blue, black, white, Dynastinae)
$192 Split Brick (red, blue, black)
$258 half brick (red, blue, black) plus White and Dynastinae
$332 Brick PLUS white and Dynastinae
$450 Sarcophagus (LTD to 360) (red, blue, black, white, dynastinae, prism) in DELUXE BOX
$500 Sacrophagus PLUS Signed Prototype (LTD to 30) As above plus a randomly selected prototype deck (could be any of the six tucks) with TGW signature. A note about the prototypes... these are Cartamundi Prototypes with 6 decks represented in one (9 of each back) with cold foil on front and back. I may also give the rarer tucks to the first to pledge. So the first 3 in the tier would get Prism tucks, then dynastinae for the next 5, white for the next 7, black for the next 10, etc.

Plan is to fulfill out of Gamblers and Deallez. I have ALREADY had a converstaion with Deallez about using different carriers in the trouble spots and increasing the packing materials protection.

[STLBluesNut]

are all the decks going to be the same courts an back art?

the red blue and black seem to have really good pricing. and you said it was impossible =p. (didn't really say those words) 3 decks gated behind buying other items which is disappointing still.

thank you for posting, looking forward to seeing what each deck looks like.

[badpete69]

Excellent my friend... will be there

[TheGentlemanWake]

are all the decks going to be the same courts an back art?

the red blue and black seem to have really good pricing. and you said it was impossible =p. (didn't really say those words) 3 decks gated behind buying other items which is disappointing still.

thank you for posting, looking forward to seeing what each deck looks like.

I should’ve mentioned the Dynastinae and Prism decks have the alternate ambigram back design. All of which will be clear when pictures are posted.

[TheGentlemanWake]

Also the Dynastinae and white decks can be added on so although they aren’t technically unlocked you would only need to back for a standard deck to get one

[Harvonsgard]

That's certainly a nice option to have.

[balrog326]

Im totally gonna be as quick as possible with that proto tier...to have a prism prototype would be a dream come true

[brownsl]

Thank you for that information. It is nice to have an idea of costs before launch. I will be in for a Sarcophagus! Looking forward to this!

[MagikFingerz]

It is nice to have an idea of costs before launch.

It is, and I'm thinking it's probably good for the campaign as well. Better to have people ready to pledge right away, rather than sitting on the fence before pulling the trigger. Also, better to have people decide they're not interested right away, rather than pledge out of FOMO and pull the pledge later on.

[TheGentlemanWake]

Off topic. For the mods and admins out there. Should I have a different tag than “member”. I’m not a designer obviously. Is there a producer tag?

[aznh]

Off topic. For the mods and admins out there. Should I have a different tag than “member”. I’m not a designer obviously. Is there a producer tag?

entitled much?

how bout “re-seller” since that’s what you do as well now

[hsbc]

[words]

Omar is never anything but gracious, informative, and helpful, why are you incapable of just being kind

[MagikFingerz]

Off topic. For the mods and admins out there. Should I have a different tag than “member”. I’m not a designer obviously. Is there a producer tag?

There isn't, so I put you in the Designers group for now. Maybe we'll make a more appropriate one at some point. But you DO provide input on the designs on your decks, right? So the tag isn't COMPLETELY wrong

[TheGentlemanWake]

Off topic. For the mods and admins out there. Should I have a different tag than “member”. I’m not a designer obviously. Is there a producer tag?

There isn't, so I put you in the Designers group for now. Maybe we'll make a more appropriate one at some point. But you DO provide input on the designs on your decks, right? So the tag isn't COMPLETELY wrong

That works for now! Thank you. And of course I provide design feedback. Ultimately I’m the final arbiter of what carries the monogram. Although I do think “producer” would make more. And for the record this isn’t about entitlement in the least—it’s about lending credence to the message for those who might not know me from name recognition alone.

Also I’m not a reseller. Perhaps a retailer. But reselling means I would have to buy the stock from someone else to sell on. I don’t offer any decks on my site at the moment that I didn’t produce myself. That may be the case one day. It may not. But it doesn’t apply at the moment.

You know it does bring up a valid point. So often we look at folks like Lorenzo and Gio and Lotrek and Jackson as designers. They are MUCH more than that. I may have to design something one day after all!

[bdawg923]

Off topic. For the mods and admins out there. Should I have a different tag than “member”. I’m not a designer obviously. Is there a producer tag?

entitled much?

how bout “re-seller” since that’s what you do as well now

Hahahaha I love watching this dude out-dumb himself on every new comment.

On topic though, will there be a preview page before the ks goes live that shows pics and rewards and stuff?

[TheGentlemanWake]

On topic though, will there be a preview page before the ks goes live that shows pics and rewards and stuff?

Absolutely. I just waiting on all the prototypes to arrive this month. Cartamundi is printing the decks. Studio Pression in France is printing the tucks. And the new latest deluxe box prototype is being put together currently. Once all that has arrived I will get to work shooting video and Richard Arturo will be shooting all of the promo photography for the campaign. Kevin will be working on some nice graphics for the KS page too.

[Harvonsgard]

Hahahaha I love watching this dude out-dumb himself on every new comment.