Stories (Vanda Artists Series / Srdjan Vidakovic)

[krystalie]

hsbc, our resident living proof of delivered cards

[hsbc]

Sadly I didn't back these, but I'm absolutely on the market for one of those four-deck sets

[Bradius]

I guess for now you will have to put up with my bad photo. Here is what I have. Three decks were not cellophaned (Blue, Green and Red). The box numbered seal is on the bottom. You can kinda see the seal.

KHEU7560[1].JPG (222 KiB) Viewed 5096 times

Edit: I accidently forgot to photo the red deck.

[rousselle]

Mine were shipped out on the 24th from Grand Prairie, Tx (so, I'm assuming GW is the distributor), and as of today (June 5th) my decks have made it all the way to... Las Vegas, NV. At this rate, I should have them (in Seattle, WA) by Christmas.

2025.

[Harvonsgard]

Bradius' pic has to be sufficient as proof then, haha. Kinda unexpected that you didn't back this campaign @hsbc.

[hsbc]

Kinda unexpected that you didn't back this campaign @hsbc.

Finances, I wish I could afford to back more than I do

[acetofive]

-

[Bradius]

The rewards I received were exceptionally well packaged.

[rousselle]

My comments were not meant to deride GW in general. Their shipping is darn near perfect with regard to delivering the merchandise in excellent condition. The fact that they use DHL for many (but not all!) projects is their one quirky annoyance, if only because a tracking number can appear to sit for a week without moving before DHL starts to get the package going, and then it still seems to take longer than the USPS would normally take. That said, what can you do? Shipping ain't cheap these days, and if making it more affordable adds a week or two to shipping duration, well... I can wait a few more days if it saves me a few bucks. Given how many decks I've bought, the dollars add up faster than the days.

That said, my hyperbole earlier about not receiving these decks for another year notwithstanding, my Stories decks arrived today and I just now opened up the display decks. And... holy smurf. These decks completely lived up to their original billing, and then some. The art is better than I'd hoped and, just as promised, book I (the red deck) is totally great as it is, while II (the blue deck) adds color in a most excellent way, and III (the green deck) brings on multiple metallic inks that simply catch the eye in the most pleasing of ways. IV (the black deck) not only adds gold foil to the black and white backs, but the LPCC metallic inks crank it up a notch over the USPCC metallics from book III, and the effect is mesmerizing. Book V (the purple deck)... well, even the display deck is gilded, and this deck is truly lovely. We're back to USPCC with this one. The faces still have the multiple metallic inks of the green deck, while the backs have the two-tone gold on purple and white, but the gold in this case is metallic ink instead of foil, and that totally works. Oh, and each of the first four decks have a different 2 with a stylized pip, while book V has *all* the twos with a stylized pip. Fun Easter Egg.

I originally backed this campaign for the art and the design and the theme, and it completely delivered on those accounts. In many ways, this campaign anticipated what The Gentleman Wake would eventually do with each of his campaigns. Except, of course, Stories was delayed by a few years, so it arrives *after* the Successor. Even so, this series does not feel dated in the slightest. It has all the bling, all the excellent design and thematic design, and all the quality.

Dave mishandled his delays by not communicating them at the time, but he ultimately made good on the project. It appears that he is now releasing new decks (not just the Stories series; check out his website), and he's selling the new decks after they are produced, so maybe he is going to work on rehabilitating his reputation. I hope so, and I hope he does the work necessary to earn back some trust. It may be a lonnng time (if ever) before people trust him with a KS project again, but I think the playing card collecting community is better off if he is producing solid series like this again down the road. I'm very glad he finally fulfilled this project, and I hope to see him around here again before too long.

Edit: I originally said that the black deck had metallic inks by Cartamundi, but it looks like that was changed to Legends PCC at some point during the campaign, so I've made the change in the text above accordingly.

[davegk]

Thank you Rousselle for the glowing review of the decks you received. I can't easily express how much time and effort I've put into this project but seeing this type of appreciation of the end result makes it worthwhile.

I'm glad to see that folks are finally receiving the shipments and I'll be adding remaining inventory on the Vanda website in the near future, including some additional 4-deck box sets for those of you who are interested (hsbc)

[hsbc]

Stories I: Red, $19.00



Volume 1 features a red tuckbox with gold & red foiling, monochrome court illustrations, and a serial number identification sticker (from a limited run of 2500 decks). Cards produced by USPC + tuckbox produced by Gamblers Warehouse.

Stories II: Blue, $19.00



Volume 2 features a blue tuckbox with gold & blue foiling, full color (pantone inks) court illustrations, and a serial number identification sticker (from a limited run of 2500 decks). Cards produced by USPC + tuckbox produced by Gamblers Warehouse.

Stories III: Green, $19.00

Stories IV: Black, $25.00



Volume 4 features a black tuckbox with gold & black foiling, full color (metallic pantone inks) court illustrations, and a serial number identification sticker (from a limited run of 1000 decks). Cards produced by Legends Playing Cards + tuckbox produced by Gamblers Warehouse.

Stories Box Set, $95.00



This 4-deck box set features gold foil on all exterior sides, a magnetic sealing flap, serial number sticker from a limited edition run of 1000 (with matching serial #s of boxes contained), and includes these decks:

Volume 1 (Red)
Volume 2 (Blue)
Volume 3 (Green)
Volume 4 (Black)

Stories IV: Gold, $80.00



Volume 4 Gold Edition (SUPER RARE) features GOLD GILDING on the cards, gold foil printed on the card backs, a gold tuckbox with gold foiling, full color (metallic pantone inks) court illustrations, and a serial number identification sticker (from a limited run of only 100 decks). Cards produced by Legends Playing Cards + tuckbox produced by Gamblers Warehouse.

Stories V: Purple, $65.00



Volume 5 features PURPLE GILDING on the cards, a purple tuckbox with gold and purple foiling, full color (metallic pantone inks) court illustrations, and a serial number identification sticker (from a limited run of only 500 decks). Cards produced by USPC + tuckbox produced by Gamblers Warehouse.

[kevork]

Those are some hefty prices for the gold and purple. Since purple is Stories V, is it any different than the other stories?

[davegk]

Those are some hefty prices for the gold and purple. Since purple is Stories V, is it any different than the other stories?

The purple decks have the metallic pantones on court cards (similar to green deck). The 2 unique features on this one are purple gilded edges on the cards and the illustration that appears as a quadtych across decks 1-4 is now a single double-sided extra card in this deck. The limited quantity of 500 + gilding are where the value of this deck comes in.

Quadtych mural (Red/Blue/Green/Black decks):

Double-sided mural (Purple deck):

[bdawg923]

Those are some hefty prices for the gold and purple. Since purple is Stories V, is it any different than the other stories?

The purple decks have the metallic pantones on court cards (similar to green deck). The 2 unique features on this one are purple gilded edges on the cards and the illustration that appears as a quadtych across decks 1-4 is now a single double-sided extra card in this deck. The limited quantity of 500 + gilding are where the value of this deck comes in.

Quadtych mural (Red/Blue/Green/Black decks):
quadriptych.jpg

Double-sided mural (Purple deck):
Stories Purple 8.jpg
Stories Purple 9.jpg

Any updates on shipping which you said started a month ago?

[Eric Lee]

Any updates on shipping which you said started a month ago?

Also faced the same problem. I got my tracking number on May 26th, 4 weeks ago. I was wondering why it wasn't moving and emailed GW directly after getting no replies from David via the KS PM.

GW replied on June 19th,

We are waiting on payment from Vanda.
As soon as we receive payment we will release all shipments.

Then I got this email from Vanda's newsletter today, June 22nd :

For the next 24 hours only, we’re offering the eye-catching Cardistry Club: Zero decks for $5 each when you buy a full brick! That’s 12 decks for $60 (save $120 OFF retail price) + FREE shipping (within the US). Use coupon code ZEROBRICK at checkout.

So looks like he doesn't have enough to complete the shipping and we're the unlucky ones who are in, hopefully, the second wave that will only be shipped once David raises enough funds and pays GW the remaining $.

But at least we can see David making attempts to raise the $.
(yes, I'm being optimistic as David has shown he's doing his best to complete this KS)

[Kage X]

I got mine a week ago

[Eric Lee]

Looks like he managed to raise enough funds from his 24 hr flash sale and the new Red Aces deck. I finally got a reply from David after I had contacted him via Vanda website last week.

I apologize for the wait—we've had some fulfillment delays but we've finally resolved them and all remaining orders will be shipping out immediately.

So those who haven't got it yet should be getting it soon. (crossing fingers and toes! )

[Strag]

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.

Unfortuantely I disagree around the ill will. Lack of communication followed up by a lack of responses to MANY direct emails and messages on KS (he's never responded to any of them) means that I am done with Vanda as a source of playing cards. The fact that he was holding sales during that dark period means he was definitely aware, he just chose not to communicate at all. A real apology would have gone a long way towards keeping me as a future customer, but it's really never happened.

[EvilDuncan]

Unfortuantely I disagree around the ill will. Lack of communication followed up by a lack of responses to MANY direct emails and messages on KS (he's never responded to any of them) means that I am done with Vanda as a source of playing cards. The fact that he was holding sales during that dark period means he was definitely aware, he just chose not to communicate at all. A real apology would have gone a long way towards keeping me as a future customer, but it's really never happened.

I agree. Personally, I still believe that there is likely some reasonably justifiable explanation for all the delays and maybe even his lack of communication (at least from his point of view). Was it an exceptionally stressful time in his normal job that prevented him from focusing on this project? Some personal issues that sapped his motivation? Maybe something more extreme? I don't know, and I really don't need any nitty gritty details. I just want a real apology and maybe some general nonspecific explanation for why the delays and lack of communication happened, even if it isn't a good one. If he did that, I would be willing to cut him a lot of slack. Instead, we got some half-assed 2-line non-apology with no explanation and then he pretended like nothing happened.

I will say, in terms of the Stories project (and Centurio tbh), he really came through and tried to make things right on the product side. The cards are fantastic and I think he handled the issues with the jumbo tuck very well. However, that doesn't excuse the fact that he just pushed all of previous issues under the rug. I'm not mad about it, just disappointed.

[Artiphany]

I always try to tell a story with my deck, using the suits. Is there a storyline to this deck? If so, I'm not exactly sure what it is.

[Eric Lee]

No single story per se. Just what is mentioned in the banner on the court card. You can read more about this on the KS page:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/go ... escription

[davegk]

@Strag & @EvilDuncan:
I realize that many folks don't read every Kickstarter update (and some people don't read any), but I would like to point out that (in addition to several other communication instances), I posted a very specific apology/explanation in update #12 on the Stories Kickstarter project: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/go ... ts/3698044

I'll paste here what I wrote for anyone who isn't able to access the link above:

"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..."


I hope that helps explain the situation that I was dealing with. I'm happy to discuss specifics more directly—if anyone has any additional questions, feel free to email me at ace@vandacards.com

Thanks,
David

[PiazzaDelivery]

@Strag & @EvilDuncan:
I realize that many folks don't read every Kickstarter update (and some people don't read any), but I would like to point out that (in addition to several other communication instances), I posted a very specific apology/explanation in update #12 on the Stories Kickstarter project: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/go ... ts/3698044

I'll paste here what I wrote for anyone who isn't able to access the link above:

"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..."


I hope that helps explain the situation that I was dealing with. I'm happy to discuss specifics more directly—if anyone has any additional questions, feel free to email me at ace@vandacards.com

Thanks,
David

I didn't back this project, but I am a regular on playing card Kickstarters, including a couple that are in a similar position to that of Stories. I think I can speak for EVERYONE when I say the following:

Most of us are rational people. We can and do sympathize. In fact, a lot of us are quick to forgive delays given a set of unfortunate circumstances beyond the creator's control. HOWEVER, we do not forgive disappearance. If things go wrong, we expect honesty, pure and simple. You owe your backers an explanation. I don't care if you don't have the answers to their questions, if nothing has changed since the last update, if things have only gotten worse, if you are certain to receive abuse, etc., just tell them what you can and be brutally honest if necessary. Keep the lines of communication open.

[GandalfPC]

I would agree regarding communication - I have seen a few be forgiven for disappearing only to become difficult to contact again (at best) after an update.

The extra money raised is impressive, though I would be as impressed with the base act of raising the kickstarter funds back up after misappropriating them should that have occurred - and coming through with the decks and moving forward more smoothly in my opinion is worthy of thanks by all as no one should want to see someone fail or falter.

As far as what personal drama someone went through, or what health condition they had or have - I really don’t feel privy to that.

All having been said, gotta keep the communication flowing, because going silent is like not paying your taxes for years - you get one pass on it, at most.