AGNI by Orion Playing Cards [KS]

[hsbc]

printed by KINGSTAR

[Adamthinks]

I like these, I'm backing for both. I've liked their previous decks, they're using foil this time instead of metallic ink, and Old Gravity designed them.

[Honeybee]

The 'nuclear scientists' theme for the Diamond Courts is simply too visually different from the themes for the other suits
I wonder whether they used the same tuck producers as they did for Open Secrets as the red on the OS tuck would work well for this fire theme

[kevork]

So many renders. I'll wait to see the final product before considering.

[Harvonsgard]

Not feeling the heat here at all. The design doesn't ignite any urge to back these for me.

[EndersGame]

This thread really needs some images, to show us an overview of what it offers. Here's a write-up I did describing the basics, along with an overview of some of the main images.

Kickstarter: AGNI Playing Cards

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/or ... cards-deck

A deck of fiery cards from Orion Playing Cards and Kingstar

Project ends: Sat, 16 December 2023



This project is the result of a collaboration between Abundant Art Gallery (Orion Playing Cards) and Old Gravity (Bivas Bhattacharjee), and is being manufactured by KingStar.

AGNI is the Sanskrit word for fire, which is the inspiration and theme for this deck. The ancients already considered fire to be one of the base elements of the cosmos, and certainly our fiery sun is an essential force that we rely on for heat, light, and life.



There are two editions of this luxury deck:

Ash Edition: This is a premium Kickstarter exclusive numbered edition with a die-cut tuck case and other special features. It has red-foiled cards, with holographic edge gilding.

The Ash Edition tuck case is particularly spectacular, with a hot red foil and an ash pattern that gives the impression of it being partially burned by fire. It has artwork designed around Prometheus, who is depicted holding a flame in the darkness, thus providing humanity with fire.



Ignited Edition: This is the "standard" edition, although this is available as gilded or non-gilded version. it has gold-foiled cards, with gold-orange edge gilding as an option.

The Ignited Edition tuck case is still very impressive, with similar artwork, but in shiny gold and matt-red foil.



Everything about the deck is fully custom, including fire-shaped pips, and fire-inspired artwork.

A lovely touch is that each card has foil along the edges, with a torn pattern that emphasizes the theme of fire. The cards of the Ignited Edition are gold-foiled instead of red-foiled, with the artwork and graphic design otherwise matching the Ash Edition.



The card backs are an abstract design inspired by the yin-yang symbol, but with a symmetry that avoids a one-way design. Like the card faces they evoke the idea of burning embers.



The four suits represent four aspects of AGNI in history: Natural Fire (Clubs), Discovered Fire (Diamonds), Mythical Fire (Spades), and Passionate Fire (Hearts).



For example, the King of the Clubs is an old African king holding a torch up to the sky; the the Queen of Clubs is an ancient Indian lady holding a candle up to her face, the Jack of Clubs is an old Chinese monk with a lantern.



The King of Diamonds depicts Robert J Oppenheimer, a leading figure in the development of the atom bomb, while the Queen of Diamonds depicts Lise Meitner, one of the scientists who first discovered nuclear fission.



The pips have foiling that really make the number cards look gorgeous, with the hearts and diamonds being foil with dark outlines, and the spades and clubs being dark with foil outlines.





The four aces feature oversized versions of the four custom-designed fiery pips, along with thematic fiery motifs like a fire-breathing dragon and flaming quills.



The two jokers of the AGNI deck depict two different sides of fire: one being its creative and regenerative side, the other its destructive side.



I really can't say enough about how magnificent these decks promise to be, and you need to head to the Kickstarter page to see a full collection of beautiful pictures that showcase what you can expect.



Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/or ... cards-deck

[Evilgamer]

as much as I want to really like this deck they are pushing my "annoying tactic" button

This is the first deck I think Ive ever liked the base deck more than the "special one' and when they released the gilded version of the gold deck they locked it behind having to buy the original 2 decks.

Im seriously thinking about cancelling on principle and seeing if the gold/gilded pops up for sale later.

[Evilgamer]

and 6 months later here we are. Glad I ultimately didn't spring for more than one deck, shipped it was $25.

sorry that the board decided to flip all the images, I cant be bothered to fix it for the benefit of this deck.

Funny that this deck comes in the day there was a post on reddit extolling the virtues of how great Kingstar was (who printed this deck) and how WJPC isnt well regarded in China. And this deck just...continues my impression of decks printed by Kingstar, as being just...not up to western produced decks printed by cartamundi or WJPCs level. (Orion is listed as being a UK company)

Its by no means a bad deck, but, it just lacks that last 15% or so that make the good decks good.

Let's start with the foiling. This is the base deck which was advertised as an orange gold...Well its more just orange
Here was the tease



and here is reality (took way to long to get this because the king of diamonds became the jack of clubs), even the art is lower fidelity

pip cards

The backs are no where near the render either

[Sinecure]

and 6 months later here we are. Glad I ultimately didn't spring for more than one deck

Thanks for posting these. I didn’t end up backing but, as a fan of Bivas and Ritu, I was torn and hence curious to know how they turned out.

I don’t have a particular problem with people using renders instead of prototypes but I do think creators have a responsibility to provide renders that are somewhat close to what the finished product will look like. The Agni renders were so glamourised that it was hard to see how they could ever turn out looking that good in real life.

[Evilgamer]

and 6 months later here we are. Glad I ultimately didn't spring for more than one deck

Thanks for posting these. I didn’t end up backing but, as a fan of Bivas and Ritu, I was torn and hence curious to know how they turned out.

I don’t have a particular problem with people using renders instead of prototypes but I do think creators have a responsibility to provide renders that are somewhat close to what the finished product will look like. The Agni renders were so glamourised that it was hard to see how they could ever turn out looking that good in real life.

Im amazed and how prescient I was last year when I drew up my 10 point system for decks and campaigns fully 10% of the "faith in the campaign" was whether they had taken the time to actually print samples or not. And its proving to be more true, I may make it more important after this.

[Adamthinks]

Well damn, that's a pretty drastic difference. Mine are on the way, but now I'm less enthused. I've not been a huge fan of Kingstar ( they're not bad, just not my favorite) but this is disappointing.

[zuccha]

Certainly not as rendered, the back was particularly disappointing, but the face was not that far off from my imagination. The foil is not a mirror-like reflection due to the embossing, but there is a decent foil sheen.

Unlike the thin paper (280gsm Black Core?) that is often used in Kingstar products these days, this one is quite thick. I don't like thick paper, but the fan seems better than 280gsm.

[Honeybee]

Unlucky evil. Banish them to the bottom drawer - like my pink honeybees (I don't think they deserve to be in the Honeybees drawer)

[Evilgamer]

Certainly not as rendered, the back was particularly disappointing, but the face was not that far off from my imagination. The foil is not a mirror-like reflection due to the embossing, but there is a decent foil sheen.

Unlike the thin paper (280gsm Black Core?) that is often used in Kingstar products these days, this one is quite thick. I don't like thick paper, but the fan seems better than 280gsm.

Looks like you had a little different experience with getting the light conditions right (I think I had too much maybe including using a flashlight to try to get the foil to reflect more) I just couldn't get an angle that either everything didnt go flat or there was no showing that the foils were even there.

I think its the lack of shiny gold thats really losing it that last point for me, looking at the renders this is why I didnt like the red deck as much, the gold just looked so much better but the final product is an orange.

Unlucky evil. Banish them to the bottom drawer - like my pink honeybees (I don't think they deserve to be in the Honeybees drawer)

eh they arent quite bad enough to make the "box of random crap I somehow got" box. Maybe soon I'll have to start a "didnt really work out" box....man I hope not.

[Adamthinks]

Well, mine arrived today. Perhaps it's because my expectations are lowered, but they turned out really nice. I have the ASH version with the red foil, so perhaps that's part of it. The foil is very shiny when reflecting the light. Not quote as shiny as in the campaign pics, but still pretty shiny.

[shermjack]

Well, mine arrived today. Perhaps it's because my expectations are lowered, but they turned out really nice. I have the ASH version with the red foil, so perhaps that's part of it. The foil is very shiny when reflecting the light. Not quote as shiny as in the campaign pics, but still pretty shiny.

Could you provide pics for reference?

[Adamthinks]

Well, mine arrived today. Perhaps it's because my expectations are lowered, but they turned out really nice. I have the ASH version with the red foil, so perhaps that's part of it. The foil is very shiny when reflecting the light. Not quote as shiny as in the campaign pics, but still pretty shiny.

Could you provide pics for reference?

I tried, but I couldn't get the shine to show up on the pics.

[EndersGame]

I got these and was pleased with how they turned out.

There were three kinds of decks that were part of this project:
● ungilded/standard IGNITED Edition
● gilded IGNITED Edition
● gilded ASH Edition

The standard version of the Ignited Deck may seem slightly underwhelming, especially when compared with the gilded Ignited deck, of which only 175 were produced. It has orange gilding on the edges and looks lovely. The gilded edges help the orange foil on the faces and backs stand out more. Admittedly, it is not quite a shiny as the renders, which make the entire cards look as if they are made out of shiny metal. But the overall impact is rather lovely.

The unique cut-out for the Ash Edition tuck box (460 produced) adds a unique touch, and I like the fact that they shipped these in a protective white sleeve to protect the edges of the cards during shipping. The cards of this deck have a similar look as the gilded Ignited deck, but use red foil on the faces/backs, which combines well with the red gilding on the edges.

Certainly the two gilded decks impress, with the gilded edges and shiny foil on both sides of the cards. The coins are lovely too. I'm more than happy with the result.