UnitedCardists.com - The forum for Cardistry, Magic, Custom Decks and All Things Playing Cards.

hsbc wrote: ↑Thu May 05, 2022 1:35 pm

Full Color Storage Boxes - Because you Rock! Included with all purchases of 4+ decks!

As a way simply to say thank you, we have created full-color storage boxes to store your beautiful The Lord of the Rings decks. These storage boxes will be automatically included with any pledge of 4 or more decks! If you've pledged 4-6 decks we will include the 6 deck box in your order. Any purchase of 7+ decks will receive one of our 12 deck storage boxes. And don't you worry, these beautiful boxes will NOT be the shipping box. Nope! These beautiful boxes will be nestled in an additional shipping box so we don't ruin these beauties with those nasty shipping labels. Thanks again for your continued support and be sure to stay tuned as we have a few more additions to the project coming next week!

Images from Discord

TheGentlemanWake wrote: ↑Tue May 10, 2022 11:42 pm There appears to be a new book style edition coming in the next few days.

I've heard a LOT of deliberation back and forth regarding adding decks as stretch goals and the general consensus among backers being that they don't like coming back to adjust pledges. Seems to be working VERY well indeed for Jackson.

TheGentlemanWake wrote: ↑Tue May 10, 2022 11:42 pm There appears to be a new book style edition coming in the next few days.

I've heard a LOT of deliberation back and forth regarding adding decks as stretch goals and the general consensus among backers being that they don't like coming back to adjust pledges. Seems to be working VERY well indeed for Jackson.

hsbc wrote: ↑Thu May 12, 2022 10:29 am The various versions of these are waaaaay too similar IMO

High-End Lord of the Rings Playing Cards Close In on $500K on Kickstarter
Rayburn Odom, May 10, 2022, CBR.com

A crowdfunding campaign for a set of luxury-themed Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring playing cards has rocketed to nearly $500,000.

The Kickstarter campaign was started by Jackson Robinson, an illustrator and playing card designer who says it has always been on his "bucket list" to create a series of card decks based on the Lord of the Rings (LOTR). "From my earliest memories, as an artist," Robinson writes, "I have been drawn to and inspired by science fiction and fantasy stories. Out of all those stories The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien has been my absolute favorite story."

Robinson hopes to eventually create three decks of cards, one for each novel in the LOTR trilogy, but this first deck will focus on characters and scenes from The Fellowship of the Ring. The officially licensed cards have a style that will be instantly recognizable to Tolkien fans, with a familiar use of flowing, sinuous fonts and rich, earthy colors. However, the artist has added his own flair and style to the illustrations, particularly the character designs. As Robinson explained, "Every aspect of this deck of cards is uniquely illustrated and designed with as much detail as possible to create a deck of cards that will be loved by Tolkien fans all over the world."

The cards feature main characters from the novel as kings, queens and jacks. For example, Strider stars as the king, Arwen the queen and Samwise the jack in the suit of hearts. Meanwhile, the aces in each suit are reserved for powerful items from the book. The ace of diamonds, for example, is the staff of Gandalf, while the ace of hearts is Frodo's luminous blade Sting. Elessar, the magical jewel also known as the Elfstone, which Arwen wore as a necklace in the films, is featured on the ace of clubs. Finally, the ace of spades -- the most powerful card in a deck and also known as the death card -- is, of course, the One Ring itself, glowing with power.

Robinson's Kickstarter campaign had an original goal of just $20,000 and currently sits at around $426,000 with another nine days left in the campaign. The lowest pledge of $12 will reserve a single standard edition deck, while the highest tier of $575 or more buys the "Gandalf Collector's Set," which includes 12 standard decks, two Gilded Edition decks and two Legacy Edition decks. The cards will be made in the U.S. by The United States Playing Card Company and are "printed on FSC-certified paper derived from sustainable forests, vegetable-based inks, and starch-based laminates."

The Fellowship of the Ring playing cards have an estimated delivery date of November 2022. Robinson's FAQ says they "hope to launch our Two Towers deck sometime in the fall of 2022 and our Return of the King deck sometime in early 2023." All of the decks will be available to purchase from the artist's website, Kings Wild Project, after the Kickstarter campaign.

laitostarr777 wrote: ↑Wed May 18, 2022 3:03 am To clarify things: so does the Kickstarter exclusive edition will have the same face as the Standard ones? I was thought to believe that the Kickstarter edition will have the faces based on the original artworks before it gets cartoonized

laitostarr777 wrote: ↑Wed May 18, 2022 3:03 am To clarify things: so does the Kickstarter exclusive edition will have the same face as the Standard ones? I was thought to believe that the Kickstarter edition will have the faces based on the original artworks before it gets cartoonized

Official The Lord of the Rings-themed playing cards are going gangbusters
TheOneRing.net, May 18 2022

Since early childhood, artist Jackson Robinson has always wanted to do something artistically inspired by The Lord of the Rings. Recently, he’s finally been able to turn that dream into reality with a wildly successful Kickstarter project launching a deck of The Lord of the Rings-themed playing cards featuring his own hand-drawn art.

Over 6,400 people have backed his The Fellowship of the Ring deck of luxury playing cards in just under a month. It’s now 25 times more successful than its initial goal.

“I knew it would succeed just from the love of the IP and my followers, but I had NO idea it was going to be as successful as it has been,” Jackson told TheOneRing.net.

Robinson says that he’s worked as a professional illustrator for more than 20 years on big brand names and franchises ranging from Star Wars and Marvel Comics to Disney and Coca-Cola, but he’s always loved The Lord of the Rings. His favorite artists working in Tolkien’s milieu includes John Howe and Alen Lee, but he also loves the work of Donato Giancola and the woodcuts of Tolkien Society best artwork category award-winner Tomas Hijo.

“Like many others, the richness of the story and characters within Professor Tolkien’s work drew me in. I also always found it fascinating that I could never seem to be at the bottom of the well of creativity in any of his works or worlds,” Jackson says.

He says that the first significant piece of Tolkien artwork he made was a map of Middle-earth.

“I did this over 20 years ago, during my undergraduate years at the University of North Texas. The map still hangs in my office today.”

However, his interest in playing cards dates from around 2013. He says he only fell into it by accident while working in the videogame industry in Los Angeles.

“I did my first playing card Kickstarter to earn some extra money. It went viral, and I haven’t looked back. I was able to start designing playing cards full-time,” Jackson says. This was the basis for the company he founded — Kings Wild Project.

He says that ever since he started Kings Wild Project, a Lord of the Rings deck has been on his bucket list, and he immediately began researching the requirements for an official license from Middle-earth Enterprises. One of the prerequisites was that his business needed to have been operating in its industry sector for a minimum of five years.

Jackson says the day after Kings Wild Project reached the five-year-mark, he contacted Middle-earth Enterprise requesting to become a licensee to design The Lord of the Rings-themed playing card decks.

He typically begins his creative process with a lot of reference gathering, looking for materials and art styles to draw inspiration from.

“Then I start sketching a character or court card. I usually start with the King of Spades. I will work on one court card or back design until I feel I ‘find it’, and continue the same process with the other characters and cards,” Jackson says. “So many things I deliberately DON’T plan… It is as if the story is being retold for the first time as each new character is revealed during the creative process.”

Jackson says he typically doesn’t need to iterate designs very often.

“But I went through a massive restart with [the deck for] The Lord of the Rings. I had almost finished almost half the deck when I wanted to try something different. I ended up going with the new direction but, in the process, created two decks that have the same character lineup but are done in two very different styles.”

His favorite cards from his Fellowship deck are the Glorfindel card for the deck that’s now up on Kickstarter, and the Frodo card from his initial “scrapped” deck. He says he plans to return to that alternative deck at a later date.

Plans don’t stop there. He also has a deck themed on The Two Towers tentatively expected to launch on Kickstarter in late Fall, and one for The Return of the King in early 2023. He hopes to produce a deck themed on The Hobbit in the Spring of 2023. He told TheOneRing.net that he was also recently granted a license to produce two-sided The Lord of the Rings jigsaw puzzles. Look out for a Fellowship of the Ring puzzle in time for the holiday season this year.

Readers can visit Kings Wild Project to find out more about his playing card projects, including his Fellowship of the Ring-themed deck. At the time of publishing, the Kickstarter for The Fellowship of the Ring deck has 50 hours before it closes. You can check it out here.