Joker 80T

[sprouts1115]

Thought I would post what I'm doing. I talked to 14 box manufactures and got warm and fuzzy feelings from 3. I sent 2 Bee stock decks using https://bmpokerworld.gostorego.com to these box manufactures. I asked them to take 64 cards of the Bee stock and measure a box. I'm going to ask what are the specific dimensions. I think it will be interesting to find out if they come up with different dimensions. All 3 of the manufactures can emboss and foil. I'm really just interested in the embossing as a possible stretch goal. The reason is I want to make the first run as unique as possible.

http://www.boxprintingcompany.com/Playi ... _Boxes.htm
http://www.boxcoop.com
http://www.peekpackaging.com

I did talk to Bob Peek personally. He plays Texas Hold'em every Tuesday. His says I might have something. Maybe he might cut me a deal. I do know once you reach 10,000 boxes there is a substantial cost reduction. Hopeful thinking anyways.

This reminds me of Pensacola Florida. 6 months after the hurricane Dennis I wanted to get rid of 23 pine trees. I contacted 15 tree cutters and got 15 quotes ranging from $1500 to $6500. Never go with the highest or lowest bid. I went with a guy that charged me $2300. He tore up my yard with heavy machinery but that was fine. I also check to see if they have insurance. You would be amazed on how many people say let me get back to ya and never return your call...

Hopefully I'll get 3 boxes made and pick the best one for quality and price. I don't think the box sells the cards but it does help to have a nice box, but I am looking at an added expense of at least $3500 for 5000 boxes.

[sprouts1115]

So I went to the T-shirt vender today. http://www.bigstarbranding.com/index.jsp I wanted to pick out a good quality T-shirt that won't shrink the first time you wash it. They usually only do a minimum of 12, but I she is going to make a prototype for me. It's going to have 1 print on the front and one on the back. On the back, It's going to have a QR code. If a cute girl is trying to scan your back you can turn around and say, "Are you trying to take a picture of my Butt" She told me nobody has ever done QR code from their shop before. I know most Kickstarters only sell at most 25 T-shirts. It only get cheaper if you get 36. I might be a walking billboard. Next, I'll be trying to get a prototype of the poster. I think it's important to have physical Fluff items. I've noticed a lot of other Fluff items on Kickstarters are all digital.

[sprouts1115]

poster vender

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Went the poster vender yesterday. I picked Satin Poster paper 7mil thickness. I need to beef up the tiff files so we can make the Jokers bigger. This one is only 220 dpi with medium size Jokers. I'm going to try to get it closer to 300 dpi. I'm banging around the idea of placing the Jokers in a white card die and having the surrounding background black to make them pop. I'm probably going to get a prototype done just to see. The poster itself will be the same size as an Uncut sheet from the USPCC. (21 ⅞" x 26 ⅜") I know I'll only sell 15 at the most, but I figure if I'm going to sell an art print it should be big and top notch.


Decided to add a coin to the Fluff items. Recently found out card coins were popular in the past as they are today. One side will have the Texas Star and the other will say "To secede is our right" with texasplayingcards.com thrown is somewhere. http://www.novanumismatics.com/numismat ... ts-tokens/

[sprouts1115]

Also got the Soft proofs. Found some mistakes but this is where you need to find them. Not going to make any changes until Vivian and I get together this Sunday and really look at everything. Beside it takes 2 weeks to get the edited soft proofs back. Man that Ace of Diamonds looks naked.

[sprouts1115]

I think I found my custom silver seal maker. Since this the first time anyone has done a deck like this should I increase the number of special decks to 250. Everyone seems to have a minimum. I'm kind of stuck. USPCC minimum quantity for custom stickers is 1000 and I want to sign and number a limited amount of decks. I just don't want to get a cheap looking silver seal from another 3rd party vender. Kickstarter says your middle reward should be your meat and potatoes reward and that is what I'm trying to do with the special deck.

Anyone know the size of the Bicycle poker seal? I've found lots of places to buy them but they don't list the size. Found one source that said 23mm x 15mm. Is that right? I just don't want to bother Tiffany with one question.

[montecarlojoe]

Um, why not measure one - you must have plenty attached to decks lying around...

[sprouts1115]

montecarlojoe - I have a general idea but I'm OCD. Who knows I might make it a bit longer just to make it more tamper resistant. Has anyone done this before on a deck of cards? Seems like it should be the norm it's a step up from the tax stamp...

Well I have to start somewhere. Like this Facebook page and someone will get 2 decks FREE at my shipping expense if the Kickstarter is successful. I need 30 likes to access the advanced options. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Texaspla ... 9476262038 I know it not as good as the Dale Mathis reward but its something. I think it's funny how Dale Mathis rewards have become a trend on other Kickstarters. badpete69 and his 2 scores.

[sprouts1115]

The New Back of the Card. Notice: the larger white diamonds. I wish to make these metallic silver. More silver the better. The court card's hands and face would be white. Only their garments would be silver. I wish to make some demo decks and play real Texas Hold' em with these. I'm trying to make them as close to these classic Bee's.

[sprouts1115]

So, I bought 7 decks from the MPC.

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I'm not disappointed in the decks. I knew they would have a lot of errors. I'm just really disappointed in their shipping. It had a priority mail bubble wrap envelope with a cardboard box inside.

Inside the cardboard box is WTF is that. Don't I deserve some big bubble wrap or popcorn for that extra empty space. The decks were not damaged, but there was a potential for damage. I did shake the box before I opened it and there was some rattle. The Deck boxes were laid on top and I got a $5 on my next order. Oh boy!. I would order more but this deck has to many errors. It's payable for Texas Hold'em and that's why I wanted to get these demo decks in my hands...

[MagikFingerz]

So this is still happening? I sure hope so! Your joker/harlequin deck is one of my most anticipated decks. Hell, if this gets made it might even get walrus out of hibernation

[Eoghann]

Gimme gimme gimme.

So what are we looking at here sprouts? You've only shown a few courts so far. Does this mean you've completed the design?

[sprouts1115]

I knew the courts would be small, but not this small. It seems MPC has like a white border halo. Weird. The back of card was suppose to be borderless. The first mistake is the cards need to be enlarged so that the indices are near the cut border.

This is the file I used at MPC I thought the dotted red line is the cut border. I guess not. I know I need to extend into the bleed area on my back of card. My former adobe artist didn't understand I needed the other image into the bleed area. But if you notice there is more white border in the top Left. Strange. I don't see it in my upload. I'm just looking for a cool fan without a border. Borderless like the old Bee...

[sprouts1115]

These are the KoH.

If you notice, the KoH has a mustache on one side making this a "1-sided" card. Can you find the other?

The Bishop is John Paul II when he was young. The Cavalier of hearts has a sword. In most tarot decks the CoH has a sword.

If you find any mistakes let me know. I know one change. You can't see it clear here, but the Hearts need to be a darker red. They are like 2 shades short of the traditional hearts. Glad I got a demo deck to see the mistake...

[sprouts1115]

like the purple?


It's the color for the clubs. The CoC has a spear. the BoC is the worst pope we ever have had. He was Pope Alexander VI.

[montecarlojoe]

Needs thicker borders

[MagikFingerz]

Needs thicker borders

Joe, I know you're joking, but that just breaks my heart

[Mike Ratledge]

One thing for sure, it shows me that the level of response is tied to the sale amount. They would not even think about printing my decks before I approved the first deck of each. I suppose if you are printing 250 decks instead of 7,they do things a LOT differently. I got one of each deck shipped overnight before they would print more, and that means that I had the chance to see every single card in both decks, and made several files between the proofs and the bulk printing. I guess there argument is based solely on quantity?

Both of my decks are flawless. If course I added a full week to the cycle, but they places both of my 3D hologo seals and cellophane wrapped all decks. I guess for 12-pack ProtoPak sets I should expect less interactions?

[montecarlojoe]

Which topic do you think you are replying to Mike?

[volantangel]

Which topic do you think you are replying to Mike?

Haha joe it's actually relevant, sprouts was saying his deck was full of errors from mpc, and mike said that the ones he ordered were flawless, probably due to the much larger quantities he ordered.

Haha I was confused at the start as well XD

[sprouts1115]

@mike - Nice to know with larger quantities they send you a demo deck. At the USPCC, last time I checked it was $450 for a demo deck.

Forgot to include the Diamonds.

The darker red was right on. I wanted a different color for each suit, but have the suits in color groupings. Hearts and Diamonds red and dark red. Spades and Clubs black and indigo. I also wanted the color of the suit to be the dominate color in the card.

The BoD was our last pope Pope Benedict XVI Notice the 3 crowns and the 2 keys. I find it interesting each pope has a different crest, but they all have the same theme of 3 crowns and 2 keys.

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The CoD has a bow. It goes with the JoD. Notice the JoD has arrows on his vest. Originally, the JoC had an arrow, but it got changed, but that's another story.

[montecarlojoe]

You mean Benedict IS the CURRENT pope lol.

The Cross keys is a pretty universal Catholic symbol that represent the keys to heaven, and the 3 crowns is actually a single mitre (the pope hat lol) with three bands representing the holy trinity. Together they make up the the coat of arms of Vatican City and the Holy See.

I don't know why I know all this, I'm not even remotely religious!

[sprouts1115]

In my second run of these cards, in 2015 I should use this image minus the glasses for my BoD. That would be a striking difference.

@montecarlojoe - Tell me what you really feel. I value your opinion. I showed my demo deck with all the errors to my sister today and she said I should scrap this deck and make all the cards like my Jokers. I said that is my second deck. All the court cards are going to be "1-sided". And they are going to tell a little story. I told her I really need to make this first deck simple and get people used to Cavaliers and Bishops first. I'm kind of torn...

[montecarlojoe]

I think she's right - kinda.

I like the extended court idea - but they need a redesign - maybe it's an error in prototyping but the borders are just silly - the design needs enlarging to fit the card.

Another point of design is that all the standard courts are in scale with one and other - however the bishop and especially cavalier have comparatively teeny tiny heads, and as such really stick out.

Another tack you could take is not to produce a whole extended court deck at all, but bring the extended court cards in line with the standard bike (bike backs, colour matching, indexes and suits separate, same size etc) and sell them as gaff add on packs - you'll get 5 full sets per sheet and wouldn't really need to worry about tuck boxes.

Another problem is buy-in; "Everything is bigger in Texas" isn't really going to get you far lol. If you can show some historical context and proper research for the other cards and present it like the Origins art booklet it would go a long way I think.

A deck in the style of the jokers would be really cool too - but should be a separate project.

[Eoghann]

What Joe said. I'd be much more interested in the Joker deck to be honest.

[ecNate]

A deck in the style of the jokers would be really cool too - but should be a separate project.

That means I approve of this idea!

[sprouts1115]

Finally, I see the images I wanted to see. The next Kickstarer will be made by the MPC in 2014. I'm thinking of 100. With USPCC going to a 1000 minimum with Bike stock, I can do some funky things, It might be possible for USPCC to print these as a stretch goal. Who knows in 2015. I just know I will see a lot more Kickstarters in the summer of 2015. What is the norm today 30?

[sprouts1115]

Update of the Aces. This is probably final. I wanted to do something different. The AoS has long history and has some stigma to it (Vietnam). It first started as the tax card. You literally had to go to the tax office and pay a tax to get the AoS to complete your deck. Later on, it became somewhat like an ID card. I gave that card to Vivian. I said you can put anything you want on it and she did. If you can't make out the detail, which is on purpose that is a cat skull. Her website link is under the spade is http://haggardhare.com If you check out her website you might understand the card more.

In the AoH, the website needs to be updated, but if you look at the bottom. 01 001 2014 The 01 means the deck version. 001 means production run and of course the last number is the year. I think it's important to put the year down. USPCC coding system is obsolete. I will probably only make one run of the deck in 2014. If I make more the year will change to 2015 thus making the first run some what limited. I don't want to make a 1000 decks and put it in a box and say I will never print it again. I will be putting the year on both the AoH and on the box.

For far to long have we been trying to determine the date of a deck of cards by the tax stamp. Yes the tax was changed from the AoS to the stamp on the box. Love the history of cards. The tax stamp has changed to a plain sticker on the box. I find it interesting ppl are putting the limited numbers on the stickers i.e (1/1000) To me, the important thing on the box is the year the manufacture and maybe the stock and finish. Think about it. In a hundred years, what are future card collectors looking for? All that information should be on the box so they don't have to open the deck.

[volantangel]

Perhaps letting her put anything she wants on the AOS is a bad idea.. What does the cross and cat skull have to do with anything, its completely out of the blue and honestly its a mess. Whether the skull means anything to her really doesnt matter, it means nothing to the deck.

btw: Are those pips completely original? I seem to have seen that hearts somewhere before, perhaps its was in your thread/previous thread

[MagikFingerz]

Agreed with volant, a random cat skull on the most prominent card in the deck is a bad idea. Common sproutus, this is your baby!

[montecarlojoe]

Have to agre with the guys here Sprouticus.

It's hard to do, but you are usually right on the money with constructive criticism of other decks. Imagine this one wasn't yours - what would you be saying?