"ARABESQUE" by OathPlayingCards

[caramelo]

No track number... No deck...

[RichK]

Both Arabesque decks arrived yesterday. Wow, stunning work and crispy, shiny foiling!

You've come a long way from the "cutting edge" of GROTESK. Keep up the amazing work while staying sane and healthy please.

[JacksandJokers]

Hey Lotrek,

Sent you a PM about my Arabesque order.
Did you get it ok?

[Bikefanatic]

I didn't get a tracking number either. Good to know people in the States are getting their decks.

[Oscar53955]

Just got my decks in the mail. Absolutely stunning and definitely my favorite decks in my collection. Very well done, Lotrek!

[rousselle]

I expect a full report on how they handle in regular card play when you break them out for your next poker game, sinjin.

Oh, and yes. I received my decks, as well. They are all that *and* a bag of chips.

[sinjin7]

I used one of my decks for a game of Hearts over the weekend. The cards were kind of difficult to get out because the tuck was so tight. It turned out the reason the tuck was so tight was because my deck had an extra 5 of Spades! I just hope this doesn't mean someone out there is missing a 5 of Spades. I removed the two Jokers and dealt out the cards to the 4 players and I was puzzled as to why I still had one card left over. It took me a while to figure out it was because of the duplicate 5 of Spades. I used my Arabesque deck for Hearts instead of poker because my cards get a beating after a 5 hour poker night, a few rounds of Hearts is much gentler. Honestly, the deck isn't much of a pleasure to shuffle or deal, but none of us noticed because we were too busy being amazed by the beauty of the cards.

[Merlebird]

My deck passed through the international sorting center in New York, then a distro center in Connecticut, then another in Jersey City. Since the 15th it's just said "in transit to next facility."

If I find out some contractor is playing $100 hackey-sack with my deck I will be filing a civil suit for emotional damages.

[Räpylätassu]

My deck arrived friday, looks STUNNING. Love it. I often show my decks to my brothers, normally they are not that impressed by anything I show them, both seem to really like Arabesque.

[Bradius]

I nice little package came in from Greece today (same day as I also received a Golden Oath deck as well). My photo is missing one more error deck that was not with me at the time to take the group shot (there is always one in the group that just has to do things differently). Still, it made for a nice shot. I did go through one deck - 52 fingers and toes. The registration was even better than the error deck. The foiling and printing is just amazing.

[TheGentlemanWake]

Wow tuck boxes look substantially better too. Looking forward to mine.

[Merlebird]

A nice little package came in from Greece today (same day as I also received a Golden Oath deck as well).

Little, he says. By my lights that's, bare minimum, just under twelve hundred dollars on that table. Oh, to have baby boomer bucks... too bad all my millennial money is tied up in avocado toast.

[badpete69]

Anyone interested in an EB half brick for the player edition Arabesque. Let me know quickly Thanks

[ICantShuffle]

Oh, to have baby boomer bucks... too bad all my millennial money is tied up in avocado toast.

Not to get too real, but part of the problem the Millenials have is a lot of the boomers made really piss poor financial decisions, so we're having to team up with the useful bits of Gen X to fix the economy while carrying the boomers through what's left of their retirements.

I got Millenial money and investments, which is more than what most boomers I know can say. Avocado toast is California's joke on the rest of the Union.

[Merlebird]

Oh, to have baby boomer bucks... too bad all my millennial money is tied up in avocado toast.

Not to get too real, but part of the problem the Millenials have is a lot of the boomers made really piss poor financial decisions

I had avocado toast for the first time a couple weeks ago. Ish. It was actually like a Southwest-style eggs benedict with avocado and crema instead of ham and hollandaise. It was delicious but now I don't get to have a retirement

[wingedpotato]

Not to be a Debbie Downer, but my Silver A arrived, and quite a few of the number cards have scuff marks and flakes of foil on them that don't rub off. I haven't shuffled the deck and only fanned it twice. Any one else seeing this? For $100, I wasn't expecting scuffed cards.

[sinjin7]

I don't know if there is anyone out there who provides better customer service and is as responsive to his customers as Lotrek is. I would advise you to take a picture of your cards and then send Lotrek a PM and I'm certain he will take care of you.

[Bradius]

I agree with sinjin7. Lotrek is great on customer service and the quality of his work. Send him a photo (s). I saw maybe one or two back cards from the Error deck as you describe out of like 200+ cards (4 decks), which was really amazing to be honest. I didn’t see any issues on the two decks I have so far inspected. The registration errors were so minor, but even a fraction of a millimeter off, you can tell if you are as severely near-sighted as I am. All cards were frankly magnificent. I will start going through the rest though.

[wingedpotato]

Thanks for the encouragement. I contacted Lotrek. I'm putting these up here so others can check their decks against what I am seeing. I've found 1 - 3 cards in every suit with this much scuffing, but it seems almost every number card has at least one foil flake here and there as well. Glad it doesn't seem to be the case for everyone!

[Lotrek]

Hey, winged potato. Hmm, clearly a deck that needs replacement. Foil flakes may appear though since foil is a material that is affected by the varnish and you cannot control it 100%. From what I see, this deck shouldn't be in but I really cannot inspect each card in each deck.

[sinjin7]

Hey Lotrek, after reading your update on your Arabesque Players Edition on KS, I'm a bit confused. The Arabesque Players Edition comes in Blue and Red. You announced there will be a KS exclusive Silver Arabesque Players Edition at $25.00/deck shipped. Will this new Silver Players Edition have a Blue and Red variation as well, or just Blue only (because you said it would be a blue deck)? And given that your regular Players Edition is $18.00/deck shipped, are there any additional features other than the silver/gold color change on the cards and tucks to make it $25.00 instead of $18.00?

[wingedpotato]

Hey, winged potato. Hmm, clearly a deck that needs replacement. Foil flakes may appear though since foil is a material that is affected by the varnish and you cannot control it 100%. From what I see, this deck shouldn't be in but I really cannot inspect each card in each deck.

I sent an email to oathplayingcards@gmail.com with a copy of my order. Just waiting to hear back. Just ordered the Silver players also. Should be a great variation.

[Lotrek]

... Will this new Silver Players Edition have a Blue and Red variation as well, or just Blue only?

-BLUE only!

And given that your regular Players Edition is $18.00/deck shipped, are there any additional features other than the silver/gold color change on the cards and tucks to make it $25.00 instead of $18.00?

-ARRRGH! You want to spoil the surprise, eh? Of course there will be something but I want people to discover it when they'll get the deck. Jesus, those lawyers...

[Bradius]

sinjin7. From what I read, the Silver Players will just us inverted silver metallic inks. There are several other distinguishing features. One is that it will be using a silver pearlescent stock (not the same stock as the two other versions). Edit: I missed the first distinguishing feature, Lotrek said nothing about changing the card stock. The pearlescent stock was for the tuck case, not the card stock. That said, Lotrek did state the tuck case would be using foil and this pealescent card stock, so that is different from the other player editions.

Another distinguishing feature I noted was that the number of decks printed will be strictly limited to those printed sold during the 24 hour sales window. It is important to note what Lotrek said about the number of other player decks being printed - "Arabesque Player's Edition will never be reprinted, however the quantity of decks produced will be determined during the campaign, according to the demand." So, the other two Player editions will not be printed again, but Lotrek is not saying he will not print more than those ordered on Kickstarter. In fact, he has said that the other decks sold will not have a double backer. So, reading between the lines, Lotrek has essentially said he WILL be printing extra decks of the Red and Blue Player editions. He hasn't said how many, but it will be determined "during the campaign, according to demand". If I had to guess based on the total dollars backed so far, we are looking at something like 1,250 (about $19,000/$15) decks ordered so far (combined for both decks), which is way less than 1,000 each. My guess is Lotrek will do at least 1,000 deck run each and sell the surplus on his website, but the exception is those decks will not have the KS exclusive double-backer deck.

The third distinguishing feature, which I don't see as a big deal, is that these decks will ship sooner and directly from Greece.

I guess there is at least a fourth distinguishing feature, some secret that Lotrek is deliberately withholding. I will take a guess that it is a really nice tuck, but that is just a wild guess on my part. Edit: Nevermind. Lotrek already stated that the tuck will have different stock (not the cards) and will feature foil - "It will also have a double backer and inverted foils on the tuck case, which will be printed on silver pearlescent stock. " Now, I am just going to have to wait for the surprise.

[Merlebird]

My Gold Arabesque arrived today but I have to report some scuffing and streaking on it as well. Apologies for the image sizes; it's been a long day and I didn't feel like faffing around in an image editor to reduce them all.


It's hard to photograph, but there appears to be a streak of yellow or maybe metallic gold ink under one of the enlarged pips on the KoH.


A scuff on the 4oC, like something scraped the metallic ink before it was dry.


You can see foiled streaks on the QoS's cuffs and on her instrument.


The foil flaking is particularly easy to photograph on dark areas, like the JoS's sleeves.

I was so soured and shaken by the experience that before photographing the flaws I immediately went to the KS page and pledged for a pair of the player's decks. Warts and all, I just like the design too much to put it in a box and never play with it. Damn you, Lotrek, you got me again!

[Thedissident001]

I received my gold and silver Arabesque decks today. Couldn’t help it and opened the gold.

Quite simply the finest collection of playing cards I have seen, much less held. Incredible! I salute you Lotrek on another fine accomplishment.

[Bradius]

Merlebird:

The foiling process is just not perfect. If you want, you should compare a Lotrek deck with another hot foiled deck. I have a couple of Bicycle MetalLux decks (you can get a pair of them from USPCC for $20). There is just no comparison on these types of problems between them. I wish I had a good camera to show what I am talking about, but I don't. I haven't seen too many of the streaks you showed. However, the flaking is just normal. I don't see it all the time, but I think it is impossible to completely avoid all the time. Also, keep in mind on 350 decks, that is ...well over 18,000 cards. It is just not feasible to catch every problem. From what I have seen so far in reviewing 8 Arabesque decks, the quality control overall has been remarkable (especially comparing it to two USPCC MetalLux Decks). Looking past all of that, I hope you are amazed at the overall beauty of the decks. Just keep in mind that it hasn't been that long since the first hot-stamped foiled playing cards came out (Venexiana Gold in 2014), and it has already come a really long way. Another way to think about it is over 18,000 slightly unique pieces of art, which in a way is what they are.

Your estimate on the cost of the decks in the photo was slightly high, but really close. It was just over $1,000, including the one error deck that was camera shy. I just got tired of missing out on Lotrek's decks and having to buy them on the aftermarket. Hopefully, I will start pulling back some on going completely crazy everytime Lotrek dares/tempts/seduces us.

[theCapraAegagrus]

Merlebird:

The foiling process is just not perfect. If you want, you should compare a Lotrek deck with another hot foiled deck. I have a couple of Bicycle MetalLux decks (you can get a pair of them from USPCC for $20). There is just no comparison on these types of problems between them. I wish I had a good camera to show what I am talking about, but I don't. I haven't seen too many of the streaks you showed. However, the flaking is just normal. I don't see it all the time, but I think it is impossible to completely avoid all the time. Also, keep in mind on 350 decks, that is ...well over 18,000 cards. It is just not feasible to catch every problem. From what I have seen so far in reviewing 8 Arabesque decks, the quality control overall has been remarkable (especially comparing it to two USPCC MetalLux Decks). Looking past all of that, I hope you are amazed at the overall beauty of the decks. Just keep in mind that it hasn't been that long since the first hot-stamped foiled playing cards came out (Venexiana Gold in 2014), and it has already come a really long way. Another way to think about it is over 18,000 slightly unique pieces of art, which in a way is what they are.

Your estimate on the cost of the decks in the photo was slightly high, but really close. It was just over $1,000, including the one error deck that was camera shy. I just got tired of missing out on Lotrek's decks and having to buy them on the aftermarket. Hopefully, I will start pulling back some on going completely crazy everytime Lotrek dares/tempts/seduces us.

IIRC, Exquisite Bold was actually the first deck of playing cards that was hot-stamp foiled.

[Bradius]

TwoPiece, you are correct. Exquisite Bold was the first to hot stamp every card. It was a gold foil star on the back. Frankly, this even better shows how far foiling has come on playing cards.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47R4k_tRcWs

Thanks for the correction.

Edit: Holy mother alive. I just got to inspect my first Arabesque Silver. That is just an amazing deck...wow.

[Merlebird]

Your estimate on the cost of the decks in the photo was slightly high, but really close. It was just over $1,000, including the one error deck that was camera shy.

Did I miscount? Here was my math:

Gold: 7 @ USD85 ea
Silver: 4 @ USD100 ea
Error: 3 @ USD50 ea

(7 * 85) + (4 * 100) + (3 * 50) = USD1145, no?

I'm not really angling for a replacement deck; I'm sure they all have moderate imperfections like this. I just thought I'd report my own experience since it aligned with potato's.