Bharata Playing Cards

[guru]

Deck received in Sydney Australia today.

First impressions, the gold holographic detailing on the tuck is strikingly beautiful. The embossing on the tuck is perfectly accentuating of the detailing on the tuck, not excessive in any way. The cello is very tight and will appease those who detest a loose fitting cello. Once this was carefully removed, I encountered the two of only three possible downsides to this deck. First, the deck was exceedingly difficult to open, although this is not a reasonable criticism. The second is, in my opinion, however; this being the glue that adheres the side of the box together came away very easily of its own accord when the tuck was first opened. I attribute this to a combination of weak glue (sparingly applied) and the fact that the embossing on the inner edge of the gold/white tuck meant there was no fully flat surface to form a strong bond. Onto the cards, the gold holographic gilding is awesome and ties the cards in with the tuck seamlessly. The colouration and detailing of the court cards, jokers and extra card are vivid and quite striking. The cards feel solid without being too thick. Although I am not qualified to comment intelligently on handling, I feel that these will endure quite well. This is easily the best quality playing cards I have seen come out of the PRC factory by a long shot. The third and final possible minute observation is that some of the pips on the indices aren't aligned perpendicularly to the left and right side edges of the card. I stress that this is not apparent on all the indices, but specific cards like the 9 are quite obvious in their lack of symmetry. I'm unconvinced whether this was intended as a design feature but they arguably remove the balance when viewing the card from opposing angles.
Sunish and Guru Playing Cards should be incredibly proud of what has been delivered here, congratulated on an impeccably communicated and well planned Kickstarter project. The project was turned around swiftly, significantly more so than other more experienced (and 'reveered') creators.

The "bang for your buck" on this deck is outstanding. The $14USD delivered worldwide price point (less for early birds and multiple backers) is a complete steal.

Very well done and can't wait to see (and back) your future offerings Sunish!

Thanks @Thedissident001 for the feedback. Much appreciated. Hope you'll cherish the decks for years to come.

I'd a word with the printer on the feedback too. On the glue coming off the sides, they are also not sure of why it happened because they are using same process & quality control for all other decks. They did acknowledge that this was the first deck with this level of embossing done on every design element on tuck including sides where there is no fully flat surface to form a strong bond, an assertion you'd already reached as well. This is still a dampener & I'm sorry that it happened with the deck you received.

It is a thick deck if you compare it to any other deck from other printers while I've used a better n sturdier tuckbox material. The third observation seems to be registration issue during cutting of the cards but the proof (uncut sheet) I've got doesn't has it. I'm yet to receive the decks as the courier company left the package at the nearest newsagency and I've not been able to pick it up yet.

That said, I wanted this deck to be the best bang for the buck and a reward for all Kickstarter backers, and I'm glad to see it being perceived as that. I'd told everyone that on this project you won't have to wait for the ship to arrive on the port, suffer long production lead times, exaggerated claims by creators while having genuine pricing and international shipping costs. As I tell everyone, we all have a choice. Go with the status quo or try to rise against it. In this day and age where price determines how valuable a thing is, I wanted to challenge this belief by producing such a deck which will be termed as the best decision and investment a backer does on Kickstarter ( I think this is what Kickstarter is for).

I'm feeling chuffed that I could meet those expectations. Thank you for the feedback again.

Please keep the feedback and reviews coming.

[maxs]

I received my decks yesterday.

First of all, the decks were absolutely well packed. Never seen so much bubble wraps around a deck of cards before . Well done!

I really like the artwork of the tuck and deck, very colorful and vivid.

The gilding looks really cool.

Now to the downside. The cards don't handle very well. To be honest, I was expecting that because I've never had a gilded deck that handles well. I wished there would have been a non-gilded version as well.

If you are a collector, get this deck. If you plan to use the cards, I wouldn't recommend them.

[guru]

Thanks @Maxs for your feedback.

After the fulfillment of Divine Art project, I'd been more careful in shipping/packaging and wanted to make sure decks reach safely in your hands even if the packets get abused during the transit. In fact, a backer messaged me saying she loved the packaging because when she received the box it was wet due to the rain water flooding the mailbox but due to the multiple bubble wraps, nothing happened to the deck.

On the handling front, as I'd mentioned before, one of the key coatings could not be applied to the deck due to the hand gilding process applied on the cards. Still, if you've got the Archduke deck which had quantum grain finish by any chance, you will find that Bharata deck has a finish inspired by the former which is completely made in-house. Because of the gilding, it is not a deck for cardists for sure as are other gilded decks which are sold at a higher premium making collectors or reviewers not to open or review such decks. But if you talk about playability, then yes, it is a completely playable deck.

I also feel that I should have gone for non-gilded version too, and these are the instances where you learn and get better next time onwards.

[maxs]

Because of the gilding, it is not a deck for cardists for sure as are other gilded decks which are sold at a higher premium making collectors or reviewers not to open or review such decks. But if you talk about playability, then yes, it is a completely playable deck.

You are right, it is indeed a playable deck, no doubt. When I was talking about handling I was referring to shuffling (riffle, faro etc.), fanning, spring & dribble.

[Räpylätassu]

Hey if anyone has an extra Bharata deck, I would like to acquire one by a trade. My tradelist

[vedus]

Decks came in today and they look great. The gilding looks fantastic in day light. I had the same issue with the box separating along the side, but I was expecting it, so it didn't really bother me. Looks great and well (over) packaged for shipping.

[guru]

Thanks @davidshute.

[sms69x]

My decks came in a few days ago and I was extrmely happy with them!
First things first:
*Packaging and shipping: What a great service Sunish provided!! Shipment took about a week and it came directly to my doorstep, no customs delays or fees (can't remember of this happening lately with any other order)!! I hope other creators follows Sunish footsteps reggarding this matter, or maybe Sunish could share how he managed to provide such a great shipping service at "no cost" to backers.
Packaging was also great, a bit exaggerated, in my opinion. I believe that the same quality could be archieved with half of the material... Just hope that Sunish still managed to get some profit out of this deck with such a shipping and packaging service.

Now for the good stuff:
*Tuck box: Very sturdy and beautiful. The holographic foil looks great and the embossing is also good - was expecting a bit more detail on the embossing, but still very nice. Only problem is the glue on the side, mine also came off, but since the cellophane is so tight it holds the box together pretty good!!

*Cards: Taking the obvious out of the way, the artwork is great, both faces and back (very colorful and vivid). The holographic gold gilded is fantastic, great job, and it doesn't come off that easily, very nice indeed!!
The stock is somewath thick, but it isn't that stiff, it is still hard to do springs at first, but dribbles and riffle are quite easy. As for the finish, it is linen, although if feels more like smooth finish. You can see it has a linen finish but you can't feel it that much. As for the coating, it looks as a plastic coating, and maybe because of this the cards feel that smooth. Sunish said that one coating could not be applied due to this special manual gilding. All of this together makes the handling not that good, after I played with the deck for some minutes I managed to start being able to do some fans and spreads even (still some clumping but almost even!), so I guess it is a matter of #practicemore!!! Don't expect this deck to be a cardistry deck, but it sure can be handled quite well.

All in all, this is a fantastic deck, one of the bests out there, and for the price, I'm sure you can't get any better deal than this (Holographic gold gilded deck for $12 USD?? Who else dares to do such a deck???). Other creators are all about profit, but I'm not yet sure whats Sunish about!! Sure he isn't loosing money, but it looks like he is really interested in costumers satisfaction and quality product delivering most.

Bharata

Congrats Sunish, and please count me in for your next project.

[guru]

Thanks @sms69x for the detailed review, loved reading it.

Good to know that you received the decks fast and without any hassles. I didn't think that someone will be able to do fans, spreads, riffles etc. with this deck easily because it simply lacks a particular varnish that could have improved the handling but it was a tradeoff decision I made while choosing gilding.

[shaitani]

I received mine as well, while I don't open my decks very often I am strongly considering opening one of mine for these so I can see that amazing looking gilding, especially after those pictures from above.

Although I did want to comment on how fitting and underrated the foil on the tuck is. It's a like a holographic or pearlescent gold foil, and I don't think I've ever seen it before on another deck, I was pleasantly surprised by it.
It brings the wild colors of the rest of the tuck together in a very unique way.
sms69x's picture above captures what I'm talking about on the spine of the tuck, and I'm suspecting that the gilding is the same way.

Sunish, I hope the rest of this fulfilment goes smoothly and I'm looking forward to the next project and what cool ideas you're able to bring to it.

[montecarlojoe]

The irridescent gilding is lovely - and very fitting for the super colourful deck, Love it!

[NineLives]

Great photos and reviews, well done Sunish!

[guru]

Thanks @shaitani, @Montecarlojoe and @NineLives.

On another note, Bharata deck is available on Facebook store now as I see that all backers have received their rewards. I observed that lot of traffic came via Facebook during the campaign as shown in Google Analytics. So, thought of doing this as an experiment. Note that this URL won't work on smartphone but is accessible via desktop/laptops.

https://www.facebook.com/guruplayingcar ... 458316228/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Decks will be shipped via my fulfillment partner in China and will include tracking numbers along with very good packaging.

Any question please feel free to PM me.

[Bruno]

I really really truly need to see your Indian production of the Bharata Deck.
Another example of your pushing expectations and capabilities upwards.
Very nice Sunish .... and thank you for your finely crafted original Bharata Decks too ....
Superb.
Sublime.
Thank you !

[guru]

Hi All,

A quick update.

Bharata deck is available at UCDeckSales now. Comes with flat rate shipping worldwide with secure packaging & tracking.

https://ucdecksales.com/collections/fro ... cards-deck" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

~65 decks are left and 5 uncut sheets are there as well.

Any question, please let me know.

Regards,
Sunish

[guru]

Hi All,

A quick update.

Bharata deck is available at UCDeckSales now. Comes with flat rate shipping worldwide with secure packaging & tracking.

https://ucdecksales.com/collections/fro ... cards-deck" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

~65 decks are left and 5 uncut sheets are there as well.

Any question, please let me know.

Regards,
Sunish

All,

Just 3 decks left. Get it when these are still available. Limited uncuts are also there so anyone interested in uncuts, should definitely look there.

https://ucdecksales.com/collections/fro ... cards-deck" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Cheers,
Sunish

[guru]

All,

Last 5 decks are available on ucdecksales now. One of the package was undeliverable and I'd refunded the backer few weeks back. Those decks made the way back and are available here. Worldwide shipping included with full protective packaging & trackable service.

https://ucdecksales.com/collections/fro ... cards-deck

[HFMJ]

I received my decks, here in Romania, at the beginning of September, but I didn't opened them until recently. The tuck and the gilding look absolutely incredible. The cards are beautiful, very colourful and well made. A few of my friends were really impressed by them. Even though this isn't the first project I backed on Kickstarter, this is the first that I received. You have done a really great job, and the package arrived at my local post office, not at customs, as happened with packages I received outside of Europe. I really admire the way you run your projects and your communication also. Thank you for the great products you put out and good luck to you and GPCC in your next projects! You can count on me!

[guru]

I received my decks, here in Romania, at the beginning of September, but I didn't opened them until recently. The tuck and the gilding look absolutely incredible. The cards are beautiful, very colourful and well made. A few of my friends were really impressed by them. Even though this isn't the first project I backed on Kickstarter, this is the first that I received. You have done a really great job, and the package arrived at my local post office, not at customs, as happened with packages I received outside of Europe. I really admire the way you run your projects and your communication also. Thank you for the great products you put out and good luck to you and GPCC in your next projects! You can count on me!

Thanks HFMJ for your kind words, made me feel chuffed that your friends were impressed. These are the stories that make the efforts being put in such undertakings worthwhile. My partner, Ishan Trivedi, who is also one of the top Indian illustrators & painter is also quite happy to hear the feedback. He has been doing work for best selling authors(cover illustration etc.), comics ( Raj Comics, Visionary Comics- C. Edward Sellner (Tom Clancy fame)), JWT etc. lately and I believe the work on his plate is going to up the value of this deck in future. This has also been one of my consideration that all backers should get the best bang for the buck when they come and support projects by GPCC.

I'm still trying to nail a few production aspects and hope to hear more such feedback from you in future. Please don't hesitate to reach out to me for any question.

[guru]

Hi All,

The excess 100% handcrafted decks as part of the add-on to Bharata's Kickstarter are available on guruplayingcards.com now. These were shipped to the respective backers in Dec end and I'm left with 6 decks now which are available at the given link below


Site is still a work in progress but the Store URL is here: https://guruplayingcards.com/store/100- ... ying-cards" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

100% handcrafted, rare and unique, these are a true collector's crave. The set of 52* hand painted and lacquered cards come in a handcrafted wooden box. Given the extremely limited number available at my end, I'm just posting it here in UC. Get this deck while it lasts and see what a real handcrafted deck of playing cards look like and how it adds as an highlight to your collection. (This was originally a deck of 52 cards but an extra Joker as the 53rd card has been included in some decks)





Cheers,
Sunish

[guru]

Created a seperate thread here.