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

sms69x wrote: You can know all the specs you want from the internet, you can even have an online playing cards collection, you don't need to buy them

But I want to own them. I can't do that online. I understand the point you are trying to make, but it's a weak argument.

I appreciate that you want to touch the cards, but I have touched tens of thousands of playing cards, thousands of decks. I'm not getting anything by handing another deck printed by a company whom's stocks and finishes, cuts, prints, inks I have handled time and time again. I don't need decks to wow me on the handling anymore, I know what they all feel like.

I do still get excited by innovations by the printers, but I collect to own, and an important part of that is knowing the decks in my collection are mint, and valuable.

I know what my favorite work decks are, and I don't need every deck in my collections to perform like they do, as a matter of fact I don't need any of the decks in my collection to perform like that, I only need my work decks to perform like that.

@ Justin O. and vasta41, it was never my intention to force my view on anyone, just wanted to expose it.
I like to open my decks and feel them to check if my money was well spent... just that!

I had a few comments on this interesting discussion. First, I don't feel that I've put out a crummy deck of cards yet and I don't intend to start now. I've been around since the beginning and have always aimed to make great decks and repay the loyalty of my customers, even at my personal expense. If by chance you find that Radia is horrible (which I seriously doubt) than simply reach out and we'll take care of it. Frankly, I've sold something like 35,000 decks over the years and can only recall a couple people that had serious issues with the result, and I did all I could to resolve it. That's been important to me since the beginning.

Second, I open almost everything I buy for myself, so I'm certainly not opposed to it. But a very limited edition, expensive deck is by its nature going to be aimed at a collector market. If Radia was cheap to print (it's not) then maybe I'd have done a lot more, but the market really doesn't bear that out anymore, there are too many choices. I also don't use crowdfunding, so all the risk is on me. For reasons like that, some projects are aimed at certain parts of the market from the beginning.

By all means, open and enjoy it! I actually want you to see all of what I worked to create. But I don't think that every deck has to hit every checkbox in the playing card spectrum. If they were, first I don't think you'd have many decks to choose from because I don't think many creators could get that done, and second it would get boring because decks would funnel down to looking and feeling the same. I love the variety that we see, and that is driven by different passions and goals from the creators, which is exactly how it should be, I think.

The multiverse must be on my side because I was able to pre-order 2 of these today. Surprised they're not sold out.

Other than the Deco decks (ew IMO), everything created by Paul Carpenter/Encarded is must-have, and 2 at that.

The 2015 52+ Joker Club Deck is one of the best things I have seen in my life. It's up there with naked girls...

TwoPieceFeed wrote:The multiverse must be on my side because I was able to pre-order 2 of these today. Surprised they're not sold out.

Other than the Deco decks (ew IMO), everything created by Paul Carpenter/Encarded is must-have, and 2 at that.

The 2015 52+ Joker Club Deck is one of the best things I have seen in my life. It's up there with naked girls...

There are still a few left in the preorder, though I suspect after the full reveal the rest will go pretty quickly. Thanks for the confidence, and better than naked girls? Wow, I must be onto something!

I've been trying to get out of collecting playing cards over the last 6 or so months, so I hadn't jumped on these yet. But I can't not get at least one deck. Encarded + hype + teaser, I can't say no.

I think a serious creator plays that game only when s/he is very confident that people who won't get the "sight unseen" product will regret it when the secret is revealed. Paul is one of those creators.

Btw, I had exactly the same idea for a deck I'm working on.

Lotrek wrote:I think a serious creator plays that game only when s/he is very confident that people who won't get the "sight unseen" product will regret it when the secret is revealed. Paul is one of those creators.

Btw, I had exactly the same idea for a deck I'm working on.

It's funny how your post relates to your signature.

We're familiar with Aurum so if it was something entirely unknown or at a higher price, I wouldn't take the gamble regardless of who the creator is. Lotrek, nearly all your work is a bit but don't you do it!

I received the email about the reveal. Anyone excited or disappointed? For me it's neither. I thought they would be new courts but they look like recolored Chancellor courts. Once I have the actual deck I'll see how good everything else is.......

Saw the post on Kardify but could not understand the unique or secret feature factor. Am I missing something?

The unique feature of Radia is that the back is solid foil with ink printed on top of the foil creating the back design...the courts are the Encarded standard courts. It is truly a beautiful deck to see...how that back shines!

guru wrote:Saw the post on Kardify but could not understand the unique or secret feature factor. Am I missing something?

I guess the feature is printing on foil and having a fully foiled back compared to partially applied foil on the backs. I think they didn't mention that on Kardify.

shermjack wrote:The unique feature of Radia is that the back is solid foil with ink printed on top of the foil creating the back design...the courts are the Encarded standard courts. It is truly a beautiful deck to see...how that back shines!

The name of this process - cold foil. When you see foil on cards it's cold foil. Why? You cannot use hot foil on presure sensitive materials. Also it is hard (almost impossible) to apply more than 3 foil colors due to registration and quality problems. I think it's not the first EPCC's deck with cold foil.

UPD: look at this viewtopic.php?f=8&t=10630 I think it's foil on the back. Same method.

montenzi wrote:
The name of this process - cold foil. When you see foil on cards it's cold foil. Why? You cannot use hot foil on presure sensitive materials. Also it is hard (almost impossible) to apply more than 3 foil colors due to registration and quality problems. I think it's not the first EPCC's deck with cold foil.

UPD: look at this viewtopic.php?f=8&t=10630 I think it's foil on the back. Same method.

The difference is that the Bolder or other decks have foil applied only on parts of the deck while the Radia deck has been completely foiled on the back and has additional printing on the foil.

maxs wrote:The difference is that the Bolder or other decks have foil applied only on parts of the deck while the Radia deck has been completely foiled on the back and has additional printing on the foil.

It does not matter. You can apply this foil on any area - 100% or 1%. It can be any shape. Printing is optional. But instead of printing you can apply different foils one by one using a flexo machine. This setup is more complicated. Most modern presses can only use one base foil and then tint it (optional).

montenzi wrote: It does not matter. You can apply this foil on any area - 100% or 1%. It can be any shape. Printing is optional. But instead of printing you can apply different foils one by one using a flexo machine. This setup is more complicated. Most modern presses can only use one base foil and then tint it (optional). Most modern presses can only use one base foil and then tint it (optional).

Sure, just said that this is the difference. Though printing after foiling is just an optional step in the printing workflow, I'm not aware that other decks have this kind of Feature. Don't get me wrong, I am not too thrilled too be honest.

It seems that the hype worked out in Paul Carpenter's favor! Calling it an homage or tribute to Aurum clearly was a maneuver to get those out of the door, but it is much more of a Chancellor successor than an Aurum tribute (Aurum is still on my top 5, so when something is markted as being related to it my expectation is super high)...
The back looks good but the overall deck feels too short of the hype built. At least the price point wasn't that bad, being it all foil back, I guess $30 is acceptable.
Well last time buying before seeing the final product from Paul.

sms69x wrote:It seems that the hype worked out in Paul Carpenter's favor! Calling it an homage or tribute to Aurum clearly was a maneuver to get those out of the door, but it is much more of a Chancellor successor than an Aurum tribute (Aurum is still on my top 5, so when something is markted as being related to it my expectation is super high)...
The back looks good but the overall deck feels too short of the hype built. At least the price point wasn't that bad, being it all foil back, I guess $30 is acceptable.
Well last time buying before seeing the final product from Paul.

Co-sign 100%.


From now on, only one creator may get away with the revealing a deck after a pre-order. Maybe.

When we get Radia in our hands, we will see the true beauty. Paul deserved the chance but I think it's the hype built that put people off. It's been done in the past and most things didn't deliver. It's safe to say this deck passed but maybe a video of a card will do it more justice since it's already created.

Until we all see it it's hard to judge but based off of the pictures and description, the way I look at it is, "would I have still bought this deck knowing what it is?" And my answer is yes (again, at least until I see it). So I for one am not disappointed and that's really the only scale I'm using to determine if the gamble was worth it.

Is this a deck I want in my collection? Yep/Definitely. I am fine with it, and am really looking forward to see how it looks in hand.

That said, I would prefer less drama in in purchasing cards. Please just show us your cards when asking for our money. That way you avoid the potential of disasisfied customers because they felt obliged to fund it on faith.

Winding us up with expectation on a release is fine though.

Bikefanatic wrote:
... It's safe to say this deck passed but maybe a video of a card will do it more justice since it's already created.

There's a video on encarded's Facebook. Though is hard to see something else other than a full gold foiled back!

Here are some pictures for those who are not on Facebook.

This deck is simply exquisite. And it's still available I think.

Can't wait to get my hands on my order

I was lucky enough to have seen this deck this weekend. These pics honestly do it no justice at all. To see the fully foiled back is magnificent. Unfortunately, due to shipping issue, this deck wasn't available at the convention but being able to see it was awesome.

Has this shipped already?

vincero wrote:Has this shipped already?

Nope

PrincessTrouble wrote:

vincero wrote:Has this shipped already?

Nope

When I chatted with Paul last, he mentioned that shipping would start next week

anyone get the decks yet? Saw Radia on ebay

Got my decks today. The shipment included both what I pre-ordered and the additional order I placed at the 52+ con.

hmm, checked my order on the website, no tracking no. yet