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Just under half of the holographic seal decks have gone now, incase anyone was wondering

Just a quick update that we have around 200 decks with the holographic seals remaining. If they don't go during the pre-order stage, they will be available as part of brick deals only when we release on May 30th (TBC). The pre-order window lasts for another 7 days.

On a side note, we had an issue with MailChimp over the course of the past 12 hours. Around 600 of our newsletter subscribers were automatically unsubscribed by them, so far we can't work out why - but we're working on it. If this was you feel free to resubscribed if you wish.

Paul, well done! I'm in - and thank you!

I was wondering why I was unsubscribed. Definitely resubscribed. Thanks for the notification.

Congrats with new printed decks.

Pre-Orders for LUXX v2 close at midnight tonight (UK time) folks, so you have a little over 7 hours left to grab the lower price. We're expecting to receive stock in around 7-10 days time, then all pre-orders will be on the way before the official release date of May 30th.

http://jpplayingcards.co.uk/second-edit ... ying-cards" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hi guys,

Over the past few months i've been trying to find a Gilder in the UK who can gild the v2 LUXX decks to a high standard. We've used the USPC decks as a standard to beat, and we believe we've achieve that.

Working with an English specialist, I think we've produced something to a high standard (hopefully you agree if you choose to pick one or two up). In comparison to a Bicycle Allure Gilded deck, they are much smoother, cleaner and more consistent but that may actually be in part due to the superior printing by Legends.

V2 LUXX® GILDED COLLECTION

- A Strictly Limited release of 200 Silver and 200 Gold only. We may offer another sale window later in 2015 or early in 2016, but it won't be as many as this.
- Purchase 4 decks or more and get a free v2 Black Nickel LUXX dealer coin.
- The decks will be gilded to order only.
- The pre-order window closes on July 17th, and we expect to despatch all parcels by the 10th of August.
- It should be noted that gilded decks do not handle quite as well as standard decks, due to the edging - so they're not really practical for magic. These decks are primarily a deck to play card games with, so this gilded edition will make a beautiful gift!

-----------------------------
We have uncut sheets and tucks which will be available together with the gilded decks also, and hope to have them added to the site today.

We aim to have all three new products available for pre-order today or tomorrow, but it may be later as we still have to iron out a few details. I will update the thread when they are available but keep an eye on the site if you don't want to wait for me.

Dammit. You people just won't let me save my money, will you??

I'm throwing money at the screen, but it does not appear to be working.

Paul, you're an evil man but I'll pick up one of each at least.

Pass for me, people need to stop throwing money at every new version of a deck that comes out.

Hi folks, we have uncuts, gilded decks and tuck uncuts available now.

The tuck uncuts we're particularly chuffed with. Some images below, which to be honest don't do them justice. Each tuck uncut sheet comprises three complete tucks before they were cut and folded. Thanks to Lawrence for this, they look great!


Tuck uncuts, 90 available - http://jpplayingcards.co.uk/v2-luxx-tuck-uncut-sheets" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Playing Card Uncuts, 20 of each available - http://jpplayingcards.co.uk/v2-luxx-uncut-sheets" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Gilded Decks, 200 of each available - http://jpplayingcards.co.uk/luxx-gilded-collection" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

$53 for two decks, shipped to the US isn't a bad deal at all for two very limited gilded decks. But it's just more than I can afford right now

If I had known these were coming, I wouldn't have bought extra of the original!

But now I need to pass on these ...

Well we didn't really know if they were ever coming to be honest, it's been a fair amount of time and researching to get to this point.

Just to clear up the question I have received twice already, these are gilded in the same style as Emerald & Scarlet Tally-Ho! decks. That's how they have all been done since the 1920's.

The only decks that I am aware of that use old school 23,75k gold leaf are Uusi's hand gilded decks (as well as their ,925 silver gilding and recently they did one with copper). For a very precise discussion about how decks are gilded see the discussion about foiling decks. AFAIK, nobody has done old world type gilt decks until Uusi, but I am certain that there are very limited editions that are exceptions.

It seems like Sher has shown a very limited edition of the Stranger & Stranger decks that were really gold leaf gilt, but I don't remember any others, and those were not sold to the public, they were made for employees as I recall. Chris Ø is doing some with Platinum (I think? Maybe it was palladium?), but I don't think those could have been actually done yet, because the decks have not been printed, pretty certain.

To be perfectly honest, I don't understand why anyone would expect decks selling for under $20us would be done with real gold & silver. Come on, people...

If you have USPCC-made "Congress"® decks, they are done the same way unless they were made before 1923, and so are 99%+ of the rest of them.

These are an outstanding value for what you are getting!

Thanks Mike, for the sake of transparency I've added that to the product description.

Paul, quick question. On your site you describe the gilding as being gold paint. Which type of gilding ARE you doing on these? Gilded leaf or gold paint. There is a big difference. USPCCs, UUSI and most others are leaf applied with either heat (USPCC which last longer but looks crappier) or with sizing by hand (like UUSI or say Hermes decks, looks awesome but doesn't last long if you play with them). There are pros and cons to both sides of the coin. Using the real metals like silver and copper will tarnish quickly unless you polish your cards regularly but look absolutely stunning, when the imitation metals may not look as crazy as the real thing they won't tarnish. I only ask because gold paint isn't really gilding at all it's just gold paint.

These look awesome by the way! the amount of reflection is killer.

Mike Ratledge wrote:Just to clear up the question I have received twice already, these are gilded in the same style as Emerald & Scarlet Tally-Ho! decks. That's how they have all been done since the 1920's.

The only decks that I am aware of that use old school 23,75k gold leaf are Uusi's hand gilded decks (as well as their ,925 silver gilding and recently they did one with copper). For a very precise discussion about how decks are gilded see the discussion about foiling decks. AFAIK, nobody has done old world type gilt decks until Uusi, but I am certain that there are very limited editions that are exceptions.

It seems like Sher has shown a very limited edition of the Stranger & Stranger decks that were really gold leaf gilt, but I don't remember any others, and those were not sold to the public, they were made for employees as I recall. Chris Ø is doing some with Platinum (I think? Maybe it was palladium?), but I don't think those could have been actually done yet, because the decks have not been printed, pretty certain.

To be perfectly honest, I don't understand why anyone would expect decks selling for under $20us would be done with real gold & silver. Come on, people...

If you have USPCC-made "Congress"® decks, they are done the same way unless they were made before 1923, and so are 99%+ of the rest of them.

These are an outstanding value for what you are getting!

The price of actual gold and silver on a leaf gilded deck is negligible. Any extra cost is because of the work involved. A leaf booklet of 25 sheets can do at least 25 decks if you aren't wasting much. Copper is under 10 dollars a booklet, silver is under 20, gold is around 50, palladium is the most expensive at under 70...but even then it's maybe an additional 3 bux a deck.
I have been working on gilding decks for a while (failing miserably) and it is frickin' hard. Any slight imperfection in the edges of the decks after sanding show, any crinkles in the leaf as you're applying it will show, too much glue will make the deck gummy, and too little won't allow the leaf to stick. Just thinking about it pisses me off

Yeah, Chris O is doing palladium leaf for arcana but he has to wait until the main deck AND major arcana are printed, which should be december according to the KS campaign. From the small amount of communication I have had with him about gilding, he definitely knows what he is doing and has had plenty of practice on other decks so that is something to look forward to. Having said that, I have not seen any uusi decks in person so I don't know what the feel of a professionally leaf gilded deck is like...just my shitty attempts. I only know USPCC "gilding" and I think that was much better than anything I had done

JacksonRobinson wrote:Paul, quick question. On your site you describe the gilding as being gold paint. Which type of gilding ARE you doing on these? Gilded leaf or gold paint. There is a big difference. USPCCs, UUSI and most others are leaf applied with either heat (USPCC which last longer but looks crappier) or with sizing by hand (like UUSI or say Hermes decks, looks awesome but doesn't last long if you play with them). There are pros and cons to both sides of the coin. Using the real metals like silver and copper will tarnish quickly unless you polish your cards regularly but look absolutely stunning, when the imitation metals may not look as crazy as the real thing they won't tarnish. I only ask because gold paint isn't really gilding at all it's just gold paint.

These look awesome by the way! the amount of reflection is killer.

There is some sealer you can use over the metal that helps a little bit. I have dux acrylic topcoat satin sealer (there's also a high polish available that probably looks better).

Here's a copper gilded bicycle pink ribbon and my judgmental cat. The deck looks passable in the photo but there are tiny inconsistencies in the copper gilding when seen up close and in person.

USPCC uses the metall foil, which as Jackson said is basically heat flashed onto the sides of the decks. That's why he noted before that you can't have ink within a certain distance from the edges, because the heat flash would melt it.

Again, same materials - either an aluminum based alloy for silver tone or a copper based alloy for gold tone. Definitely agreed about the actual cost of the materials even for the real metal leaf is negligible, it's the time and energy involved that costs you. If you haven't already seen it, look for Uusi's time lapse video of Peter Dunham stepping through the process of applying the sizing, leaf, varnish protective coating and consider that there is a several days drying cycle between stages and once you are done it takes about a month before the sizing locks in place enough for it to be considered finished. It's a long process, likely 45 days from start to finish and having each deck staged - let say a day apart - to do a set of 25 (or 50) means that you spend 60-90 days to do them from start to finish with throughput being "x" number of decks per days. Somebody who has done it and done it well is pushing it to make "x" be more than 5 (decks per day)...

Labor intensive beyond anything we might think, if you have not seen it done, for sure! It is a labor of love to get it right.

JacksonRobinson wrote:Paul, quick question. On your site you describe the gilding as being gold paint. Which type of gilding ARE you doing on these? Gilded leaf or gold paint. There is a big difference. USPCCs, UUSI and most others are leaf applied with either heat (USPCC which last longer but looks crappier) or with sizing by hand (like UUSI or say Hermes decks, looks awesome but doesn't last long if you play with them). There are pros and cons to both sides of the coin. Using the real metals like silver and copper will tarnish quickly unless you polish your cards regularly but look absolutely stunning, when the imitation metals may not look as crazy as the real thing they won't tarnish. I only ask because gold paint isn't really gilding at all it's just gold paint.

These look awesome by the way! the amount of reflection is killer.

Thanks Jackson, I should have educated myself a little more on the subject it would appear. Sorry for any confusion caused.

Having spoken with the gilder his morning - they are doing with foils imported from Germany. Some of the best that can be sourced, I am told. I am very happy with the sheen, they are indeed very reflective and seem much more consistent than the few USPC decks I've seen gilded.

Thanks for the kind words Jadkson, it's been hard work funding a UK gilder but hopefully people will be as happy as I am with the standards.

It seems like Sher has shown a very limited edition of the Stranger & Stranger decks that were really gold leaf gilt, but I don't remember any others, and those were not sold to the public, they were made for employees as I recall.

These were actually available to the public at one point Mike, the single decks are now sold out. I have some and I know Marcus does as well, but who knows what the print run was to begin with.

Sparkz wrote:

It seems like Sher has shown a very limited edition of the Stranger & Stranger decks that were really gold leaf gilt, but I don't remember any others, and those were not sold to the public, they were made for employees as I recall.

These were actually available to the public at one point Mike, the single decks are now sold out. I have some and I know Marcus does as well, but who knows what the print run was to begin with.

Yep, guilty as charged. I believe there weren't that many produced since selling decks isn't exactly Stranger & Stranger's biggest income. More of a fun little thing for them to do, much like their highly limited bottles they release every Christmas.

And back to topic:
That is a very nice shine in those pictures Paul. Congrats on the nice work!

Sparkz wrote:

It seems like Sher has shown a very limited edition of the Stranger & Stranger decks that were really gold leaf gilt, but I don't remember any others, and those were not sold to the public, they were made for employees as I recall.

These were actually available to the public at one point Mike, the single decks are now sold out. I have some and I know Marcus does as well, but who knows what the print run was to begin with.

Yep, I know that a few got into public sale - Sher doesn't work for them - but I thought originally they were intended to be private. I might be thinking of another deck, but pretty sure that it was these.

Sorry, Paul - didn't mean to hijack your thread...

Paul have the gilded decks been selling quickly?

EvanEssence wrote:Paul have the gilded decks been selling quickly?

Pretty sure just over 100 of the 400 have gone so far, even if they don't sell out we will only produce what we need (and some spares plus some for promos).

The window for the gilded decks is closing in around half an hour folks, was originally meant to be 2 hours ago but we've had a few orders so pushed it back a little.

Orders will be processed and the gilder will get started next week, we expect to have all orders on the way by August 10th or before.

Thank you for your support folks.

Have they all been sold?