Bohemia by Uusi - Kickstarter Successful

[badpete69]

Wow the bad luck continues

Update #16 · Jan. 16, 2013 · 11 comments
We have some unfortunate news, Everyone,

Apparently USPC did not get the "no more heartbreaks" memo as they let another printing error occur on their end in the reprint of our Bohemia deck. This time around the deck's tuck box was not centered properly by the die cutter which caused the artwork on all the tuck boxes to be visibly off-center, (see image below). This misprinted run will not be sold. It is headed to the shredder, e-v-e-r-y last deck.


Well...not every last one. Four decks were sent overnight to us last Thursday in advance of the entire deck order being shipped. We received those four decks on Friday and upon opening the package the first thing we noticed was the awesome, linen finish on the tuck box (which, remember, they forgot to add to the first run), and once again the beautiful print job with the deck itself. However, the very next thing we saw was that the cutting and scoring of the tuck box was off center of the artwork. We quickly called USPC and alreted them to the error they made which instantly stopped our entire shipment from going out. Since this was discovered late in the day on Friday we had to wait over the weekend to hear back from them. On Monday they told us that they needed to start an investigation into this error and also needed to check through every brick box to see if the mistake had been made throughout the entire run. This would take time.

Another day passed and finally at the end of the day yesterday they informed us that yes, indeed every deck was misaligned. It is uncommon for a company, like USPC to make a printing error on an entire run of a deck - though it does happen. To make a second error on the reprint of the same deck and go back to print a third time is rare. We are the customer who hit this very unlucky and uncommon moment with them. We spent today going over the reprint details with USPC and getting reassurance from them that this time around all eyes assigned to this deck's production at the factory will be focused on completing it without error.

We apologize for this delay, but in truth we will still be very close to our original January ship date as USPC is working hard to expedite the run and have this third reprint shipping to us by end of this month or first week of February. Perhaps it is only fitting that the heartbreaker deck will most likely be arriving on all of your doorsteps in time for Valentine's Day. This is our wish at least as we cannot imagine USPC, nor can they, allowing one more printing error to occur.

Since we are feeling "blue" about this delay we are offering a give away on the Uusi Facebook page. Just "like" us and you enter a chance to win the following:

(1) Uusi Blue Blood Playing Cards deck. Taken from Uusi's very small archive of this deck and signed and numbered.
(1) Uusi Blue Blood uncut sheet / signed & numbered.
(1) Bohemia Blue Edition Deck.
(1) Bohemia Blue Edition Uncut sheet / signed and numbered.
Two people will be chosen at random (every "like" will be numbered and random.org will choose a number for us) to win. The contest will run through Sunday, January 20th and the winners will be notified and their items will ship out to them on Monday, January 21st.

We hope to see you over on Facebook and want to thank you all for your patience and gracious understanding and hope you find Bohemia worth the wait it took to get here.

Sincerely,
Linnea & Peter

[hikeeba]

How about instead of "liking" you just draw random names from your backers list?

(USPCC - Trusted since 1885!)

[walrus]

I agree. The random selection rather than Facebook thing sounds a better option. Some of us avoid Facebook as it has been invaded by big brother, the same people sitting in that dark sedan in front of my house. Anyway, it is a shame to hear you are having so much difficulty with this deck. I have been really looking forward to getting it. I guess a little more time will not kill me although I know a lot of time will do just that.

[Sharpie]

I guess a little more time will not kill me although I know a lot of time will do just that.

Ha!

[neongrey]

How about instead of "liking" you just draw random names from your backers list?

(USPCC - Trusted since 1885!)

Because tying it to 'likes' limits it people who both a) are actively paying attention, and b) who you know for certain want it. Putting people in for draws whether they want it or not isn't particularly cool, and as easy as it is to assume that anyone who kickstarted the project would want more than they put in for, it's a bad assumption. I know I'd consider it a violation of my privacy if I got put in for a contest without a separate opt-in.

Otherwise as far as being trusted... well, production errors are impossible to avoid; they'll always happen a certain percentage of the time. Being trusted isn't a matter of not having errors occur, it's how you react when they do. And to all appearances it looks like they've been handling it quite well. It's just horrific luck that it happened twice on the same project.

[Strag]

And at least Uusi is paying attention. Other recent quality slips clearly got through the designers (such as Altruism/Snow Owls).

[hikeeba]

Yes, but "liking" also allows people who did not support to have a chance and it makes me have to have a facebook account and it makes me "like" which I very well may not (and at this point, I do not).
Whatever - just have to do what I did with the Actuators - assume they won't be here for another year and then I'll be pleasantly surprised if they arrive before that.

[Strag]

Yes, but "liking" also allows people who did not support to have a chance and it makes me have to have a facebook account and it makes me "like" which I very well may not (and at this point, I do not).
Whatever - just have to do what I did with the Actuators - assume they won't be here for another year and then I'll be pleasantly surprised if they arrive before that.

I'm certain they will be. I, in fact, already have two copies of each, albeit in the "error" non-linen tuck.

[MagikFingerz]

To the likes vs backers discussion:



neongrey: I don't see a problem with randomly putting backers in the draw, if you've backed the project you obviously like the deck so why wouldn't you want 1 extra for free? It's not like it affects you in any other way than having 1 extra deck added to your pledge.

[volantangel]

Why couldn't USPCC have bumped them all the way to the front of the queue and do an immediate reprint instead of have them wait for 2-3 weeks? Their machines churn decks out faster than we can imagine, the actual printing shouldn't take more than a day (people in the know-how help me out here thanks)? And having them packed and shipped not more than a couple of days?

I know i'm just complaining, but USPCC made the mistake, twice. Shouldn't they have to make up for it?

[Russell]

Why couldn't USPCC have bumped them all the way to the front of the queue and do an immediate reprint instead of have them wait for 2-3 weeks? Their machines churn decks out faster than we can imagine, the actual printing shouldn't take more than a day (people in the know-how help me out here thanks)?

They print decks in batches... hundreds of designs all at once. Then they sit in a huge space at the warehouse in uncut form for a while. then they shut down the printing machines and start up the cutting and boxing machines. The reason they do this is the printing side is FAST, faster than they can keep up with. It is easier for them to print a bunch of decks, then stop and start cutting later. I was on the floor at the tail end of a print run and I can tell you the decks in their uncut form they took up a space the size of an olympic pool. Huge.

I assume this is why they wont be done tomorrow. OR...

The tuck-box is made by a third party and with logistics, it wont be ready for a couple weeks. (shipping, ordering, making new dies, etc) Having a third party make their tucks is a common practice, I believe anything with foil (and maybe embossing) is done by outside contractors.

[uusikissa]

Hey everybody,

Thanks for your support with our USPCC woes ! As to the discussion on the giveaway, likes vs. backers aspect, we do feel you need to actively participate to be a potential winner as neongray was implying in his post. We do want to allow for Bohemia backers who don't want to use a Facebook "like" or those who aren't on Facebook and don't want to sign up, to enter the contest. All you have to do is send us an email at studio@uusi.us and say "sign me up" and your name will be added to the drawing.

Thanks!

[volantangel]

I see, ive always thought that with printing plates, they printed just one deck at once, thanks for the info russ!

[uusikissa]

I assume this is why they wont be done tomorrow. OR...

The tuck-box is made by a third party and with logistics, it wont be ready for a couple weeks. (shipping, ordering, making new dies, etc) Having a third party make their tucks is a common practice, I believe anything with foil (and maybe embossing) is done by outside contractors.

Thanks for the insight Russell - this is basically what we were told by our rep. It is possible they will have them done a little sooner than their ETA, but we will see. As to the tuck boxes, they are being made and converted at USPCC so that really isn't part of the timeline on the reprint.

[Russell]

I see, ive always thought that with printing plates, they printed just one deck at once, thanks for the info russ!

Don't think of it as a flat plate. They are actually a piece of sheet metal that is wrapped around a tube/cylinder. The machines roller stays in place spinning while the paper is fed underneath it. This allows for one LONG sheet to be printed continuously. Im not joking when I say long. If I recall correctly they can print around 2,500 decks with ONE 'sheet' of paper.At the end of the printing part there is a machine that cuts to turn the one long sheet unto the standard 'uncut' sheet.

[volantangel]

I see, ive always thought that with printing plates, they printed just one deck at once, thanks for the info russ!

Don't think of it as a flat plate. They are actually a piece of sheet metal that is wrapped around a tube/cylinder. The machines roller stays in place spinning while the paper is fed underneath it. This allows for one LONG sheet to be printed continuously. Im not joking when I say long. If I recall correctly they can print around 2,500 decks with ONE 'sheet' of paper.At the end of the printing part there is a machine that cuts to turn the one long sheet unto the standard 'uncut' sheet.

Haha i meant to say one type of deck, not one deck, i have seen how it is with the long sheet of paper on youtube. I just thought that there would be a need to change printing plates betweens different types of decks

[Russell]

I get what your saying, ha!

Yes, they do temporarily stop between deck designs... then they ramp it back up!

[walrus]

Just received an email that these are shipping. Good to see USPCC got it correct.

[DukeBoy]

8599800311_288f2fedf1_c.jpg (219.89 KiB) Viewed 1519 times

Hello Everyone!

We wanted to let you know that after receiving our decks on January 30th we were 98% finished with our shipping of Bohemia by the end of February – woo hoo!! Almost half of our backers were international, so this was a huge shipping job for us, but it has been incredibly satisfying to send Bohemia on to so many homes in our country and all around the world. There are 18 backers patiently waiting for their handmade, redwood card cases, the final batch of which will be complete and headed your way next week!

We also want to thank all of you for being so gracious about USPC's mistakes with the deck that caused a slight delay in our shipping. Your understanding, support and enthusiastic agreement that all the details of the decks production be carried out as originally intended made a very stressful situation so much easier to bear. Your patience, humor, respectful inquiries and overall positive embrace of our project was enormously appreciated.

We also wanted to let you know what has been going on with the deck since its release. Since almost the start of our project Bohemia caught the eye of the press. Wit + Delight & the giant design blog, Design Sponge were the first to embrace the deck, followed by The New York Times (though sadly we had to decline being in their gift guide because of USPC's production delays), and in February, New York Magazine chose the deck to include in their weekly, "Best Bets" section that highlights new products in the design market. Most recently our decks were picked up by the incredibly talented magicians, Dan & Dave. So exciting!

We are currently finalizing our artwork for the third deck in our six deck series that will be launching in May. We will be giving a sneak peak before we launch to all our backers. If you aren't already on our mailing list, just drop a quick email to studio@uusi.us to be included on the list. We hope to see you all in May and want to thank you again for making this project happen.

All the best,

Linnea & Peter

*Special bonus annoucement! We have 50 Blue Edition Bohemia decks available with seals on our site, uusi.us. Only red decks sold on Kickstarter were to have received seals, but USPC, for some reason put seals on 80 of our blue decks – we are making 50 available through our website for the collectors out there! Look for them in the drop down menu on the blue edition deck page on our site.

[alric]

The good folk at Uusi really know how to run a Kickstarter campaign. Great quality, great design, fast service. When you have examples like this where they fulfill the shipping in a timely manner, then there's really no excuse for anyone else. I can't wait to see what their 3rd deck looks like!

[Twix]

The good folk at Uusi really know how to run a Kickstarter campaign. Great quality, great design, fast service. When you have examples like this where they fulfill the shipping in a timely manner, then there's really no excuse for anyone else. I can't wait to see what their 3rd deck looks like!

Absolutely agree. They have made me a lifetime customer.

[elcyciB]

The good folk at Uusi really know how to run a Kickstarter campaign. Great quality, great design, fast service. When you have examples like this where they fulfill the shipping in a timely manner, then there's really no excuse for anyone else. I can't wait to see what their 3rd deck looks like!

Absolutely agree. They have made me a lifetime customer.

Agreed, Agreed. These are great people with great products. Can't wait for the next in the series...

Were they members on the old UC?

[walrus]

Yup, they have been around when the Blue Bloods came to be. Blue Bloods is one of the finer decks I have.

[lumpyliew]

I love their products too! Great designs!