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Couldn't find a thread for this yet, Kardify posted a first look on Brendan Hong's (Hive, Hive 2) upcoming playing card project called Dynasty, his first completely independent project. According to the write-up, it's set to launch this Sunday, March 6th at 1:00PM EST.



http://www.kardify.com/2016/03/first-lo ... ds-by.html
(Just to be clear, this isn't me posting for KW as this is not a KW project.)

Looks f*cking fantastic, as usual.

Things I like: EVERYTHING except below...
Things I wish could change: The border (or half-border) on the QoH is great and I don't know why it's not on all the courts in both decks. It should be- just a tad too much white space otherwise. Also the pip to the right of the suit indicator on the courts should be much bigger. I'm sure sprouts will agree with me that it is way to similar in size to the pip under the suit indicator.

Having said that, I will most certainly pledge. Being that this is an independent project are we safe in assuming this will launch on KS?

Yep the article mentions that it'll be launched on Kickstarter, I just managed to leave that out by mistake.

As Brendan is one of my favorite illustrators it's no surprise that I plan to pledge for these.

Extremely excited to hear about this project! : I love Brendan's style and look forward to finding out more!

shermjack wrote:Extremely excited to hear about this project! : I love Brendan's style and look forward to finding out more!

VERY nice, I agree! Great follow up to The Hive series!

I love this!

The queens on his decks are just too cute to handle

Brendan is truly a gifted artist. The Hive decks are both beautiful and playable. This looks like another win!

/bama

Without mentioning his name, you can tell this is his work. I think the backs look too similar to the Hive decks because he used red and green already. Another color could work like a yellow or purple.

Kinda in love with these....

These look excellent. Love how his "authorial voice" is coming through in a new theme. I'll be backing these. Way to go, Brendan!

These look great, there's nothing worse than an Asian-themed deck having standard / Western Euro-styled courts. I'll wait for the pricing info when his KS campaign begins to decide whether these are worth picking up (his pricing has been hit or miss in the past, and if its on the high end of ridiculous, I'll wait for the ToM sale). My only critique is that I wish he chose a different color scheme for the back design, the green is basically identical to his Hive v2 and the orangish-red is pretty close to his first Hive version. I would've preferred a bold mandarin red and gold variations, which would be still appropriate for his Asia Dynasty theme.

I agree that I was kinda of disappointed that the unlimited deck color was green too (I bought multiples of Hive 2 in the similar green color) and I would have preferred a different color choice so they didn't look so similar. Oh well, I'll probably pick up at least a pair, but might have picked up more if it had been a different color.

I'll go for a green deck instead of red since I already have a red Hive deck.

Brendan's style is very nice! His cartoonish courts are amazing.
Depending on the price I may support this.

Just a quick heads-up - the pledge levels will be in Canadian dollars so you know (in other words the price is less expensive than it may at first look). Easy to miss when rushing to a pledge.

Live: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/52 ... endan-hong" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

After you factor in shipping, it comes out to approximately $16.00 for the green deck and $22.00 for the red deck. For EPCC decks. Not feeling it anymore. Brendan may be talented, but he's never really been a friend of UC so there's not much else going on here for me to support decks that (in my opinion) are overpriced and that I'm not even going to hold in my hands until the end of November. There's nothing about the "limited" $22 red deck that's different from any other well-designed KS that comes with all the bells and whistles priced at around $12-$14 with shipping included, so you really have to like the art to get this. Don't get me wrong, the art is nice, but the more I look at it, the more it feels like I already have this deck in the form of the Hive 2 with a few tweaks...

I'm going to sound biased here (which I guess I am, being a friend of Brendan's), but I don't mind paying a few extra dollars for projects like this considering the amount of time that has gone into the artwork on the courts and the quality of it. I've avoided most projects lately and usually stick to around 5-10 per year, so it's easier to make room for this.

I have to agree with sinjin here. Nice deck, but at a certain point I can feel closer to a project that has been cooked here in UC even if it not by a renowned designer (like sideshow) and will spend an extra to help funding. In this case? 23€ is too much, will get cheaper through resellers later. Good luck anyway if Brendan gets to read this eventually.

I didn't go through all of the mathematics for individual decks or worldwide shipping but, the 2 of each deck (non-early bird) pledge with shipping is actually $13 and $18. Would I like it to be less? Sure but, I suppose I can live with that price since I like his artwork.

Love Brendan's style and in for 2 of each.

Based on his previous decks, I know I will get a fantastic product with great attention to detail. This is a no brainer for me. First deck I've backed since Middle Kingdom...nothing has really impressed me since then.

It seems the cost of decks are rising at a rate much higher than my income level . I think one of the main reasons is because shipping is just getting too expensive (even though the cost of oil is lower than its been in almost two decades!). I'll have to pass on these. I think what kills it for me at the end of the day is that EPCC cards are too plasticy for me, and I don't know about anyone else, but most of my recent EPCC decks start bowing within a few minutes after I take them out of the deck and develop some serious click-bends. If this was a USPC deck, I'd probably pledge because that helps justify the cost a bit for me.

Since I particularly like Asian themed decks, I was very excited about this. When I went to pledge for two decks I was shocked when the total with shipping was $45. It took me a minute to realize that was Canadian dollars (I had not seen Marcus' post) and that the US price was actually around $34. That is still a bit steep for me. I agree that there really isn't that much different with the red deck to justify the higher price. The high shipping cost is also putting me off. I realize that we are spoiled here in the US when it comes to shipping and this is what our Canadian neighbors have to put up with all the time. I also have to say, I have yet to become a EPCC fan. I've only been collecting a short time but I really do prefer the feel and handling of the USPC decks. So, I'm kind of on the fence about this one. Luckily, I have a month to sort out my feelings. I guess I'm just a low end collector. I'm finding that I get more satisfaction out of buying multiple cheaper decks that I can actually handle than limited decks that I'm afraid to even open. I don't begrudge any of the creators for charging more for decks. I know most of them put in a huge amount of creative effort and don't get a huge return from a KS project. I guess I just have to figure out where I, with my limited disposable income, fit in. Best of luck to Brendan. It is a beautiful project and I'm sure it will do well.

flashcards wrote:Since I particularly like Asian themed decks, I was very excited about this. When I went to pledge for two decks I was shocked when the total with shipping was $45. It took me a minute to realize that was Canadian dollars (I had not seen Marcus' post) and that the US price was actually around $34. That is still a bit steep for me. I agree that there really isn't that much different with the red deck to justify the higher price. The high shipping cost is also putting me off. I realize that we are spoiled here in the US when it comes to shipping and this is what our Canadian neighbors have to put up with all the time. I also have to say, I have yet to become a EPCC fan. I've only been collecting a short time but I really do prefer the feel and handling of the USPC decks. So, I'm kind of on the fence about this one. Luckily, I have a month to sort out my feelings. I guess I'm just a low end collector. I'm finding that I get more satisfaction out of buying multiple cheaper decks that I can actually handle than limited decks that I'm afraid to even open. I don't begrudge any of the creators for charging more for decks. I know most of them put in a huge amount of creative effort and don't get a huge return from a KS project. I guess I just have to figure out where I, with my limited disposable income, fit in. Best of luck to Brendan. It is a beautiful project and I'm sure it will do well.

I agree 100% with everything you just said. Brendan's artwork is fantastic but is it really that much better than the rest to pay a premium for this project? Perhaps.. but I'm still thinking about it.

alric wrote:It seems the cost of decks are rising at a rate much higher than my income level . I think one of the main reasons is because shipping is just getting too expensive (even though the cost of oil is lower than its been in almost two decades!).

No I don't think it's because shipping is to expensive. Shipping is something you just pass off to the customer regardless of the price. Just look at previous campaigns.

The issue, regardless of who the manufacturer is (because their all pretty much within the same ball park when it comes to pricing of decks in mass quantities, that's the industry staying in competition with each other.) is I watch a project like Ravn that's selling 1 deck at $11US that includes shipping, Black Mint that sold 1 deck at $10 + $5 shipping anywhere in the world, Brendan's project that's selling 1 deck at $11 + $7 shipping. What we'll find as time goes on, is people will start staying away from Kickstarter projects and buy on the after market for a cheaper price in general with cheaper shipping.

Ask yourself this, how can one project sell a deck between $8-$12 and other charge $15+ with everything being printed at the same company, same tuck box size, same embossing, same 5 month turnaround (which we all know is never true).

I believe the creators just don't want to see their decks funded, they want to start being paid for their time & creation that it took to create a deck.

As far as this campaign is going, I'm OUT! The deck resembles to much of Brendan's previous decks. Time for a new concept and start straying away from the straight lines/edges designs that's he famous for. I guess people like that, not me, but wish Brendan the best of luck with this project.

Cheers

Small correction: Brendan's (green) deck is $14 CAD + $7 CAD shipping, equaling about $15.75 USD total. Ravn is $13 USD total. Ravn is USPCC (non-Bicyle branded) and Dynasty is EPCC. Ravn is being shipped from the US and fulfilled by Gambler's, while Brendan is fulfilling Dynasty on his own from Canada.

I figure that's where the $2.75 is really coming from. Both decks seem to be similar in "features," though I find Ravn to be a much more staple deck (though expensive for a staple deck) and would expect a lot more to be printed and sold. For Dynasty (green), perhaps Brendan will print a ton as well, though he states he will print to demand with a minimum of 1,000.

Regardless, to each their own. Support the artists you like and projects you think are worth it. There's plenty of them out there at similar price points.

SpecialK wrote:... while Brendan is fulfilling Dynasty on his own from Canada.

From the campaingn

One of the biggest and most important aspect of a crowdfunding project is the fulfilment of the rewards. For this project, after much research and feedback, I've decided to go with Crowd Fulfilment by Collectable Playing Card. I've heard many great things (and seen, myself, from backed projects) what an amazing job they do shipping and fulfilment rewards in a great and efficient manner.

Guess is the same fulfilment as Ravn

sms69x wrote:

SpecialK wrote:... while Brendan is fulfilling Dynasty on his own from Canada.

From the campaingn

One of the biggest and most important aspect of a crowdfunding project is the fulfilment of the rewards. For this project, after much research and feedback, I've decided to go with Crowd Fulfilment by Collectable Playing Card. I've heard many great things (and seen, myself, from backed projects) what an amazing job they do shipping and fulfilment rewards in a great and efficient manner.

Guess is the same fulfilment as Ravn

No, RAVN is being done by Eddie at Gambler's Warehouse fulfillment center, like almost all of the recent projects by Lorenzo, Giovanni & UC2016/Nouveau are or will be.

CPC has done fulfillment for several groups, including TriKard (formerly "Kardify projects") and others.

Could have sworn I read he was fulfilling himself, but I seem to be incorrect.

Seems like using a center in the US would have saved costs depending on the expected backer demographic. I think it's safe to say most backers are still going to be US.

EDIT - unless CPC is in the US? Anywho, whatever! Back what you like