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

Hey everyone,

PLEASE, check out my latest and the most beautiful project "CALAVERAS DE AZÚCAR"!

"CALAVERAS DE AZÚCAR" is a custom deck of playing cards inspired by the Day of the Dead Celebration. Printed by USPCC.

Calaveras are the most recognizable emblems of the Day of the Dead – Mexican holiday, celebrated on the 1st and 2nd November. The word “Calavera” means skull in Spanish. “Calavera De Azúcar” is a skull made out of sugar, which is used to decorate Day of the Dead altars. These sugar skulls are very colorful and whimsical, not scary at all. I absolutely love the Sugar Skull style used for the Day of the Dead.

In terms of meaning, the skull symbolizes death but in a positive manner. In Mexico it is believed that death is not the final stage in one’s life but rather a step forward into a higher level of conscience. One thing that makes sugar skulls stand out from other skull-related creations is how jolly it looks. Most depictions of the skull are either creepy or morbid, but sugar skulls are happy and cheerful ones. The reason for this is because they want to capture the joy and spirit of their deceased loved ones.

The symbolism of a sugar skull is rooted in the decoration around the eyes. Flowers are meant to symbolize life, while cobwebs symbolize death. The skulls are designed to be bright and cheerful, being a celebration of the life that once was.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/39 ... =user_menu" 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;

Oh haha! I thought this was Dead on Paper's Calaveras project for a second and was surpised by the substantial change of the design.

I love the sugar skull nesting dolls, such a cute idea!!

If anybody backed for a red deck and decides to back out, I'd love to switch my pledge to include one.

Natalia, will you be opening up a few more pledges for the Red? I notice that not all 13 are accounted for at the moment....

CALAVERAS DE AZÚCAR

Hey,

Thank you so much for your comments and kind words!!! I really appreciate this!

Yes, absolutely, I will be adding / adjusting pledge options depending on demand.

Thank you!
Kind regards,
Natalia

CALAVERAS DE AZÚCAR Playing Cards - Blue - Printed by the USPCC

The blue and purple tuck displays don't pop, they look like light colored black tucks. Also without reading the whole campaign, are there other decks out with high gloss we can compare?

CALAVERAS DE AZÚCAR Playing Cards - PURPLE - LIMITED EDITION

500 decks ONLY! Printed by MPC

Bikefanatic wrote:The blue and purple tuck displays don't pop, they look like light colored black tucks. Also without reading the whole campaign, are there other decks out with high gloss we can compare?

Hey,

Thank you for your comment!

BLUE and PURPLE Tuck Cases look really cool in person. The blue ......is a dark blue, it's not bright. Purple deck is also more dark in person. You can check out a little video in my campaign (showing the high gloss on the purple deck).

I personally really like decks with high gloss. My last Russian Folk Art "COLLECTOR'S EDITION" deck was with high gloss on the tuck case + on the back design, and it looks amazing!

Thank you!
Natalia

Awesome work as always, Natalia!
Hard to choose which colors so just have to get all of them
Love the t-shirt too - very tempting.
Looking forward to what you cook up next.
Proud to be Backer #1 - Woot!

It's worth noting that only the black and blue decks are printed by USPCC. The purple, green, and red decks are printed by MPC.

The artwork is really amazing. Unfortunately I won't be backing this project, and I back many projects. The artificial scarcity and extreme pricing of recolored decks produced by MPC just rubs me the wrong way. I understand that there may be a market for that but I'm not going to support it.

joeblow wrote:The artwork is really amazing. Unfortunately I won't be backing this project, and I back many projects. The artificial scarcity and extreme pricing of recolored decks produced by MPC just rubs me the wrong way. I understand that there may be a market for that but I'm not going to support it.

So joeblow just get a black or blue deck. Those two are completely different decks. I was going to go for the purple and green but looked at what my credit card bill for this month will be and I passed on them. I understand your stance on not supporting limited run decks so just ignore that aspect of the campaign and get what you like.

RichK wrote:

joeblow wrote:The artwork is really amazing. Unfortunately I won't be backing this project, and I back many projects. The artificial scarcity and extreme pricing of recolored decks produced by MPC just rubs me the wrong way. I understand that there may be a market for that but I'm not going to support it.

So joeblow just get a black or blue deck. Those two are completely different decks. I was going to go for the purple and green but looked at what my credit card bill for this month will be and I passed on them. I understand your stance on not supporting limited run decks so just ignore that aspect of the campaign and get what you like.

I would argue that he is making a point not to support the creator and thereby support the aspect of the campaign he doesn't like so as not to reinforce the use of that aspect in future projects.

Justin O. wrote:

RichK wrote:

joeblow wrote:The artwork is really amazing. Unfortunately I won't be backing this project, and I back many projects. The artificial scarcity and extreme pricing of recolored decks produced by MPC just rubs me the wrong way. I understand that there may be a market for that but I'm not going to support it.

So joeblow just get a black or blue deck. Those two are completely different decks. I was going to go for the purple and green but looked at what my credit card bill for this month will be and I passed on them. I understand your stance on not supporting limited run decks so just ignore that aspect of the campaign and get what you like.

I would argue that he is making a point not to support the creator and thereby support the aspect of the campaign he doesn't like so as not to reinforce the use of that aspect in future projects.

Yes, that is a valid point.

I really like the Russia Collector's Edition deck. If these decks are going to look those, they're worth getting.

The Green and Red decks has their own tiers, why not the Purple deck Natalia?

joeblow wrote:The artwork is really amazing. Unfortunately I won't be backing this project, and I back many projects. The artificial scarcity and extreme pricing of recolored decks produced by MPC just rubs me the wrong way. I understand that there may be a market for that but I'm not going to support it.

Yep, that's very true.
The creator is only trying to make some easy extra money, maybe the creator is being searching playing cards too much on eBay..
The red deck has a production price of around $40 (at most) and is being sold for $120!! This is very ebay selling style...
But it looks like it doesn't matter as all the red decks are sould out, so people are willing to pay $120 for a MPC deck, but if you ask $300-$400 for an ICONS Imperial they call you crazy... Humans are a very complex type of thing!!

sms69x wrote:

joeblow wrote:The artwork is really amazing. Unfortunately I won't be backing this project, and I back many projects. The artificial scarcity and extreme pricing of recolored decks produced by MPC just rubs me the wrong way. I understand that there may be a market for that but I'm not going to support it.

Yep, that's very true.
The creator is only trying to make some easy extra money, maybe the creator is being searching playing cards too much on eBay..
The red deck has a production price of around $40 (at most) and is being sold for $120!! This is very ebay selling style...
But it looks like it doesn't matter as all the red decks are sould out, so people are willing to pay $120 for a MPC deck, but if you ask $300-$400 for an ICONS Imperial they call you crazy... Humans are a very complex type of thing!!

I stopped backing after the Folk Art series. Personally don't agree with the deck prices. Rather spend that money on KW or Lotrek decks.

I like this deck. It's got a great style and it's fun. Easy for me to be a backer here, I even went in for a shirt.

I don't think of the MPC decks in a negative way at all, though I personally am not pledging for any. I see them as more choice for folks. I think there are several people who are very happy to have them coming their way.

Yea my mind was like wtf when I seen the $120 price for the red. It makes sense if all the decks are the same that they should be the same price but. . . . you spend to get what you want. Once again quality is nice, another good comparison of the gloss is similar to the Royal Pulp special edition ones where the faces and tuck was glossy.

I'm in for a black and a blue deck which are reasonably priced and will be made by USPCC. I think the artwork is fantastic. This is the first Dias de los Meurtos deck that has ever appealed to me. As much as I like the colors of the LE decks, I won't buy MPC decks and certainly not for the outrageous prices listed. I'd love to have the other colors and would be really tempted if they were the same price and printer as the black and blue decks. However, like joeblow, I refuse to support this kind of artificial scarcity and there is just not enough about the LE decks to justify the price difference, other than the artificially low numbers. I respect Natalia as an artist but I can't support this type of business model.

I agree with everyone else about the pricing. Sadly I would not be surprised if at least half of those red deck backers list them on ebay for like $300.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/39 ... le_created

New version now available.

I think that this Natalia's best work so far* and I have liked her previous works.

But after this, can we just bury the day of the dead theme for at least 5 years okay, please?

*Meaning the new campaign that Victor posted. Honestly it's pretty damn good.

Yeah, Natalia is one of the few artists I keep an eye on, [Nicolai Aaroe, Gio @ Thirdway & Jackson Robinson being the others]. I'm in for a pair, but I've got a feeling it'll be the last deck I back for a while: Nicolai cleaned me out last week.

Gotta agree on the profusion of day of the dead themes, time to move on.