Art of Cardistry Blue & Red (Bocopo) --- Live on KS

[Azid]

I liked the first edition of these decks a lot. The price is very good for a USPCC deck, i'm in.
Now Live:

[vedus]

The blue's are cheap... So long as you live in the US. The three decks are less expensive than their shipping. I would have been on board for the cheapies. Not so much now.

[vasta41]

This deck isn't my cup of tea HOWEVER, a little less than $9 for a USPCC deck shipped is what I'm taking about. I know the tuck isn't blinged out or anything but to those of you charging $15+ for an EPCC deck with a blinged out tuck, I don't see the math...

[guru]

This deck isn't my cup of tea HOWEVER, a little less than $9 for a USPCC deck shipped is what I'm taking about. I know the tuck isn't blinged out or anything but to those of you charging $15+ for an EPCC deck with a blinged out tuck, I don't see the math...

Math is simple when you take into account that it is Bocopo which could be doing 2500-5000 or more print run, $9.4 (and not less than 9) is an EB price, they already have done no. of decks with USPCC and might be availing discounts, it is a a deck with CMYK printing (no bells and whistles whatsoever), thin stock but still proclaimed as Casino grade (2.76 - 2.89 mm thickness with stack of 10 cards) whereas a designer doing a deck with EPCC might be gearing for 1000-1500 print run which in all likelihood is fully custom, has a blinged out tuck with special paper, foil (exterior n interior), custom seal, traditional cut and has put countless hours in design & illustration.....We all know that doing a non-blinged deck with USPC is on par( production cost wise) with a non blinged deck
by EPCC or LPCC, and in some cases the cost is even lesser (when one opts for their retail stock (which is quicker-wearing) with much higher quantity of post-consumer recycled material).......

[vasta41]

This deck isn't my cup of tea HOWEVER, a little less than $9 for a USPCC deck shipped is what I'm taking about. I know the tuck isn't blinged out or anything but to those of you charging $15+ for an EPCC deck with a blinged out tuck, I don't see the math...

Math is simple when you take into account that it is Bocopo which could be doing 2500-5000 or more print run, $9.4 (and not less than 9) is an EB price, they already have done no. of decks with USPCC and might be availing discounts, it is a a deck with CMYK printing (no bells and whistles whatsoever), thin stock but still proclaimed as Casino grade (2.76 - 2.89 mm thickness with stack of 10 cards) whereas a designer doing a deck with EPCC might be gearing for 1000-1500 print run which in all likelihood is fully custom, has a blinged out tuck with special paper, foil (exterior n interior), custom seal, traditional cut and has put countless hours in design & illustration.....We all know that doing a non-blinged deck with USPC is on par( production cost wise) with a non blinged deck
by EPCC or LPCC, and in some cases the cost is even lesser (when one opts for their retail stock (which is quicker-wearing) with much higher quantity of post-consumer recycled material).......

I understand everything you're saying but here's the deal- I'm a consumer of playing cards. Plain and simple. And I'm not rich so I look for a good value. I understand that deck artists and creators need to make money and they should. But there is competition out there! If a company uses discounts or whatever to make a deck cheaper for me, the consumer, then I will set a standard in my mind. And whether that's fair or not is irrelevant. The only thing that matters is money- people speak with their wallets. If a seemingly overpriced deck funds or sells then it deserved to. Maybe the artist is well-known and does good work, maybe the tuck is blinged, maybe it's somehow groundbreaking. Who knows. All I know is that I once bought a MetalLuxe deck from T11 for $10 ($13, shipped). And BoCoPo is currently selling a $9.40 deck of USPCC cards. So it is possible to print with USPCC and still sell a deck for $10 and I'd like to see more of them. Totally blinged out decks of cards are awesome and need to keep being created. But there's always still a place in my collection for the standard-ish, economical deck regardless of paper stock or CMYK ink.
I'm obviously biased toward USPCC but I own many EPCC decks and love most of them. But the notion that they're somehow cheaper seems to have eluded deck creators since the onset of EPCC. Because from where I'm standing they all seem to be priced the same, features considered.

[guru]

This deck isn't my cup of tea HOWEVER, a little less than $9 for a USPCC deck shipped is what I'm taking about. I know the tuck isn't blinged out or anything but to those of you charging $15+ for an EPCC deck with a blinged out tuck, I don't see the math...

Math is simple when you take into account that it is Bocopo which could be doing 2500-5000 or more print run, $9.4 (and not less than 9) is an EB price, they already have done no. of decks with USPCC and might be availing discounts, it is a a deck with CMYK printing (no bells and whistles whatsoever), thin stock but still proclaimed as Casino grade (2.76 - 2.89 mm thickness with stack of 10 cards) whereas a designer doing a deck with EPCC might be gearing for 1000-1500 print run which in all likelihood is fully custom, has a blinged out tuck with special paper, foil (exterior n interior), custom seal, traditional cut and has put countless hours in design & illustration.....We all know that doing a non-blinged deck with USPC is on par( production cost wise) with a non blinged deck
by EPCC or LPCC, and in some cases the cost is even lesser (when one opts for their retail stock (which is quicker-wearing) with much higher quantity of post-consumer recycled material).......

I understand everything you're saying but here's the deal- I'm a consumer of playing cards. Plain and simple. And I'm not rich so I look for a good value. I understand that deck artists and creators need to make money and they should. But there is competition out there! If a company uses discounts or whatever to make a deck cheaper for me, the consumer, then I will set a standard in my mind. And whether that's fair or not is irrelevant. The only thing that matters is money- people speak with their wallets. If a seemingly overpriced deck funds or sells then it deserved to. Maybe the artist is well-known and does good work, maybe the tuck is blinged, maybe it's somehow groundbreaking. Who knows. All I know is that I once bought a MetalLuxe deck from T11 for $10 ($13, shipped). And BoCoPo is currently selling a $9.40 deck of USPCC cards. So it is possible to print with USPCC and still sell a deck for $10 and I'd like to see more of them. Totally blinged out decks of cards are awesome and need to keep being created. But there's always still a place in my collection for the standard-ish, economical deck regardless of paper stock or CMYK ink.
I'm obviously biased toward USPCC but I own many EPCC decks and love most of them. But the notion that they're somehow cheaper seems to have eluded deck creators since the onset of EPCC. Because from where I'm standing they all seem to be priced the same, features considered.

Fair enough and I do understand your position but I'd like to share my understanding and perspective here. USPCC being a 800 lb Gorilla of the market did set the tone of pricing and that's the reason you see decks being sold in the given price range. They also kept charging high for addons like gilding, foil (metaluxe) etc. and these were exploited by the likes of Legends, Expert, MPC (Impressions range of decks) and even GW (for gilding), which is why you see more custom decks and bling features on Kickstarter (at least) from the latter. T11's Rarebit does seem like a outlier but you don't know the total print run or do you? Remember Bicycle Imperium which got funded but could not be produced due to higher metaluxe foil cost and though most people here on UC did get their refund, others were less fortunate and are still looking for their refund to process. So, I believe the comparison of comparing Rarebit with completely custom decks (plus bling) is unfair.

More number of gilded decks are being done by GW and Metaluxe will see a major competitor going forward with major printers moving to the China factory. Now, coming back to the handling debate, Cartamundi, HCPC etc. have started churning decks for cardistry crowd and the going will get tough for USPCC. The competition will be there but it is going to be a win for consumers at last(collectors and cardists alike). No whether or not you agree with it or not is immaterial, people speak with their wallets. I've tried providing good value but then I also saw more skeptics then friends.