Bicycle Cthulhu -- Successful Kickstarter!

[CBJ]

WOW.... Congrats!!!

A NEW RECORD!!! by far

$96,583 with 2216 backers!!!!!

Simply amazing!

[Evan]

Thats awesome! Congrats!
I think you may hold the record for a while...

[Adam]

Thats awesome! Congrats!
I think you may hold the record for a while...

I don't:

[MJF]

I absolutely love the Pedale Design deck, though Tyler really needs to give the deck a name... and like the Cuthulhu deck, I'll probably go bonkers/overboard on funding that one as well... (I was in $66 on Cuthulhu)

[cosmicsecret]

CONGRATZ!
This kickstarter compaign was such a great experience for me as a customer and playing card fan!
I spend $64 dollars for 3 green/3 red decks and 2 art prints shipped to germany.
Talking about bang for the money eh?
I will probably holding those in my hands in very late December 2012/Jan 2013....fingers crossed!

[Encarded]

Just for me personally, I am perplexed at the success of this deck. Not to say it's not well done or anything because it most surely is, but it is so specific in it's design and imagery that I found it terribly unappealing. I would be very curious to know the stats on how many backers came from "card sites" vs other people that might just be fans of the theme. They are owed serious respect for running such a masterful campaign but I easily passed this one by with no regrets.

Again, don't get me wrong, it is hugely impressive and well done, but for a "tiny niche within a tiny niche" to have gone so far above the norm is surprising.

[walrus]

I agree. These decks are nice but I do not see the justification for such funding. Good for the producers and it is all good to see others having success but it seems a bit off. I guess my taste does not dictatate the market.

[UtterFool]

Just for me personally, I am perplexed at the success of this deck. Not to say it's not well done or anything because it most surely is, but it is so specific in it's design and imagery that I found it terribly unappealing. I would be very curious to know the stats on how many backers came from "card sites" vs other people that might just be fans of the theme. They are owed serious respect for running such a masterful campaign but I easily passed this one by with no regrets.

Again, don't get me wrong, it is hugely impressive and well done, but for a "tiny niche within a tiny niche" to have gone so far above the norm is surprising.

I for one was a huge fan of this deck but can completely see why some may not enjoy it as much. It's imagery certainly is not pretty (although crafted masterfully), although if you were not a fan of this deck (due to the imagery) but like anything by Big Blind than I would be a bit confused.

I think where you are mislead here is in your statement "a tiny niche within a tiny niche".
The reason that this did so well is that the cthulhu mythos is not a tiny niche. Sure we are not talking mainstream horror like Stephen King or the SAW movies.
But if you put the two things this deck embodies next to each other
1. designer cards and collecting
2. Fans of H.P Lovecraft.
I think you would find that the second engulfs the first as far as the size of it's niche.

I think where you may get confused is if you look at playing cards in general.
Sure there probably isn't a person who lives in a first or second world country who couldn't recognize a deck of playing cards.
When you compare it against that it seems minuscule.
But we are talking about designer decks and collecting.
People who are not collectors buy standard decks OR they buy a deck because it depicts something that they have a liking for.
You assumption that the majority of the backing for this deck came from mostly non-card collectors is probably true. Not because of the quality of the design but because the size of the community. The card community is a decent size but it is by no means large. (I think I am getting into a circular argument here and restating things so I will wrap this up)
It is like the Pedale misc. goods deck mentioned above. This deck isn't souring to the heights it is due to the card community. The card community showed only vague interest in the deck when it first was put out. It is a descent deck has a pleasing design but it is nothing ground breaking compared to the Cthulhu deck or even more so the Uusi Bohemia deck. then why is it doing so well. Because (due to a spot on uncrated.com) it got noticed outside of the small card collecting community specifically by the hipster community. The hipster community is much bigger than the HP Lovecraft geek community which is larger than the card collecting community. I think Russel over at CCCC pushed the bounds as far as the card collecting community could go with his Quicksilver deck. Most decks that only go out to the card collecting community will probably stay within the 20,000 - 30,000 range (I would guise) that is probably what the card collector market can hold (less when so many decks are available).


For myself I know that I would have spent just as much on this campaign even if I hadn't been a card collector. For long before I started collecting cards for a living I was a fan of HP Lovecraft.


(I have to say though Paul I am surprised you don't like this deck, I always assumed that the Tendril deck was a slight nod to Cthulhu mythos. Now I am going to have to go back to my first assumption which was Japanese Porn as an inspiration )

[Adam]

I agree whole heartedly with you that the HP Lovecraft market is WAAAY bigger than the card collecting community and the fact that they are cards makes them more desirable to non collectors as EVERYONE plays cards. It is for this reason that I have decided my next deck will be a Justin Bieber deck.....

[PlayingCardz]

I agree whole heartedly with you that the HP Lovecraft market is WAAAY bigger than the card collecting community and the fact that they are cards makes them more desirable to non collectors as EVERYONE plays cards. It is for this reason that I have decided my next deck will be a Justin Bieber deck.....

You said it.

[Encarded]

I for one was a huge fan of this deck but can completely see why some may not enjoy it as much. It's imagery certainly is not pretty (although crafted masterfully), although if you were not a fan of this deck (due to the imagery) but like anything by Big Blind than I would be a bit confused.

(I have to say though Paul I am surprised you don't like this deck, I always assumed that the Tendril deck was a slight nod to Cthulhu mythos. Now I am going to have to go back to my first assumption which was Japanese Porn as an inspiration )

Ha! Well you hit the nail on the head there, I can't stand the BBM stuff. Always seemed trying way to hard to just be over the top.

I guess I underestimated the size of Lovecraft fans, hence my surprise. I read the Call of Cthulhu years back and thought it was average at best. I guess this is where personal taste really can color your perspective! As we saw with the Grid and now this deck, latching onto a popular theme or character and implementing well is a sure road to success.

And no, it was neither tentacle porn or Lovecraft that was my inspiration. I took a pretty literal take on the dictionary definition of 'tendril' and mixed that with my fondness for the nature of the rainforest. Like I said, personal taste colors perception!

[UtterFool]

I agree whole heartedly with you that the HP Lovecraft market is WAAAY bigger than the card collecting community and the fact that they are cards makes them more desirable to non collectors as EVERYONE plays cards. It is for this reason that I have decided my next deck will be a Justin Bieber deck.....

Somebody already beat you to that Adam
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Justin-Bieber-C ... 337c6e064d

this only solidifies my point though.
People will buy cards with images of things they like. they do not have to be a collector to do it. Therefore you can find a deck of cards with just about any theme.

I would even say that the lay man (non card enthusiast or someone who doesn't use cards for a living) would pick up a deck of cards that has an image of something they like over a well designed deck.

It is all about the audience
like this
14 year old teenie bopper is offered the Justin Bieber deck above or Paul's Tendril deck, or better yet a Jerry's nugget deck.
If she is not given any clue of the value of either
Which is she going to pick?

Another case for you Adam. Your Army Men deck. I personally love it, I played with Army men as a child and have a fond memory, I like the design and CCC has shown to make quality decks so I have backed it (I am even going through my budget seeing if I can fit the Ammo can)
However in the thread there have been a few people who feel that the response to your deck has not been what you hoped due to the subject matter. This is probably true, when you base something directly off of a theme versus just giving a deck a concept you are going to be either hot or cold with only a bit of wiggle room in between.

[cosmicsecret]

Good News

That's right boys, girls, and Elder Gods - the decks have arrived! Yesterday afternoon myself, one of our great backers Jim, and the 'The Fedex Guy' carried 74 30 pound boxes up 3 flights of stairs to get the truck completely unloaded during something I like to call the Albino Dragon Crossfit Challenge.

Given that we have never received hard proofs for the decks because we pushed forward so quickly, I was a bit nervous about what they would look like. The result? They look every bit as great as I hoped that they would and I think that you will all be very happy with them.

I've included a few pics showing the unloading of the cards and them piled up in my living room.
Bad News

When I looked at the decks I realized that the custom deck seals had been switched. I contacted Bicycle this morning and they responded that they "added everything correctly in the system but a mistake was made loading the seals on the finishing line." Unfortunately there isn't really anything that we can do about this from our side now that everything has been produced and processed.

It's an unfortunate circumstance but we realize that even a company as diligent and experienced as Bicycle can still make mistakes. I'm sure part of the reason is that they were working so hard and so quickly to get us our decks sooner so that we could mail them out to everyone. I'm sure it will never happen again on any of our future projects with them.

[MJF]

Shane just posted this image of his place with all the shipping materials... ha ha ha

Looks like my places but I've been BUYING decks. (My poor poor wallet and bank account)

[MagikFingerz]

Shane just posted this image of his place with all the shipping materials... ha ha ha

Looks like my places but I've been BUYING decks. (My poor poor wallet and bank account)

Sounds to me like you're pretty rich

[MJF]

HA HA HA, whoops.

Yeah, that's singular. I'm single too, so I can spend my money how I please... I have budgeted money to spend on decks, but I'm not rich... not even close.
...and if it appears I've spent quite a bit recently, it just cause I'm playing catchup with all the other old timers who've been at this hobbie/field for years now...

[Sharpie]

...and if it appears I've spent quite a bit recently, it just cause I'm playing catchup with all the other old timers who've been at this hobbie/field for years now...

Don't strain yourself. That way lies madness.

[MJF]

Thanks for the great advice... madness would be me and my work without having a hobby on the side...

[CBJ]

These are starting to show up in people's hands... watch your mailboxes if you pledged!



Thanks Josh for the pic

CBJ

[cosmicsecret]

These are starting to show up in people's hands... watch your mailboxes if you pledged!
Thanks Josh for the pic

CBJ

One word! AWESOME!

Hopefully i will recieve mine before christmas.
Did he recieved only the green deck or the red one as well?

[CBJ]

It's the only one he ordered. I have 2 set of both ordered.. hopefully I get them soon!

[neongrey]

I've got a fair bit of loot in my order so I think mine's not going out yet. Still, jealooous.

[MJF]

Damn that deck is a work of art. I can't wait until I get mine in... I think I had 3 Green/3 Red Decks with signatures on 1 of each color. Very excited to see some of these Kickstarter projects are finally making it out the door...

[cosmicsecret]

more and more people in the US are recieving their decks!
so if anyone can post more pictures (especially of the red deck) please do so.

[UtterFool]

Here are a couple pictures of my Red uncut sheet and the Red deck (unopened)

[cosmicsecret]

awesome! thank you for the pictures

[RSLancastr]

I'm Hella late to this party, not being a part of UC when this party started.

I'm also woefully ignorant about Kickstarter (more about that later (in another post, I think)).

I'm not a huge fan of Lovecraft (too dry and overwrought for my taste or something) but have enjoyed some of the Mythos, and certain products that have sprung up around it (such as the "Hello Cthulhu" web comic, the "My Little Cthulhu" and stuffed Cthulhu" toys, and those"Graduate of Miskatonic (sp?) University" bumperstickers.

So that, combined with my decades-long passion for decks with non-standard courts made getting these decks a MUST for me.

Again though - late to the party. So I had to bite the bullet and buy them on eBay, where I paid around $55 for the two (I believe it was $29.95 for the red, $24.95 for the green).

I should be getting them before Christmas (cross your tentacles).

[cosmicsecret]

arrrr! You should have waited till more of us had recieved the decks.
I´m sure one of us who got more then 3 decks could have parted for one of the red decks for waaaay less money.
They are unlimited and will be more printed in the second batch in early 2013.
For the green deck you might be lucky to got it for that price.I had predicted, as they announced the 2nd unlimited deck, that those green´s will go on ebay at $25...and look i wasn´t too much off
The green (limited) deck was only avaible through the Kickstarter Project and a few will be up for grabs on a charity auction.

[RSLancastr]

I had considered that, cosmic, but decided not to risk the wait. Delayed Gratification is not my strong suit.

[MJF]

I have the same downfall... I've jumped on items on Ebay that I probably could've gotten much cheaper on UC...

I'm hoping that a few of the other earlier decks will be available, since I didn't join KickStarter until October... so I missed War of Currents and a few others. I've picked up a couple of other earlier decks, but it was definitely at a premium.