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Do you have a time?

Sherm - Things are very tight time-wise, but I hope to launch by 7pm EST on May 1st (tomorrow). It's taken 8 years to develop this technology & manufacturing process for playing cards....so if it happens to slip over into 2nd May I will not be too worried (but will let you know here on this forum of course). Regards.

Hey, VXD... is this still happening today at 7pm Easter Time? Or tomorrow? Or some other time?

And... how limited will the run be (if it be limited at all)? Will there be Early Birds?

Thanks!

Hi Rousselle

Just had chance to log in. Still flat out with preps and KS building. I now plan to launch at 23.59 EST.

I appreciate most will be in bed then, but I want to launch on May 1st and that's obviously the lastest possible time I can manage and still do that.

Regards

VXD

Rousselle - Sorry just noticed I missed part of your question. There are no early birds as such, but there are limited editions. I'm guessing you'll be fine to get anything you like though, as enquiries so far into the deck have not exactly been overwhelming on here.

Regards

VXD

Project launch delayed, until tomorrow or 3rd May possibly.

Thanks for the heads up!

VXD wrote:Project launch delayed, until tomorrow or 3rd May possibly.

With a deck like this (new, innovative, etc.) I HIGHLY recommend not rushing it! I see you've changed the date a few times and I urge you not to launch this until it's ready. This deck looks wicked awesome so I'm sure it won't have trouble funding (price pending) UNLESS it's rushed and a detail or two is missed and something unforeseen happens (which, don't kid yourself, is common and almost expected nowadays with KS projects). Either way, whenever it launches I will be there.

Thanks Vasta and yes you are right about that.

Btw - A friend of mine just mentioned that I should let people know when showing the promo video that there is ZERO cgi or digital touching up etc in that video, as he said he assumed there was.

That video is only camera and lights on a table, zero trickery (excluding the obvious logo animation of course).

VXD wrote:Btw - A friend of mine just mentioned that I should let people know when showing the promo video that there is ZERO cgi or digital touching up etc in that video, as he said he assumed there was.

That video is only camera and lights on a table, zero trickery (excluding the obvious logo animation of course).

That was an incredible video showing the color change and great courts. I'm in when you're ready.

Thanks Rich

One other thing definitely worth pointing out - they handle really really well. Slip is spot on....they glide really nicely over each other and it's been one of my biggest concerns from conception, as I knew heavy gold foils etc negatively affect handling in all cases, to a lesser or greater degree.

I'll definitely have a cardist to emphasise this for VXD as well on the next promo vid. But people on here will know anyway, once they get them in their hands.

Who is printing these? I'm assuming this is a new printing company? Or at least one we haven't heard of?

Vasta

Lots of questions re the printing, shipping, quality were addressed in the other thread =====VERTEX DECK===== , which I'll bump up now next this, in case anyone else has more queries on these topics for VXD playing cards.

Regards

VXD

Can there please, oh pretty please be a standard tuck offered with this deck? FYI historically decks with weird tucks don't do well on KS. I beg of you, provide a standard tuck option!

What Vasta41 said.

This deck looks awesome. I agree with the other collectors that want a standard tuck box for display. I was looking at the other thread for this deck and It said that there would be a standard tuck inside the unique aluminum case. That would be nice. More expensive than an option with a standard tuck alone but if it can't be done with a standard tuck alone, then I'll get the deck with the Aluminum case with the standard tuck inside.

Any updates on the kickstarter launch? Will it be today?

I think there seems to be an consensus that there isn't too much of an appetite for the aluminum tuck box and most people would prefer a traditional tuck box. I don't think you ever mentioned what the price of this deck will be, which makes me suspect that it's going to be pretty high, so the aluminum tuck would just add on to that already high price. Now if that aluminum box could house and protect a standard tuck box so that it's more of a fancy storage box for the deck instead, then I can see it making sense as a special limited edition deck. Lot's of campaigns have had great success offering the option of a limited and fancy storage box to house the deck (think Jackson Robinson's Legacy Editions or Uusi's reclaimed old growth redwood boxes). But if that aluminum case is the tuck box, then I fear your sales won't be as robust as if you had a traditional paper tuck box.

Totally agree with @sinjin7 above.

@Creator - I will advise you to get the option of standard tuckbox from day 1 itself. First few days are, indeed, important and I've seen that it is better to offer from first day rather than doing a course correction later in the campaign. It is a fruit of intense labor, so please do listen to what people are saying here on UC. Secondly, do give options of standard, limited or ultra limited editions, if possible. I never tried this but it seems to work if we look at a number of successful projects. Third, cost per deck as well as shipping is always an important factor for backers, and you'd need to have a strong value proposition for potential backers who will either fall in collectors or cardists category.

Good luck.

Thanks for the messages / advice.

I have just landed in LV - after very long flights, where I am meeting the co-creator for a small promotion of the deck and psychological marking of the launch here in its place of conception. We also have a meeting set up with a very influential table games creator here in LV, to talk over the promotion / advertising potential of this deck (custom artwork / logos within the pips), for use on 3-card poker tables, which is extremely exciting

We hope to make the final KS adjustments tomorrow and therefore launch by tomorrow evening. But I will let people know as nothing is currently 100% certain on launch time / date yet.

I'll seek to answer all questions when I get a minute after the actual launch has happened.

Regards

VXD

VXD wrote:We also have a meeting set up with a very influential table games creator here in LV, to talk over the promotion / advertising potential of this deck (custom artwork / logos within the pips), for use on 3-card poker tables, which is extremely exciting

Well this is good news to me because a casino that could potentially be actively using many decks of cards per day would not want an aluminum case. So if this deal goes through then there will have to be standard tucks created for this deck.

Vasta

Casinos have no need for a tuck at all, of any kind....only the cellophane wrapping for each deck delivered.

But rest assured for the retail edition, I am listening and the standard tuck WILL happen for VXD playing cards. Whether that will be for this first launch or a separate one very soon after to cater for serious collectors requirements, is not certain still. It really complicates our production and also our reward tiers.

Regards

VXD

On the price front:

All I will say is that we have, as you will appreciate, a horrendous number of plates for the playing cards (similar to the number Lotrek will be using to custom 'bling' every single card front individually on Golden Oath) and a totally unique and true world first ever (hence the patent) production system that took years to figure out and arrange.

And yes, the boxes are relatively expensive of course too, being made of 3 separate parts of metal and having lasering on 4 locations, as well as magnets to make the closing / opening really classy. I couldn't make a revolutionary deck of playing cards and put them in a standard tuck only....it just didn't feel appropriate. So everything is totally unique and bespoke. But again, I'm listening and WILL make an option available now or very soon for the standard tuck, despite it causing me rather a headache to add on.

Regards

VXD

And yet...

A few *really really* good decks failed to fund on Kickstarter because they didn't have the option of a standard-sized and -shaped tuckbox right out of the gate.

If the price is right, I'll back the project, regardless, but we've seen a lot of projects come and go, and certain realities have become obvious over time. I'll also note that while I might back for a deck or two as things look now (again, assuming the price isn't beyond my reach), it's hard to imagine buying a brick with this kind of packaging....

Make a standard size/shape tuck out of metal.

By the way the creator try to avoid the question on how much it will cost, I'll assume this is not going to be pricey, but rather extremely pricey. I think that we all here understand this is not something that can be done for $8-$12 a deck, but having the creator just saying that htis is not going to be cheat, doesn't answer anything. So if you have already an extremely expensive deck, why on earth would you add an extremely expensive box to it? Either you don't want to sell any deck, or you are just ok with selling a couple dozen of these decks. So yes, add a standard tuck box, I'm sure you'll get alot more support.

As a collector I need this deck in my collection, but it will very much depend on the price, and the possibility of a standard tuck box. Otherwise will just wait for the version 2 or 3 as I'm sure will be cheaper..

VXD wrote: Casinos have no need for a tuck at all, of any kind....only the cellophane wrapping for each deck delivered.

I take one of these... no problem at all!

sms69x wrote: So if you have already an extremely expensive deck, why on earth would you add an extremely expensive box to it?

My personal belief as to this conundrum is the following. They plan to make the deck so expensive that they don't want to hand it out in cellophane and charge $30 for example, they'd rather make it appear luxurious and charge $40 thinking it's more likely to get sold. The other half of this is an act of: "I had a vision, we're doing it; even if it crashes and burns".

That said, I can understand and even appreciate the strategy... but I just don't like the design. It's a non-rectangular shape holding a rectangular deck. It's big, it's bulky and its shape alone makes it hard to store, which you know, is what collectors do. Also the actual etching on the metal looks a little too simple to be luxurious, and it looks particularly cheesey on that child-friendly shape. If you couldn't tell I really don't like the shape.

If it was a rectangular metallic case I might actually be all in for it. But as is, I will be discriminating pretty heavily based on the price.

I encourage those who are interested to look up the patent. The number is given at the end of the video and although I'm not all that computer search savvy I found it right away. What this deck does is revolutionary. The legal mumbo jumbo is not easy to wade through but when I understood what these guys are doing I think I MUST have a deck in my collection. Simple as that.

Cos (and all)

There is nothing like blowing your own trumpet....but you are right of course. To date, I have been a little surprised on this forum that more have not come to the obvious conclusion, that this WILL change the playing card industry for good. On the custom deck front, I have already been considering which of the iconic custom decks we should target, to speak to the original producer, regarding a re-launch crossover. VXD Black Ghost, VXD Fontaine Red, VXD White Centurions...

For a little wider perspective on what is happening right now, we have spent the last 3 days in Las Vegas speaking to pit bosses, card table game dealers and many tourists inside casinos and outside on the Strip. The reactions have been totally overwhelming. When handing the playing cards to them under the bright lights of the casinos over the card tables or outside in the intense sunlight here, the reaction has been instant, not only on the obvious visual appeal, but also many are quickly seeing the huge potential these playing cards will have for a place like Vegas. It's not hard to see when you consider the powerhouse industries of advertising and casinos combining in a new and visually appealing way that benefits all.

Regarding the retail Las Vegas Edition launch on KS, we are only waiting for the final verification from KS and we are ready to launch!

Regards

VXD

Glad to hear this news. So it should be live on Kickstarter within the next few days, right?

Also, although no one has said outright: "This will change the playing card industry for good," I think all of us already know that so there's no need to say it. This is a "game changer," for sure. Like several of Lotrek's decks (Such as his recent Golden Oath, as well as Gold Venexiana), It is a first of its kind and so It is special. It's why all of us are quite interested in this deck.