Thanks everyone that helped out with this deck in this forum. I am happy to say that the deck is live on Kickstarter!
I hope you like it as I have put a lot of time and effort into it!



You can check it out here:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/alv ... ed-by-uspc

First thing first ... I love the idea and the deck is visually stunning ... I would purchase it just like it is ... you are looking for feedback ... How are the four beasts incorporated in the deck itself? What card stock are you planning on using? ... other than that i think the faces of the cards could fit with the theme better ... again I LOVE THIS DECK ... but I understand as a designer that you want it to be the best ...

Thank you for your reply! Valuable feedback makes this deck perfect!
I am going to print it with USPC Bycicle quality paper.
The four beasts have their own designated suits. (dragon-spades, phoenix-hearts, tiger-clubs, turtle-diamonds) Each of which will be shown in the Aces.

Maybe I should work on more detail on the face cards but im scared I might over do the design. Need opinions from poker players if they fancy busy face cards over simple ones.

I'm glad you are using UPC Bicycle quality stock. Too often I've seen decks where the producer expends a ton of energy in in the design, and then cheaps out with the paper stock. Good luck with your endevour!

would you rather the bicycle or the BEE stock?
and any comments on metallic ink?

Hrmmmm....Most of the kickstarters actually use Bike stock. Bike stock is not bad. It isn't great though. If you want a unique kick starter and want to offer something different you might try contacting some other manufacturers. I bet you will financially have to come back to USPCC but it is at least worth the effort. Look into Carta-mundi and Piatnik. They may be cost prohibitive because they are smaller manufacturers but the quality of the stock they use is much higher.

If you get stuck with USPCC then the difference in Bee or Bike stock really comes down to how stiff you want the cards to flex. Bicycle is medium stiffness and Bee is a bit softer. Thus, bikes tend to be preferred by magicians who do walk around card magic whereas bee's are favored buy guys who rely on precise shuffle work on a table, such as a gambler or a magician doing a gambling demo. So think about the type of person you are marketing the deck to and choose from there.

Design wise....I really like it. That said, there are a lot of Asian themed decks. What I have yet to see is a face card set up that reflects real kings queens and generals from Asia. I have a "Wild West" deck and each of the court cards are patterned off of some famous wild west figure. So the King of clubs is Wyatt Erp, Queen of clubs is Calamity Jane, the Jack of Diamonds is Jonny Ringo, etc. So a Korean example might be King Sea Jong, Lee Soon Shin, ect. Have you thought of doing something like that?

Thanks for the great feedback! I think ill use the bike stock since more magicians tend to get the decks.
As for the designated kings and queens, they are actual kings and queens!!! Should I name them or maybe make a small booklet and talk about the history to go with the rewards? that would be a bit interesting.

heres latest queen...tell me wat you guys think

You most definitely should make a little booklet that gives a quick history of the kings and queens! Yep that would definitely make the deck more interesting. Another thought, are their not a few legendary dragons? That might also be an option for either aces or Jokers.

Maybe ill do the booklet for a collectors edition
As for the dragons there are but im only incorporating the four beasts. Each suit will have their own designated beast.

As for the design with the court cards do you think the style is ok?
should I reveal all the court cards or just some of them so people can get surprises when they buy the deck

I think the design is good. It brings in the Chinese cultural flavor of the deck without straying to far from classic court card design.Most promising kickstarter in a while.

Thanks for the comment.
Its going to be $15 per deck and $25 for two....considering this much time and amount placed on this cards. I dont want to make it so that international will pay more than locals.

any comments on this pricing?

I'm not going to lie. That is going to be tough. They are pretty...and I like them a lot, but I have gotten kickstarter cards before and I know that USPCC will not open the Web press for you. That will equal a huge difference in quality between your cards and say a theory 11, or Ellusionist deck. When those get off the press they will probably be of equal quality to a standard deck of Bicycles that you get from Wall mart for about $4.00 for two.That means your asking price is and extra $13 or $21 just for the art work.

The way this works is that you will probably pay about $5.00 / deck. It is a small run so they will never be as cheap as a Bicycle. So the going rates that I have seen for kickstarters is between $7.00 and $9.00/deck. So it comes down to you running the numbers and finding out what you think your artwork is worth and what your potential backers are willing to pay for.

There is also the problem of shipping, I am based in UK so shipping costs will be a lot. And i dont want different countries paying different prices..

I have just made calculations, I think the lowest I can go is $11 for 1 deck and down to $9 for 10 decks