Hellsgate by SiShou Playing Cards - Coming Soon

[ecNate]

Looking forward to this one, I'll be in for sure. I've liked them all pretty well, but this JoC seems a bit forced with the horns coming through the hair. I would remove the first 2-3 'strands' of hair so you can see the horn coming from the skull, or just remove all hair for this one. I mean, yeah it's tradition, but come on you have skulls and all kinds of demonic traits going on, so what if the hair isn't traditional? As it is, this one just looks a bit awkward, but I think that change would help a lot.

[Calypso]

This is now live.

[Eoghann]

Cool, thanks! I'm in.

[alvinhy]

thanks for updating I hope this project funds as well as four beasts

[vasta41]

These cards are beautiful! But $13 per deck from Legends? IDK... I'm on the fence. I guess it's not outrageous. I'll probably get there.

[alvinhy]

Its because I have to cover the costs of shipping from Hong kong.
and the costs to print for minimum 1,000 decks aren't actually that low...

[shermjack]

I am definitely in! Any way of having the Sishou's as an add-on to the project?

[alvinhy]

unfortunately the remaining decks for sishou four beasts have not arrived so i cannot add them to the project. and numbers are limited so its hard to control it. but it will be for sale on the website.

[Widdee]

Would like to see the tuck pop like the courts but otherwise looks cool! Will definitely pick up a few.

[alvinhy]

thanks for the support!! We are funded!

[ecNate]

I'm not a coin collector, but dang! I may have to add these, but ~$20 USD is a bit much for a non collector like me. Stunning though!

[Eoghann]

Yeah I was about to as well but stepped on the breaks once I made the conversion to USD.

[Cbkimble]

I decide to grab one this time. The only reason I didn't grab one of the four beasts coins is b/c the digital mockups looked like the coins weren't solid. I thought the black space were actually holes in the coin. Definitely regretting it now.

[alvinhy]

I decide to grab one this time. The only reason I didn't grab one of the four beasts coins is b/c the digital mockups looked like the coins weren't solid. I thought the black space were actually holes in the coin. Definitely regretting it now.

The coins are solid and weigh around 60grams each.

[alvinhy]

For those who missed the campaign you can get them here:
https://hellsgate.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[alvinhy]

Dear all,

For those who have backed Hellsgate Playing Cards, they have been shipped by LPCC already.
So please expect them to arrive at your doorsteps soon!

Thank you again for supporting the project, and I hope to bring in more to the playing card community

Thanks!

[badpete69]

Got my set today thank you

[ecNate]

I got mine today and I think these will become a favorite at poker night. I usually MUCH prefer totally custom courts that go away from the standard clothes/poses, but I like how these are just a VERY evil version of them. Makes them more familiar to actually play with while being fun in a demonic way!

Also, P52 updated (@alvinhy care to provide total print counts for the decks and uncuts - I am aware the LE was 1,000, but others?):
http://www.portfolio52.com/node/66760
http://www.portfolio52.com/node/66761
NOTE - Uncuts not added yet, anybody get them and can take a fairly direct photo of them that looks almost like a scan? Usually we use early renders for this purpose, but none provided. If so, I can add based on that.

[alvinhy]

Limited edition and Standard edition are both at 1,000.
I like having the courts semi custom so that it is both collectable and playable.

Any ideas for the next deck

[montecarlojoe]

I got my collectors box - very nice decks there!

Though I must admit I like the Four Beasts decks more. Have you considered more along a similar theme - Journey to the West perhaps?

[alvinhy]

I got my collectors box - very nice decks there!

Though I must admit I like the Four Beasts decks more. Have you considered more along a similar theme - Journey to the West perhaps?

By similar theme do you mean an asian deck again? I have a few ideas for that.
Journey to the West the monkey king?

[4.of.Clubs]

I got my collectors box - very nice decks there!

Though I must admit I like the Four Beasts decks more. Have you considered more along a similar theme - Journey to the West perhaps?

By similar theme do you mean an asian deck again? I have a few ideas for that.
Journey to the West the monkey king?

If you're looking for suggestion, here is a really interesting one. I not sure what SiShou's background is, but this will require lots of Chinese culture background/research.

There is a Chinese classical novel Shui Hu Zhuan, which is about 108 different characters. And guess how many cards are in 2 decks! 108! I've been hoping that someone would do a two deck set for this ever since the Bicycle Emperor decks by Joanne Lin and tried to pitch that idea to her couple years ago but never got a response.

I have no idea if there's a English version of this, I doubt that there is. Let me know if you need more help on the topic (if you're interested). I'm sure some other members on the forum can chip in too (Sherman).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/108_Stars_of_Destiny" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[flashcards]

4.of.Clubs- you are referring to "The Water Margin" one of the most popular Chinese classical novels. There are many English translations available; some online for free. It is also a popular playing card theme. A search of Ebay will turn up lots of Chinese produced decks. I too would like to see a treatment like Joanne Lin did- kind of a modern update while retaining some of the classical Chinese style.

The Journey to the West (Xi You Gi 西遊記) the story of the Monkey King (Sun Wukong 孙悟空) is also a very popular card theme (as well as movies, TV, and plays). A similar treatment could be awesome here as well. If you wanted to expand on the four beasts theme, you could also do the 12 zodiac animals. Again, those have been done a lot but with a unique approach it could be a very cool deck.

Thanks for mentioning the Bicycle Emperor's Deck. I had missed that one (before my time as a collector). Since Chinese themed decks are a favorite of mine, I'll definitely be on the lookout, although I'd like to find one cheaper than the $20 on Ebay.

[4.of.Clubs]

4.of.Clubs- you are referring to "The Water Margin" one of the most popular Chinese classical novels. There are many English translations available; some online for free. It is also a popular playing card theme. A search of Ebay will turn up lots of Chinese produced decks. I too would like to see a treatment like Joanne Lin did- kind of a modern update while retaining some of the classical Chinese style.

The Journey to the West (Xi You Gi 西遊記) the story of the Monkey King (Sun Wukong 孙悟空) is also a very popular card theme (as well as movies, TV, and plays). A similar treatment could be awesome here as well. If you wanted to expand on the four beasts theme, you could also do the 12 zodiac animals. Again, those have been done a lot but with a unique approach it could be a very cool deck.

Thanks for mentioning the Bicycle Emperor's Deck. I had missed that one (before my time as a collector). Since Chinese themed decks are a favorite of mine, I'll definitely be on the lookout, although I'd like to find one cheaper than the $20 on Ebay.

Yeah I really have no idea what it's called in English, I read the Chinese version. However, if one knows Chinese, one would know it'd be impossible to translate classic Chinese literature to English.

Regarding the Emperor decks, I too missed the campaign. I contacted Joanne through kickstarter though and was able to buy a couple decks from her directly, maybe you can give that a try.

[BlueToy]

So being relatively new to the world of custom playing cards, I checked out the four beasts deck. The art looks great. Part of me wanted to change the suit associations, though, since spades are north (and the black tortoise is also north), but I also understand that a dragon in the AoS has more impact.

Another source of inspiration for a new deck would be the four beasts again,but this time also including the mansions under them, which have their own characters (e.g. "basket") and maybe these couls be incorporated into the pip cards. There's only seven mansions per beast, though, but maybe some other stuff can be added. And the jokers could be the yellow dragon at the center.

[Cbkimble]

Just received my pair.

[alvinhy]

wow you guys are awesome with your suggestions.
I'm just worried that the Chinese theme would not be too popular among collectors.

I quite like the water margin idea, might need to quickly read the novel to know about it more!
Another idea is to have Chinese cutout paper designs to incorporate the novel story into the playing cards.

For the Chinese branding, I would most likely use the "SISHOU" brand like Four Beasts.
All this would be after the Diamond Playing Cards though

Hope everyone liked the Hellsgate!

[ecNate]

Next deck, let me bring this up again - http://unitedcardists.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=4733

Based on your past work I think you could pull off a proper Romanesque/Gothic deck that borrows design from cathedrals and castles. Something that captures the style without being just photos, taking cues from the many lines, spires, arches and gothic elements. I could easily see the court cards being stained glass windows of a gothic cathedral, the back an intricate gothic spire design and the number cards having the pips embeded and colored within a sketch of a building or number of spires.

I'm also still looking for a proper art deco deck