Tragoedia Macbethi Playing Cards - Experience the Tragedy of Macbeth

[Honeybee]

There has been some fantastic advice above.
Listen to Randy who is a longtime successful designer and producer, listen about printer options, listen to Gandalf's perceptive post, listen to Shunterino and only do the one edition (the standard edn is just too inferior to the deluxe), listen to kev and DO NOT rush the relaunch.
Would a color be better than all the white space? Maybe light grey or some other pale color that compliments the backs

[Sinecure]

Agree with most of the feedback already provided. Especially the suggestion to reduce the funding goal by sticking with the colour deck (it looks like that was the one folks were mainly getting) and potentially consider a cheaper printer. I love Macbeth and have several Shakespeare-themed decks but it probably doesn’t have super-wide appeal on the strength of the theme alone.

I kinda agree that the background is a bit sparse. A full frame might be too much but a little bit of decorative framing - perhaps a partial frame or even just a floral (or themed) corner piece in the non-index corners might help to give a more finished look.

Don’t be discouraged though. Theres a lot to love about the deck. I’ll be looking forward to the next launch.

[rousselle]

I know this has been discussed before and you are resistant to doing it, but I do think you can lower the minimum needed to successfully fund not only by going with a less expensive but still excellent manufacturer like WJPC or Legends, but also you could consider just going with the limited edition deck. It stands on its own really nicely.

FWIW.

BTW, most campaigns do plateau (ish) after the first couple days, and the successful ones see a modest rise over the rest of the campaign. For most new creators, the first couple days really should be bringing in somewhere around two-thirds of your goal, if I recall correctly. (Someone please correct me if I'm misremembering!)

I made my pledge on opening day. I'll do so again next round. Here's to a more successful outcome soon!

[Evilgamer]

I know this has been discussed before and you are resistant to doing it, but I do think you can lower the minimum needed to successfully fund not only by going with a less expensive but still excellent manufacturer like WJPC or Legends, but also you could consider just going with the limited edition deck. It stands on its own really nicely.

FWIW.

BTW, most campaigns do plateau (ish) after the first couple days, and the successful ones see a modest rise over the rest of the campaign. For most new creators, the first couple days really should be bringing in somewhere around two-thirds of your goal, if I recall correctly. (Someone please correct me if I'm misremembering!)

I made my pledge on opening day. I'll do so again next round. Here's to a more successful outcome soon!

its been in the 75%-90% range for most campaigns recently that comes in the first 2 days. The biggest exceptions are when there are unlocks\new releases, then there are spikes. Other than that, I rarely see a reason for a campaign to last more than about 7 days.

[Eric Lee]

One more thing to suggest, use social media to promote the KS project. IG, FB , Reddit (Not sure how popular is the playing card community on TikTok).

I'm not sure how much social media actually helps. More experienced designers like Baconwise, Deryn Le, Omar/ TGW, Jocu, etc can comment if it really does help or not.

But , every little bit helps and it's free advertising.

[CallOn84]

Hello everyone.

I wanted to update you regarding the deck and what happened since the Kickstarter was cancelled.

My co-founder is no longer part of this and future decks. I won't get into what happened, but I only wish her the best.

Right now, my concern is making the deck better. I've been AFK for a while, but I'm back now. I'll take all your suggestions and look into merging the best parts of both decks into one deck. Additionally, I will be adding some improvements as well to the deck.

Below is the patch notes, if that's the best way to say it:

• Adding the pips to the court cards. Some court cards will need to be revised to clarify the pips, but otherwise, all the other court cards are pretty much set.

• Potentially redoing the Limited Edition back design, which is now the primary deck's back design. Let me know what you want to see improved.

• We'll use most of the Standard Edition tuck box as the primary one, with some changes or additions from the Limited Edition.

• The inner tuck design will be ported to the primary tuck box.

• The custom seal will be ported to the primary tuck box.

For now, I'm going back to work and making this better. See you soon.

[CallOn84]

Legends is definitely worth looking into, as is WJPC who I believe offer various deals to first timers.

LPCC hasn't gotten back to me since my initial contact with them last month and a couple of weeks ago. However, I did successfully get in contact with EPCC, and since both operate in the same factory floor, I would say it's the closest to LPCC I can get.

After my initial conversation with them, I'll be switching to them as the manufacturer for the deck.

[CallOn84]

I’ve been curiously watching this design, wondering how well it would do on Kickstarter. Last year I did a Tudor Dynasty design that didn’t do well at all (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ra ... =user_menu). Sure, some of the reasons could have been the one-way design and the art, but I believe the main reason is it’s a theme that appeals more to women (a Shakespeare theme would as well, I think). From what I have noticed through 10+ years of Kickstarter experience is that most Backers for Playing Cards are men. Just look at the men to women ratio on UC!

I’ve had around 10 shows since the House of Tudor Decks arrived, and have already sold more Tudor Decks at shows than I sold on Kickstarter. And most of the Tudor buyers at shows are women, and none of them are Playing Card collectors.

I would definitely recommend switching to a printer like Legends or WJPC. I’ve used Legends for many years. They’re great to work with and the quality level is high and consistent. I would also recommend switching to just one Deck, the fancier full-color version.

Thanks, Randy

Hi Randy! Thanks for your opinion regarding the matter. I've since switched to EPCC as the manufacturer, as LPCC never got back to me with my manufacturing request. As for the Shakespeare theme appealing more to women, it depends. War and tragedy plays lean more to the male audience compared to love and romance plays, which is evident by how my secondary school (which was a boys school) did war and tragedy for English Literature and the partner girls school did love and romance.

Obviously, curriculum is one thing and the Kickstarter is another. We'll see how it plays out, but considering how Thorns and Roses Playing Cards and Indictus Playing Cards did, the theme itself may not be the problem. Then again, they're big creators, so that should also be factored in.

[CallOn84]

I’ve been curiously watching this design, wondering how well it would do on Kickstarter. Last year I did a Tudor Dynasty design that didn’t do well at all (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ra ... =user_menu). Sure, some of the reasons could have been the one-way design and the art, but I believe the main reason is it’s a theme that appeals more to women (a Shakespeare theme would as well, I think). From what I have noticed through 10+ years of Kickstarter experience is that most Backers for Playing Cards are men. Just look at the men to women ratio on UC!

I’ve had around 10 shows since the House of Tudor Decks arrived, and have already sold more Tudor Decks at shows than I sold on Kickstarter. And most of the Tudor buyers at shows are women, and none of them are Playing Card collectors.

I would definitely recommend switching to a printer like Legends or WJPC. I’ve used Legends for many years. They’re great to work with and the quality level is high and consistent. I would also recommend switching to just one Deck, the fancier full-color version.

Thanks, Randy

I am going to second this entire comment. I am a woman recently arrived to this arena of collecting from the tarot deck community. Still, I can attest to the fact that I am more drawn to the art on the faces of a deck rather than the tuck box or the feel of the cardstock or the look of the backs for tricks. But art can be had with tarot/oracle decks which is probably part of the reason there aren't a lot of female representation here.

I had a lengthier reply to this thread that oddly got eaten by the internet, so let me try to recreate what I'd originally posted:

As a KS Superbacker, I was a bit surprised at the funding goal which, compared to other campaigns, did feel a bit...ambitious. As a high school English teacher, I'd caution against expecting us to come out in full force for something like this unless you were offering a deal on a class set, and even then, most English teachers would have little use for decks in their classroom. Also, most English teachers are women and, well, see above discussion. English teachers who are also avid playing card collectors is a VERY niche group. Female English teachers who are also avid playing card collectors is an even rarer breed.I'm currently the only one I know.

All this to say, I do hope a re-launch proves more fruitful because I personally want to own this deck; I even had visions of an entire Shakespearean collection. I wish you success as you recalibrate your approach and your plans and I shall be here to support when things get sorted.

The funding goal is going to be significantly lower due to 1) being one deck instead of two, and 2) going with EPCC instead of UPSCC. I don't have a date yet for the re-launch, as revisions are still being done and I'll have to do mockups and stuff, but I'll post the pre-launch page when it's available.