How much are you folks willing to pay for independently produced playing cards?

blue_fusion

Out the gate with no idea what style of art, I'd say $10 is my max on a playing card deck. However, I'm not your intended target audience either. I will say that, if an artist can truly draw me in with their style, I could be made to want to learn playing cards in much greater depth because of the art, and may pay more. I am the type of person that can appreciate an artist's impression, and I actively seek that out in other decks that I buy (tarot, mostly). I want to see things through another person's eyes, and look at cards through a perspective I haven't seen before. I like to be inspired to think differently.

It might be good for you to get specific -- perhaps post some samples of your work and run a poll on price here (if that's allowed).

Here's a link (I hope it's allowed) which show samples from the four decks I mentioned which I have been working on, on and off, over the years:

http://paralumanstudio.blogspot.com/p/playing-cards.html

Of the four, PlanarenKarten ("Planar Cards") is the one which is ready for the printers. All the designs are finished, there's even a box design. My main anxiety with this deck, which is why I have not yet attempted running a crowdfunding campaign for it, is that its art is more... "art history" than commercial art. I sort of have an idea of the look or feel which playing card collectors want, and this style seems to be a bit off tangent from that (as an aside, and this is really generalizing things, the playing card community seems to have more males in it while the tarot-oracle-lenormand-etc community, more females). Anyway, this deck's art may appeal to a number of people but I am not sure if they number enough to lead to a successful crowdfunding campaign.

With Sa Baranggay ("In the Town"), all the line drawings are done. I just need to color the rest. From the images in the sample, you can see I am still eperimenting with a "borderless" or "bordered" look to it for the courts. This is another "niche'y" deck since the style is Filipino-inspired.

The Golden Court is the oldest design of the four. Like 12 years ago. I wasn't much into playing cards back then so there were a lot of playing card conventions and "rules" which were disregarded in the original design and layout. The line drawings are done but it needs a revamp in terms of layout and suit symbols (I'll have to update those sample images because they do not show the suit symbols in the indices).

The last one, Paslit ("Kids"), needs a major revamp. I was just toying around with card size but the tall size really isn't feasible unless I get a lot of backers in crowdfunding - it costs more because I will have to have the printers make me a custom die-cut blade especially for the dimensions of the design. I am thinking of re-drawing the designs to fit a "bridge" or even a "mini" size. Or maybe "domino" size. I am leaning towards bridge because it is the most conventional of the three.

I have checked with POD prices, and TGC surprisingly offers the cheapest and most workable printing costs - but international shipping is a major bummer, and the cardstock isn't really for playing card folks. MPC comes closest to playing card standards in terms of cardstock, but costs twice more - but their international shipping isn't as costly. :-/
 

Amanda

I /really/ like the Golden Court -- that is 'the one' you have that draws me in. I saw that Ace of Diamonds and how it looked like a jewel placed into a metal art piece and I thought, "I wonder if that's anything like the Ace of Pentacles in tarot?" This is the one that makes me want to learn playing cards at greater depth, and the one that I would pay more for.

I'm not sure which one I like best next -- it's a tie between Sa Baranggay and Paslit. If Paslit were to get my '2nd place' vote it'd be because of the odd card shapes (though I do like the art as well). The card shape is something that is appealing to me- I'd wanna know why you did it and play around with it myself to see how it works in practice. If Sa Baranggay were to get my '2nd place' vote it'd be because of it's 'expected' nature -- it /looks/ like a playing card deck, but with some artistry that kicks it up a smidge to say, "We're not just playing Go Fish with these cards over here." :D
 

kwaw

The Sa Baranggay is rather wonderful.
 

blue_fusion

I /really/ like the Golden Court -- that is 'the one' you have that draws me in. I saw that Ace of Diamonds and how it looked like a jewel placed into a metal art piece and I thought, "I wonder if that's anything like the Ace of Pentacles in tarot?" This is the one that makes me want to learn playing cards at greater depth, and the one that I would pay more for.

I'm not sure which one I like best next -- it's a tie between Sa Baranggay and Paslit. If Paslit were to get my '2nd place' vote it'd be because of the odd card shapes (though I do like the art as well). The card shape is something that is appealing to me- I'd wanna know why you did it and play around with it myself to see how it works in practice. If Sa Baranggay were to get my '2nd place' vote it'd be because of it's 'expected' nature -- it /looks/ like a playing card deck, but with some artistry that kicks it up a smidge to say, "We're not just playing Go Fish with these cards over here." :D

Thank you. The Paslit has that odd tall size because it's also an homage to the origin of playing cards: Chinese playing cards, which were really tall and thin: LINK. It's not too practical to self-publish, though. Maybe the closest I can do would be to have them printed on "domino" cards (as tall as normal playing cards, but much thinner). Interestingly, the Paslit has a wayward Tarot sister: LINK, which I will also have to revamp into a much more practical printing size if I ever want it printed.

Thanks for the feedback. So, do you think the Golden Court's art can fall within a $10-$15 price range? Or for that matter, any of them? I think a $10-$15 range can work for a crowdfunding campaign (will re-compute the factors again). :D
 

Amanda

Thank you. The Paslit has that odd tall size because it's also an homage to the origin of playing cards: Chinese playing cards, which were really tall and thin: LINK. It's not too practical to self-publish, though. Maybe the closest I can do would be to have them printed on "domino" cards (as tall as normal playing cards, but much thinner). Interestingly, the Paslit has a wayward Tarot sister: LINK, which I will also have to revamp into a much more practical printing size if I ever want it printed.

Thanks for the feedback. So, do you think the Golden Court's art can fall within a $10-$15 price range? Or for that matter, any of them? I think a $10-$15 range can work for a crowdfunding campaign (will re-compute the factors again). :D

I think, as you mentioned, if you tweak the Golden Court with the knowledge you now have so that it fits the playing card 'system', you could get away with more ($20-$25?) for that deck, because the art is gorgeous and it would draw in tarot and Lennie people. I think the other two could fall into a $10-$15 price range, but I would charge more for the odd-shaped deck, simply for costs of producing an odd card size.
 

blue_fusion

I think, as you mentioned, if you tweak the Golden Court with the knowledge you now have so that it fits the playing card 'system', you could get away with more ($20-$25?) for that deck, because the art is gorgeous and it would draw in tarot and Lennie people. I think the other two could fall into a $10-$15 price range, but I would charge more for the odd-shaped deck, simply for costs of producing an odd card size.

Maybe $15-$20, but that's stretching it. I know how stingy playing card collectors are. lol I'll look into the cost of having a custom sized deck - I do really like the idea of tall playing cards, and I remember someone did a tall tarot on Kickstarter once (the Mutation Tarot, I think), and he had his deck done at a custom size... But thanks for the feedback! The Golden Court seems the way to go, I guess. I was hoping people might be interested in the PlanarenKarten, because that's what's really complete, but, well, it does seem more of a niche kind of style. :)
 

Morwenna

I like the Planarenkarten.

I've paid $15 or so for decks before, though not often. If I really like a deck I don't mind. And in the past couple years I've accumulated quite a few decks.

Good luck!
 

blue_fusion

The Sa Baranggay is rather wonderful.

Thank you! It is done in a Philippine colonial style, so it has (hopefully) a nice mix of Asian and Hispanic elements.

I like the Planarenkarten.

I've paid $15 or so for decks before, though not often. If I really like a deck I don't mind. And in the past couple years I've accumulated quite a few decks.

Good luck!

Finally! Someone who likes Planarenkarten! :D I am personally partial to it because I am a big fan of Ditha and Kolo Moser's works, and the art style I developed for the deck is inspired partially by Ditha Moser's playing card deck (the other one, not her Tarock deck - which is also wonderful).

Thanks for the feedback on the price too.

-Ly
 

Charlie Brown

I recently saw (kickstarter, I think) a BEAUTIFUL new wild west themed card deck with fancy inks and foils, etc. I think they wanted c. $30 a deck and that was a 'no-way-Jose' for me.

That being said, I am about to pay similar for a semi-hard to find vintage deck from a defunct manufacturer, but I have a personal connection to that deck. I bring it up because if someone really connected to something (I personally don't really care about the wild west, although I appreciate how amazing the cards were) then that much for a deck is possible.