Sherlock Holmes Decks by Jackson Robinson; Shipping complete

[montecarlojoe]

As long as he doesn't repeat the last one and sell decks at $40 each!

If people will buy them (guilty m'lud) then why not?

All power to him I say. Now I need to save my pennies for the three editions above and possible alternate tucks lol

[sinjin7]

I really like the Baker Street edition. The other two editions remind me of Randy's Ornate decks (which I have and love), but that just means I've already seen something like it before.

[Kdklown]

Thought I would post these Pics for JRob as he has issues getting on this site. Enjoy!

[Verloren]

Really, really, really hoping the Baker Street edition doesn't have a limited deck count.

[Lotrek]

UC only works for me a few hours out of the day so I'm not always able to get on.

The same here. Only a few hours and not every day...

[JacksonRobinson]

Was able to logon so I thought I would drop some info.

Each of the three decks will have an "unlimited" version of them so everyone can experience the cards if they want them. Just last week the international museum exhibit self titled "Sherlock Holmes" opened up, I'm working with the Conan Doyle Estate to possibly include my Sherlock Holmes Decks in the exhibit. http://sherlockholmesexhibition.com With that said I'm cooking up some really interesting stuff that will be featured in the Limited Editions of each deck. All three decks will have a limited edition version that will be 1000 deck runs that will only be available through the Kickstarter next month.

If you have any questions fire away, I'll see if I can answer them.

Cheers,
Jackson

[sprouts1115]

On the Baker Street Edition, I notice you have a suit on the top right side. To me, it doesn't really have a function. If you also put the rank of the card with the suit on the top right, It might make 10% of the population who is left handed happy. There are not a lot of decks with the squeezers on both sides.

[montecarlojoe]

I think it may be a case of form over function. It looks good - adding the rank may make it too busy...

[JacksonRobinson]

On the Baker Street Edition, I notice you have a suit on the top right side. To me, it doesn't really have a function. If you also put the rank of the card with the suit on the top right, It might make 10% of the population who is left handed happy. There are not a lot of decks with the squeezers on both sides.

First off I'm left handed so I would be in the %10 percent. My Reserve Note deck has a four corner set up as well. I personally like the visual aesthetic of it, and the fact the not a lot of other decks do it is even better in my opinion. I think more card designers should try new things as long as they don't destroy the main function of the cards themselves.

J

[wwpierce]

Was able to logon so I thought I would drop some info.

Each of the three decks will have an "unlimited" version of them so everyone can experience the cards if they want them. Just last week the international museum exhibit self titled "Sherlock Holmes" opened up, I'm working with the Conan Doyle Estate to possibly include my Sherlock Holmes Decks in the exhibit. http://sherlockholmesexhibition.com With that said I'm cooking up some really interesting stuff that will be featured in the Limited Editions of each deck. All three decks will have a limited edition version that will be 1000 deck runs that will only be available through the Kickstarter next month.

If you have any questions fire away, I'll see if I can answer them.

Cheers,
Jackson

So Jackson... are you doing "branded" & "unbranded" decks again? That would be at least the 3 decks shown..plus 3 more version with alternate tuck boxes..so 6 decks plus special kickstarter decks of 1000.. so that's 9 decks..etc...? Just trying to see if I need to take out a home equity line of credit.. Fantastic work!! Keep them coming!!

[Whaam]

I think it may be a case of form over function. It looks good - adding the rank may make it too busy...

Agreed, card looks more balanced like this.

Jackson, as before...has a lot of options offering decks with this...decks with that. Most people like that, they can choose what suits their interest best. I somehow prefer less options, not sure why..

I like your work, Baker st. will probably be most popular here..., but you already know that.

[Verloren]

Baker Street Edition


LE Baker Street


Holmes


Moriarty

[montecarlojoe]

Looking great - I'm guessing that there are limited versions of each edition to make up the 6 decks? Better start saving the pennies now!

[Verloren]

Each of the three decks will have an "unlimited" version of them so everyone can experience the cards if they want them. Just last week the international museum exhibit self titled "Sherlock Holmes" opened up, I'm working with the Conan Doyle Estate to possibly include my Sherlock Holmes Decks in the exhibit. http://sherlockholmesexhibition.com With that said I'm cooking up some really interesting stuff that will be featured in the Limited Editions of each deck. All three decks will have a limited edition version that will be 1000 deck runs that will only be available through the Kickstarter next month.

[vmagic]

Seems a little excessive to have 6 decks in one project. I just hope you will be able to get all 6 in one pledge.

[hikeeba]

One-way back? Why? I mean, if you're going to put something one way, make it his cocaine syringe.....

[Eoghann]

Seems a little excessive to have 6 decks in one project. I just hope you will be able to get all 6 in one pledge.

A killing was made with the half dozen Fed 52 variety pack, there's absolutely no reason NOT to continue that trend from a business stand point. Unbranded/Branded tucks are two separate monsters. I almost have a feeling the remaining 2 of this project will be revealed as Bicycle branded. I certainly hope not.

As a collector I'm starting to resent the incredible variety offered per project. Specially when it's a slightly different tuck. Even more so when it's a limited edition. Sure it works just swimmingly for the artist who can almost charge whatever he/she wants because it's limited/branded or slightly modified, but a collector such as myself is certainly starting to feel the strain this huge variety demands from my wallet at such frequent intervals. I feel it exploits our addiction/passion to some extent. Maybe the artist just can't express all that imagination and inspiration in a single deck or pair of decks, if you wanna get poetic about it.

As many of us tend to do, we buy one deck to open and enjoy and the other to display. We're easily looking at 12 decks per backer if we're to stick to our collecting habits. Jesus.

Rant aside, I can't deny the urge to have them all; they are indeed beautiful. I sure hope there's at least a special deal for buying in bulk rather than just a few bucks cheaper...

[sprouts1115]

hikeeba - I like that idea you know the history. So many people giving him praise and not any more criticism. I think he is just testing us. Also, tell him there is to much negative space in that back. He can do better.

[PlayingCardz]

I do like the Baker Street Edition, the other ones not so much

[vmagic]

Was able to logon so I thought I would drop some info.

Each of the three decks will have an "unlimited" version of them so everyone can experience the cards if they want them. Just last week the international museum exhibit self titled "Sherlock Holmes" opened up, I'm working with the Conan Doyle Estate to possibly include my Sherlock Holmes Decks in the exhibit. http://sherlockholmesexhibition.com With that said I'm cooking up some really interesting stuff that will be featured in the Limited Editions of each deck. All three decks will have a limited edition version that will be 1000 deck runs that will only be available through the Kickstarter next month.

If you have any questions fire away, I'll see if I can answer them.

Cheers,
Jackson

What do you mean 3 versions? You already posted pics of 4 different decks unless a different color doesn't count? Just a little confused.

Seems a little excessive to have 6 decks in one project. I just hope you will be able to get all 6 in one pledge.

A killing was made with the half dozen Fed 52 variety pack, there's absolutely no reason NOT to continue that trend from a business stand point. Unbranded/Branded tucks are two separate monsters. I almost have a feeling the remaining 2 of this project will be revealed as Bicycle branded. I certainly hope not.

As a collector I'm starting to resent the incredible variety offered per project. Specially when it's a slightly different tuck. Even more so when it's a limited edition. Sure it works just swimmingly for the artist who can almost charge whatever he/she wants because it's limited/branded or slightly modified, but a collector such as myself is certainly starting to feel the strain this huge variety demands from my wallet at such frequent intervals. I feel it exploits our addiction/passion to some extent. Maybe the artist just can't express all that imagination and inspiration in a single deck or pair of decks, if you wanna get poetic about it.

As many of us tend to do, we buy one deck to open and enjoy and the other to display. We're easily looking at 12 decks per backer if we're to stick to our collecting habits. Jesus.

Rant aside, I can't deny the urge to have them all; they are indeed beautiful. I sure hope there's at least a special deal for buying in bulk rather than just a few bucks cheaper...

I totally agree. Same with E making people buy a brick to get 1 limited edition deck when collectors just want 2 of each. We end up buying 2 bricks instead and wind up with 22 extra decks! This habit is getting too expensive. How long before the whole card market crashes and things cool down??? One day I hope it will happen!

[vmagic]

One-way back? Why? I mean, if you're going to put something one way, make it his cocaine syringe.....

As far as I can tell it's not a 1 way back design, it's just a different box. He said he was only printed 1000 limited edition decks which can only mean it is just a different box or he's getting special privileges from the USPC now that he's working for them which I doubt. Probably why there are no pics of the other limited decks.

edit - sorry for the double post

[Casual Pixels]

The Sherlock Holmes set is definitely not as strong as the Fed 52 stuff.

No doubt about it, he hit the Fed 52 stuff out of the park, and I don't believe it's reasonable to ask anyone to match that kind of success every time they step to the plate.

I think he -- like anyone who captures lightning in a bottle like this -- faces the very real challenge of reaching that soaring height again. Fed 52 was very clearly a labour of love which gave voice to something he was absolutely passionate about and which had been rattling around with him as an idea for some time. That combination is powerful joo-joo and could be tough for anyone to replicate.

The artwork we've seen for the Sherlock Holmes is definitely very good and while I think there are issues, they are by no means insurmountable.

The Baker Street back, I feel, has some odd white space / balance problems. There's a bunch of stuff in the upper-right / lower-left, but the corresponding areas in the upper-left / lower-right have background rather than flourishes.The guns and the pipes and the magnifying glasses and the violins make some areas very busy, while other areas are virtually blank.

The Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty Backs are nice and I have no real complaints or praise; they don't stand out for me in either direction.

I was prompted to write, though, by the discussion about the plethora of editions. I can't see springing for two of every flavour of deck like I did with Fed 52. (More than two for some deck types). That would be far too much money for what I've seen so far which is -- to return to the baseball analogy I used earlier -- a solid single to left -- maybe even a double into the gap, though perhaps not the towering moon-shot home run of his first at bat.

[Sharpie]

The Baker Street back, I feel, has some odd white space / balance problems. There's a bunch of stuff in the upper-right / lower-left, but the corresponding areas in the upper-left / lower-right have background rather than flourishes.The guns and the pipes and the magnifying glasses and the violins make some areas very busy, while other areas are virtually blank.

The Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty Backs are nice and I have no real complaints or praise; they don't stand out for me in either direction.

... I can't see springing for two of every flavour of deck like I did with Fed 52. (More than two for some deck types). That would be far too much money for what I've seen so far ...

I agree with all of this.
Though my habit will force me to spend said money... on two of every flavour.

[Widdee]

This series does have a much more commercial feel whereas Federal 52 was like being a part of something really special. I don't get that here although I am a big fan of Jackson's work and will buy in, most likely not as heavy on this one. I'm getting burnt out on the dizzying array of variations a well.

[Verloren]

The Baker Street back, I feel, has some odd white space / balance problems. There's a bunch of stuff in the upper-right / lower-left, but the corresponding areas in the upper-left / lower-right have background rather than flourishes.The guns and the pipes and the magnifying glasses and the violins make some areas very busy, while other areas are virtually blank.

The Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty Backs are nice and I have no real complaints or praise; they don't stand out for me in either direction.

I was prompted to write, though, by the discussion about the plethora of editions. I can't see springing for two of every flavour of deck like I did with Fed 52. (More than two for some deck types). That would be far too much money for what I've seen so far which is -- to return to the baseball analogy I used earlier -- a solid single to left -- maybe even a double into the gap, though perhaps not the towering moon-shot home run of his first at bat.

I actually like the LE Baker Street Edition more than the regular one. Feels more balanced to me.

Unless there really are major differences between the Holmes and Moriarty artwork, I'll probably end up getting 3 decks there.

[sinjin7]

If the limited edition decks are identical to the regular versions with the only difference being the tuck boxes, then I have absolutely no interest in them, especially if they're priced higher. Now if the limited editions have a different Ace of Spades, Jokers, or back design, anything else to make them unique and differentiate themselves from the regular edition decks, then I'll be interested. If they're the same, then it just reeks of a cash grab. I'm also curious as to how much these will be priced. If its anything over $12 per deck, then I'm only getting the Baker Street edition and take a pass on the other 5 versions.

[DukeBoy]

One-way back? Why? I mean, if you're going to put something one way, make it his cocaine syringe.....

As far as I can tell it's not a 1 way back design, it's just a different box. He said he was only printed 1000 limited edition decks which can only mean it is just a different box or he's getting special privileges from the USPC now that he's working for them which I doubt. Probably why there are no pics of the other limited decks.

Well Remember everybody he started the LE Reserve deck out at just a new box and moved to separate printing for that deck too. only a 1000 of those too in deck form and since it was all on bee casino that means he has like 4000 uncut sheets of that thing sitting around.

[JacksonRobinson]

Awesome! I'm glad everybodies chiming in about this project. I'm not going to be able to answer all the questions but I'll try and give some useful info.

Q: Holy Crap Jackson why are there so many version of these stinking decks, you sure are a greedy money grabber! (No one said it like that, but that is the way I hear it. )

A: First off there will be no Bicycle Branded Decks in this project. There are a few reasons why I have more than one edition in all of my projects. When I'm doing a project I go through so many concepts and ideas that more than one may jump out at me and really catch my interest. The Holmes project is just the same. I wanted to try a style completely different than the Fed engraving style thus that is what you see on the Holmes and Moriarty editions. However it is the engraving illustrations (just like with the Fed) that made me fall in love with the Sherlock Holmes story in the first place.

I'm am also extremely ADD so I do not have the focus to shelve an idea and say "I will just release that at another time" I have to continually change my work and concepts simply to find joy and interest in what I'm doing. When I do come out with different variations I do so trying to create meaningful differences to make it make since. That is why I am almost doubling my workload and creating 2 unique court sets (two of which are the same art but with different thematic color approaches) So in all honesty 3 court sets.

I also promised my self that I would never just hue shift a back design and call it another version. I own atleast Six Smoke and Mirrors and no one seems to care about that much. Sure they release them over time so it may be easier on the wallet but when I reales them all at once I have strive for great designs and meaningful differences to win your purchase.

Thoughts on Collecting and the "I have to buy everything mentality"
I was recently in Las Vegas for the 52+ Joker convention and I spent almost 4 days with Paul Carpenter and Alex Chin. We talked about nothing but card design and where we hoped that the industry and collecting market would go. Alex Chin gave an incredible presentation about "Focusing your Collection" I think most all new collectors of any product or market start out with an energetic approach to buy everything that come out. But after years of collecting they quickly find that most of their purchases don't really do anything to add to their collection. Alex also spoke about how as a collector you have to narrow your scope of what you are looking for. You can already see this with the Bike crew that only buy bike decks. I think that is great. Buying everything right out of the gate isn't bad it is what everybody does in the beginning. It is what I did as well.

I met so many wonderful people / collectors their that have been collecting playing cards for over 50 years. 10 out 10 of those people told me I don't buy decks anymore. Do these people have huge collections? Some do, some don't. But what most of them DO have is incredibly rich collections that are absolutely focused and beautiful. It was also a huge thing for me that these people would buy one or two of my decks. (Side note none of these people buy bricks)

As you can clearly see with the Sherlock designs people are already gravitating to the baker street edition, but what you may not realize is that only the newer collectors gravitate towards the Baker Street Edition. All of the old collectors I met at the convention gravitated toward the stylized ones.

Then you have to think about the audience base that the Holmes stories have. Card collectors are now only a small number of people I am trying to connect with compared to the fans of a story set that is more than 100 years old.

Q: Why the one way back design?

A: I have No one way back designs in this project. I have already found that you guys crucify any one who does Which is another topic all together that I won't touch at this point. Slapping the back design on the box isn't something I think that everyone has to abide by, it gives the designer another blank canvas to create something new.

Here are some details to clarify what I will be offering:

Backer Street Edition
Limited Edition Baker Street
Holmes Edition
Moriarty Edition

I have plans to create a limited edition Holmes & Moriarty set, but I'm trying some new things with tuck design and it is not coming together as much as I hoped it would so I may punt on the idea and only offer the four decks listed above.

I think as collectors we should buy only what really speaks to us. Sure I would love for any one to buy a brick of everything I created but what would that serve me in the long run. I have chosen to make my living designing cards so I would hope that you are buying my cards because they speak to you and that you enjoy the art, not just because you have to buy one of everything. I would go as far to say if you don't like my Holmes designs don't buy them. If more people chose not to buy stuff now and then the quality of design would rise even faster. People are slowly trending that way and I think it is a great thing.

More specifically (as an example) if one of the biggest things you look for in a design is "Small Borders" the best way for you to start seeing more designs with small borders is to support and buy decks that have small borders. I think it is funny when people are like "Come on those borders are huge! I want thinner borders!" but at the same time will burn someone at the stake if they don't use USPC to print the decks. If you want small borders you may have to branch out a bit or people like USPC will never innovate to appease the crowd because they don't have to. I have some pre 1900 USPC decks that Have NO borders at all, the pips and idicies go all the way to the edge. If you want to see a change in the market you have to make the change by speaking with you wallet.

[Eoghann]

Well first off, this wasn't a direct jab at you. It's a sentiment that had been nagging at me for a while and seeing the variety triggered a response. The Black Book of Cards is what irritated me with their super limited Bicycle deck that had people scrambling and paying extra for a minor tuck change. I had the Bike tier and happily let it go for just a couple of regular ones. Sure some creators may say "by popular demand, because so many people asked for it, we're doing a limited Bike run." But how many of those times is actually true?

I'm sure some will dislike that no Bicycle decks are being printed. I for one am happy. Adding a Bicycle logo would just cheapen the project if you ask me. When a design is solid, slapping on a Bicycle logo makes me feel the designer/artist doubts their ability. "I'll put this just in case, to bring in the Bike crowd". Sure it may work some times and the Bicycle logo adds to the deck, but others it feels like a crutch to me. But we're living in a time where the Bike crowd is so vocal it actually influences projects that titter on failure if they don't go that route. Even not printing with USPCC can make or break a project and that just saddens me. I'm a staunch promoter of quality alternate printers but that topic just makes people unfriendly towards me and it's too early for that right now, haha

I started collecting in July of this year. It was more hoarding than collecting to be honest. I soon realized what I was doing and I've become extremely selective of what my money goes to nowadays. It's not easy, but my collection stopped growing at such an alarming rate and now just increases by a deck or two every couple of weeks or months.

When I stopped to look at what I was doing my collection had shot from 6 to 175 decks in a few months. Now my collection is about 90 decks. I have sold or given away quite a few. I've condensed it to show decks I really like and I'm proud to display because they mean something to me. As it stands, I've got my eyes on the Moriarty, Holmes and Baker Street editions because I like them. It's all subject to change upon seeing the innards.

I'm not looking for a pat on the back for anything I just said.

But I do apologize for being blunt and not giving you enough credit to your integrity, making it seem like you were riding the "different tuck, quick profit train". I do not regret getting the discussion out there.

Thanks for reading our opinions.

[JacksonRobinson]

@Eoghann

No reason to apologize your crits were thoughtfully put together rather than mindless rants.

As for the USPC issue, it is something Paul Carpenter, Alex Chin, and Bill Kalush spoke about for hours, while at the 52 Plus Joker convention. I love the aspect of having all of my products "made in the USA" but the most important factor to me is the highest quality product and a printer not giving me limitation on what I can and can't do. If a printer in Antarctica can give me the quality and facilitate the ideas I have then the people in Antarctica will gladly earn my business and also need employment. I've worked in the packaging industry far to long to not realize that the technology to do crazy stuff like perfect registration and ridiculously thin borders is out there. It is just companies like USPC have no need to push the envelope or innovate because there are so many USPC zombies. With that said USPC absolutely makes the highest quality card stocks and finishes but as long as we as collectors don't embrace change for the better we will be forced to settle for mediocrity in the quality of product we spend our money on. This is an ever heated topic but it is a topic that everyone should be aware of because it shapes future landscape of card design and collecting.