SWTWC Part 5: Venexiana Gold - SOLD OUT - 17 hours!

[Lotrek]

Well this is terrible news. I'm sure most of us won't mind the wait. But when you said you had to eat double the cost... was that for prototype decks or for all 200 decks from the KS and UC sale? I can't imagine your monetary losses at this point...

No prototype... All decks both KS and UC.

[montecarlojoe]

Are you pulling any uncut sheets? They would be EPIC!

Have you plans for the mis-cut decks?

And are the producers going to eat any of the costs? It almost sounds like they spotted the poor alignment and went ahead anyway...

Still these will absolutely be worth the wait!

[Godzillian]

Well this is terrible news. I'm sure most of us won't mind the wait. But when you said you had to eat double the cost... was that for prototype decks or for all 200 decks from the KS and UC sale? I can't imagine your monetary losses at this point...

No prototype... All decks both KS and UC.

Good god. I wish you good luck Lotrek

Actually, what will happen to the defects?

[Lotrek]

How did so many get through without them noticing?

I'd love to know that, too.

[Eoghann]

Damn. I'm sorry to hear that Lotrek. As I say at work: bad luck always waits for the last second to rear its ugly head.

As Joe said, maybe it's not a total loss. Maybe uncuts or rejected decks could be sold at a discount?

[Lotrek]

Damn. I'm sorry to hear that Lotrek. As I say at work: bad luck always waits for the last second to rear its ugly head.

As Joe said, maybe it's not a total loss. Maybe uncuts or rejected decks could be sold at a discount?

Don't know how many decks will be acceptable. While not all cards have problem, it seems that all decks have misaligned cards. I'll see.

[Godzillian]

Damn. I'm sorry to hear that Lotrek. As I say at work: bad luck always waits for the last second to rear its ugly head.

As Joe said, maybe it's not a total loss. Maybe uncuts or rejected decks could be sold at a discount?

I don't think there ARE any uncuts. Correct me if I'm wrong Lotrek, but the printer produced ALL 200 decks before notifying you of the misalignment. Which means that there are no more uncuts, because the printer botched them all.

I agree with the others. You could save part of this mess by selling the defects as is.

[Sher]

I don't mind the wait. However, I hope they compensate you for messing up the cut in the first place. It's really unfortunate and unfair for you to pay for printing costs again, when it was their mistake

[sinjin7]

Who was the printer?

[Gruul]

I will hop in line with the people that will still take a misaligned deck.

[Eoghann]

Who was the printer?

Local printer from Greece. Don't think a name was ever specified.

[DelMagic]

Shoot - they don't look too bad to me. I'm sure there will be some hesitancy in distributing and/or selling "seconds", but undoubtedly a bunch of serious card types wouldn't mind at all getting these things. We wouldn't be afraid to open them!

[Cbkimble]

I agree. Seconds could be a good way not to eat too much as long you ensured that they couldnt be confused with the good decks.

[cherrynukacola]

Oh, that's terrible news. No worries about any delays. To recoup your losses, have you thought about selling the cards individually, as swap cards? The misalignment wouldn't matter as much.

[chach]

Man that just bloody well sucks. I had asked earlier if uncuts would be available as I would almost prefer an uncut to a deck but Lotrek said there wouldn't be any available.

I'm sure you're still debating what to do but personally, and I know this sucks for your bank account, but I don't want to see seconds of this deck for two reasons.

1. This is supposed to be the ultimate deck. Precise in every way. As close to handmade as one can get with zero errors. The fine vintage Ferrari of the card industry so to say. To offer seconds would cheapen it and IMO would show that you're compromising integrity and releasing an inferior product.

2. This is also supposed to be a very limited product. 200 and change ONLY. To release seconds would invalidate this limitation.

What I would do if I were in your shoes (after taking a few shots of vodka and passing out tonight) would be to salvage what can be from the current run. Print up what needs to be printed. Work the printers over in whatever way was needed to get them to pay for their mistake and then burn the remainder of the cards.

Also, count me in with the group that doesn't mind waiting a bit longer. Good things come t those that wait after all.

[dazzleguts]

God. I hope you have some legal recourse with these people. That is not professional at all.

I am concerned that you are taking on their mistake and will lose money because of it. You really shouldn't have to compensate for their incompetance. If you can't get them to own their mistake then I think you should name the business. Shame them and hurt their ability to get other clients.

[SuicideKing]

I'm so sorry to hear that! Of course, delay is not a problem. I'm with you!

[volantangel]

Lotrek you can sign on the excess cards and include them in the package ! but I really hope that the printer bears most if not all the cost..

[Maddest Hammer]

Lotrek you can sign on the excess cards and include them in the package ! but I really hope that the printer bears most if not all the cost..

That's actually a pretty cool idea. Not to have to sort through over 10,000 cards to find 212 close to perfect ones, but I know (a few, at least) people have asked the deck to be signed. But having a signed card from the first run would be a good conversation piece, attesting to the difficulty in making the deck.

That said, Lotrék, I imagine you're about ready to pull your hair out right now. Take your time, and get it the way you want. We'll wait

[Lotrek]

It's not the printer's mistake. It's the factory that did the cut.
As for the legal aspect of this, in Greece you need to stay as far from courts as possible. Period.

[chach]

It's not the printer's mistake. It's the factory that did the cut.
As for the legal aspect of this, in Greece you need to stay as far from courts as possible. Period.

Well what if a bunch of us showed up with baseball bats (or cricket depending in country) and persuaded them to help out with any incurred losses?

[montecarlojoe]

If you dont want to put the dodgy cards out there, perhaps pulling out the acceptable ones and creating displays of flushes, aces, 4 of a kind would be a way to go. That way people could enjoy the cards without a)opening a deck the dont want to b)wearing out cards c)who missed out on the actual decks.

Framed or in lucite - plenty of options!

[Mike Ratledge]

It's up to Lotrek to decide, but perhaps we will sell them as "singles" on eBay as suggested? The loss can easily be turned into a gain by selling them as if they were exactly what they are: examples of the world's first fully foiled back cards. 212 units times 56 cards times $5 each? I see some $45,000 in there, right? I see no reason to shame oneself because of the stupidity of the manufacturer that botched this job, nor to 'eat' the costs of the requirement to redo this arduous task of some four or five days non-stop in attendance at four separate craftsman shops in Athens, either. It was much more painful for Lotrek than you can even imagine, I having known of it almost immediately after it happened. One can only wonder if such a thing might have been done on purpose and he should be very careful during the remake of them!

[Strag]

It's up to Lotrek to decide, but perhaps we will sell them as "singles" on eBay as suggested? The loss can easily be turned into a gain by selling them as if they were exactly what they are: examples of the world's first fully foiled back cards. 212 units times 56 cards times $5 each? I see some $45,000 in there, right? I see no reason to shame oneself because of the stupidity of the manufacturer that botched this job, nor to 'eat' the costs of the requirement to redo this arduous task of some four or five days non-stop in attendance at four separate craftsman shops in Athens, either. It was much more painful for Lotrek than you can even imagine, I having known of it almost immediately after it happened. One can only wonder if such a thing might have been done on purpose and he should be very careful during the remake of them!

Ummm no. No way do those sell for $5 each nor will you sell that many singles. Take a look on eBay for "swap" cards and see just how few sell and at what prices.

[montecarlojoe]

Perhaps not - but a framed flush for $15-$20 would probably fly.

[Lotrek]

Thank you all for the encouragement and the ideas.

It's true that from the very first moment (after I recovered from the heart attack) I started thinking what can I do with the misaligned cards. If I find 2-3 acceptable decks I'll sell them with an indication on the box so they won't be confused with the good ones.
But I'll definitely do something with the good cards. For now I'm focused on the reprint which is today!

[Godzillian]

Will they actually let you be present during the cutting this time? :\

Hope it goes well.

[Bikefanatic]

I can wait. Since we paid a lot of these which is a part of history, they should be done right though it sucks for Lotrek's time and money.

[chach]

But I'll definitely do something with the good cards.

I do like the idea of signing one and including them with the purchased decks. Would be a good way to display what's inside for those that want to seal the deck.

if you decide to do that can I request a joker where the lady has the mask pulled aside?

[Chantili]

Finally decided to add two.. Now, wondering if I should go for a third... Decisions, decisions! A brilliant Venexiana addition!

Nothing stopping you, but they are starting to grow "thinner on the stack". I am down to about 23-24 units remaining before the rest are sold beginning on Tuesday from my UnitedCardists KS account for $100.

Hey Mike!! So glad I made the leap!! What numbers did I get? Better yet, how close was I? LOL