Innocence Holographic Edition (Update / Insights)

In my last Innocence update at the end of July I still thought that fall this year would be realistic time frame for the "Innocence Holographic Edition" Kickstarter campaign.

There are too many risks involved in printing the Innocence back design without seeing prototypes first and I was a bit too optimistic with the prototype price for a few decks. It turns out that the price for ONE single deck with holo foil is over $1000. At this point, I don't remember if it might have even been over $2,000 or not, but definitely too much money for one single deck.

It took me a while but I decided to print 500 prototypes. The price for 500 decks with holo foil on both sides and the tuck is $5000. Of course, that's an insane amount of money. And it's probably the biggest reason why I was hesitating. But there was and still is a lot to decide about the right paper and the right printing process. It wasn't easy to figure out everything.

I'm glad that you can see now how great the Black Polyanthas feel. So you know what's possible. The cards are printed on 300gsm "German Black Core Paper" with "Butter Varnish". The cards are a bit thicker - in my eyes the only small disadvantage - but they feel like they are broken in already. Not stiff at all and they fan better than any USPCC deck from Kentucky. So in my humble opinion, this is the best playing card paper that you can get right now. There is just this one small problem that this paper is running out. For this reason, I have already reserved paper for 3000 decks.

290gsm Italian Paper is what the printing company wants to use as alternative now. I got a deck from them and even though there is just a small difference from 10gsm, it's the thinnest deck I've ever seen. From a deck that is a bit too thick to a deck that is a bit too thin... The paper has the great advantage of being visibly whiter. So perfect for the Innocence deck with a lot of white on the back. But they also feel different. Most of us playing card nerds would probably file this away as a negative at first, simply because we aren't used to it. But I think it's more the varnish on the deck, not the actual paper that feels different. Long story short, I want to print the prototypes on the 290gsm paper. So I have the direct comparison with the Black Polyanthas, which paper the final deck should get.

But choosing the right paper is only a small detail. It would be too easy if that were all. There are two different methods to add cold foil to a card. In one method, cold foil simply gets placed onto the linen finish card. One of the biggest problems with this method is that not all "linen holes" are always filled with foil. My concern was that everything could look unclean. In the other method, the linen finish gets pressed onto the card after the foil got placed onto the card. It sounds like the best solution but with this method the linen finish is only pressed on very superficially. Most likely so that the foil doesn't get destroyed. But like that it's almost like smooth finish, also nothing that I really want.

A few weeks ago I received the Glow V2 Holo deck. The cards are printed by the same company on the same paper like the Black Polys. The linen finish got placed onto the cards after the cold foil. I was positively surprised and I've already gotten comfortable with the idea that my cards will be like that too. I talked to Chris, the guy who printed the Glow deck. He told me that he used this printing method after he saw that the other method looks unclean. After the decks got printed he realized that the holographic effect looks a lot more impressive with the other method. He showed me uncut sheet photos from the printing company. I need to say the final deck still looks great but it really is much shinier on the "riskier" version that could look unclean.

I decided to use the "risky" method, simply because the holographic effect is much stronger there. Since the Innocence back design has mostly dots and no large printed areas, I don't really think it will look messy. But of course, I still do not have 100% certainty. That's why the prototypes are so important.

I wouldn't have had to worry about all this for the last few weeks if USPCC had just said yes, but it was too risky for them to print such small foil parts.

The Edelrot campaign remains my only Kickstarter campaign this year. I wanted to do three campaigns this year but the Hotel V3 fulfillment threw me back for months. Technically it would be still possible to do the Innocence Holo campaign this year but it would come too close to Christmas. I also don't think it's a good time right now. My goal is to start this campaign at the beginning of February so that it can end again on my birthday, Febraury 19.

Of course I'll make the prototypes available for you before the rest of the world get the chance to get them on Kickstarter.

I wanted to write this post since a few days already but it's always difficult for me to explain that much in a language that isn't my mother language. It took me around two hours to write everything. But I'm happy to take the time to explain to you what the current state of affairs is.

The Innocence deck is the most important deck for me. That's why no detail is left unconsidered. I already know that I won't benefit much from it financially, but it makes me proud.

Thanks for reading.

Much love

Daniel