Time for a Survey!!!
over 3 years ago – Wed, Aug 05, 2020 at 03:06:18 PM

In my last update, I had many people suggest sending a survey to get everyone's opinion on the Moon card issue. On the survey you'll find that question plus a question on the condition of the deck. The first question, and most important question, is whether you received the deck. I know there's a few of you that are still waiting. I'm doing my best to ensure everyone gets their reward. In fact, the other day Scott gave me a list of four names that he said the packages were 100% missing.... so I went ahead and purchased decks for those four backers. As it turns out, today one of those backers got both the deck Scott said was missing and also the deck that I purchased from Penguin Magic. This backer is being nice enough to send the extra deck to me... which I will in turn use for any other missing packages. 

With that said, I think it's safe to say that packages are still being delivered. This backer was located in California just to give an idea where in the world packages are still being delivered. Which doesn't make sense since some of the first deliveries to the USA went to California. I don't understand the fulfillment process.

Without further ado, here's the survey....

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/6LNQ5KH

A Long Rambling Update
almost 4 years ago – Wed, Aug 05, 2020 at 03:33:07 AM

I’ve been in constant contact with Scott from the fulfilment center to ensure all orders are fully delivered. The few that haven’t been delivered, seem to be still in transit… except for a few of those few… which seem to be missing entirely. For the ones that appear to be completely missing, I’m sending replacements. If you get a package from Vanishing Inc. and/or Penguin Magic, that’s a replacement I bought from them to ship to you.

I know the Canadian postal service is running extremely slow, so if you’re up there… I’m sorry. At least you have a better healthcare system then the USA.

I can personally testify to how overburden the postal service is right now. I had a large shipment sitting in California for two weeks. It wasn’t showing in the FedEx system, but the shipper kept saying it was waiting to be scanned in. Luckily (after two weeks) it was scanned in.

This virus is putting a hurt on all of us. Businesses are hurting, delivery services are hurting, movie theatres are hurting… the entire world is hurting.

Speaking of hurting…. The printer has informed me that redoing the moon card won’t be a perfect fix. This is because Titanic Tarot was cut slightly different (smaller) to help ensure it would fit into the wood box. So, we’re discussing the options and I’ll share them with you to get your input. If we redo the moon card it won’t be the same exact size as the other cards. It will be noticeably different. How noticeable? I don’t know… the printer just said it will be obviously different.

Another option is to create a round sticker that would fit exactly into the spot (to cover the Roman Numeral).

There’s not much else I can think of to fix the issue. If you have a better suggestion, I’m all ears. Leave a comment below or send me a message.

I’m thinking about getting a few more wood boxes made. Why, you might ask? Two reasons… one, after fulfilling all orders I only had 23 wood boxes left. The Titanic museum wanted 20 to try out in their giftshop and the other three were to be for my family. Unfortunately, as you all know, some wood boxes didn’t arrive in great condition. There was three (that I was made aware of) that were completely unfixable (all overseas). It appeared an elephant sat on them. So, I did send out replacements for these. Which leaves me with zero for myself. Plus, God only knows how many I haven’t been made aware of.

The second reason, I only made 500 wood boxes. Most of which went to you, the Kickstarter backers. 144 went to my distributor, Murphy’s Magic (who works in conjunction with various magic shops around the world). They’re almost sold out. I’m thinking I might make a couple hundred more. There’s a total of 300 Titanic decks that don’t have wood boxes yet.

Another reason I might make more is so I can offer a box for Oz Tarot. If I make these boxes, the lids will be different, so they don’t have a chance to fall apart. The lid design will be a single piece.

Of course, the Titanic boxes will continue to have the White Star logo while the Oz boxes will have the Oz logo. I’m checking with the manufacture to see if it’s possible to finish these in a green color with gold logo.

I’m sorry for the long rambling update.

The Good, the Bad and the End of One Journey
almost 4 years ago – Sat, Jul 25, 2020 at 07:06:46 PM

A lot of you have received Titanic Tarot. For those that haven't yet, don't worry... I have a list for Scott to start working on Monday. Scott also said all of you are welcome to email him directly to get more detailed information about your package. His email is... [email protected]

The Good

I've heard a lot of good things about Titanic Tarot over the last few weeks. It's been arriving in good condition at many places. I really like hearing about how people look up information about their passenger. Keeping their memory alive was one of my main goals with this project. Here's some photos people have shared...

The Bad

I've also heard from some people that were disappointed. I'm making list and once all orders are fulfilled I'll see what I can do to make right by those who are disappointed. Obviously I'm disappointed too when things don't go to plan. I think it's important for people to not blame anyone. It's not a Chinese thing and I definitely didn't break your boxes. If I could've, I would have delivered each box in person. But like I said, I won't forget about you. I personally feel the various postal services are to blame... but they won't make things right. So, the buck stops here. Just be patient while we wait for all orders to finish being delivered. 

While some boxes were repairable, others not so much. Here's some photos...

And of course the double roman numeral... that will be reprinted and sent out once Oz is complete. 

Speaking of Oz.... it's currently 51% funded. Please take a look at it once you get a chance. 

http://kck.st/30Cgeoc

Mark your calendars of Oz
almost 4 years ago – Sat, Jul 18, 2020 at 01:06:01 PM

First, before I talk about Oz, I did talk to the printer about getting the reprint of the card with the wrong roman numeral. We can get it fixed. Here's the plan... when I print Oz, there's room on the sheet to print the extra Titanic card. So, I'll have enough extras (of the corrected card) to send out to everyone. Don't worry about the black holographic edging because they'll remove all the corrected Titanic card and edge them separate from the Oz deck. The remaining Oz deck (78 cards - all 100% correct) will get edged in a matte gold finish (unless I change my mind and go with a different color). 

Please note: To get the corrected card, you don't have to buy Oz Tarot. All Titanic backers will get the corrected card. It might take some time since we'll be doing the correction at the same time as Oz. However, for those that do come back to support Oz Tarot I'll include a special gift to show thanks. 

I'm hearing reports of Titanic getting delivered in New Jersey today. So, I think most shipments will be delivered by this time next week. If you don't get it by this time next week, let me know and I'll get Scott from the fulfillment company to track it down. I'm still waiting on my decks too. My decks were sent last to ensure all the other orders were fulfilled first. 

With that said, I'm going to submit Oz Tarot for approval with Kickstarter this weekend. It can take them up to three business days to approve it. So, assuming it gets approved, I'll plan on launching it on Friday  July 24th at Noon. Since you guys have been amazing backers, I'm going to have a special early bird price available for the first 48 hours.  The special early bird price will be $28 per deck. I'll have it also available in intervals of two decks, three decks and four decks. After the 48 hour early bird price, the price will be $35, which is still cheaper then what I'll sell it in retail markets. After Kickstarter, the retail price will be $40. 

With Oz, I'm not doing a wood box. Oz will consist of 78 cards... and each card will be fully illustrated, not semi-pip or fully-pip. It will come in a two piece rigid cardboard box, just like Titanic. It will also come with a booklet to explain each card. 

It's Almost Finished
almost 4 years ago – Thu, Jul 16, 2020 at 02:33:01 PM

Just a quick update. USA orders started arriving this week. So, if you haven't gotten yours yet, it should be very soon. I had one backer mention not getting the King of Coins card. I think this might have been a strange fluke... but if you have this issue, let me know and I'll get it fixed. One issue that's been pointed out to me is that the Star and the Moon has the same roman numeral (XVII). I'll ask the printer if it's possible to print one card and I'll ask the fulfillment company if it's possible to send out one card without it being crushed. I'm not sure if there's too much that can be done since the cards have the black holographic edging. The card might not match up with the rest of the deck. I'll check and let everyone know. If it is fixable, I'll probably have the printer do it while they print Oz.

I've gotten some more reports about boxes falling apart while in transit. Luckily it sounds like a little wood glue solves this issue. Just keep in mind, if you do have to glue it together... I recommend wood glue and using rubber bands to hold the lid and base together as it dries. This helps to keep the lid from shifting while it dries. 

Now that Titanic is just about finished, I'll start preparing Oz on Kickstarter to launch. I'll spend the next week getting the Kickstarter page ready. Once I know a launch date, I'll let you all know. I'm not doing anything crazy, like wood boxes, with Oz. I've learned my lesson. 

I wish to thank all of you backers for being amazing during this entire process. I wish we had a smoother trip, At least I learned a lot along the way.