$31,192 raised out of $137,000
Overview
Platform
Kickstarter
Backers
70
Start date
Nov 18, 2020
Close date
Dec 07, 2020
Concept

A brand new marked deck designed for magicians. Join us now and explore the possibilities.

Story


To preorder the Arcadia Harmony Back and help bringing the deck to life, simply click Back This Project. Not convinced yet? Then read on!


The Harmony Back

A marked deck at a reasonable price | I’m proud to introduce to you the fourth Arcadia Project here on Kickstarter, the Harmony Back! This is a deck of premium playing cards specially designed for magicians. The goal with this project was to create a reasonable, custom and beautiful deck, but at the same time design a tool that would provide card magicians with a wide array of mind blowing routines.  Oh, and did I mention there’s a 56 card gaff deck available as well?

The marked backs depict a lyre with floral ornaments
The Jokers are illustrated as nymphs playing a lyre

 Overview

  • Printed on premium, crushed card stock by USPCC. 
  • Comes in two different vintage shades of green and red.
  •  Reasonably priced! When ordering a brick, you’ll only pay around $8 per deck.
  • The backs are equipped with a subtle, yet effective marking system.
  • Court cards are based on antique late 1800’s Bancks Brothers decks – redrawn for today’s standards.
  •  A gaff deck is available as an add on. Simply add NOK 145 (~$16) extra to your pledge for each gaff deck you want. Shipping will be charged in Backerkit when the campaign is over – (See “Shipping” section below for more info).
The cards come in an elegant, classic looking tuck box
Court cards with a vintage feel


 How to order your decks

Never used Kickstarter before? Not a problem! The popularity of backing playing card projects on this platform only seems to increase and we’re happy to have you onboard. 

To back this project is super simple, just follow these steps: 

  •  Choose the reward level you prefer (these are the banners on the top right of this page). 
  •  Fill in your information on the subsequent page. 
  •  If you want to add any extra items to your order (for instance a gaff deck) refer to the add-on list further down on this page and add the extra costs.
  •  Pay shipping costs when the campaign is over. You will receive an email from Backerkit after the campaign. When you click the link in this email it will guide you to a page where you will be able to add your shipping information and pay the shipping costs. Here you will also be able to add more items to your order or, if you’ve added insufficient funds you’ll be able to correct this here.  


The back design




An Harmonic Back Design | This deck features a vintage inspired back design depicting a mirrored lyre, a string instrument from the antique Greece which is also the logo of the Arcadia brand. Floral ornaments are spread all over the design giving it a classic, vintage look. The goal was to create a beautiful, custom design which also seems unsuspicious to the audience, making them great for card magic. 


A magicians secret weapon

Created with the magician in mind | Three things were essential when creating a deck specially for magicians:

  • The deck needs to seem innocent. You don’t want a spectator’s instant reaction to be; “This has to be a trick deck!“. To prevent this the overall design of the Harmony Back is classic with simple, yet beautiful ornaments like flowers and leaves. The court cards are redrawn faces based on antique late 1800’s Bancks Brothers decks, making them unique but at the same time familiar for the audience.
  • The cards have to feel great. Therefore, the deck will be printed by legendary United States Playing Card Company on their famous Bee card stock. The deck will also be crushed thinner for better handling.
  • The deck has to be reasonably priced. You don’t want be worried about the deck being worn out. The Harmony Backs are meant to be used a lot! If you preorder a brick through this campaign, you’ll only pay around $8 per deck, which is pretty cheap for a custom Kickstarter deck!
The courts are based on late 1800’s playing cards
The Queens
The Ace of Spades is shaped as a lyre
Standard, vintage pips

The Gaff Deck


Amaze the audience | One of the most exciting features of this project is that you can add custom 56 card gaff decks to your pledge. This gaff deck is a collection of useful and creative gaff cards of which you can create stunning effects. 

When designing and choosing what gaff cards to include, I’ve mostly tried to stay away from gaffs that look like they have been bought in a magic shop. Instead, this deck contain cards that help you elevate your magic routines to a completely new level, without the audience even knowing you’re using  gaff cards – just pure magic!

To preorder a gaff deck, all you have to do is to chose a reward level that suits you and add an extra 145 NOK (approximately $16) to your pledge. Shipping will be charged in Backerkit when the campaign is over – (See “Add-on” and “Shipping” sections for more info). 

3 of Clubs reveal in the King of Diamonds
Pretend to use a lighter and burn a card to reveal the 9 of Clubs

These are some of the gaff cards that will be included in the deck: (If there are any gaff card ideas you want to see in this deck, feel free to send a message and maybe it will be included!).



The Marking System

Instantly read the chosen card | The Harmony Back is equipped with a powerful marking system on the card backs. These markings are in the tuning pegs of the lyre and are basically impossible to detect unless you know they’re there. It takes a bit of practice to master, but once you do, you’ll instantly be able to read any card chosen by spectators. The marking will be explained to all backers in a project update. 

Although the markings are small, they’re still easy to observe and can be read from an arm length away


Add-ons

If you want to, you can add extra awesome items to your pledge (for example gaff decks and extra bricks).

How to order an add-on:

1) Chose a reward level that suits you and make a pledge.

2) Follow the list below and find the extra costs of your preferred add-on item/items.

3) Go to “Manage your pledge” and add the costs of your items to your pledge. You’ll be able to choose the color variations after the campaign in Backerkit. 

Shipping costs will be calculated and paid for in Backerkit when the campaign is over (See “Shipping” section below for more information).


The box shown will come with all brick orders if we reach the stretch goal


This deck is from a previous Kickstarter campaign
This deck is from a previous Kickstarter campaign

Backerkit will be used with this project. Backerkit basically works as a webshop for the Kickstarter campaign. Here, you’ll be able to pay for shipping costs, adjust your pledge (if you’ve added the wrong amount of funds and need to correct it), add more items, choose the color of your decks and add provide shipping information. 

When the campaign ends, you’ll be sent an email with a link to the Backerkit page for this project. This is an example of how this page looks like. Source: backerkit.com

Why you should back this project

1) You’ll take part in shaping a whole brand of playing cards. The more we’ll be able to raise through Kickstarter projects, the more awesome playing cards concepts will be  produced under the Arcadia brand.

2) Save money. If you order more than one deck, you’ll get decks at a discounted Kickstarter-price. Perfect time to stack up!

3) Get them first. By backing this project you’ll receive the decks before anyone else.

4) Step up your game. Get creative with the gaff deck and come up with routines that will blow people’s minds.



Shipping

Shipping can get quite complicated when backers start adding more items to their pledge. To make it as simple as possible for all parties involved in this project, shipping will be charged in Backerkit after the campaign is over. Just count the number of decks you’ve pledged for and use the chart below to see how much you’ll end up paying in shipping.

This project will be fulfilled by Gambler’s Warehouse in the US, but if we reach the stretch goal we’ll also use EU friendly fulfillment. 

Use the table below to calculate how much your shipping costs will be:

If we reach the EU friendly fulfillment stretch goal, another row with cheaper EU prices will be added

When you receive the Backerkit email, you will click on a link that will take you to a page very similar to a regular webshop. Here you will see the products you have pledged for and the shipping costs that remain. You will also be able to add more products if you wish so and add your shipping information. Super simple!


Stretch Goals

If the project raises more funds than the original goal, more items will become available. Here is a list of items that will become unlocked:

  •  At NOK 160 000 – EU Friendly Fulfillment
  •  At NOK 200 000 – Custom Brick Boxes
  • More to be announced…
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