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jerichoholic wrote:Either way I would find it hard to believe that anyone would pay $300 or anything close to that now for that deck. It's almost like you had the inside scoop or something and therefore decided to cash in.

Eh? It hasn't ever been a secret that Mike had a couple of the original promotional mail chimp decks, NOR has it been a secret that mail chimp decks were coming to T11.

Is Mike taking advantage of the timing to sell a rare deck when the interest is at a peak? Hells yes - it's only good business sense.

Seriously though if you are going to act all cynical and "accuse" people of cashing in you might want to think about what goes in your signature, because I doubt you gain nothing by people using your CPC referral codes...

jerichoholic wrote:Either way I would find it hard to believe that anyone would pay $300 or anything close to that now for that deck. It's almost like you had the inside scoop or something and therefore decided to cash in.

You know you would've done exactly the same had you had one, so quit trying to stand on the moral high ground.

Oh gosh, I want a brick. That brick box is sooo pretty!

jerichoholic wrote:Either way I would find it hard to believe that anyone would pay $300 or anything close to that now for that deck. It's almost like you had the inside scoop or something and therefore decided to cash in.

Seriously, Victor? You have been doing so well, and the deck I had was given away (one) and punted on eBay (two).

At the time Theory11 had no plans to reprint the red foiled version, and the internal guy at the MailChimp HQ in Atlanta let me in on the fact that they were going to come out with it in black only. In fact, I posted his message (with permission,, minus his name).

I think the backlash feedback on the black version being a no go for most people made them stop, go back and reprint in red, also. The "few weeks" my source quoted about the black foiled version coming turned into a few months.

Leave it to you to go pointing fingers when you can't seem to remember saying publicly that the Venexiana Gold deck I paid for out of my pocket (literally) was a bribe, and I actually felt sorry you were out of a job at the time.

Go figure? All the other free decks and prototypes you get must be bribes to get a good review, huh?

Oh, but you don't remember, sorry, I forgot.

Mike Ratledge wrote:Seriously, Victor? You have been doing so well

You can dye a dalmation's fur to hide its spots but eventually they'll come back.

Keep in mind the deck was a bid. So whatever the starting price was, it was the people who drove up the price. He doesn't control that. Wasn't like he had it at a really high Buy It Now price. If so, people buy what they want no matter the cost.

Bikefanatic wrote:Keep in mind the deck was a bid. So whatever the starting price was, it was the people who drove up the price. He doesn't control that. Wasn't like he had it at a really high Buy It Now price. If so, people buy what they want no matter the cost.

Like we always say, a deck is worth precisely what you can get someone to pay for it, no more, no less.

I certainly didn't break any fingers to get the bids.

So they posted this picture on FB today:



So are there 3 jokers? Does this mean they might still be the same as the originals? Looks like I should be getting mine in the mail tomorrow and will find out.

flyers3003 wrote:So they posted this picture on FB today:



So are there 3 jokers? Does this mean they might still be the same as the originals? Looks like I should be getting mine in the mail tomorrow and will find out.

Let me know what you find. Their record with telling the gospel isn't that good. We shall see.

There are two in the OG deck, not likely three in this version, that would be too easy. They have shown three different pix, though. Hard to say.

I expect mine Monday. I will post side-by-side pix of the tuck boxes. Should be interesting!

Just a heads up. If you guys like the Mailchimp cards, tune in to Expose tomorrow morning for a chance to win a free deck shipped anywhere in the world for free. Super simple contest (comment in the media section as well as youtube to increase your odds). Gooood luck!

These decks are great!!

For the navy & red tuck, the spade and club pips are navy. The courts have navy on them.

The all black tuck have the black spade and club pips. The court cards have black on them along with light metallic inks. Maybe not metallic inks but they are different from the other deck's courts.

Bikefanatic wrote:These decks are great!!

For the navy & red tuck, the spade and club pips are navy. The courts have navy on them.

The all black tuck have the black spade and club pips. The court cards have black on them along with light metallic inks. Maybe not metallic inks but they are different from the other deck's courts.

I've seen pix on Facebook, and despite what it said last night, mine still show up in Columbia, where they were then. Since my post is only open from 9-10AM Saturdays and the truck from town doesn't get here until 8, I probably won't see mine until Monday.

I'm glad to hear "redt & blue" everywhere. The OG decks are a matt black suede-like material with brilliant red foil.

I will show them side-by-side as soon as possible! There is no advertising card in the original decks. I still hope they don't have to be opened to tell!

First distinct difference: the deck they are selling now has a distinctive gold cellophane tear opening strip around the top - see badpete69's "What I added..." post today. The original deck used by MailChimp last year appears to have NO tear strip at all,, but it is actually clear. See attached pix. In this pix, it looks like a line across the tuck, but the clear band is easily noticeable on the right side near the top.

I will post side-by-side tucks of OG & new tuck soon, but I am already done, really.

Sher - is yours clear or gold? All three of mine were clear.

Mine are clear, too.

Sher wrote:Mine are clear, too.

Screenshot_2015-03-14-12-49-38.png

Awesome!

Red Deck Jokers, Double Backer & Ad Card:
Black Deck Jokers, Double Backer & Ad Card:
So the Jokers are different between Red & Black. I'm guessing the Red Jokers do match the 1st decks, but fortunately the tucks are different with the gold vs clear tear strips. Based on the two pictures in this thread of the originals, that's a good thing, because the tuck coloring looks to have the same blueish tinge. We'll see better when Mike posts the side by side.

So Mike and other 1st revision owners, it looks like you can breathe a sigh of relief. Your deck(s) are still rare and distinguishable from the 2nd revision.

Rare and distinguishable by a pull strip. I don't know about other collectors but I see little value in spending big bucks for that, they are for all intents and purposes the exact same thing. It's just another run of the same deck.

jerichoholic wrote:Rare and distinguishable by a pull strip. I don't know about other collectors but I see little value in spending big bucks for that, they are for all intents and purposes the exact same thing. It's just another run of the same deck.

TL;DR Executive summary - next message...

So Vic, you buy three of the original decks and I will trade you for the reprints that I have.

I just got mine about 4, so I haven't unscrewed the eight bolts holding the acrylic display yet, but just so you will shut the f up, I will in the morning. Simply standing then side by side, they really tried to make them look the same but it's a big #FAIL and if the idiots were going to do something incredibly stupid like change the tear strip color, I frankly don't know why they bothered.

There are at least three things that I can see from 3 meters away that are not the same. The tuck material is not the same, close, in fact close enough that a normal everyday chellector wouldn't have a clue. The seals are very close, but they also are not exactly right, and then you throw the glaring gold tear strip in the mix that you can tell from 30 meters, and I really don't know why they bothered.

When I put then side by side under a bright light, the texture, color and even the foil are slightly different. It would take someone like me to know, since as far as I know only 6 examples of the OG deck still sealed exist. I hope I am wrong, or I will kick my own arse from here to next year for selling one and giving one away!

If I had waited until they delivered the reprint, I could have easily gotten twice what I got for the one I sold. How much would you pay for 1 of 10 edition? How about 1 of 6? I have at least two 1 of 6, eight 1 of 10 and two decks that as far as I know are unknown to collectors, at least I know that Tom Dawson has never seen either one. That doesn't mean that they are one of a kind, but since both are in mint condition with no flaws and the original box, also "as issued" OB1 (I know, it's a term only vintage & antique collectors use) I am fairly certain that if either one of them had been seen in the past 120 years by anyone, he would know, or someone with 52+Joker would. They don't exist in any collection, and Tom stated that the one that is USPCC did not exist in the now somewhat mysteriously missing USPCC collection, and they supposedly had every single deck they ever made plus many going back to the 14tu century from Europe and beyond.

I'm sure there are more decks that are open. Bound to be. The sad fast is that sealed decks are probably one in 100, simply because they were given away as gifts for MailChimp users and the campaign showed what the ape-faced courts looked like, so I bet just about every one got played. Not one deck except the three I had and the ones Sher got went to collectors, as far as I know. I hope I am wrong, because even that ratio means we had six of 27 decks that were not opened.

Lets be clear, when the collection existed and USPCC wanted to put a value on it for insurance purposes, Tom & Judy Dawson were who they called to tell them what it was worth. Each piece, and as a whole. Now, that would be an interesting detective story. Figuring out what happened to that collection. Fair warning, better people than I and Tom have tried to figure out. I don't know that it ever will be. What is known is that some time between when they decided to build the new facility in Erlanger and when they went to move, that collection disappeared,so far without a trace or worthy lead.

Mike, why do you bother trying with him? You know it's a losing battle.

Unfortunately, I just got a call from my cousin, and my favorite uncle died around 6.

That means that I won't be able to do what I planned, since - assuming that I sleep at all, I will be driving four hours to be with family tomorrow through Sunday at least. Services planned for Saturday.

A quick crappy inspection shows three obvious differences:

1) The seals are very different. Again, Theory11 being cheap. Original seals are a black dot pattern on the gold seal. The reprint decks have an embossed monkey instead.

2) The foil is not the same, it's noticeably brighter and more consistent on the original decks.

3) The paper is very close, but not the same. I will have to use bright indirect light instead of a flash to show it better, I don't think you can tell from my quick and easy pix. They might even be the same stock by name, but the stock has changed slightly in the last year.

That's not to mention the obvious gold vice clear tear strip. It sticks out like a sore thumb.

I don't have time to fight with alignment from my smartphone that uses codes showing which way is up and the phpBB code doesn't understand it. I finally found out why I always see them correctly - it simple stores a -90° — 180° — or 90° code in the EXIF information.

If they are sideways or upside down, someone please take a moment and fix them for me... Better pix with bright indirect lights when I get back home...

Sher - your decks have the "tintype" (black spots on the gold that make the momkey) and not an embossed (raised) outline, right?

lol dammit mike, your photos are.. bad lol

Sorry about your loss.

With those pics it is hard to see any difference. If some are willing to pay big bucks for minor differences to a tuck, seal, or pull strip, then so be it.

There's 2 different versions of Fathom, Infinity, and other decks but that doesn't mean the first versions are worth much more.

Seems to me the only people who care most about the value is those with decks to sell.

Sorry about your loss, Mike.

Seems to me you need to quit being so jealous over what you can't have and quit being such a horse's ass Victor. Why can't you just accept that they are clearly different and some collectors will pay a premium for the original's rarity. Time to find a new deck/topic to complain about.

My condolences for your loss Mike. Be safe in your travels.

I never said I was jealous and I'm not, I've got a fantastic collection as is. As a collector I appreciate my decks for their artistic value and enjoy playing with them. I never care much about resale value because I dont sell many and because in many cases I think we collectors should be helping each other out.

jerichoholic wrote:Sorry about your loss.

With those pics it is hard to see any difference. If some are willing to pay big bucks for minor differences to a tuck, seal, or pull strip, then so be it.

There's 2 different versions of Fathom, Infinity, and other decks but that doesn't mean the first versions are worth much more.

Seems to me the only people who care most about the value is those with decks to sell.

Huh, Victor? . That's makes no sense all! I don't have "decks for sale", in fact I don't even have a single deck of these for sale. There are three different Fathoms but all were made in roughly same quantity. MailChimp - six known sealed OG decks, and thousands of the new ones.

Everyone else, apologies for the usual crappy pix! At least they are 18mp crappy and not 14mp. Verizon sent me a GS5 to replace my GS4. Idiots obviously forgot that I am still on an old unlimited data plan. I am glad they can't bill me for the 20gb I used last month.! Switching phones eats a LOT of data!

None the less, if you can't tell embossed from printed nor gold from clear, it's all good...

Obviously sleeping is just not happening, thanks for all the well wishes! Lord, just get me through the services on Saturday with half my senses, and guide my car tomorrow morning.

I'm pretty sure there are a lot more than just 6 in existence. You may not be selling any now, but you did before the release.

Either way if T11 had only sold the blacks then the 1st edition would be more sought after.