Just years ago, the chances of two LeRoy Township residents raising near $12,000 dollars for the production of a custom set of playing cards would likely be considered a statistical improbability. However, with the advent of popular crowd funding website Kickstarter.com, that's exactly what Robert and Diane Tomlinson did just months ago.
In total, 382 people across the world pledged money to the project in hopes of seeing the Civil War themed deck of cards come to being as the fundraising project blew through its $8,500 goal and reached $11,781. Four months later, the original "backers" were receiving their cards in the mail and Ben Franklin Crafts and the LeRoy General Store were adding the cards to their inventory.
"It's pretty cool (how Kickstarter works)," Robert Tomlinson said, adding that his projects would never have come to fruition without the website.
Now, less than a month after the Civil War cards were delivered, the Tomlinson's are at it again with a World War Two inspired deck of cards, featuring Allied and Axis leaders on face cards. Currently the project has received almost $12,000 pledged of the $14,000 goal with the fundraising period ending on April 1. If the goal is not reached in the allotted time frame, backers who supported the project will be refunded the money and the cards won't be produced.
Diane Tomlinson, who works on the business and promotion side of the family's playing card endeavour, said she expects the World War Two deck of cards, named "Global Unrest," to reach its goal.
Robert Tomlinson, who designs the cards, said he has always enjoyed doing art projects during his free time from working at GTP in Towanda. He said he was aware that custom playing cards had a large following on Kickstarter, and after summer trips to Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts and the battlefields at Gettysburg, he composed the idea of a Civil War themed deck.
"In Old Sturbridge people were talking about how during the Revolutionary War the soldiers didn't want kings and queens on the design of the cards so they used George Washington instead," he explained.
His Civil Unrest deck featured the likes of Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee. If funded, the Global Unrest deck will depict Allied leaders including Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin and their Axis counterparts.
For those interested in pledging funds to the Global Unrest deck, a link is available on the Tomlinson's website at www.walletbattles.com. Diane Tomlinson said she expects delivery to take place by July of this year if the project is funded. She said it takes a few months to get approval from Bicycle Playing Cards and some additional time for the production of the cards.
For an $11 pledge, a backer will receive one Allied or Axis deck of playing cards or two decks for $20. There are additional perks for donations as high as $650 which include themed poker chips, dice, a collector's case and signed cards by Robert Tomlinson.
The Tomlinsons estimated that only about 20 decks of the original Civil Unrest cards are left in Bradford County. They can be purchased at Ben Franklin Crafts in Towanda or the LeRoy General Store.
Robert Tomlinson said he is hoping that by producing quality products for those who fund his projects online, he will continue to gain reputation on Kickstarter which could lead to more demand for his design work.
"There is a well known designer on Kickstarter that was able to quit his job and live off the money he made on projects like this," he said, "but for now, I'm happy with this being on the side."
Tim Zyla can be reached at (570) 265-1634; email: tzyla@thedailyreview.com; or Twitter, @TimZyla.