Get your own copy of this one-time printing, incredibly unique deck. The Alleyman's Tarot was the #1 most funded (and by far the most backed) tarot kickstarter ever. Made up of 137-cards from various decks, old and modern, the deck is a small art museum that fits in your hand and that divines smoothly.
With the Booster Packs, you can include additional cards in the deck to replace or support the pre-existing cards. Grab your box, cloth, and bag while you're at it, and a X/O coin and poker chip, and see what the Alleyman has to tell you.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
No Real Update | Death in the Family
over 2 years ago
– Mon, Sep 27, 2021 at 03:25:45 AM
Hello!
Some people have been asking for updates, but I have no real news at this time. We should still be in line for shipping in November, but at this point I'm just going to assume by the end of the year in general. I cancelled/delayed my October project as a result. I had the Normal Tarot campaign overlapping with this while it was running and it wasn't a fun time.
About a month ago my sister had a stroke. She was in recovery when we found out she had Stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer, and it was only a matter of time. I flew down to Florida (after barely leaving my house for the last 18 months due to the pandemic) to see her, and the day after I flew home, her 34th birthday, she passed away. Personally I've had a really hard time getting back to work, and have mostly just answered emails and otherwise dropped anything I was doing. My apologies if I've not responded to messages or comments in time.
We're all okay, and my parents are angels, and have been there for her two sons to watch over them and get them to school, martial arts, and just to help them through this. Life seems pretty big and heavy, but we're all still here and we're all thankful to have our family.
I know people will give me endless sympathy but really, we're good. Not looking for shoulders to cry on, just wanted to explain why I've been pretty 'away' from the whole thing. At this point for the project, I'm just waiting on the printer anyways.
As a total non-sequiter, and as apparently a weird coping mechanism, I wrote a full TV show pitch with an outlined first season for a new CW DC comics show, so if anyone has contact details for producers on the Arrowverse shows, let me know. It's remarkably hard as someone not in the industry to reach out to people within it, for very good and fair reasons. Just figured there are 20,000 of you, so who knows! My brain has just decided it's time to go write for TV, so there we go.
Regards,
7
The Print Samples! Vote for us for an Award or two?
over 2 years ago
– Fri, Sep 03, 2021 at 03:39:12 AM
First off, the print samples are here! As in, they arrived a couple days ago and I keep meaning to do a video flip through of it all, but I just haven't. I don't actually have any kind of setup to use to get a top down camera angle, so that's on me. I'll figure something out eventually.
But in the meantime, let's take a look!
The entire haul!
In this printing/manufacturing sample, I do not have the foil wrappers for the booster packs, and of note, the cards and prints that have foil and gilding are all using silver, not their proper colors. That Queen of Bombs print in the back? That's going to have hot pink foil, so what you see here is sort of almost not-quite what you're going to get.
The core pledge
The core pledge includes the full 137 card deck, which comes in a custom matchbox I designed, and the Alleyman's Tarot guide notebook. The matchbox is themed to be 'Alleystriker's' brand of long stick matches, a 1000-count. The top of the box has the Alleyman's Tarot logo with a gloss finish just on the logo, so it looks a bit like a sticker slapped on top. The box was designed to have digital wear and tear, and water stains!
The Guidebook!
The guidebook is set up to be a small notebook with yellow lined pages, filled with stains, doodles from the Alleyman, his notes on how to read his deck, and faux post-it-notes from me as the editor, giving you things like credits and organization to the Alleyman's chaos. I am wildly proud of the notebook, it came out as good as I hoped. It's an art object of its own, and will make a fantastic companion for the deck!
I failed to leave blank pages for notes, sorry-- we were working in a tight space on max page count and I neded up filling it all. But feel free to add to it! It's supposed to feel like a ntoebook so you feel comfy adding marginalia or sticky notes of your own.
The five boosters, including the blanks!
The Gleaming Alley branded satin bag for your deck!
The Alley's Casino poker chip!
The Art Prints!
The Cigar Box!
That's everything-- the Alleyway Liqueur tarot cloth under everything else, and the coins being something I've already posted once before.
As of right now almost everything here is exactly how you'll get it in the end. The printing on the cards is fantastic, and overall I just am in love! This is everything I wanted this to be and then some. I'm making some small adjustments with the printer but otherwise we're going to be good to go to print real quick here.
In other news! The Alleyman's Tarot was nominated for some awards?? I had no idea and definitely didn't register myself, but I appreciate it y'all! We are nominated in the Best Indie Deck Release 2021 category and the Best Divination Product 2021.
In other news, these guys reached out to me back when we were adding booster packs and I had already filled up. But their project is now live, so go check it out! The art is super lovely! : )
Small Update and Those That Came Since
over 2 years ago
– Sun, Aug 22, 2021 at 12:54:14 AM
Hello!
First of all, the print samples of all the cards, the book, the box, cloth, etc are on their way to me. Judging by how much we have to print and ship, shipping and complete fulfillment will take place before the end of the year, likely from mid October into November, with everything arriving to y'all before 2022.
This isn't due to how much got added to the project (boxes, bags, cloths, etc), it's instead to do with how many we are printing due to how many backers there were. Suffering from success quite literally haha.
As a result of this timeline, I'm pushing my intended October project (Divination Coins) off to 2022. My experience of having Normal Tarot stuff overlapping with running this project was overwhelming and not something I'm trying to repeat. No worries, I'm working on the podcast, refining an old card game I never released, working with a team on my big book TTRPG, and just generally staying busy. Lots to come.
Now, there have been a LOT of really awesome tarot decks I've seen, wanted, talked to, or just drooled over since the Alleyman's project ended. I try not to advertise other projects to you all here, as I'm not a billboard. That being said, I wanted to compile a list of the kickstarter decks that have come since we finished that I would 100% reach out to for a card as a booster or something in the future. This is my way of paying it forward for the campaigns that just missed the opportunity and also a nice list for me to use later in case I want to hit them up for the Alleyman's Oracle! : )
Plus, doing them all in one update like this will make it so all the advertising of other projects is done at once, so dip out now if you don't want to look at the other decks. I was not paid for this, nor have I talked to any of these deck's creators. I just think they look neat. I'm going in order from those that came out just after we ended to the ones still up today, so pop to the end for the ones still available.
Vicente Molina already has a card in the Alleyman's, but these look fantastic. I would have considered an extra from him! I really love traditional playing card art and I don't think I chased that enough in the tarot. Would like to do that more in the oracle.
I would really love to have grabbed more cards from games. Giuseppe in the Second Arcana is the only card I included that feels like it came from a game. Maybe in the oracle... This game looks pretty fun, and now I'm curious about it!
My little goth heart just loves the heavy black cards, and the major arcana in here looks fantastic. I am less in love with the minors but that tends to be the case for many decks. The fine borders also speak to me, it has a feel to it that really would have had a home here.
This aesthetic verges between bold color block choices and being almost ugly. And I mean that in the best way possible. It's garish and ugly and gorgeous as a result. This is very much an element I wish I had covered better in the Alleyman's. The cards were made using hand-cut construction paper and photo collages, and that's fantastic. Always love collage!
Another deck made by many artists, some of these cards jump out to me more than others, but I 100% would have reached out to them if it had been around when I was doing the Alleyman's. This is one I think I'd enjoy owning to pick apart for the ones that speak to me most, and to grab those artists for later haha.
Highly suggest looking at the cards in here. The art is swooping, majestic, and ephemeral. I would have eaten up a card from this deck in a heartbeat. Look at the pictures in the campaign of the full deck, sprawled out-- SO PRETTY. What a gorgeous range of colors!
I mean, come on. Of course. And because of how much they look like covers, they would be visually disruptive to the deck? Hell yes I would love that so much. The Alleyman would pick this whole deck up and slowly lose the cards until it was just a few cards in his larger deck.
Ivy who designed this was someone I talked to about printing the Alleyman's, but it was a little too complex. Over at that printer though, they make some incredibly unique, gorgeous decks. The previous version was less exciting to me because it was more traditional, but this looks like a newer take and it's so pretty, it comes in various styles and prints on fantastic foil. I mean just look at the gifs in the project haha, they are so pretty. This is one of thsoe moments where I want to have cards in the Alleyman's using different print stocks for sure.
I'll admit some confusion about the animals being nonbinary as an nb person myself, but the deck looks really lovely and deserves attention. The art and colors are just so lovely, and this would 100% have a spot in the Alleyman's repetoire.
If this has been around, it would have been the nice counterpoint for the cute dog card in one of the boosters. Cats are just great, and the color blocking style sans outlines is a nice fit.
Decolonized Tarot: A New Deck for the Global Majority
Yes, these are bright and gorgeously colorful cards. I also don't super know how many non-white depictions ended up in the Alleyman's deck, but there could have been more. But even ignoring the very good goal of the deck to ignore White Supremacy's influence to create tarot cards that exist in a decolonized space, the cards just have fantastic art.
Not every card on here speaks to me, but they don't all have to for me to love the style. I'd definitely grab a card out of here, the white space again makes it fill a neat space in the alleyman's visual lexicon. Not sure how to feel about the size though, hard to shuffle that into the Alleyman's!
I'll try to pop in after another month or two to do another (Shorter) list of newer decks. Feel free to suggest decks that didn't go on KS, never too early to draw up this list! : )
Thanks everyone,
7DA
your Publishing Goblin
Update! Early info on the Podcast!
over 2 years ago
– Wed, Aug 11, 2021 at 12:33:32 AM
Hello everyone! Sorry for missing my typical once a month update for projects. July was moving time and things got a bit hectic. First, if you don't know if you've done your survey or need to update your address, please check the previous update, linked here!
I have a new cat, Im settled into the new apartment, and I've put my Square Store back up with the backstock of the Normal Tarot Gold and Silver copies now available on there. Those are actually supposed to arrive tomorrow, so keep in mind it will be just a little bit before they ship. I need to check them all over for any print errors, as there have been a few reported to me that look like they might repeat in the overall print run.
I have been waiting for the print sample of the alleymans to arrive before I made a new update, but I don't seem to have it yet, and I haven't been given a timeline on it. I asked again and it looks like it should be info I have soon, but it's been a bit since my update anyways so I wanted to update even without pictures of those in hand. I'm aware we're supposed to be shipping next month, and if I haven't seen a print sample the printing itself is delayed and that probably means we will start shipping in late September if September at all, but October most definitely. Apologies, things are coming around just a little slower than I had planned.
My work on the deck and the guidebook are totally done. I cannot wait to share the print samples with y'all, this is a really special deck, and all the extras-- the boxes, the cloth, the bag, the coin, the chip-- it's all so unique. The book is a real art object, and I hope you end up as excited about it as I am haha.
I've been talking with Caretaker (from Normal Horoscopes) about the podcast, and I've settled into how I'm approaching it. Meet cultural anthropologist, Dr. Okoye. Okoye is a religious studies professor at a local university and his main focus of study is in myth and folklore, specifically urban fiction and myth. He runs a podcast called Modern Mythologies where he teaches his audience about various myths present in the modern day, as well as following up on research, analyzing supposed videos of cryptids, and even doing interviews with people who claim to have info on it, or to be 'experts'.
This is really exciting to me, as this character is an old one of mine I hadn't had any reason to brush off in recent years, and what he does is EXACTLY what I wanted to do in grad school if I went back for a second Master's into a PhD, but kind of veered away from.
So here's an excerpt of the first draft I was writing up. Note this particular speech from Okoye may not be used in the final version, but I wanted to give you a feel for it, looking forward to bringing this to life!
"Welcome to Modern Mythologies. I am Doctor Ala Okoye, religious studies professor and cultural anthropologist, and uhh-- author of Untold Streets, an urban folklore compendium, now in its second edition. On this podcast we explore modern folklore in the urban environment. Last week we concluded the Moth Child debate, and I firmly believe that it is nothing more than the modern take on the vampire myth. I know this is contentious for many of you, but I think we've taken the discussion as far as it can be taken with all the reddit posts. Appreciate the help from the moderators of the UrbanFolk reddit board. And-- and of course from all the sources and thoughts people sent to me via email. Please remember to send emails to me at [email protected], not my university email. They have finally just outright ask I stop plugging the university in the podcast -- *laughs* -- we have flooded their servers with 'nonsense', or so they're calling it.
Today I want to pivot to a new topic. Our discussion of the gremlins lasted barely a week, the moth children vampire myth three or so? I think it was three, yeah three and a few days. But the whole time I've been pressed with constant requests for this other urban myth. The Alleyman myth. I'll admit I hadn't heard much on this one until people sent it to me, but now that I'm digging into all the links and instagram, uhh, instas? The instagram pictures you've sent me, and the videos. Yes, I saw some were videos and not just bad pictures, I got that-- *laughs* from all your comments on the latest podcast. I'm sorry. The vampire video from the Moth Children segment was really obviously edited so I'm not going to go back to that topic just to apologize for that. But yes, now that I've started reading about this phenomenon, it really is everywhere.
It reminds me a lot of the men in black myth, right? It's vague enough that, sure, it gets around and can apply to many locations. Most of the best myths are those ones, that are vague with the details and paint a general picture. The collective delusion can apply its symbology on anyone. Especially this one. The Alleyman is a homeless looking man who runs scams in the alley. I mean, at its base level, this plays directly into any busker you want it to, I would think. If you live in a city of any sizable nature, you can imagine specific homeless people who you see on your morning commutes right now. Now apply the Alleyman to them, and it likely fits. That's why I ignored these requests at the start, because I only did a surface level dive into who this folktale was.
Then I wrapped up the Moth Children episodes and decided I should take a deeper look at this to at least dismiss it with some more certainty. Then, yes, I saw the instagram story, uhh, the video on instagram from SourFlowersinMay. I feel like your calls for me to cover the Alleyman should have started with the tarot angle. I have long been interested in covering modern psychics and tarot readers and commercialized angles of Voodoun and the like, especially in big cities and how the urban environment informs their setups and sales pitches, and this at least scratches the itch. So alright, here we go.
I may regret this haha, but I need you all to begin sending in your tips and thoughts on the Alleyman phenomenon to me for next week's episode. *clears throat, takes a drink of tea* Sorry, still getting over the cold a little from last week. So."
Fond regards, and update again soon when I know changes to shipping schedule and can see prints of it all!
your Publishing Goblin,
7
Need to update your address? Not sure if you did your survey? READ THIS!
almost 3 years ago
– Wed, Jul 14, 2021 at 09:08:46 PM
Hello everyone!
I'm finishing up the guide book, moving into a new place (officially on the 15th), legally changed my name, and everything is very busy right now. If I've missed comments, that's why-- but I respond to every message! However, every day I have received 2-5 new messages of people who want to change their address. Good news, you don't need to message me, you can just do it on your own! You do not need me at all. If you still have a link to your survey (in an email or in a kickstarter message from me), you can just go back in there and update it. If you have your login for backerkit figured out, you can just go on there and update your address at any time. Don't know if you have any of that anymore? Read below.
Go to Backerkit.com, and select 'I'm a backer'.
Backerkit Home Page
Find a Survey link!
On the next page, hit the 'Find a Survey' link at the top of the page! Then, you just type in Alleyman's Tarot and pick the project.
Then it asks for your email. You put in the email associated with your Kickstarter account and hit "Get My Survey" and that's it. Then you go in and update the address. You can update the address whenever you want up until I make an update saying Im locking them to ship around September. This is also a method to check to see if you did your survey at all, which some people have been concerned about. You don't need me to confirm it, you can confirm all of that, your survey answers, your address, if you've done it at all, the way I showed above. : )
NOTE: If you need to change your state, you'll need to reach out to backerkit support. I CANNOT CHANGE YOUR STATE EITHER, PLEASE DO NOT MESSAGE ME ASKING ME TO. You have to reach out to backerkit support to have them do it, thank you!!
This is also a reminder that we have always been lined up to ship in September. A few people have been asking me why they haven't gotten their decks yet. This is basically a pre-order, and it's been lined up for September (or probably a bit into October with the number of orders we're talking about) since the start.
You're all amazing. When I get the book finished and can share that things are all going forward with the printer, then I'll share that stuff with y'all. Until then, tata for now!
