BEE STINGERS - Playing Cards by theory11

• 4

These cards are very nice, they are soft and easy to handle. Doing a double lift of any type is much easier with these cards. Practicing the pass is also great, because the cards are flexible. The only bad part is that they start to clump up after you use them for 20-30 minutes. Other than that great cards, so 4/5.

• 5

Amazing cards. Period. Dribbling is incredible, handles like a dream. This is a must have deck. Period.

• 5

Just got them yesterday and truly these are the best cards I've ever held!

• 5

These are freakin' smooth! These are the real deal when it comes to card magic and cardistry. I give them five stars!

• 5

The best deck I own. I have a lot of custom decks, but ever since I laid my hands on these they are the only ones I will use.

• 5

One of the finest decks I have played with in years. It looks seductively attractive and using them is like no other deck. The quality is outstanding and the finish can't get any better. Love every second with these!

• 5

I was extremely surprised when I opened my first box of these Bee Stinger playing cards. The feel to these cards are pure elegance and are absolutely phenomenal when flourishing or just handling the deck when performing your card magic. The back design is beautiful and simple and are almost hypnotic with the way they fade at the edges, absolutely lovely. I also really love the darker red they used for the Hearts and Diamonds and all of the face cards are dreamy in a way and by that I mean the subtle dark gray mixed with the dark red with the black lines around them all, really make them pronounce and elegant to look at.

I never thought I would find another deck besides Bicycle Rider Back's to enjoy all of my card magic routines and some flourishes.
I've noticed that when I reach for a deck of cards to either practice with, or before I head out for a performance, I've been reaching for these Bee Stingers. The audience members I perform for were also very interested in the cards. Since there's a lot of the older audience members who have gone to Casinos and have used these type of cards, never thought they would be available to the public, as well as with a different back design.

I highly recommend these cards to anyone who wants to try something a little different and who want to expand their collection and performance methods by switching from their deck of choice, and to try these cards, even if just for experimenting purposes.

• 5

These cards are awesome. I highly recommend them. Fan perfectly.

• 5

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful! So smooth, but with a rougher edge that makes these cards a sight to behold and to handle. The comfort of Bikes meets the classic feeling of Bee's in the Stingers Deck. Wonderful Ace of Spades as always. Smokey faded edging give the deck a unique look.

Playing around with these cards got me excited to develop new effects. I can say my latest trick is credited to this deck. Let's face it, the black Bee Stingers are the deck to have.

• 5

When I first saw these being released I thought, oh great... another set of blown out of proportion playing cards. After taking one look at the pictures and video, I HAD to have them.

Straight out of the box they feel great, smooth and move freely but without going all over the place. They spread perfectly and shuffle instantly, most specifically a Faro shuffle, they are made for this.

The cards themselves are firm but soft at the same time, so you can manipulate them whether it be for magic or flourishing. They aren't bent as easily as the standard bees but the cards be bent back and forth and they still retain their shape, so when you're flourishing, THE CARDS ACT WITH AND FOLLOW YOUR MOVEMENT!

The design of the backs is so simple yet so classic and modern. I can't put this any other way, they are amazingly cool. The fronts are fantastic, the black is a real jet black and the red is almost blood red. The court cards are a mix of black, white, red and silver / grey. What can I say. Possibly some of the best court cards I have ever seen.

FINALLY! The faded border. AWESOME. During a certain trick if a card is turned over in a standard bee deck, it can bee (excuse the pun) seen a mile off. Whereas as this deck removes that problem. That back design still has the same mesmerizing effect and is still great for bottoms deals, strike deals and shifts.

The word 'cool' was made for this moment.

• 4

First time I held a Bee deck, it felt so bad. The deck was too soft, not strong enough, easily bent, etc. I felt better when I touched the Bee Wynn's - but I felt much more excited when I touched a Bee Stingers deck with my hands.

The deck felt different than regular Bee's or Wynn's. I felt that the deck had some kind of appeal. I didn't want to release the deck from my hands.

The border is really great. Faded border makes the deck look very cool. The combination of the colors is very awesome. This is a masterpiece of a Bee deck.

Single word - AWESOME.

• 4

Bee decks never fail me in quality, durability, and longevity. This deck is no exception.

The back design is just plain brilliance. It gives the deck a "phantom" like look. Handling is just superb. The stock is just a bit thicker than your everyday Bicycle's and the finish is exactly what you expect from a Bee deck - terrific.

If you're the kind of person that wants to try something different, don't be afraid to pick some of these up. They are definitely worth your time, but don't take my word for it.

• 5

In addition to all the other wonderful things said about this deck, with which I fully agree, I would also like to add that this deck is ideal for use with invisible elastic card rising bands. The bands blend in pretty seamlessly with the back design, unlike with most other decks where it stands out like a sore thumb and you have to carefully conceal it.

• 5

Usually, I hate Bee playing cards, because of their back. They were too simple, and when you have a card return inside the deck you see it right away due to the colored edges.

But "Bee" Stinger card, with faded border, black color, and aristocrat fnish change everything. They look more classy and special.

No funny design or image, When performing, your public see a man, classic cards, and magic. Maybe they enjoy more because they don't think about "modified cards" or "cheated cards", just fancy cards.

Right out of the box :

I was quite surprised, they are a little bit rigid, more rigid than a "Bicycle" deck and a little bit more than "Tally-Ho" cards. Little bit rigid like "Tally-Ho's black Viper".

A LePaul Spread was quite dificult to do right out of the box, and a "spring" very powerful. So you will have to work with them to make them flexible.

A "Pressure" (from Dan&Dave) look absolutely beautiful and fancy

A "False : Up the ladder" cut is very easy to do with them. These cards are made to do that.

A "Double L." is very very deceptive with these, thanks to the faded border and the back design. But it's more dificult than a "Tally-ho" deck (due to the rigidity they sometime the tendency to bow) I recommend to apply fanning powder to make them easier and perfect.

"Faro shuffle" : they do it naturally, nothing to say. Perfect

"Card Spin": hypnotising and funny

"Strike second deal", "Center deal", "Bottom deal", "Greek deal" etc.. : The aristocrat finish is doing his work, 5/5

After few hours of use, they are still not sticky.

What I personally dislike :

The red color is darker than a regular deck of cards (Compared to Bicycle for exemple) I personally prefer a real flashy red. There some move you can do before your cards are worked, and flexible enough. If you put a "Crimp" on a card, It's more difficult to remove it.

Bee Stingers are really good cards. A sure value. For me, they reach the top with a "Tally-Ho" Circle design deck.

If you buy a Bee Stinger deck, beware, you will be very impatient until you'll receive them.

My Cassiopeia

• 5

Before I start, I must say that I have never reviewed anything before. So this is my first.

Fans: 4.5/5 These cards fan beautifully. The Aristocrat finish is great for any sort of spread or fan. The cards' ability to fan well lasts a long time as well.

Cuts: 5/5 I really don't do much XCM or the likes, but the few moves I do perform work quite well with these cards. One notable quality is the ability of these cards to hold together well during aerial moves.

Riffle Shuffles: 4.5/5 These cards riffle shuffle very well. They don't have the slippery edges like a lot of other custom decks.

Overhand Shuffles: 5/5 In one word - "great".

Faro Shuffles: 5/5 The Stingers faro very well unlike a lot of cards they are not too thick to faro shuffle evenly.

Looks: 5/5 theory11 took the classic Bee design and made it really classy. These cards are drop dead gorgeous.

Overall: 6/5 These cards are great. I have already recommended them to all of my friends. If you want a high quality and classy deck of cards, these are for you.

• 5

Let me start off by saying that I have a shoe box or two FULL of different decks.

To give you an idea of other cards I like in case it will help you identify with my feelings for the stinger backs, I love arrcos, tallys/split spades, and massa casino cards (although those are better for flourishing than magic).

I HATE bee cards, all the phonebook thick e decks, and bikes (masters are ok, never tried the gold seal ones).

These are some of the best cards i've worked with. The only finish i like more than the aristocrat finish is a linen finish. These cards fan great, spread great, faro great, look slick and stylish. The faces of the cards have the deeper red of other T11 decks as well as the grey/blue/red court cards.

These cards have a thicker feeling stock such as bicycle master edition but feel lighter and more flexible like arrcos.

I bought a deck and I am about to order a bunch more as these are my new favorite deck along with my arrcos and split spades.

• 5

These cards are by far one of the best decks I have ever owned. The Aristocrat finish and the faded edges on the cards make it even more unique.

Spreads: 5/5

Spreads with these cards are absolutely beautiful. They look amazing, no wonder why casinos like these so much!

Fans: 4.5/5

When you fan the cards, the smokey white edges make it look absolutely cool, your spectators will be baffled! The aristocrat finish is okay, but to my personal preference not the best, but great choice.

Cuts: 5/5

Cuts with the Stingers are good for flourishing and casino work, which are as advertised by the preview video.

Overall these cards are amazing quality for a very cheap price. Go ahead and get yourself a deck of Stingers today, you will not be disappointed.

• 5

Beautiful. I love them. I've gotten to work with them for a few days now, and they are amazing. The look is dead sexy, the white fading border is the perfect subtle aesthetic for a Bee deck. These appear to have the old cutting method that some casino's use and is available on the gold ribbon Bikes, (the kind that use a different blade and cutting angle), the feel and finish is smooth and strong, yet lightweight.

They fan and farro fantastically right out of the box, they really flow with your movement and don't stay conformed or become contorted with normal usage of magic/flourishing/cardistry (however this is subjective to how rough one is with a deck of cards, those who are brutal with them need understand that this statement doesn't apply to those who seem intent on killing the deck.... you know who you are).

This has been the *easiest* I've been able to get to the 'get ready' positioning for a Greek deal, centers flow perfect. These are great cards, by far better than your regular Bee deck (and far better than other casino Bee decks I have).

Those turned off initially by Bee decks because of their lack of design, as I said earlier the simplicity of the faded white border adds so much to this deck, it makes this deck relevant to performing magic, where the average Bee deck (unless doing card shark demonstrations) seems out of place. Love 'em, hats off t11, these are quite the treat.