Old Bicycle Cards. What to do?

May 23, 2010
15
0
Hi there,

I use regular playing cards for training and I notice I wear them out within a month (since I use them daily). They are still usable, but there are certain techniques I am unable do. Should I just keep them... and use them over and over or recycle them?

What's your suggestion on old and worn cards. I'm trying to keep the cost low by not buying new cards.

1st post... awesome, made a mark on theory11.
 
May 15, 2010
493
3
28
With Gerard Way
Better Yet…

Better yet, you can use these cards for other tricks.
An artist always runs out of paint at some point, they have to get new paint, same with your cards, keep your old cards for tricks that involve tearing like a torn and restored card, or use the deck for a signed ACR routine, so you are not hurting your nice cards, and you are not throwing away any cards that are still able to do some work.
 
Jul 13, 2009
424
0
Edmonton, Canada
You said you cannot do certain moves with the deck. My advice would be to do only those certain moves with another new deck, and continue practicing the remaining moves with the old deck.
 
Jan 31, 2010
86
1
I second Malibu's thoughts. Save the deck for tricks that require extra cards, or effects that necessitate some abuse. Tearing, signing, burning, folding, etc. Practice your splitting with those if you want, or take them with you on outdoor trips where you don't want to risk your newer cards.

Ted Anneman has a great routine involving a full deck tear at the end which would also be of good use for a worn deck.

Or, if none of the above applies, use them to play actual card games with.
 
Oct 11, 2007
277
2
I found that I had stacks of hundreds of cards that were unusable and performed some TNR's for awhile, but I eventually created some artwork with them. I won't tell you what, but be creative ;). Something that you could hang in your room someday perhaps?! Use you imagination and you can create some pretty cool pieces of art with cards.

Best of luck,
emagician
 
Oct 29, 2009
971
0
Just around
Practice effects where you have to tear cards up or bend them a lot.

Also something that I used to do, is practice card manipulation with them. They're perfect for that kind of work, because they're going to get bent a lot.


Cheers
 
Hi there,

I use regular playing cards for training and I notice I wear them out within a month (since I use them daily). They are still usable, but there are certain techniques I am unable do. Should I just keep them... and use them over and over or recycle them?

What's your suggestion on old and worn cards. I'm trying to keep the cost low by not buying new cards.

1st post... awesome, made a mark on theory11.
use them or use them for experimental use....
 
Sep 1, 2007
109
0
Woah! Woah! I think people are missing the point here...

YOUR CARDS LAST YOU A MONTH?!?!?! WHERE CAN I BUY THEM??

Honestly, I wreck decks of cards in a couple days at best...

I just have a drawer of all old cards, and any time i think up some effect that involves cutting cards, I create preliminary versions of it with the junk cards. Ive also used them to practice the mercury card fold, and similar moves. Also, practice your pass using 2 decks... Things like that.

I also keep them and use them for a dirty deck principle + duplicate card in all my decks. I always carry a dupe (often for Brent Braun's Kickback Transpo which started my use of dupes!)

Lots of ways to use these things...

Im just impressed you get a months use out of a deck... Last year I went through 100+ decks...

Cheers,
Lucas
 
Jan 31, 2010
86
1
That's an absurd amount. Do you live in a particularly humid environment or have really sweaty hands? I practice for hours a day and easily get a month out of bikes, and I've been using Tallys for around 4.

In order to maintain this sort of longevity, I wash my hands whenever they feel gross and rotate between decks. I typically cycle between 3 or 4 decks at a time, in various states of wear. Baby powder also helps sweaty hands if you have of that laying around.
 
Sep 1, 2007
340
1
Ontario, Canada
That's an absurd amount. Do you live in a particularly humid environment or have really sweaty hands? I practice for hours a day and easily get a month out of bikes, and I've been using Tallys for around 4.

In order to maintain this sort of longevity, I wash my hands whenever they feel gross and rotate between decks. I typically cycle between 3 or 4 decks at a time, in various states of wear. Baby powder also helps sweaty hands if you have of that laying around.
I wash my hands before using cards and my bikes only last me about a week. Maybe less. I have no idea how they could last that long
 
May 23, 2010
15
0
Did I say a month? I mean a week or two. :D

I practice my flourishes everywhere... in the bus, public streets, work, etc. of course not my routines, that stuff I stay at home to practice. Good thoughts on the experimental illusions with old decks.
 
Sep 1, 2007
109
0
That's an absurd amount. Do you live in a particularly humid environment or have really sweaty hands? I practice for hours a day and easily get a month out of bikes, and I've been using Tallys for around 4.

In order to maintain this sort of longevity, I wash my hands whenever they feel gross and rotate between decks. I typically cycle between 3 or 4 decks at a time, in various states of wear. Baby powder also helps sweaty hands if you have of that laying around.

Actually, I live in Quebec. Northern Canada.. Not exactly humid or really hot around here.
Dont sweat much at all either.

I just work my cards pretty hard. Constant toying with them and putting them in pockets defs doesnt help, but oh well. There's a reason I've got bricks upon bricks of unopened Bikes..

I also destroy approx. 2 decks a gig. Once I've gig-ed with a deck, its trashed; missing cards, pretty mucked up, etc. This consistutes quite a few of the 100+ dekcs.

I have no idea how anyone can get more then a week out of a deck if they're really practicing AT ALL. To me that seems absolutely extraordinary.

Maybe you have a different idea of what a trashed deck is than I do..? As soon as they dont feel nice at all, I just trash em. Slightly thicker, not spreading nicely, slightly too bendable, anything like that, they're gone. Card magic is about subtlety and feel for the cards. As soon as something gets in the way of that, I change it.

I dunno..

Cheers,
Lucas
 
Jan 13, 2010
10
0
Riverside, CA
I'm NOT going to give suggestion about your old decks, but, I have tips for using a New Deck for training.

These are the things I'm always doing using a slight old and new deck to make it not become dirty cards:
-Wash your hands before using it.
-Make sure your hands are not too sweaty, it should be dry or little bit mosturize. (it will make the deck still loose)
-After every 15 minutes using the deck, make sure do 2 Riffle Shuffle with Waterfall Finish, 1 Waterfall Flourish, 1 Dribble, and 1 Spring. (it will make the dirt came out of the card)
-Always put it in the card box.
-Always put the card box in your cabinet or somewhere that it is hidden. (so that the dirt will not stick on the card box and the edge of the cards)

Hope you follow these tips. Enjoy!

-Kris
 
Sep 1, 2007
340
1
Ontario, Canada
Almost forgot. Card Boxes!
Ive seen videos of people with huge boxes like this. Tutorial on YouTube.
 

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