Yesterday I was at my local Wal-Mart, heading towards the electronics section, when I swung through toys for no apparent reason and almost passed a giant display (which is pretty lame considering it was massive and there were yellow banners everywhere) featuring these:
Obviously, it's a 2-pack of Bikes; one version is a blue Jumbo Index deck with a red Anniversary deck, the other is a red Standard deck with a blue Anniversary deck. I didn't see any of the opposite color scheme, but that doesn't necessarily mean they don't exist. The back of each of the boxes is just the Anniversary deck cover design. The sides are printed with the side designs of the decks. Overall it's a pretty slick package. Note that the plastic is not on the Jumbo or the blue Anniversary decks in the picture because I've opened them to check them out already.
The kicker / reason I'm wasting everyone's time, though, is the price: $1.97, cheaper than even a single pack of Standard Bikes ($2.17 or so at the Wal-Mart here; I've seen them as low as $1.89 at other Wal-Marts) and way cheaper than an Anniversary deck ($3.77). I originally saw them and said "ah, pretty cool" ... then I saw the price and immediately grabbed one of each.
I know people aren't huge fans of the new Standard Bikes (or the Anniversary edition to boot), but holy crap, this is a deal if you don't mind them - literally two decks for the price of one. I've seen similar 2-packs, but usually they're 3 bucks and only have two Standard decks, one of each color.
I was also at the local Mobil today and saw a 2-pack that looks almost identical to these, but doesn't have the Anniversary pack or the yellow "FREE 125TH ANNIVERSARY PACK" in the bottom right corner, so if you're really in for the Anniversary deck it might be a good idea to make sure you're grabbing what you think you're grabbing.
One thing, though: it's hard to tell from the picture, but the Anniversary packs included in the free deck deal DO NOT have the regular Anniversary case with foil accents - they're just the design without the foil. It wasn't a deal-breaker for me (though I was kind of disappointed) since I've been itching to get an Anniversary deck to use; I'll probably pick up the fancy foil versions to save for my collection, but these are a great (super-cheap) option for everyday use.
As far as I can tell the Anniversary edition included in the 2-pack is exactly the same as the "regular" Anniversary decks, except for the foil. The pips are retro, the Anniversary facts ad cards are included, one Joker is the retro one and the other is the current one; overall, I'm a huge fan of the deck.
The only other thing I'll say is that the decks are what you'd expect from Standard decks these days: they're pretty (okay, more like "very") rough on the edges at first, but handle fairly well out of the box and should smooth out over time.
I guess that's it; hopefully this helps some of you out!
Obviously, it's a 2-pack of Bikes; one version is a blue Jumbo Index deck with a red Anniversary deck, the other is a red Standard deck with a blue Anniversary deck. I didn't see any of the opposite color scheme, but that doesn't necessarily mean they don't exist. The back of each of the boxes is just the Anniversary deck cover design. The sides are printed with the side designs of the decks. Overall it's a pretty slick package. Note that the plastic is not on the Jumbo or the blue Anniversary decks in the picture because I've opened them to check them out already.
The kicker / reason I'm wasting everyone's time, though, is the price: $1.97, cheaper than even a single pack of Standard Bikes ($2.17 or so at the Wal-Mart here; I've seen them as low as $1.89 at other Wal-Marts) and way cheaper than an Anniversary deck ($3.77). I originally saw them and said "ah, pretty cool" ... then I saw the price and immediately grabbed one of each.
I know people aren't huge fans of the new Standard Bikes (or the Anniversary edition to boot), but holy crap, this is a deal if you don't mind them - literally two decks for the price of one. I've seen similar 2-packs, but usually they're 3 bucks and only have two Standard decks, one of each color.
I was also at the local Mobil today and saw a 2-pack that looks almost identical to these, but doesn't have the Anniversary pack or the yellow "FREE 125TH ANNIVERSARY PACK" in the bottom right corner, so if you're really in for the Anniversary deck it might be a good idea to make sure you're grabbing what you think you're grabbing.
One thing, though: it's hard to tell from the picture, but the Anniversary packs included in the free deck deal DO NOT have the regular Anniversary case with foil accents - they're just the design without the foil. It wasn't a deal-breaker for me (though I was kind of disappointed) since I've been itching to get an Anniversary deck to use; I'll probably pick up the fancy foil versions to save for my collection, but these are a great (super-cheap) option for everyday use.
As far as I can tell the Anniversary edition included in the 2-pack is exactly the same as the "regular" Anniversary decks, except for the foil. The pips are retro, the Anniversary facts ad cards are included, one Joker is the retro one and the other is the current one; overall, I'm a huge fan of the deck.
The only other thing I'll say is that the decks are what you'd expect from Standard decks these days: they're pretty (okay, more like "very") rough on the edges at first, but handle fairly well out of the box and should smooth out over time.
I guess that's it; hopefully this helps some of you out!