Smoke & Mirrors - The Review

sinjin7

Elite Member
Apr 19, 2008
33
0
Nice review. Still waiting for my decks to arrive. I think the Buck twins made a good choice not to use deck seals since the deck is wrapped and sealed in cellophane anyways. Also nice to know that a double-backer is included, too - they're always useful. We'll have to agree to disagree about the double D's on the back. I've seen tons of pics put up by people who got these cards already, and they're still an eyesore on an otherwise great looking back design. I hope they handle as well as you claim they do, that will made the notorious double D's tolerable.
 
Mar 25, 2008
225
0
Arkansas
Got back in town today. My package was waiting for me.

My quicky review:

I still am not crazy about the back design. I am LESS than not crazy about the back design. I think I might hate it. The swirly design is better than I anticipated, the giant D's on the back are worse than I thought. Really disappointed.

Can't help but feel like the mirrors are going to get nasty looking. Hope I'm wrong.

Now, I've been pretty vocal about my disappointment in the LOOK of the cards. I stand by my opinions, but I have to give credit to the FEEL of these cards.

These feel awesome. I wish I could swear on here, because I don't feel like I can express how unbelievable these feel.

Now I have really mixed feelings about this deck.

When I pick up this deck I feel like I'm dating a really ugly girl who is awesome in the sack. I don't really want my friends to see her..... but dim the lights and WOW.

I probably won't use these for performance, but I will enjoy spending some time with them in private. (That came out waaaaayyyy creepier than I intended.)
 
May 16, 2008
114
0
Pittsburgh
Got back in town today. My package was waiting for me.

My quicky review:

I still am not crazy about the back design. I am LESS than not crazy about the back design. I think I might hate it. The swirly design is better than I anticipated, the giant D's on the back are worse than I thought. Really disappointed.

Can't help but feel like the mirrors are going to get nasty looking. Hope I'm wrong.

Now, I've been pretty vocal about my disappointment in the LOOK of the cards. I stand by my opinions, but I have to give credit to the FEEL of these cards.

These feel awesome. I wish I could swear on here, because I don't feel like I can express how unbelievable these feel.

Now I have really mixed feelings about this deck.

When I pick up this deck I feel like I'm dating a really ugly girl who is awesome in the sack. I don't really want my friends to see her..... but dim the lights and WOW.

I probably won't use these for performance, but I will enjoy spending some time with them in private. (That came out waaaaayyyy creepier than I intended.)

lmao

that made me laugh
 

villusionist

Elite Member
Jun 1, 2008
8
0
Just got mine today and I couldn't agree more with the reviews here on back design and feel. I did however notice that the back design isn't exactly centered. The white outer border on one side is twice the thickness of the other. Anybody else notice it on theirs. Intentional or printing?
 
Jul 27, 2008
85
0
www.youtube.com
what a beautiful deck of cards there is so much detail in them. the ace of spades and the jokers are probably 2 of the coolest cards ive seen. anyone who feels that the DD is really obviouse its not. alot of people i showed these too think that the DD on the back of the cards is just a design due to the fact that one D is reversed. the deck also features some simplified court cards (face cards) which are very elegant. i could be happier with this deck.
 
Jul 2, 2008
100
0
singapore
omg im already drooling for the cards... darn shipping taking too long... how would the feel of these cards compare to split spades lions? are they thinner? and can anyone else comfirm that they kind of fan lousier when they are broken in?
 
Sep 1, 2007
1,005
3
Just got mine today and I couldn't agree more with the reviews here on back design and feel. I did however notice that the back design isn't exactly centered. The white outer border on one side is twice the thickness of the other. Anybody else notice it on theirs. Intentional or printing?

Ive heard of this, it's due to VERY LOW quality control.

some people (like Q1, MGM) when they get cards printed off-center from the USPCC, will not sell them associated with their name, because they have a reputation to maintain.

on the other hand, dnd got a buck to make, their name is already golden with the fanboys, so theyre selling off centered graphics, its cool tho
 

rousselle

Elite Member
Aug 2, 2008
26
0
www.rousselle.com
Yes, it was deliberate

As Jack mentioned earlier in this thread, and MagicShadow9 mentioned on another, yes, the King of Clubs was definitely modified to resemble the face of a well known pair.

Take out any standard deck of Bikes or Tallys or any other over-the-counter (read: non-customized) USPC cards, and compare the court cards therein with the court cards of the D&D decks. For that matter, take the court cards from Centurions or Guardians and compare them.

You'll notice that the D&D courts are, for the most part, a simple modification of the standard USPC courts; mostly color fills that eliminate the line details of the originals. The one big exception is the King of Clubs, where the face of the King has been redrawn. The nose and mouth are particularly different from the typical style of the USPC court faces, and the eyes are also simplified. Compare this one to a "standard" King of Clubs, and you'll see it's definitely deliberate.

It's a nice effect. I like it. An Easter Egg!

My one disappointment with the design scheme is that the simplification of the courts doesn't jive with the sophistication (and the, er, complification) of the Ace of Spaces and the backs. It's like they are from different decks by different designers. Both design concepts are great, but they don't mix well (in my humble opinion).

Cheers,

--Allan

PS: the printing on my decks were also off-center, both fronts and backs, and the same was true with the Guardians and Centurions that I'd gotten with the same order. The off-center-ness is no more pronounced than I've sometimes found with the bikes I pick up at Costco. It's not enough for me to be all that put off, but it's enough that I noticed. Also, even though the amount of off-center-ness is the same in each case, it's more noticeable on the Smoke and Mirror decks. Not sure why, but it probably has something to do with the fineness of the design. It's also not as noticeable on the faces as the backs, even though they're off by the same amount.
 
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