Cards, Cards, and More Cards...

[datskanars]

hi guys

I just purchased a couple of theory11 custom decks and unfortunately..THEY ROCK! now i say "unfortunately" because i just spent about 104$ to buy 21 bicycle decks from e (shipping included) and 2props,2 guardians and 2 split spades decks which cost abot 50 euros (shipping included).

Although i love those custom decks many of my effects require to sign,burn,tear,fold,etc a card or cards and am not willing to destroy custom decks . also since i live in Greece with the shipping and all the price of 21bikes=12 split spades. Do the custom decks last longer?

what do you guys think i should do? Quantity or quality?

p.s. until now i have been using stupid,sticky,with the worst ever finish,thick italian cards which are very common in Greece and gave me a hard time.though i at least can do some sleights pretty well with bikes since i had been practicing with worse decks for so long.

George

 

[Randomwrath]

Personally, I just go with standard bikes. Yes, just plain old red/blue rider backs. I have 1 deck of Black Tigers that I save for my finale on special occasions, and a deck of Shadow Masters which I practice with. I have no complaint with bikes, and feel custom cards are mostly unnecessary. However, one thing to take into account is personal style. For example, the infamous Praetoritevongeek posted recently in a thread somewhere that he uses the S+M decks due to elegance. After watching his video, I would agree that the way he performs goes very well with the S+Ms. I think that using the right deck at the right time can affect your magic considerably. I always use normal bike decks for a casual performance, but switch to a Black Tiger deck for my big finale, just because it fits with the more mysterious and dark theme I try to create near the end of my acts. So I would say that it is up to you, but think about what you want to do with the cards and how you are going to perform with them.

 

[pearce]

The thing to consider here is how much use you are trying to get out of the cards before they are "sacrificed" for the sake of the burning, tearing, or folding effects. Some performers can take a deck or two to a show with the intention of getting every last bit of mileage from them before they hit the trash on the way out the door! Personally, I like the way cards handle for certain flourishes & cuts only after they've been worked in a bit. While I like the artistry of the Split Spades the most, they're probably not that much different from the others (Standard Bikes, USPCC). Now, if you want some REAL keepers for flourishing and general (hate to use this word)conservative usage - GET YOURSELF SOME ALADDINS !! Rigid, yet thin and workable... & they REALLY go the distance once you get them worked in!

 

[Randomwrath]

Pearce, welcome to Theory11, hope it's a good stay.
Datskanars, Pearce has a good point. Different cards are good for different things and it depends how long you want them to last. I'm not an expert, but have heard some pretty awesome things about the Aladdins, alongside very few bad things (which is reasonably rare when it comes to these huge card vs card wars). Still, it's your call.

 

[datskanars]

i like to get as much out of the cards as i can usually, but i perform a lot of street magic and i like to start with tricks like angle zero. Do you think that it would be a bad idea to perform a couple of tricks with one deck (which will destroy some cards) and then ake out another one to do some pwerful impromptu stuff or vuce versa?
Also since i had been using those italian decks i have to practice a lot of flourishing with bikes because it is slightly harder to flourish with them after practicing with "modiano "playing cards (though in magic it is the exact oposite).

About the aladdins ....i really hate their design i prefer the standard bikes.

 

[RikAllen]

I would say that unless you have one big finale trick, like randomwrath, then another deck just seems unnecessary imo.

A good alternative to bikes might be regular tally-hos. They're different from ordinary bikes. People usually choose one or the other when it comes to standard decks. (or something along the lines of Aladdin's or Stud's, which I need to buy/try out sometime).


If you can choose just one deck then a good way to get mileage would be to use a deck until it's almost worn out, not too noticeably different from a newer deck though, and then force cards from your older deck to be torn/burned and you'll still have a full new deck to work with.

Just make sure you take out the duplicate of the extra...spectators might say something if the card you just burned was now in the deck perfect again.

As far as bikes go. They feel better once they've gotten out of brand new condition, and you will get use to the slick feel the more you work with them. With that said, in my experience they haven't lasted me as long as some other decks (guardians included) when I'm doing a lot of flourishing or practice over a week.

They are cheaper though...so I never felt bad using them to practice burning cards with the old ones.(thnx Dee, Cinders is still getting used)


-Rik

 

[Shodan]

Hi,

If you live in greece you might want to try ordering your cards from somewhere a bit closer...here's a couple of great UK based suppliers:

www.magicbox.uk.com (they have some custom decks - including T11 - but also they stock "Bicycle SECONDS" which are very cheap bicycle cards, great for practise)

www.cards4magic.co.uk (they have just about every playing card ever produced on here, great site)

You should find that you can save significant amounts of cash by using a UK suppier.

Cheers,
David.

 

[datskanars]

Hi,

If you live in greece you might want to try ordering your cards from somewhere a bit closer...here's a couple of great UK based suppliers:

www.magicbox.uk.com (they have some custom decks - including T11 - but also they stock "Bicycle SECONDS" which are very cheap bicycle cards, great for practise)

www.cards4magic.co.uk (they have just about every playing card ever produced on here, great site)

You should find that you can save significant amounts of cash by using a UK suppier.

Cheers,
David.

well, i dont really save that much money by ordering from U.K. by the way both sites have very expensive split spades.


p.s. I really appreciate your help guys

 

[Auphori]

To get a real result of what peoples favorite cards are, you need to add alot more into the poll, such as Tallys, Smoke & Mirrors, Ghost ect...

Andy

 

[spades]

Do you flourish? Personally I use custom for flourishing and bikes for magic. Everything has been said really...

 

[indiana508]

Personnaly The only reason I will eaver use a deck of Bikes and nopt tally ho or a sutom dek is if I am buring or other wise harming the deck

 

[Randomwrath]

Do you think that it would be a bad idea to perform a couple of tricks with one deck (which will destroy some cards) and then ake out another one to do some pwerful impromptu stuff or vuce versa?

When I want to change to a different deck, I will end one trick with a deck vanish. I then tend to perform a little coin or other object magic, just to add a gap, before pulling out the other deck. I wouldn't recommend randomly swapping decks with no logic behind doing so, as this is very suspicious.

 

[datskanars]

To get a real result of what peoples favorite cards are, you need to add alot more into the poll, such as Tallys, Smoke & Mirrors, Ghost ect...

Andy

This poll was not really meant to get a result of peoples favorite cards . These are the custom decks I personally like and i wanted to see which people think is better.