Dan Sperry's
Crimson Playing Cards
Price: $6.95
Available at: MJM Magic & Dan Sperry
Pre-Opening: One mistake I believe some people make when reviewing Playing Cards is to get the cards out of the mailbox and immediately open them and try them out. In transit (and sitting in your mailbox) the cards can either get rather hot or cold (depending on season) and this affects the handling quite a bit.
Before opening the deck I put it in a fairly cool Porper Card Clip and let them sit for a little while. This ensured the deck would be at its best when I tried it out.
Handling: Yes, I am covering the handling of the deck first. Even the most beautiful deck is rather pointless if they are not capable of good handling.
The deck reminds me in feeling of a slightly worn-in deck of standard Bicycles. They have that bit of grip to them while still being smooth enough to fan and spread quite well.
The edges were slightly rough like any deck, but this is easily worked out with a few moments of handling.
The deck is, by my best judgment, about 6 cards thinner than a standard Bicycle deck (both decks containing 54 cards) and I honestly quite like it.
The thinness gives the deck a very light feel which I personally find to help a good deal in card handling. The thin nature of the cards also lightens the load on multiple lifts.
All of the sleights and flourishes I attempted with the deck were met with as great of success as any other deck I've used.
Design: The deck is undeniably Dan Sperry. Anyone who enjoys the style he brings to his magic will feel right at home with this deck.
When I first saw the design online I thought it might be a bit much, perhaps having a little too much "kool aid" plastered on it. However, the design retains that great punk-gothic feel while still giving a great sense of elegance to the pack.
The backs are very slick and have, thank god, a white border. My biggest issue with black decks is that the black borders that are sometimes used tend to wear down and make the deck look like trash. The white borders completely prevent this from happening and give aid to that elegance I spoke of.
The faces are your standard bicycle, save the Ace of Spades and the Jokers.
The Ace has a very cool design, but the amount of red (IE, Crimson) doesn't make me think "Ace of Spades" and, in my opinion, is just slightly strange. However, the card still has a great look to it that perfectly accents the rest of the deck.
The jokers actually look somewhat like the backs of a different deck. Their design, which is very nice by the way, goes all the way to a white border just like a back design. While this is cool, I personally think it makes them look a bit out of place in the deck. Once again, though, they still have a great design despite my small qualms.
Also included in the deck are two advertisement cards, one for Dan himself and the other for his next deck, The Silly Rabbit. That deck looks to be very unique and I am interested to see what comes of it.
Final Thoughts: Despite the couple of aforementioned things, I really like this deck. Actually, I wish I had ordered more than one.
I played with the deck all night while working on some effects and it proved to handle well for each thing I attempted. All in all a very good deck that I highly recommend for your collection.
C
