On November 30th I received an e-mail from Christian Schenk (AKA Cardshark) that my pre-order (placed in early October) was in route. I received them yesterday...3 days later. Pretty quick service I may add. These cards are manufactured by the USPC and have the standard Air Cushion Finish.
I opened a blue back pack and fanned them as I usually do and they behaved like any standard Bicycle deck, smooth and even. The smell of fresh printing ink permeated the room as I played with the deck.
They where in new deck order and at first I thought there was something wrong with the deck as there were some duplicates of the Ace of Clubs, Hearts & Diamonds in the deck. There was 1 joker also.
The dupes had the standard pips as the deck also has Christian's enlarged pip design. This is a nice touch in case you are a traditionalist and want a normal deck. I like the large pips though, but I believe many will opt to use the standard size pips. Time will tell. Nice touch Christian!!
As with any new design I often scrutinize the backs to find if they are a one-way design...and this is a very subtle one-way design. It didn't take me long to determine that.
I like the back design a lot and it is reminiscent of the old Alladin 1001s of which I've always liked. The cards were printed a little off center (a USPC bugaboo). The edges were a little rough but they faroed with no problem and after a Steven Youell polishing they faroed effortlessly. I miked the thickness of an individual card and my Mitutoyo Caliper read .011" on it's LCD (a standard Bicycle card is .011' also). They are pretty slick cards from the box but as with any new deck, they should behave after the breaking in period.
My order came with a gaff card sampler with the usual DB, BB, etc. and a packet trick reminiscent of Mike Skinner's Ultimate 3 Card Monte, the routine is by Mark Elsdon. While I don't particularly care for this variation, the cards can be utilized in Skinner's routine with ease. Again Christian has included a normal pipped Ace of Hearts if you want to use it...I like the large pip BTW.
In all I give this product 9.5 out of 10 only because I prefer to have 2 Jokers in my deck. DO yourself a favor and order some for Christmas... for yourself and magic friends (if you are in the giving spirit).
UPDATE: Christian has stated that in next printing the normal extra Aces will be discarded and Two Jokers will accompany the decks...so get some of the 1st printings while supplies last!! Here is a link:
http://www.card-shark.de/index.cfm?p...lang=en&ref=MC
Cardamagically
DOM
I opened a blue back pack and fanned them as I usually do and they behaved like any standard Bicycle deck, smooth and even. The smell of fresh printing ink permeated the room as I played with the deck.
They where in new deck order and at first I thought there was something wrong with the deck as there were some duplicates of the Ace of Clubs, Hearts & Diamonds in the deck. There was 1 joker also.
The dupes had the standard pips as the deck also has Christian's enlarged pip design. This is a nice touch in case you are a traditionalist and want a normal deck. I like the large pips though, but I believe many will opt to use the standard size pips. Time will tell. Nice touch Christian!!
As with any new design I often scrutinize the backs to find if they are a one-way design...and this is a very subtle one-way design. It didn't take me long to determine that.
I like the back design a lot and it is reminiscent of the old Alladin 1001s of which I've always liked. The cards were printed a little off center (a USPC bugaboo). The edges were a little rough but they faroed with no problem and after a Steven Youell polishing they faroed effortlessly. I miked the thickness of an individual card and my Mitutoyo Caliper read .011" on it's LCD (a standard Bicycle card is .011' also). They are pretty slick cards from the box but as with any new deck, they should behave after the breaking in period.
My order came with a gaff card sampler with the usual DB, BB, etc. and a packet trick reminiscent of Mike Skinner's Ultimate 3 Card Monte, the routine is by Mark Elsdon. While I don't particularly care for this variation, the cards can be utilized in Skinner's routine with ease. Again Christian has included a normal pipped Ace of Hearts if you want to use it...I like the large pip BTW.
In all I give this product 9.5 out of 10 only because I prefer to have 2 Jokers in my deck. DO yourself a favor and order some for Christmas... for yourself and magic friends (if you are in the giving spirit).
UPDATE: Christian has stated that in next printing the normal extra Aces will be discarded and Two Jokers will accompany the decks...so get some of the 1st printings while supplies last!! Here is a link:
http://www.card-shark.de/index.cfm?p...lang=en&ref=MC
Cardamagically
DOM
