Got mine in the mail today; one of each color. Here's a breakdown, without all those ratings, numbers and other, as Mr. T would say, jibbajabba.
About the performance: The Lions are solid all around. They feel more sturdy than the first Split Spades. The finish is extra silky, so fanners will love them and flourishers might have to pick them up off the floor a few extra times. Seriously, I geeked out over the finish. I'm not a user of fanning powder, and if I use these decks exclusively, I'll never need it. If Wynns are as slick as snot, then Lions are like Mazola and KY on a waterbed mattress.
The edges are rough, so faros are a dangerous chore, if you like to take care of your cards. But the rough edges help with keeping a break and grip-related moves, such as a pivot cut. They are a shade thinner than Centurions and exactly as thick as E's Ghosts, but they feel a bit flimsier than Ghosts. They are nowhere near as thick as E's Masters, but I'd wager that many would say that's a good thing.
Because this is a Blaine deck, I tested how the cards responded to a Braue pop-up. They had a little extra spring, and bent back to normal just fine. My wonderful fiancee sat through my Queens and Aces routine again, and the red deck handled all the tricks and sleights well. That routine includes Mercury, Four, Hoffzy Ozbourne and a cutting to the aces trick.
Collectors may value this deck even more, because of all the mysterious design elements. As Blaine did with the first Split Spades decks, he changed the faces of the face cards. Only the king and queen of diamonds have their traditional faces (Bicycle style). Speculation: Blaine likes to have his friends be part of his Two-Card Monte. The queen of hearts and king and queen of spades have the same faces as the first Split Spades deck. The jack of spades looks like Houdini, the queen of clubs looks a bit like Katie Egleston and the jack of diamonds looks like a pre-Kaos Danny Garcia. I'm just sayin'.
Collectors will also appreciate the gold letters on the bottom of each box that spell, "1st Edition."
The card backs are my favorite part of the deck. They are slightly different than the first Split Spades deck; scroll work and other design flairs break "the box" on the back. A panther has been replaced with a lion, and claw-like thingies have been replaced with portly doves in flight. If the backs are one-way, I haven't found it yet. The two jokers are the optical illusion picture of Blaine and a devil at a table. Y'all have seen the ace of spades; a closer look reveals that she is a "butterface" woman." PM if you need an explanation, kiddies.
Some slight differences existed between the decks, however. My red and black box featured a message on the inside flap, where usually is found a declaration of trademarks: "Great thoughts reduced to practice become great acts. -Hazlitt" The blue box's message is puzzling: "Off By One." Each of the decks had a promo card with seven logic puzzles. The red and blue decks had cards that looked like the front of the box, but there are no reveals. The black deck comes with a double-backer. Another bit of weirdness: The blue deck came shuffled in the box. So if you're one of those guys that loves the "Unshuffled" trick, this deck will whiz in your Cheerios.
Overall, the Lions are excellent cards. They are much improved over the Split Spades Tallys, by being thicker, crisper and much more well-designed. The design of the deck makes me feel like I'm demonstrating a rare antiquity. Pure magicians may be better off sticking with Centurions, Ghosts, Masters or Wynns, because of the value. But if you have no problem buying Tallys for $7, then the Lions will not disappoint you. Collectors will value this deck even more, because the design and artistic flairs make this deck feel like a vaudevillian curiosity from turn-of-the-century magic.
About the performance: The Lions are solid all around. They feel more sturdy than the first Split Spades. The finish is extra silky, so fanners will love them and flourishers might have to pick them up off the floor a few extra times. Seriously, I geeked out over the finish. I'm not a user of fanning powder, and if I use these decks exclusively, I'll never need it. If Wynns are as slick as snot, then Lions are like Mazola and KY on a waterbed mattress.
The edges are rough, so faros are a dangerous chore, if you like to take care of your cards. But the rough edges help with keeping a break and grip-related moves, such as a pivot cut. They are a shade thinner than Centurions and exactly as thick as E's Ghosts, but they feel a bit flimsier than Ghosts. They are nowhere near as thick as E's Masters, but I'd wager that many would say that's a good thing.
Because this is a Blaine deck, I tested how the cards responded to a Braue pop-up. They had a little extra spring, and bent back to normal just fine. My wonderful fiancee sat through my Queens and Aces routine again, and the red deck handled all the tricks and sleights well. That routine includes Mercury, Four, Hoffzy Ozbourne and a cutting to the aces trick.
Collectors may value this deck even more, because of all the mysterious design elements. As Blaine did with the first Split Spades decks, he changed the faces of the face cards. Only the king and queen of diamonds have their traditional faces (Bicycle style). Speculation: Blaine likes to have his friends be part of his Two-Card Monte. The queen of hearts and king and queen of spades have the same faces as the first Split Spades deck. The jack of spades looks like Houdini, the queen of clubs looks a bit like Katie Egleston and the jack of diamonds looks like a pre-Kaos Danny Garcia. I'm just sayin'.
Collectors will also appreciate the gold letters on the bottom of each box that spell, "1st Edition."
The card backs are my favorite part of the deck. They are slightly different than the first Split Spades deck; scroll work and other design flairs break "the box" on the back. A panther has been replaced with a lion, and claw-like thingies have been replaced with portly doves in flight. If the backs are one-way, I haven't found it yet. The two jokers are the optical illusion picture of Blaine and a devil at a table. Y'all have seen the ace of spades; a closer look reveals that she is a "butterface" woman." PM if you need an explanation, kiddies.
Some slight differences existed between the decks, however. My red and black box featured a message on the inside flap, where usually is found a declaration of trademarks: "Great thoughts reduced to practice become great acts. -Hazlitt" The blue box's message is puzzling: "Off By One." Each of the decks had a promo card with seven logic puzzles. The red and blue decks had cards that looked like the front of the box, but there are no reveals. The black deck comes with a double-backer. Another bit of weirdness: The blue deck came shuffled in the box. So if you're one of those guys that loves the "Unshuffled" trick, this deck will whiz in your Cheerios.
Overall, the Lions are excellent cards. They are much improved over the Split Spades Tallys, by being thicker, crisper and much more well-designed. The design of the deck makes me feel like I'm demonstrating a rare antiquity. Pure magicians may be better off sticking with Centurions, Ghosts, Masters or Wynns, because of the value. But if you have no problem buying Tallys for $7, then the Lions will not disappoint you. Collectors will value this deck even more, because the design and artistic flairs make this deck feel like a vaudevillian curiosity from turn-of-the-century magic.
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