What Do You Expect From A Deck Of Cards?

[cardlover]

Hi, magician! We are running a new playing cards. Could you please give us an advice – What are the features the hypothetic deck 'of your dream' should contain to be suitable for most spectacular tricks? Any thoughts and deck examples based on your experience are welcomed!

In order to be more specific: We've just completed the artwork for a new deck of cards. Our deck is suitable for playing and collecting and it contains standard set of playing cards. But we are going to add some magic features and to improve the design of cards to be interesting for magicians of any level. We are wondering – what design details are important for magicians in existing decks (what are often used, most wanted, personally liked or rare).

1) what are the most important, popular and actual design details of decks used by magicians, e.g. elements or examples of the back and face design etc
2) most used kinds of gaff cards etc. and what types of gaffs/gimmicks the deck should contain out of the box (e.g double-backs, double-faces, blank+back, double-blank etc.) Thank you in advance!

 

[ChrisWiens]

If you really want to improve, be different than most other decks on the market.
In my opinion, only card-shark with his brand of phoenix decks does it right, because he doesn't care about a cool design, he rather makes his decks really usable.
This means:
- availabiliy not just for a few months till it's OOP.
- a collection of gaffed cards
- the option to print your own cards
- easy to read marked cards fully integrated in the design
- and other clever ideas such as the Poker Bingo card, the back AND face indices one-way design etc.
Let's face it. Most card designer just care about the design, they don't think outside the box.

 

[cardlover]

If you really want to improve, be different than most other decks on the market. Most card designer just care about the design, they don't think outside the box.

Thank you, Chris! That's exactly why we research these problems, before completing 'design' of the deck. We are trying to use the best practices from existing decks for magicians and from relevant books.

It is hard to make right choice without advice from experienced magicians.

 

[cardlover]

What gimmicked cards you would like to get out of the box of each new standard non-altered deck?

 

[Fox13]

I like the standard faces, but I just can't stand that light blue and yellow anymore (too much fiddling with standard bikes...). T11 does a great job at this with Artisans and Monarchs. Just make the court card colors fit with the back so when you display a reversed card in a spread colors are in harmony. And you don't need to go full custom on the court cards, I want them to feel familiar to my audience.

I am not much into gimmick cards, but if you must add one, a DB is most useful for me.

Stock and finish: I really like the feel of the Contraband deck. Just a little softer and more slippy than bikes without being too much.

 

[cardlover]

Stock and finish: I really like the feel of the Contraband deck. Just a little softer and more slippy than bikes without being too much.

Thank you, Fox13. Do you know where was the Contraband deck produced? Is it a USPCC product?

 

[cardlover]

What do you think about plastic card stock like KEM® from USPCC? They are not suitable for card tricks, are they?

 

[Josh Burch]

What do you think about plastic card stock like KEM® from USPCC? They are not suitable for card tricks, are they?

All the plastic cards I have handled are awful. I haven't handled the KEM cards but it is a terrible idea to have a deck made for magicians that can;t be crimped or marked.

Thank you, Fox13. Do you know where was the Contraband deck produced? Is it a USPCC product?

Yes, it's a Theory11 deck. Theory11 produces some of the best cars out there. There are few who can hold a canlde to their quality. They have a strong relationship with the USPC.

 

[Fox13]

What do you think about plastic card stock like KEM® from USPCC? They are not suitable for card tricks, are they?

The only good plastic cards I know are the Fournier 605, they are actually plastic coated. They can hold a crimp and they are great for magic, but the amount of breaking in required for them to handle great is massive. However, they last a freaking long time and can be washed. But you won't win a popularity contest with this stock and finish. Some people swear by them, but most people don't like it.

For a custom deck, either go USPCC or EPCC. Again, some people like EPCC durability over USPCC, and a lot of people just have the feeling of the finish.

 

[levivoltz]

I enjoy nice special finishes on my cards in MOST cases. The only deck I like that has a standard finish are the biggest stereotype cards, I am sure you can figure which I am talking about. The reason is that I like to have the best feeling cards possible while performing, in my hands, I think my favorite finish is the Linoid finish. As for gaffs, I love them, it means the producer has gone that extra mile (including blank cards, probably my favorite) to make me (the buyer) happy.