Playing Cards for an Anniversary Celebration

In this review series, I'm featuring a number of decks I recently received as part of my first ever order from PlayingCardDecks.com (which I'll mostly refer to as PCD in this article). And because PlayingCardDecks is currently celebrating their first anniversary, from 24 - 30 April you can get 20% off everything on their website using the coupon code "YEAR1" at check out. They have 10,000s of decks in stock, with over 1500 different decks as part of their range. In my reviews so far I've covered many decks that were highly suited for card games or card magic, whereas in the current set of reviews I'm focusing more on artistic decks that will appeal to collectors, colourful decks will appeal to cardists, and also a number of decks that have been produced by Will Roya and PlayingCardDecks with the help of crowdfunding.




*** CARDISTRY DECKS ***

Cardistry decks have their own unique set of requirements, since card flourishing doesn't require cards to be functional for card games or magic. As a result, the very kinds of things that could distract or make a deck unusable for a card game or magic, are precisely the kinds of things that can work well for cardistry. Vibrant colours and patterns are in demand due to the visual aesthetics these can create, while functional indices and pips are no longer essential. With the rapid growth of cardistry in recent years, the market is ripe for decks of cards that are optimized specifically just for card flourishing, and these are some fine examples.

Cardistry Fanning deck

The Bocopo Playing Card Company has recently been releasing a multitude of decks, and many of them are ideal for cardists. One of these decks that is designed especially for cardistry is the Cardistry Fanning deck (White Edition)



The tuck box shows what the design of the cards is like, featuring a white background with red, black and grey on the corners and forming a star shaped design, complete with a circle in the centre. On the inside of the tuck flap are the words “Welcome To Cardistry Way”, which is quite nice invitational touch, and highlights the fact that as you open up the box, you are entering the world of cardistry.

The back design of the cards has black and red triangles on the top left and bottom right corners of each card, and a grey triangle on the top right and bottom left. This allows for beautiful fanning patterns depending on which way you fan the deck, as the different choices you make in fanning the cards produces different results - just like all choices in life.



While this deck is ideal for fanning and spreads, those are not the only card flourishes that this deck is good for. The back design also features a star-like design with a circle in the centre. This creates a clear point of focus on the cards, and allows for great effects when the cards are spun or twirled. As a result of these added graphical elements, these cards also look great when doing cuts.



The faces of the cards have no indices, instead having the triangles in the corners in the same way as the back design. This is a deliberate design choice, because it means that when fanning with the faces of the cards, it will generate great visual patterns with the same repeating design showing.



On the centre of the cards is a large pip corresponding to the card's suit, while the value is in white. This means that the different suits and values from a standard deck are still present. But their large size makes cuts look interesting due to the unity and similarity between the cards. Each card also has a circle in the centre of the faces, creating a focus point for cardistry moves.



Included in the deck are two Jokers with the Bocopo logo, with the logo also present by means of a watermarked background. Two ad cards for other decks from Bocopo are with the deck as well, as tantalizers and tempters, these being an Ace of spades from the pink edition of the Art of Cardistry deck, and a card featuring the back design of the Cardistry Turquoise deck.



This deck has been printed by the USPCC, and the cards handle great, like all Bicycle style decks. They fan and spread well, which is especially important for a deck that is geared towards cardistry. This is a terrific deck for all those who are interested in cardistry, whether new or experienced, because the cards will automatically help bring your card flourishes to new levels of aesthetics. With this deck in your hands, cardistry instantly becomes all the more enjoyable, due to the great artistic design. While this deck isn't suited to magicians or card games, due to the absence of indices, this quality also makes it all the more enjoyable for cardistry.



Binary deck

The Binary deck is a super colourful and creative deck of cards that has been designed by the Bocopo Playing Card Company.



The story of its genesis is a fascinating one, since it was inspired by a mundane mosaic loading screen on a computer, but the designer was immediately captivated by it and saw its potential.

The white tuck box has the name of the deck on it, and on the one side is a beautiful coloured pattern composed of individual small triangles, which make up squares and form lines of colours splashing across the edge. This fades away into individual squares and shows the idea of a loading page on a computer, the inspiration of this deck.



The back design of cards is a bordered design similar to what appears on the tuck case, but now the pattern takes up the complete canvas of the cards minus the white borders which help add emphasis. Individual triangles create a low-poly effect, and there are lines of colour going across the deck. The vibrant colour is really eye catching, and the low-poly effect looks very appealing. A gap of colour at two of the corners of the card makes fans and spreads look more interesting as well.

The faces of these cards are customized from the individual triangles and look amazing. Each pip is composed of the small triangles that made their first appearance on the card backs, thereby ensuring a unity of design between the card faces and backs.



I can't say enough about how beautiful and amazing the card faces are to look at, especially the court cards. While they employ the main overall design of standard courts, they also incorporate the triangles and the low-poly style artwork, and this combination results in them being some of the nicest court cards I have ever seen.



The indices are also composed of the customized pips, while a delicate font is used for the numbers.

The two Jokers are the letter J and are made up of the low poly triangles, matching the rest of the deck. Also with the deck are two extra cards, an ad card for Bocopo and the Ace of Spades from the Art of Cardistry deck.



The cards are printed by the USPCC, and they are on a Casino Stock with an Air-Cushion finish. These cards handle great, and will last you a while like most decks from USPCC.



Collectors will appreciate the artwork, magicians and gamers will love the uniqueness of the cards, and cardists will enjoy the colour and style these cards bring. They are particularly well suited for cardistry given their creative colour and design, but when used for magic or card games you'll also find that people can still use the cards while at the same time appreciating the wonderful design.

Recommendation

So is PlayingCardDecks.com something for you? I won't repeat the more detailed conclusions I included in my initial article. But I can say that if you're looking a high quality deck of playing cards, PCD is definitely a terrific online retailer to check out, based on my own very positive experience. And getting 20% off with their anniversary sale that is running from 24-30 April (use the coupon code "YEAR1"), now is a great time to discover this site. Happy first anniversary Will Roya!

There's a great range of creative and high quality playing cards, the decks featured above being good examples, and I'm pleased to recommend them. Whether you're looking for decks suitable for card games, card magic, or card flourishing, you're sure to find something that fits the bill at PCD. If you're like me, you'll appreciate having a quality deck of playing cards in your hands, and I'm happy to report that the playing cards I've been able to showcase here have not disappointed.



Want to learn more? Check out PlayingCardDecks.com
- Online Store: playingcarddecks.com (use code "YEAR1" to get a 20% discount site-wide during the first anniversary sale 24th to 30th April 2018)
- Related links: Blog, Kickstarter projects, Loyalty Rewards Program, Pip Box Club
- Social media: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter

Direct links for the decks featured in this review:
- Artistic decks: Masterpieces ($8.99), KADAR ($18.99)
- Cardistry decks: Cardistry Fanning - White Edition ($10.99), Binary ($9.99)
- PCD produced decks: Chicken ($12.99), Friendly Felines ($12.99), The Guard ($12.99)
- PCD co-produced decks: Alice in Wonderland ($14.99), Runic Royalty ($19.99), Freedom ($9.99), Opulent ($11.99)