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EndersGame Inner circle Reviewer EndersGame 2196 Posts |
Strigiformes Owl Playing Cards
Given the legacy of the owl as a wise old bird, choosing a deck of Strigiformes Owl Playing Cards certainly has wisdom associated with it! Strigiformes is the scientific name for the order that solitary and nocturnal birds like owls belong to. This deck was produced as a collaborative project between artist Renee LeCompte and playing card publisher Will Roya, who is now an experienced Kickstarter creator, and has a growing record of fulfilling projects speedily. The fact that this project was generously crowdfunded by more than 200% of its goal is an indicator of its appeal. I know what you're thinking right now: you're wondering what "Strigiformes" means, although you suspect it has something to do with owls. Bingo, you nailed it! To quote from one reference resource: "Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes, which includes about 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers adapted for silent flight." Wow, is this ever an amazing deck! The artwork has just the right colour combinations to give a real nocturnal feel, with dark colours. That's immediately evident with the tuck box, which confronts us with a gorgeous owl with outstretched wings, and has an individually numbered seal that the collector will appreciate. The artwork on the cards is incredible, starting with the card backs, which have a starry and dark night-sky background filled with a carefully designed symmetrical pattern constructed from detailed owl related images like eyes and feathers. The Aces are all unique, featuring a full one-way image of an owl, asymmetrically counter-balanced by an intricate and exquisite design that features the suit of the card in a frosted white. I'm especially smitten with the court cards, each of which features a different owl. Here's a complete list of all the owls featured on cards, listed in order of Ace, King, Queen and Jack for each suit: Hearts (Tytonidae): Australian Masked Owl, Barn Owl, Oriental Bay Owl, Lesser Sooty Owl Clubs (Strigidae - Strix): Barred Owl, Great Grey Owl, Ural Owl, Spotted Owl Diamonds (Strigidae - Megascops, Otus & Ptilopsis): Eastern Screech Owl, Giant Scops Owl, White-fronted Scops Owl, Northern White-faced Owl Spades (Strigidae - Bubo): Blakiston's Fish Owl, Eurasian Eagle Owl, Snowy Owl, Great Horned Owl Jokers (Strigidae - Athene): Burrowing Owl Close observation will also reveal how imagery from the Tarot has been incorporated, with the owls on Spades holding Swords, Diamonds holding Pentacles (Disks), Clubs holding Wands (Staves), and Hearts holding Cups (Chalices). It's not just the artwork here that it stunning, but it is accompanied with a gorgeous graphic design that fits perfectly with the overall style of the deck. The narrow borders are on target, and help enhance the stylish feel. But the number cards are great too, with highly customized pips, and intricate and ornate detail. Notice also how there are ornate versions of the suit pips on both left and right borders, which adds elegance and style, making this deck really stand out from the mediocre offerings sometimes appearing on the market these days. For extra effect, the suit pips also appear throughout the cards as dark shadows, although you'll only notice this if you look very carefully. This deck looks good in pictures, but I assure you that it looks even better in real life when the cards are in your hands in front of you! Beside the 13 cards in all four suits, we also get two mischievous jokers. And for our magic loving friends, there's two gaff cards: a bonus Joker with a reveal, and a novelty 21 of Spades with artwork depicting an owl skeleton. As an extra touch that those who love birds will appreciate, 5% of sales of this deck go to the Wild Bird Fund. You can view the superb and highly detailed artwork for all the cards in an official image gallery here. All the comments I've seen from people who have this deck have been extremely positive, and filled with praise for the artwork and beauty of these playing cards. With USPCC printing, handling is good as well. This deck is far from standard, but as a novelty or custom deck, it's one of my recent favourites. Highly recommended! Recommendation I'm glad that there's a variety of different decks of playing cards on the market. Sometimes we are just looking for something relatively unobtrusive and practical, and the iconic Arrco decks fit those criteria beautifully, while handling well at the same time. But if it's customization that we want, it's hard to look past the stunning Strigiformes Owl deck. The artwork and design of these cards is absolutely exquisite, and the entire deck is a true work of art, that will be prized by the collector and much enjoyed by everyone who sees it. So kudos to PlayingcardDecks.com for creating some great new decks, and continuing to produce the goods for fans of custom playing cards around the world! Want to learn more? You can find these decks on PlayingCardDecks.com here: - ARRCO Playing Cards - Strigiformes Owl Playing Cards |
The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » Deck the Halls » » Review: Strigiformes Owl Playing Cards (Renee LeCompte) (0 Likes) |
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