Card College Playing Cards

The Card College decks are one of the more affordable playing cards on the market, and they're also very practical. The full name of these decks is actually "Roberto Giobbi's Card College Playing Cards". It's a name that any serious student of card magic will immediately recognize.

Roberto Giobbi has not only won many international awards as a magician himself, but has also created several outstanding instructional materials relating to card magic, and is highly sought after as a lecturer and professional coach for the best magicians in the world. He has expertise in a variety of disciplines including mathematics, science, literature, and linguistics, and one of his real strengths is the scholarly approach that he brings to his magic.



But Giobbi's crowning achievement is his groundbreaking series of Card College textbooks, which represents a serious course in intermediate and advanced card magic, in five volumes. These are the most widely translated magic books in history, and are regarded by most magicians as the gold standard work for mastering the fundamentals of card magic. Now there's a quality deck of playing cards that bears Giobbi's name and that of his influential books, making a fine tribute to this contemporary giant in the world of card magic. And while it's especially geared to magicians, it works fine for card games too.

The tuck box immediately brings to mind the graphic designs of the Card College books, with a similar style and colours. Elegant decorative lines in silver ensure that it has a classy touch. The sides of the box are emblazoned with wisdom typical of Giobbi: "Card magic is the poetry of magic" and "Wonder is the beginning of all wisdom".



There are two different decks, one that is red-backed and the other that is blue-backed, so they make a nice matching set. The card backs feature a cross-hatched pattern that uses interlaced lines in a lattice shape, and the result is a plain pattern that doesn't distract, and yet looks distinctive and functional. This design brings to mind the iconic diamond pattern of the classic Bee Playing Cards. While those borderless backs are good for gambling routines, they are less suited to regular card magic or games, so Giobbi has wisely opted to go with cards with pleasant white borders.

The card faces are nearly all standard, which isn't surprising given that Giobbi emphasizes that good card magic happens by a strong and well-constructed performance. Flashy custom artwork and gaudy colours would only distract from his classic and traditional approach to magic, where all the emphasis is on good presentation and sound handling techniques.



There are small elements of customization, however, in the places that you expect them even with a relatively standard deck. The Ace of Spades has a large and ornate pip with a monogram of Giobbi's initials inside it, and his signature below it. The two Jokers feature a black and white image of Giobbi, with monogrammed circles on opposite corners, and over on his website Giobbi even offers a fun gag that you can use as a presentation for the text on the "Guarantee" Joker. Both decks also come with two extra gaff cards (double-backers), which will be welcomed by magicians.

Giobbi himself has also provided some excellent information about this deck, and suggestions for making good use of the gaff cards. The best place to go for this is over on his blog, by checking out the links to the video tutorials and other resources he has provided as part of his Magic Memories series (specifically #30, #32, #33, #36, and #37).

The deck has been produced by TCC Playing Cards, but the actual manufacturing and printing was by United States Playing Card Company. So the quality is good, and the handling is just what you'd expect from a standard USPCC-produced deck. It's a very functional and practical deck, and a fine tribute to a fine magician.

Excellent review.. as usual !!