Hellcats Playing Cards / KS

[MSimonart]

Is there a reason these haven't been posted here yet? The campaign is doing pretty well.



USPCC-printed. I can see why they get funded, though the theme is not for me. And I hate the non-court cards, those airplane pips look awful, but overall it's certainly not a bad deck

[Harvonsgard]

Kinda repeating courts. Other than that a solid deck. Not my cup of tea though.

[OVSUB]

Again another project where the courts make me feel empty. I was so hype when I saw the design but the courts dropped on me hpye like Little boy and Fat man on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

[theCapraAegagrus]

Never saw a deck with skulls/skeletons before! Wow!

[macstrat]

Full Deck Scan: https://cardscans.piwigo.com/index?/cat ... 2-hellcats

[hsbc]

Hellcats is back with the Standard Edition! This is a reprint of the Hellcats deck, but with a classic tuck case that brings out the ornate details in the design. Hellcats is a dark art deco themed playing card deck inspired by the original 1946 Blue Angels flight demonstration squadron and their aircraft; the Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat.

[rousselle]

I'm late to this party, but for the sake of future generations...

I absolutely love a well-executed skeleton/skull/dia de los muertos-style deck. I've gone on at length in the past about how surprising it is that there are so many good, distinct decks using this theme, albeit within the context of an OCEAN of really mediocre decks with the same theme.

That said, this one is not one of the stand-outs. The courts are all front-facing, and since there's not much you can do with facial expressions on a bare skull, the fact that they are all front-facing renders them looking almost as if they are repeating (which, upon closer examination, they are not. Not really.)

Love the use of metallic inks. That's cool.

BUT.

The backs have a serious flaw. Look at any deck of standard bikes or Hoyles or the like. Look at any two-way back design that features an element like a skull or a head or a body. You'll notice that the TOP half of the back design is right-side-up, while the bottom half is upside-down. There's a very good reason for that, which has to do with how the cards look when you're holding them in a card game. We read from top down; the top is right-side-up.

Now look at these backs.

Wish I'd had a chance to warn the project creators while it was still being funded to see if they would be willing to fix this major design faux pas. Alas, this one slipped by me without notice at the time.

[krystalie]

You'll notice that the TOP half of the back design is right-side-up, while the bottom half is upside-down. There's a very good reason for that, which has to do with how the cards look when you're holding them in a card game. We read from top down; the top is right-side-up.

Not the creator, but just wanted to understand what you meant by right-side-up? Aren't standard bikes symmetrical with respect to the horizontal axis like those backs?

[rousselle]

Take an official Bicycle Rider Back playing card court card and put it down on the table in front of you, face up.

Let's say it's the King of Hearts.

Look at the top of the card. In fact, use your hand to cover up the bottom half of the card so that all you see is the top half of the card.

You see an illustration of a King holding a sword in such a way that it looks like he might actually be stabbing his head. Or, maybe the sword is going behind his head. Hard to tell. But, either way, you are looking at a drawing of the top half of a king who is looking at you and holding a sword in a funny way.

Now, flip over the card like you're turning a page in a book, so that now you are looking at the back of the card. Once again, cover up the lower half of the card. What do you see? You see an image of a cherub riding a bicycle, and it is heading right toward you. From top to bottom, you see the cherub's head, the handlebars, and below all that, the front wheel aiming right at you.

Okay, now take a card from this Hellcats deck. Since it's pictured on the Kickstarter page, let's pretend it's the King of Hearts again.

Put your hand over the bottom half of the card and just look at the top half. You see a skull perched atop a King's military-esque uniform. You see a crown resting atop the king's head. You don't see a sword behind it, because this designer doesn't seem to realize there's a tradition called "the suicide King." But, never mind that. That's just one of the reasons all the courts look pretty much the same except for the headdress.

Now, flip the card over like you're turning a page in a book. Put your hand over the bottom half of the card. What do you see?

AN UPSIDE DOWN SKULL!!!

THE TOP OF THE CARD IS AN EFFING UPSIDE DOWN SKULL!!!

THIS DECK WAS DESIGNED BY SOMEBODY WHO DOESN'T UNDERSTAND PLAYING CARDS.

Thank you for attending my TEDTalk.

I am a Hellcat card back with an upside down skull.jpg (77.25 KiB) Viewed 859 times

[GandalfTheWhite]

"I am a Hellcat card back with an upside down skull.jpg"

[Eric Lee]

Well, that's one way to make the skull motif different and 'edgy''.

let's make it upside down! Why? because it's flying a plane, that's why! Didn't see Top Gun Maverick where Tom Cruise was upside down like half the time he flew?

[Harvonsgard]

Obviously Allan understands nothing about Top Gun.
I'm glad Eric shed some light on that.