52 Plus Joker's free Virtual Weekend Event for playing card collectors on April 23rd & April 24th, 2022

[EndersGame]

For details, see the official page:

https://52plusjoker.org/april-2022-virtual-weekend

Here's some key info taken from the official announcements made so far:

April 23rd & April 24th, 2022 - VIRTUAL PLAYING CARD EXTRAVAGANZA

Informative Lectures: Learn great information about playing cards, direct from the experts. We host wonderful guest speakers to cover a variety of interesting card topics.

Mega Auction: Looking for hard-to-find playing cards and related items? You've come to the right place. Our April 2022 mega auction will amaze and astound you.

Member Show & Tell: You're stranded on a desert island and only have a single precious item from your collection. Which is it? Be ready to show it off to everyone

Tailgate Before Awards: To celebrate the Diamond Awards this year, we're going to have a celebration BEFORE the celebration. BYOBeer and food!

2021 Diamond Awards: Our club's finest hour where we award Deck of the Year, Artist of the Year and the Dawson Award to those deserving.

Plus Much More: Surprises, mystery and a genuinely good time awaits you at this year's virtual playing card extravaganza. See you there!

Exact times and events are being worked out, with more information to follow.

Note: The Mega Auction event is for membership only; all other events are free for anyone to enjoy, even non members of the club around the world.

[hsbc]

This looks like the closest thread for discussion of the 2021 Diamond Award nominations and winners...

The votes are already in (but not revealed), and normally the winners would have been announced at the October 2021 convention, which was planned for Niagara Falls. Due to COVID that got postponed, they were hoping they could do an in-person event in April, but that hasn't been possible either.

So now they are planning a Virtual Weekend for April 23rd & April 24th, 2022, and that will include presentation of the winners, so stay tuned for that. It's a free event open to anyone in the world, so try to participate if you can. More info here:

April 2022 Virtual Weekend

Here's the full list of nominees:

DECK OF THE YEAR:

• Bird Deck by Hilary Pfeifer (USPCC)
• Charmers by Lotrek (Oath Playing Cards) & Kellar O’Neil (Cartamundi)
• Circus Playing Cards by Marianne Larsen (NPCC)
• Holographic Legal Tender Version II by Jackson Robinson (EPCC)
• Onda by Alessandra Gagliano & Anthony Holt (Cartamundi)
• Umbra by Jody Eklund (LPCC)

ARTIST OF THE YEAR:

• Stephen Brandt
• Alexander Chin
• Elettra Deganello
• Alessandra Gagliano & Anthony Holt
• Marianne Larsen
• Giovanni Meroni

I've also covered them somewhat in these articles here:

• Deck Releases and Deck Awards at 52 Plus Joker's Convention
• The 52 Plus Joker Club and Virtual Conventions

[EndersGame]

Some brief thoughts on the nominees for Deck of the Year:

• Bird Deck: I like the uniqueness of the Bird Deck, but it's a bit of an odd ball, and the real appeal is the scissor-cutting craftsmanship, not the playing cards themselves. If it gets chosen, it will be mostly because it's different, not objectively better than the other decks IMHO.
• Charmers: Lotrek's Charmers are lovely, but perhaps don't depart enough from the traditional faces to win.
• Circus: I'm not a fan of NPCC's handling, but they do an amazing job with tuck boxes, and all aspects of the theme have been applied into every aspect of the design. I like.
• Holo Legal Tender V2: I'm a sucker for the overall look and design of the holo Legal Tender V2s, but have to concede it's building on an existing design, rather than being brand new. Objectively it's an amazing deck, but perhaps it doesn't deserve to win, as good as it is.
• Onda: The style doesn't quite fit my personal taste, but it is a very original and creative look. I'd rate it below Circus but that's purely personal preference for the theme.
• Umbra: The tuck box and borderless back design are the standouts for me. The faces are thoroughly customized, but personal taste starts coming into things here too.

I'd be pleased if either Circus, Onda, or Umbra is the winner. And I'd perhaps be a bit disappointed if the Bird Deck, Charmers, or Legal Tender V2 is the winner, as good as those decks are (especially Legal Tender V2).

[GandalfTheWhite]

ONDA ticks all the boxes for me. The amazing vibrant colors, artwork and court cards that has so much diversity, tuck box by Boschiero & Newton that Jocu found and brought them on to the playing cards scene* (one of their firsts in playing cards I think), printer etc. Hoping they win! Good luck.

[hsbc]

Onda would be my pick as well

[TheGentlemanWake]

These decks feel pretty old. I reviewed the Charmers deck in October of 2020. How are the nominees chosen?

[EndersGame]

These decks feel pretty old. I reviewed the Charmers deck in October of 2020. How are the nominees chosen?

There's a good reason for that: COVID caused the convention where the winners would have been announced more than half a year ago to be postponed.

The award is for the period July 2020 through June 2021, and the winners were nominated and voted on between July and October 2021. They would normally have announced the winners already in October 2021.

They held off with the announcement, hoping to do it at a replacement event in April 2022. That hasn't been possible either due to ongoing restrictions, so they've replaced that with this Virtual Weekend Event, and that's when the winners will finally be revealed. The winners have been all stitched up and decided upon a long time ago already; we just don't know who they are.

[PiazzaDelivery]

I'm with Ender. As far as I'm concerned, Circus, Umbra, and Onda are the only ones that make sense. IN MY OPINION Legal Tender is fantastic, but a rehash; bird deck is nothing but a novelty; Charmers would be limiting the judgment to the back design. Circus handling is trash, so leg up to the latter 2.

[Strag]

Onda for me with Circus aecond

[EndersGame]

Over on Reddit I posted a poll, asking people which of the nominees they would pick.

Right now Legal Tender V2 and Onda are the clear leaders, each with around a quarter of the votes.



Does 52 Plus Joker use first-past-the-post voting, or preferential voting? That could make quite a difference.

[EndersGame]

So who's all going to join in the Virtual Weekend event coming up in less than a week?

[hsbc]

WINNERS

DECK OF THE YEAR
Circus Playing Cards by Marianne Larsen (NPCC)

ARTIST OF THE YEAR:
Alexander Chin

[Harvonsgard]

Deck of the year is certainly an interesting choice.

[Eric Lee]

Wow, that's interesting for sure. I got the Circus deck. It's nice, Top 3 maybe, but not the winner for me.

[Bradius]

It was all due to NPCC's exceptional printing.

[Fenrir]

Onda definitely would have been my pick as well.

[EndersGame]

If you missed the event, you can check out all the videos here:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... D9Vku0IHfH