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Got this one yesterday:

==========[ Bicycle_YearOfThe_Serpent ]==========


USPC does not call the deck "Year of the Serpent, just "Serpent", but since my decks are listed alphabetically by the name of the subfolder in which I have stored that deck's scanned images, I try to name those folders in a way that will group related/series of decks together.

I considered naming this one "Bicycle_ChineseZodiac_Serpent ", but did not wish to imply that it (and its eleven "sister decks" which will presumably get published some day) were part of the same series as the unrelated Bicycle deck "Chinese Zodiac".

As they are published (and I acquire them), the other eleven decks in this series will have folders on my system with names starting with "Bicycle_YearOfThe_", so that they will all be grouped together:

Bicycle_YearOfThe_Boar
Bicycle_YearOfThe_Dog
Bicycle_YearOfThe_Dragon
Bicycle_YearOfThe_Horse
Bicycle_YearOfThe_Monkey
Bicycle_YearOfThe_Ox
Bicycle_YearOfThe_Rabbit
Bicycle_YearOfThe_Rat
Bicycle_YearOfThe_Rooster
Bicycle_YearOfThe_Serpent
Bicycle_YearOfThe_Sheep
Bicycle_YearOfThe_Tiger

...I just hope USPCC does not release one of them per year - this first is said to have been released to commemorate the upcoming Chinese New Year for 2013 - a Year of the Serpent.

I have other decks - including some cool European decks with custom courts - which should be arriving soon. Will post pics when they get here!

Got my coterie deck today and my signed Aurum deck (#42)

You got the deck that holds the answer to everything!

Hope you enjoy it.

I got my Aurum deck today as well!

More stuff now added to my stash:

#96 here (There were four left when I added it to my "cart" on kickstarter, by the time I processed there was one left, was kinda hoping for #99 :-p ). Got the shipping receipt for the main order yesterday too!

My wife's first reaction was "ohh purple! I like them." Guess this an Seasons are her favorites.

Sorry for the iphone picture.

I can't wait to get my signed Aurum too, as well as the supply for my shop. By the way, if you live in Europe and want to save on shipping cost, you can preorder them on my website (link below).

Cheers.

I'm glad you guys are starting to get them. I'm really proud of this deck, it really turned out great. I sent a bunch of orders on Saturday and have a big pile packed up tonight, heading out tomorrow so more folks will start getting them soon. Thanks all!

Encarded wrote:I'm glad you guys are starting to get them. I'm really proud of this deck, it really turned out great. I sent a bunch of orders on Saturday and have a big pile packed up tonight, heading out tomorrow so more folks will start getting them soon. Thanks all!

I hope to order one (the "vanilla" edition) soon.

I would have ordered one ages ago had I known how Purple it is!

I assumed, from its name, that it would be primarily Gold in color.

You shoulda named it Porphyrous! (sp?)

So I came home to a bunch of packages after Thanksgiving break... looks like the resellers and Ebay auctions have finally caught up...
2 Ebay Auctions
1 Ellusionist Package
1 Coterie (Tower of Cards)

The white boxes are empty

Holy smokes, MJF!

And here I thought I was expecting a lot over the next week, all eBay purchases:

12 Bikes (Vintage Series - all six in both red and blue)
6 Piatnik patience decks (2 Romme, 2 Vienna, 2 ???)
2 more Bikes (Solitaire, Red & Blue)
3 more Bikes (2008 Election Edition, Dem, Rep & Ind)
1 Bike Serpent (already here)

That's 24 decks, but you look to have beaten that by quite a bit!

How many decks are in your collection, and how long have you been collecting?

I started collecting back in October... and I've spent way too much on this hobby just to catch up on what I've been missing out. But hey, it's what I enjoy doing as a hobby that keeps me sane outside work... I have no idea how many decks I've got now. Once the Black Friday stuff comes in and things settle done, I'll post to the "my collection thread" with the tally. Keep in mind many of those decks were pretty good deals (a.k.a KeyWest at $2.95/deck, and now I'm getting a brick of Silver Split Spades for $33... can't wait!!!)

You've only been collecting for a month or so?

Even if what was in that photo (some fifty or so decks, IIRC) was your entire collection so far (and something tells me it isn't), that would be an impressive decks/month ratio!

I have somewhere north of 2,200, mostly different decks in my collection (I rarely buy more than one of something, let alone a brick!), but I started actively collecting in around 1995.

Let's see, 17 yrs x 12 months = 204 months, divided by 2,200 decks = ~11 decks/month.

And, since I bought the first deck in (what later became) my collection in 1968, that would make it 44 yrs * 12 = 528 months, divided by 2,200 decks = just over 4 decks/month.

Just think, at your (underestimated, I'm sure) current rate of 50 decks/month, in another 44 years you will have over 26,400 decks!

And then YOU can be the old fart posting on whatever the equivalent of an Internet forum will be in the year 2056!

That would be an insane amount of decks!

But yeah, like I said, I've been playing "catch up" with everyone else who's already been doing this for several years... I want to get to a point where I'm just buying the new decks that come out and spend time hunting down the rare/hard to find decks... I'd like to get down to 10 decks a month, or my hobby will eventually turn into a side job.

I'm just guesstimating, but I would peg it at 200 decks right now... we'll see once things slow down.

Also, I want to spend more time on that deck online database I keep mentioning... that would go a long way for the community as a whole and also make larger collections more manageable... since I've found myself purchasing duplicates because I forgot I already had some...

I'd open it up so everyone could add records and then track their own collections... but it's a work in progress and I've only just begun...

Received the rest of my decks, here is the white gold edition. It is hard to tell from any pictures but the box is slightly off white due to the specks of metallic ink used that make it shimmer.

Catching on older decks. This tin just came in today

Thanks a lot danktrees!

johnspademagic wrote:Thanks a lot danktrees!

cards.JPG

Wow! Nice additions!

Well, here is what came in yesterday's mail:

First, a couple of Bike Solitaire decks (Blue & Red).

Nothing custom about them but the back and the Ace of Spades, unless you count the strange index at the top of every card.

==========[ Bicycle_Solitaire_Blue ]==========


==========[ Bicycle_Solitaire_Red ]==========


Next, three Patience double-deck sets ("Patience" is the UKian word for solo caed games (what Americans call "Solitaire").

"Patience" cards are small (approximately 1.25" wide by 2.5" tall - about the size of a Poker-sized card cut in half , width-wise), making them small enough to play a game of solitaire on a lap desk.

Piatnik is a major European manufacturer of playing cards, based in Vienna, Austria.

They make a great line of decks with gorgeous custom courts, such as their "Japan" deck:

CLICK TO VIEW LISTING

and their "Shakespeare" deck:

CLICK TO VIEW LISTING

and their "Russia" deck:

CLICK TO VIEW LISTING

Here are the Piatniks I got yesterday:

==========[ Piatnik_Vienna_Patience ]==========


==========[ Piatnik_MiniRomme_Patience ]==========


==========[ Piatnik_TudorRose_Patience ]==========


Here is an odd-shaped deck which really "pops" under a black light:

==========[ PokerLuminous ]==========


Between its shape and the cheap cardstock, not a deck for cardistry, but still kinda cool.

Got a dozen or more decks coming over the next few days, will post 'em when I gets 'em!

-RSL

Those are my pickings for November (or let´s say what has arrived so far hehehe)

6x White Lions Series B Blue
12x Bicycle Professional Skull & Bones red&black (3 of each variation)
6x Ace Fultons Casino (3x red & 3x blue)
7x Altruism Snow Owls
12x Altruism
12x Madison Players
3x Skullkor OGMA
1x Seasons Platinum Set
2x Coterie 1902 Bee GOLD
1x Bedecieved Mystery Deck
2x Original Split Spades (black & red)
1x Split Spades Casino Collectors Edition
2x Red Artifice

Holy smokes cosmic, are you buying those in hopes of selling them?

I seldom purchase more than one of any deck.

RSLancastr wrote:Holy smokes cosmic, are you buying those in hopes of selling them?

I seldom purchase more than one of any deck.

Some i resell for a small extra fee but you might laugh i actually use playing cards a lot (being a magician and card collector is expensive)

Makes perfect sense, and I'm not laughing at all - it's just that I merely collect, and my decks are seldom - if ever - used, only opened to be gently admired and perhaps scanned before being carefully put back in their box, never to be opened again (other than perhaps to show them to someone). So I sometimes forget that you cardists and magicians actually (shudder) use them.

Seriously, just watching one of these "deck review" videos - where someone takes a brand-new, beautiful deck of cards and does fans and flourishes with it - gives me the willies ("Oh, the humanity!").

So of course you guys sometimes buy multiples of a deck - because you abuse and torture them!

RSLancastr wrote:Makes perfect sense, and I'm not laughing at all - it's just that I merely collect, and my decks are seldom - if ever - used, only opened to be gently admired and perhaps scanned before being carefully put back in their box, never to be opened again (other than perhaps to show them to someone). So I sometimes forget that you cardists and magicians actually (shudder) use them.

Seriously, just watching one of these "deck review" videos - where someone takes a brand-new, beautiful deck of cards and does fans and flourishes with it - gives me the willies ("Oh, the humanity!").

So of course you guys sometimes buy multiples of a deck - because you abuse and torture them!

Yes i put crimps in them,let the cards get signed etc.,i ruin 1-2 decks a evenning when performing on a gig (i do a lot of signed card routines and give the card away after the trick is done as a souvenir)

RSLancastr wrote:Holy smokes cosmic, are you buying those in hopes of selling them?

I seldom purchase more than one of any deck.

Personally, as a collector I try to purchase two (one to open and play with, one to keep "nice"). Some of the more expensive decks I can only get one of.

Yes i put crimps in them,let the cards get signed etc.,i ruin 1-2 decks a evenning when performing on a gig (i do a lot of signed card routines and give the card away after the trick is done as a souvenir)

Murderer!

RSLancastr wrote:So of course you guys sometimes buy multiples of a deck - because you abuse and torture them!

I actually open and use every single deck i have but still rarely buy duplicates. i just handle them with care (even though i do cardistry) and they mostly hold up forever

Mirror wrote:

RSLancastr wrote:So of course you guys sometimes buy multiples of a deck - because you abuse and torture them!

I actually open and use every single deck i have but still rarely buy duplicates. i just handle them with care (even though i do cardistry) and they mostly hold up forever

Yep, same here. Gotta wash those hands

I pick up 2 decks usually if I like the cards, I'll pick up more if I expect them to see a lot of play or I want to bring/leave a deck at the cabin. Usually one deck ends up on a shelf while the other will see various forms of abuse.

I received these yesterday!