UnitedCardists.com - The forum for Cardistry, Magic, Custom Decks and All Things Playing Cards.

Of course I have to start with Honeybee No.15
(This is a pretty big file - should I reduce them in future?)

Keep it high definition

You will see that I am actually 'a birds and bees' kind of guy
Ravn v1

S17's Experimental is probably my favourite deck right now. I wasn't sure what to think of the shape at first but the detailed artwork made it a must and now I love everything about it - including the shape in its own special carat case

You can see the extra detail in the Experimental backs when compared to the Avant Garde and I prefer the charcoal color palette over the brown

Of course the V1 yellow Honeybee No.15 came in black too but I don't know whether to call it No.15 (as per the Tuck) or No.16

I think I will just have a coffee while I ponder this
ps Tim, I could buy 65 of these for the price of the knife

I like Angel Idigoras's magician caricatures on the Las Barajas Magicas decks but I first and foremost bought them for the backs - I was particularly attracted to the navy blue one. I like the way the elements of magic are blended together on the back.
It is an ever so subtle one way back design - see if you can spot it
I have just realized that it is technically another 'bird' back in my collection

Honeybee wrote: ↑Fri Sep 20, 2024 8:45 pm I think I will just have a coffee while I ponder this
ps Tim, I could buy 65 of these for the price of the knife

But I would rather have the knife than 65 Bee mugs

If you didn't spot what made it one way - look at the relationship between the coins and the cards

Next I will add Daniel Schneider's Muffins
I am a sucker for dogs and I love simple designs esp B & W
The gaff cards and Tuck really got me in with this one (plus the beautiful green gilded edition)
I love how the tuck has the front of the dog on one side and the back on the other with mirrored writing
Having the same front and rear view of the dog on one of the gaff cards along with a dog looking the other direction on the other gaff 8oS

The following are phone pics as I cannot be bothered getting the scanner out (put away to keep safe from grandkids!)
Almost the same but showing the dog looking in the opposite direction

The clever tuck

Aviator is a cheapie that you can still get, which I have several of - mostly for their backs
This is probably my favourite Abraham Garcia Sanchez deck, although the Ocean's Curse full color may have rivalled it - if it was ever made

I don't own these but I thought I would post them here.
I just saw them on Pinterest/Etsy. Interesting but I could buy a lot of whole as opposed to holey decks for $482au ($300us)

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1796890231 ... FBR2RMMHg0

Randy and Penguin seem to be making good money for others

Actually, those are kinda sweet. Me likey.

I comissioned and purchased a Kadar cut deck from Dan Levin a few years back. He communicated well and what I received I found well worth the price. it's one of the few pieces of my collection that I display and it always gets great comments. I doubt I will ever part with it.

Deck cuts have always been intriguing though pretty tough to do on many decks - this one seems rather approachable and may find itself in the DIY pile…

When I noticed The Hive deck while on an unrelated search, the Honeybee just had to investigate. It was the green V2 which did not knock my socks off but finding the Blue V1 on further investigation, I was hooked.
The hive on the v1 backs and the thinner borders make them my fave
Here are the four tucks

The blue and the gold (black) are easily the most beautiful tucks (as good as any deck I have) but they did not scan well.
I think these photos show them off better even though the silver and gold foil look way better in real life

Although both v1 and v2 have Brendan Hong's caricature style courts I like the softer v1's better

The green v2's

The gold Ltd v2's have four feature aces, different jokers to the greens and a slightly different color palette for the courts

I have got a bit carried away with the 1885 inverted tucks

I really should get my camera out - this is just a phone pic

Is that Eddy Merckx (in white for Peugeot) on the right side of the photo on the left?

Creds to you Ato5 - that is a young Eddy Merckx in 1967

Seven years ago the first cards I collected as an adult (a bloody old one at that!) were Marked Decks including the very first Butterfly Treasure set. I didn't really think I wanted more marked decks but as I was so attracted to these I finally relented.
They are beautiful
We overlook a lot of things in terms of playability and that can be the case for these for knowing the Butterfly marking system you would really have to LOOK to make use of it
Pardon the focus but I am just using the phone again

This is my current read. It is fiction by a Norwegian author
(Apologies for sort of drifting off topic)

For many years I rode an Eddy Merckx knock off. Still have it, but idle.

The butterfly backs remind me of posters from my teens. Instantly made me feel back home.