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Question: David Blaine Gatorbacks Marked?

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Question: David Blaine Gatorbacks Marked?
« on: April 04, 2017, 01:53:58 PM »
 

Uriah Giet

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Hey guys, So I just got a pack of the normal black Gatorbacks for my birthday. I have a few other decks which I love to use such as the white lions black edition. But I was disappointing when I could not find any signs of the deck being marked. I did some research and came up empty handed. If someone could help me out here, I would be much obliged.
 

Re: Question: David Blaine Gatorbacks Marked?
« Reply #1 on: April 05, 2017, 01:00:56 AM »
 

Don Boyer

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To my knowledge, they aren't marked.

Have you tried the riffle test?
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Re: Question: David Blaine Gatorbacks Marked?
« Reply #2 on: April 05, 2017, 10:46:16 PM »
 

Uriah Giet

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Yes, I have applied a very thorough riffle test and discovered nothing. However, I thought it somewhat odd for Blaine's most expensive release to be unmarked. Additionally, the description of the deck online uses the term "Ultimate Marked Deck." Also, the deck is a little old so there is less fresh information to be gained.

Somewhat off topic, the deck contains no double backed card, also would expect in a more expensive deck.
 

Re: Question: David Blaine Gatorbacks Marked?
« Reply #3 on: April 06, 2017, 08:41:17 AM »
 

HankMan

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the description of the deck online uses the term "Ultimate Marked Deck."

I would be interested where you see that claim.. as far as I know Gatorbacks is not marked.

Somewhat off topic, the deck contains no double backed card, also would expect in a more expensive deck.
And I don't always expect double back in a more expensive deck, but I do expect them coming from gaff decks.  8)

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Re: Question: David Blaine Gatorbacks Marked?
« Reply #4 on: April 06, 2017, 10:33:56 AM »
 

Uriah Giet

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That makes sense to me, I can understand the deck having no double back if the deck was not intended as a gaff. I am quite a bit disappointed, but I don't guess there is anything that I can do now :/ Fortunately, the deck does contain a blank and two cards with hidden features. (Ace of Spades - 2 of Clubs, and Queen of Spades - 2 of Hearts).
I appreciate the help. Thanks a lot :D
 

Re: Question: David Blaine Gatorbacks Marked?
« Reply #5 on: April 08, 2017, 12:15:07 AM »
 

Don Boyer

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Yes, I have applied a very thorough riffle test and discovered nothing. However, I thought it somewhat odd for Blaine's most expensive release to be unmarked. Additionally, the description of the deck online uses the term "Ultimate Marked Deck." Also, the deck is a little old so there is less fresh information to be gained.

Somewhat off topic, the deck contains no double backed card, also would expect in a more expensive deck.

It really depends on the deck's design.  Double-backers aren't a standard feature by any means, and certainly marking isn't, either.

Blaine's only released two marked deck designs to date.  One was intentionally, blatantly marked - a special "gaff deck" version of his black Split Spades Lions deck made under the Bicycle brand name as "Bicycle Split Spades."  It was a deal he worked out to make gaffed versions of all three of the Split Spades Lions decks.  The black deck was the "Mind Reading" deck (marked) in black, the "Transformation" deck (Svengali) in red and the "Discover Magic" deck (stripper) in blue.  The black deck was of a type called "readers" in that they didn't require special knowledge of a code or system in order to be read - it was marked in plainly readable letters, numbers and suit symbols printed in a subtle but not-too-hard-to-spot location on the backs of the cards.  Still, when they were discontinued, many retailers were offering them for as little as $5 a pack - not bad for a high-quality, commercially-printed pack of marked playing cards from a major printing company.

The other marked deck was the White Lions/Black Lions series - all of them were marked in a very subtle way, but it wasn't a practical marking system for card sharps/table play, as the marks required a lot of "real estate" of the card back to be visible in order to be readable - it was a positionally-based system rather than a symbolic system where all the marks appear in the same general location.  It was good enough for a magician to use and not easily spotted without a riffle test.  While Lions Series A, Series B and Black Label as well as the Black Lions regular and seconds were all marked using the same system, which was light years ahead of the readers described above in terms of deviousness and subtlety.

To the best of my knowledge, none of Blaine's other decks are marked.  There's little reason to believe the Gatorbacks are, though you reported seeing them advertised as the "ultimate marked deck."  Are you certain you weren't confusing it with another product, actually called the Ultimate Marked Deck?  The UMD is a Bicycle deck made by two French magicians that's a reader deck done with incredibly subtle marks incorporated into the back design of the Bicycle Rider Back.  It was made available in red and blue and was initially offered for $25 a pack.  That price steadily climbed as the deck sold out and USPC announced they discontinued printing any decks with alterations of their trademarks, including the Bicycle Rider Back design, in order to protect the trademarks from counterfeiters, but there are stories that the guys who made that deck managed to get some printed in late 2015 and they became available again - at what price, I don't know, as I haven't bought marked cards in a while and still have my original UMD decks in both red and blue.

As this topic is more about marked decks than about playing cards, I'm moving it to the Magical Cardistry Bonanza.
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Re: Question: David Blaine Gatorbacks Marked?
« Reply #6 on: January 30, 2020, 06:55:08 PM »
 

david@100pointers.com

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I know it has been several years since the inception of this post but I’m pretty sure I know what may have happened here. The deck is not marked. But if you go to a card site and search “marked” the GatorBacks usually shows up. Why? Because the designer is Mark Stutzman. His name triggers the appearance under the search.
Franz David ♣️♥️♠️♦️
 

Re: Question: David Blaine Gatorbacks Marked?
« Reply #7 on: February 09, 2020, 04:06:32 AM »
 

Don Boyer

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I know it has been several years since the inception of this post but I’m pretty sure I know what may have happened here. The deck is not marked. But if you go to a card site and search “marked” the GatorBacks usually shows up. Why? Because the designer is Mark Stutzman. His name triggers the appearance under the search.

Very reasonable assumption.  Entirely probable, though it's almost as reasonable to suspect that it's because David Blaine is a magician that "marked," being one of the types of gaffed decks out there, might pop up - some retailers aren't as careful with their product tagging, especially on places like eBay, where they're more interested in garnering eyeballs than being accurate.  I've seen Blaine decks described with key words having absolutely nothing to do with Blaine or his decks, like "Theory11," "Ellusionist," "Dan&Dave," etc.  If you saw Mark Stutzman mentioned in the description, then yes, it's very good to assume, but otherwise, there's any number of alternative reasons.
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