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Pictorial Review: Pipmen World deck (Ben Jones)

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Pictorial Review: Pipmen World deck (Ben Jones)
« on: March 29, 2017, 08:15:54 PM »
 

EndersGame

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INTRODUCING THE PIPMEN WORLD DECK

This is not exactly an ordinary deck of playing cards, and I'll give you a spoiler right up front, and show you why:



Did you catch what is remarkable about that? Not only does each individual card have amazing artwork (without detracting from the functionality of the cards as a regular deck), but the cards all fit together to make a single massive image!

I was fortunate enough to see and use a prototype copy of this deck, and I was very impressed.  Trust me, these cards are truly AMAZING. Seriously! When I saw these, I just had to get my hands on a copy of the deck, and post a review!

So what is this amazing deck, and where can you get one? Well it's called the Pipmen World deck and here it is:



A friend made me aware of this extraordinary deck, which was currently funded on Kickstarter. It was funded within 12 hours, and made its way through several stretch goals in the process.

Each individual card looks great on its own - look very carefully to see all the "pipmen" interacting with the pips on the cards. But when you put the cards together on the table to make a single larger image, they look even more stunning! At the same time the corners of the cards make it very clear what the suit/value of each card is, so it's totally usable in a card game.

I was fortunate enough to be shown a prototype copy of the deck by someone who knew that I love cards and that I love polyptych artwork. I immediately fell in love with it, because it is an incredible concept that has been brilliantly executed - it's functional and beautiful, all at the same time.

Here's another sneak peek, with a photo I took of the prototype cards I saw:




WHAT ARE PIPMEN DECKS?

This project is by Ben Jones, from Elephant Playing Cards and isn't the first Pipmen deck he's created.

So what's a Pipmen deck? "Pipmen" is a term Ben has coined for the characters on his cards.

He explains it like this: Pips + Stickmen = Pipmen! Typical of the decks he designs are "little stickmen figures interacting with the pips to create a unique scene."



Here's some examples from the Pipmen World deck.  Notice the pipmen climbing the snowy mountain on the left, and digging tunnels below the earth on the right.



And here we have some pipmen divers and one flying a hang-glider in an electrical storm. Very neat!




WHAT IS SPECIAL ABOUT THE PIPMEN WORLD DECK?

What is special about the Pipmen World deck is that it is polyptych.  This means you can join cards together to make a larger picture. In a truly remarkable way, Ben has designed the artwork so that all the individual cards can be put together to form a larger panoramic image. When the cards are placed alongside one another to form this larger picture, it is very impressive.

Here's some examples of the concept featuring a cityscape and sky along with some camels in a desert and cows in a farmer's field:



Here's another lot of cards, featuring an ocean scene, including both above and below the water:



It really is a stunning piece of work, but that's not all. You can put every single card from the entire deck together to make one complete and massive image!




THE PIPMEN COLLECTORS EDITION DECK

The Pipmen Collectors Edition deck is also available in the same Kickstarter, and features a complete deck of cards with all the original Pipmen designs, packaged in a black tuckbox with gold foil.



Here's a few examples of playing cards from these Pipmen decks:





Here's a look at some actual printed cards:




FULL ART VERSION

A new Kickstarter has just started for a FULL ART version of the Pipmen World deck, including a gorgeous wrap-around tuck box:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/585926215/pipmen-world-full-art-playing-cards

Looks amazing!




CONCLUSIONS

 Here are seven reasons why I just love the Pipmen World deck, and to consider picking this up:

1. It's a stunning deck to admire: the individual cards

First of all, the artwork on the individual cards can be admired and enjoyed, and is sure to create some real talking points. I enjoy studying and appreciating the artwork on each individual card, and I love how the stickmen interact with the everything - this is very creative. Ben has done some very imaginative and brilliant work here, and I can't say enough about how amazing each card looks - and that's just having seen the prototype.

2. It's a stunning deck to admire: the larger picture

While the artwork on the individual cards is already fantastic, what really takes this to the next level is how these individual cards combine to make a single larger picture. This is an outstanding idea, and it definitely has the feel of being a single whole, without feeling like being a cobbled-together collection of disconnected pieces. I also admire some of the uncut sheets and posters that Ben made available as options in his Kickstarter, because the whole picture really does look great.



3. It's a puzzle deck to piece together

Being able to piece together cards in a larger picture is a truly remarkable achievement, because this is a work of art that can just be enjoyed and appreciated. But it's also a fun exercise to assemble the cards to make that single image. Now, granted, most of the time you don't use playing cards for this purpose. But that's what makes this deck special: you can use it as a fun puzzle challenge. Ben reports that the fastest he's seen it done (without any hints or knowledge of the picture in advance) is around 13 minutes by a duo, and around 18 minutes as a solo effort. It took one of us around 15 minutes, and that was already knowing what the final picture looked like. So give it to your friends, and see how long it takes for them to put it together. It's not as easy as it sounds!

4. It's a functional deck to use

Having said that these cards can be fun to piece together, does this deck have any other value aside from that, or is it just going to be a collector's item? I've seen some amazing artwork on decks of cards before, but it was purely cosmetic, and the decks themselves weren't even functional, because the artwork interfered with the clarity of the symbols. Fortunately, that's not the case with this deck. The opposite indices of each card have a very clear statement of what the card is, with the number and suit, as you can see clearly in the image below. One might think that the white borders on the edge of the cards interfere with the panoramic image, but from my own lengthy experience with playing cards I've learned that having a coloured image bleed all the way to the edge of a card might look great in isolation, but it's just not practical, and sometimes you can even tell what a face-down card in a deck is by looking at the colours of the edge. So on that particular point, playability has trumped aesthetics, and I think that's a good move. That means that this deck isn't just going to be resigned into becoming a collector's piece that will collect dust. However, I do think that the artwork would be somewhat distracting if using this deck to perform card magic.  But it certainly would work just fine when playing card games.



5. It's a quality deck to last

I was fortunate to see an actual printed copy of the deck via someone who managed to get hold of this directly from Ben. The deck I saw was a prototype, and looked great, but the quality of the final printed cards will be even higher still. The cards are being printed by Legends Playing Card Co, a market leader in playing card manufacturing, with their `diamond finish' that ensures optimum durability and playability. Even the boxes are high quality - I'm told that these will use casino-grade tuck paper with embossing and foil stamp, as well as full colour printing to outside and interior printing to inside.

6. It's a unique deck to stand out

This deck isn't like any other deck of playing cards. Aside from the instant appeal of the Pipmen concept, it stretches this already unique take on playing cards even further by having the artwork of the separate cards work together. It really does do a great job of using the polyptych concept. It's a deck that is going to get instant attention, and you'll have people around you clamouring to see it.



7. It's an available deck to get

I don't know how long this deck will be available. Judging from his website, some of Ben Jones' older decks and uncut sheets have gone for steep prices, and can be hard to get. The Pipmen World deck, on the other hand, is being produced right now, so you probably still can get your name down for one if you contact Ben Jones via his website. Plus of course you can still get in on the Kickstarter for the Full Art version of this beautiful deck.  There's few things worse than reading about an amazing deck online, only to find out that it has sold out, and isn't available anymore.


RECOMMENDATION

So is the Pipmen World deck  for you? Clearly this project is a labour of love for Ben Jones - it's something he's been working on for a few years, and now it's coming together in published form. It's a dream come true for him, but it's also a dream come true for anyone who is looking for an amazing deck of cards. I'm thinking this is a must have for anyone who enjoys playing cards, or even to use as a gift. Every gamer should own at least one set of playing cards, and if you are going to own only one deck, I'd make it a beautiful one like this!

I really can't say enough about this amazing deck of cards. Highly recommended for collectors and card gamers who want a beautiful looking deck that will be the talk of the town, and a great conversation piece.


Elephant Playing Cards: http://elephantplayingcards.com
Pipmen World deck: http://epce.fnd.to/pipmen
Pipmen World Full Art deck: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/585926215/pipmen-world-full-art-playing-cards

« Last Edit: April 08, 2017, 12:38:55 AM by EndersGame »
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