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Pictorial Review: Rare Playing Cards with Old Time Style

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Pictorial Review: Rare Playing Cards with Old Time Style
« on: May 06, 2017, 09:41:28 AM »
 

EndersGame

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RARE PLAYING CARDS WITH OLD TIME STYLE

RarePlayingCards.com has to be one of my new favourite web-sites!  When I stumbled across it for the first time, I could hardly believe the enormous and amazing repository of playing cards available for purchase there. Their online catalogue lists more than 300 different decks of cards, all with image galleries so you can see exactly what you're getting.    But they don't just sell any old playing cards, but only the best: high quality designer decks, from well-known publishers/brands and from obscure designers - hence the "rare" in Rare Playing Cards!  While the word "rare" can refer to old things, it is primarily about scarcity - something rare is something that is not found in large numbers.  It's easy to find decks of cheap and low quality playing cards at your nearby supermarket, but it's the more special breed of rarities and custom playing cards that RarePlayingCards sells.  In this review, I will show you some of their decks that I own myself and have first-hand experience with, and I will give you a pictorial overview of them.



Some decks are intended to be collector's decks, and these are typically decks like some of the ones above, which feature ornate artwork on every card.  While this is beautiful, it's less ideal for playing card games or performing magic, because the exquisite artwork on the cards can distract from the magic or game-play.  For this reason, the serious player or magician will look for a deck that has number and court cards that look more standard, while still looking stylish and elegant.  And that's where the rare decks below come in. They are very playable, because they don't feature unusual or out-of-the-ordinary court cards or number cards.  But they still create an immediate impression with a luxurious and classy look.

Victorian Room deck

The Victorian Room Playing Cards are extremely unique and classy, and they typify style because they have quite the story to tell.  This deck was created by the Blue Crown, which is a company that creates products designed for magicians.

The deck is designed by Rudy Faber, with artwork by Edo Huang.  It is inspired by the Victorian-era, with custom aces, card-backs and jokers, and printing by Expert Playing Card Co.  The deck itself creates an immediate impression as a result of the unusual card-back design.



The tuck-box has a die-cut circle, so that the center of the card-backs are visible when the deck is inside the box.  This creates a stunning effect, and is immediately striking and beautiful!  Just wow!



Let's take a closer look at the beautiful artwork on the deck backs, along with the Joker.



Notice the name on the Joker?  "Ace Victoria".  Who is that?  Well, there is a fascinating story that goes along with this deck, and here it is, as the publisher tells it:

"Our story begins 100 years ago - the year is 1916. A mysterious man travels the world teaching people his sleight of hand. He was the best of his day but not many knew how he looked like except the ones fortunate enough to meet him.
They called him Ace Victoria. Arthur “Ace” Victoria was born in Birmingham, England. He later moved to the U.S. at the start of the century where it was said he taught Erdnase himself a thing or two. His travels took him all over the world. Although very little is known of him, the majority of information was revealed in his journal, which was found years later in India. His custom card design was found sketched in the journal along with many secret techniques and sleights devised by Ace. 
The Blue Crown has taken upon the task of restoring the artwork found in the old journal and reprinting this amazing deck of cards. Enter the Victorian Room.
"

True story or legend?  I have no idea, but what I do know is that these Aces are just stunning!



The remaining cards in the deck are fairly standard, although the court cards do feature a colour palette that makes them look very elegant.



This is just a delightful and classy deck all round, that will be ideal for the magician, poker player, or for just playing cards with family and friends.



Where to find it: https://rareplayingcards.com/products/victorian-room?rfsn=540019.2dd030

Rarebit Gold Edition deck

But when it comes to class and style, few things get better than the Rarebit Gold Edition.  Right from the moment you see the tuck-box, you can tell that this is a deck with style.  Featuring a matt black, it has embossed gold foil, with a signature style title, that just oozes elegance.



Created by Theory11, which is known for its range of elegant decks that are popular with magicians, this is one of the top of their range.

The original Rarebit decks produced by Theory11 in 2013 were inspired by a restaurant called "The Rarebit" in Charleston, South Carolina.  The decks quickly sold out, and soon were commanding remarkable prices in the secondary market, and now can cost up to $200, since they are highly sought after.  After the original Rarebit, in 2015 Theory11 released Rarebit Copper, a follow-up which featured the same design, but with copper foil.  Both of these were beautiful, but are still easily topped by the deck we see here, Rarebit Gold, which was released at the start of 2017.



The Jay Fletcher design of the card-backs is the same with all the Rarebit decks, but the real appeal of the Rarebit Gold decks is the gold foil.  They really look stunning, and seeing a hand of gold foil backs being fanned or spread looks mighty impressive!  It really does have the appearance and sparkle of gold, and evokes an overwhelming sense of luxury and class.

The Ace of Spades is also intricately detailed, bursting with life, and contains a drinking glass which reflects the cafe that is behind the Rarebit name.



As for the court cards, they feature another unique element of this deck: they all have rabbits as the characters.  This is of course in keeping with the name of the deck, since "rarebit" is how you'd pronounce the word "rabbit" with a drawl.  This title actually has its origin in a cafe of that name, and that's why the careful observer will notice some drink related references in the artwork.



What I like about the court cards, aside from the unique rabbits, is the minimalist style.  Besides the bold red and black of the pips, the only colours used for the art are a beige colour, which ensures that the pips and usability of the cards remains the focus, so that this deck can actually be used, rather than just be relegated to becoming a collector's item.  Yet it's not an ordinary beige, since a gold metallic ink has been used for this, which adds to the sense of class.  They are really beautiful, while remaining very playable at the same time, and that is their real strength.  So despite the the striking sense of wealth and luxury, the cards are still very functional.

The face cards don't look too unusual, although they do have a very stylized font and somewhat chunky shape, that helps make them look classy and elegant, without giving the impression that it's attempting to be an artsy deck.  The Joker, of course, continues the rabbit ("rarebit") theme.



Despite some of the bling on the card backs, the cards still handle beautifully.  They aren't too stiff, and have a finish that enables smooth shuffling and card manipulation.

This is just an all round beautiful deck; little wonder that earlier versions quickly sold out and became collector's items, and it's not hard to see this one ending up doing something similar.



Where to find it: https://rareplayingcards.com/products/rarebit-gold-edition?rfsn=540019.2dd030

CONCLUSIONS

If you're in the market for a deck of custom playing cards that is truly creative, artistic, unusual, or memorable, you're not likely to find that at your local corner store. But these are the kinds of rare decks of playing cards that you will find at rareplayingcards.com. Whether you're looking for that one-of-a-kind high end deck for your own enjoyment, or a gift for another gamer, RarePlayingCards.com has something that will suit, and the decks you see here are fine examples.

To see more, head here.

Victorian Room Playing Cardshttps://rareplayingcards.com/products/victorian-room?rfsn=540019.2dd030
Rarebit Gold Edition Playing Cards: https://rareplayingcards.com/products/rarebit-gold-edition?rfsn=540019.2dd030

« Last Edit: May 06, 2017, 09:42:46 AM by EndersGame »
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