Stronghold Playing CardsI've always loved stories detailing the adventures of medieval knights, dressed in shining armour, doing valiant deeds of chivalry and acclaim, while undertaking dangerous quests. So it didn't take much for me to get interested in the
Stronghold Playing Cards, a new release produced by Playing Cards Dot Net, which is a division of Gamblers Warehouse.
This project was created by the Shape Shifters design team, who have already produced several lovely designs for Gamblers Warehouse. But this is probably my favourite of the lot. It consists of a pair of Bicycle-branded decks in red and blue, and a pair of Special Edition decks in red and blue.
Let's start by showing you the
Bicycle Stronghold Crimson deck and the
Bicycle Stronghold Sapphire deck. The matching tuck boxes are Bicycle branded, and have an intricate design emblazoned with a cross shape in red or blue that draws on the theme of these beautiful custom decks.
The back story here relates to the Knights Templar, the famous organization of sacred warriors dedicated to serving as faithful custodians of the legendary Holy Grail, the illustrious chalice purported to have magical qualities. But what would happen if the Order of the Templars has vanished, and four great kingdoms emerge in a quest to get the Holy Grail? That's what this custom deck is about.
Everything about this deck is stunning. This is not one of those decks that impresses you with a glamorous tuck box, but leaves you disappointed with the cards inside. The cards themselves are equally beautiful.
The card backs pick up elements of the design from the card box, and feature a borderless design with thin black edges, and ornate patterns that come together in the sacred shape of the cross. The use of metallic inks (gold and red in the case of the Crimson deck, and copper and blue in the case of the Sapphire deck) on a background of jet black adds real class. When you look closely at the design, you'll see motifs like swords cleverly incorporated into the patterns.
The face cards are equally beautiful. With custom decks the Aces are often a stand-out feature, and that's certainly the case here as well. The giant Ace of Spades is particularly gorgeous. But all the aces feature an oversized pip, inset with a cross design unique to each different suit, and a watermark style background which adds real sophistication and style. You'll find this watermark style background artwork on each of the number cards as well. Number cards tend to become unloved children in a custom deck, but these ones are genuinely exquisite.
But of course the court cards remain a chief point of interest, and these ones are especially lovely. Each of these is framed with an elegantly shaped border, with fully custom artwork that fits the overall style of the deck. The Kings all feature bearded characters with crowns holding a chalice, while the Queens are accompanied by butterflies, and the Jacks are decked in full armour and are equipped with swords.
The two Jokers have an intricate pattern built around the knight's weapon of choice - the trusty sword. Meanwhile the two extra cards provided with the deck fit together to make a lovely diptych with an elaborate design that brings to mind an exquisite coat of arms.
This would already make an impressive package on its own. But the team at Gamblers Warehouse decided to ramp up the quality level even further by offering alongside the two Bicycle branded decks, two unbranded Special Edition decks. The cards in these decks are the same as the Bicycle branded ones, and the main difference between the Crimson and Sapphire decks is in the use of a purple colour for the Sapphire deck instead of a maroon colour for the Crimson decks, which appears on the court cards and is used for the Heart/Diamond pips.
The tuck boxes, however, get a whole lot of extra love courtesy of some serious bling in the form a beautiful embossing pattern, feature the shining luxury of gold/copper, silver, black and maroon/purple foil. And it's not just the outside of these boxes that looks terrific, because the inside of the tuck box for the Special Edition also has interior printing with gold/copper and crimson/sapphire foils.
I'm not exaggerating when I say that these decks are stunning. They're printed by USPCC, so the handling is great too. My only concern is that with full-bleed edges in black on the card backs, the Stronghold decks will show signs of wear more quickly than a white-bordered deck. But for the collector, that won't really be an issue.
If you like the idea of knights, and want to add some shining swords and armour to your collection, this is definitely the perfect deck to pick up. And if you like what you see here, also check out the companion
Stronghold Natural Playing Cards that are up on Kickstarter. The new Stronghold decks are easily one of my favourite decks from the past year, and highly recommended!
Where to get them? These are available from Playing Cards Dot Net, and their prices include free US shipping:
●
Bicycle Stronghold Crimson Playing Cards and
Bicycle Stronghold Sapphire Playing Cards ($14.95 each)
●
Stronghold Crimson Special Edition Playing Cards and
Stronghold Sapphire Special Edition Playing Cards ($19.95 each)
●
Stronghold Natural Playing Cards ($12-$16 each on Kickstarter)
Also available from your favourite
Murphy's Magic retailer.
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