Hey everyone! Alex Pandrea here

 I am SO excited this deck is finally coming out. We've been working on it for quite some time now. I know that might seem hard to believe because hey - its just a blank back with some black lines on it - but read on..i think you'll be as excited as I am...

 White NOC Playing Cards : Signature Series Vol. I

 Release time : Sunday, May 17th at 11pm Eastern.

 So why is this so special? Well, I'm glad you asked! I realize you didn't ask but I'm going to tell you anyway!

 This is the FIRST deck of our Signature Series line. We have amazing artists in line who are TEAMING UP with the NOC brand to create a unique and exquisite deck of cards. Vol.1 is by none other than Alex Pandrea (hey, that's me!)

 Each volume will be LIMITED as a one-time only print run. THESE WILL SELL OUT FAST so be sure to pick up the first of its kind on Sunday!

 I love the design of the whites. My favorite decks to date are Red NOCs, Red Sky Islands, Erdnase (Green) from CARC but now all I use are White NOCs

 I love the feel of an open canvas on the back. I use it for some mentalism effects - drawing duplications etc. Also, at the end of a ACAAN routine, I write down my name on the back of the card and give it away as a souvenir. This way, the spectator can go out searching for you online and find your website, Facebook etc. and boom - new friends or clients. (Great way for girls to get in contact with YOU )

 The BOX features a signature in the lower left corner which will remain constant with each Volume of the Signature Series. I think this is a very elegant touch with the new slick black matte box.

 More info and pics to come on this in the week ahead so stay tuned. Also, why not give away some free decks? Throughout the week I will be posting in THIS event contest details. Join and win some free White NOCs woo hoo!

 Oh...one more thing. Did I mention these are fully marked? hmmm...

 Alex Pandrea^

The all new, "Hallucinatory Deck of Playing Cards" has been the craziest deck we have ever created.  The original idea was born after reading corny comments around the internet that would say how someone's "eyes were bleeding" or maybe "burning" because they had seen a deck of cards that wasn't to their "liking".  So we set out to create a deck to do just that, MAKE YOUR EYES BURN! This deck makes the lame comments about someone's eyes burning, "worthwhile".  Instead of just burning though we wanted to create something that was kind of hard to look at because of how psychedelic it was too.  You know, maybe make you a little dizzy or nauseated along with your eyes burning.  Well here you go!  READ 'EM AND WEEP BABY!

FULL DISCLOSURE:  Keep on truckin' disco queen because this deck of cards was designed with no need for additional substances in order to help you be able to say, "Jeepers, Creepers this is one Hallucinatory deck of cards"!  So get jiggy with it and pledge now...or you can pluck your eyes out because the design is SO BAD.  LOL

PRINTING SPECS: The Cards will be printed on Class AA PVC with a .31 thickness and are Poker Size. The Backs are printed in CMYK and the Faces are printed in CMYK + a Glow-in-the-Dark Ink overlay. The Tuck Box is printed on a durable Synthetic Stock and will also be printed in CMYK + a Glow-in-the-Dark Ink overlay. Because of the Glow Ink and the Plastic Cards (necessary for the Glow Ink), the Cosmic Lanes Deck is a very expensive Deck to produce. Since they are Plastic Cards, they will be nearly indestructible and should last a very long time!

PRODUCTION: The print-ready designs have already been submitted to Legends. They are starting the Prepress and Proofing stages now. I have every confidence that Legends will do an amazing job with the Printing and Fulfillment!

The Cosmic Deck will be fulfilled at the same time as the Bowl-A-Rama Decks that recently finished funding.

The first was for my youngest daughter Scarlett the second is for my oldest Claire.

Sorry to break it to you, card sharks, but your shuffling skills probably suck.

That's the takeaway from a fascinating new video from YouTube's Numberphile series. As the video shows, some methods of shuffling are more reliable, and more efficient, than others  -- and in any case you're probably not doing what it takes to get a random distribution of cards.

According to the video, the familiar "riffle method" of shuffling trumps all the others. It involves holding half of the deck in each hand and then using the thumbs to alternate the cards. But you've got to shuffle seven times to get the job done.

The Double-Face Deck "Deluxe Edition", printed on standard Bicycle stock by the US Playing Card Company is the real solution.  It will include the double face cards that are most in demand by magicians.

The exact pairings are not yet finalized but I can see it having more paired court cards, more minor transformations (eg. 3S/2S,  AD/AH),  SBS cards (same both sides),  and joker transformations.  I will be studying all suggestions and taking into consideration all recommendations to create the perfect DF deck!

Risks and challenges

I've never worked with the USPCC before, and I am basing my estimated costs on their minimum custom production run of 2500 decks and assuming that since they already have the designs, the set-up costs will be lower.

NoMad. Produced in collaboration with The NoMad Hotel in New York City. Coming Soon.