Review: Clockwork Montana Mustache Manufacturing Co deck (Stephen W. Brandt)

[EndersGame]

Clockwork Montana Mustache Manufacturing Co deck

Stephen's most recent and current project is Clockwork Montana Mustache Manufacturing Co deck, which is currently up for funding on Kickstarter.

From the international hot spots of New York, Paris, and London, we now find ourselves in the creator's new home state: Montana.   We've also gone back in time, because this deck has a style inspired by late 19th century illustrations, so it has a very retro feel.    I particularly appreciate the vibe of the front of the tuck box.  This artwork also returns on all the card backs, so we'll be seeing plenty of it.



This deck is arguably the most ambitious one in the series yet,  with extensive animations on the card faces.  Monty Python-esque humour is a very obvious influence in the art style used here.  Besides the animated logo of fig.23 that we've seen before in other decks, the centerpiece of the animation is a heavily moustachioed character, with a clockwork style machine protruding from the top of his head.  See this animated gif for the full experience of what these face cards offer.

The elongated style of the pips is very striking and unique, and suits the overall feel of the deck very well.  It turns out that this design was inspired by a medieval design, which Stephen first came across as a textile pattern on the quiddich arena towers from the Harry Potter films.



To speed up the turnaround, and get the finished deck into the hands of backers quicker than would be the case with USPCC, which has witnessed delays to their production schedule as a result of the ongoing pandemic, Stephen is currently intending to produce this deck with MPC or NPCC.  The quality level of these printers should be more than adequate for a novelty deck designed primarily for collectors rather than for heavy use in playing card games or card magic.

Where to get them? These animated playing cards are available from the creator Stephen W. Brandt, at his website fig23.com.
● Clockwork Empire City deck
● Clockwork La Ville Lumiere deck
● Clockwork Quackington deck
● Clockwork Montana Mustache Manufacturing Co deck (currently on Kickstarter)
● Wonderland and Looking-glass flip-book decks

[EndersGame]

Clockwork Montana Mustache Manufacturing Co Playing Cards (Kickstarter)
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/swabbeddecks/clockwork-montana-mustache-manufacturing-co-playing-cards

A deck of custom playing cards with flip-book animation

Cost: ~US$12 per deck
Current funding level: 71% funded
Kickstarter ends: Thursday March 18, 2021

The good news is that this deck now has over 150% funding, so it will be produced.

Besides pledging for the latest deck, you can also get some of the previous animated decks as add-ons.