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Playing Card Chat ♠ ♥ ♣ ♦ => Playing Card Plethora => Topic started by: EduardTodor on October 23, 2011, 05:05:52 AM
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What do you guys think of this?
http://www.xtremehandz.com/catalog/item/1177533/8569094.htm (http://www.xtremehandz.com/catalog/item/1177533/8569094.htm)
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$10 each is about right for this deck right now. There's a good chance they'll go up in value because they're running out and they are pretty renowned for handling very well (which IMO, they do). I like the look of that coin you get for a brick, too. In saying that, the design is down to personal preference and all (I like the back design, not the rest so much) but the handling is mostly down to the magic finish, which is available in other cards (like the Vortex, hint hint). Personally, I think the artifice decks are a bit better as the finish is the same but the stock is a little stiffer but they might be more expensive for you.
At the end of the day, whatever anyone says it'll be up to you. The price is reasonable, if not cheap, so if you like them and can afford it, it's up to you.
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Ive heard that theyre decent cards. All of the Blades decks have been good so far from what ive heard. But right now theyre all sold out.
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I will have one of them soon. Can't wait.
Really cool looking.
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Yeah man! They look sweet!!
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I've got a Brick of Midnights, a Brick of whites and a few 1st edition and 2nd edition Silvers. All are absolutely awesome, the stock seems thinner than most so the spring really well. If you can find them buy some!
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I've got a Brick of Midnights, a Brick of whites and a few 1st edition and 2nd edition Silvers. All are absolutely awesome, the stock seems thinner than most so the spring really well. If you can find them buy some!
I'm sure De'vo will be releasing another edition eventually. I hope to buy them.
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The original Blades were absolute trash in terms of design. The back designs were a cluttered mess, and the rest seemed like Blizzard's Diablo had a love-child with the Ellusionist Black Ghost decks.
The designs on the new decks are improved, but their biggest problem is the box and the typography. From an artistic standpoint, the box is horrible. It's not the artwork that is the problem. It's clear their artist is talented. However, their designer, the guy that takes the art and puts everything together to make the box - he has no idea what he's doing.
Random gradients run rampant, font choices are poor, and an all round trainwreck.
Handling-wise they are okay. The big issue is the utilization of the new Tally-Ho stock which for me doesn't cut it because of how quickly it wears down. It's absolutely godly out of the box, and then after a few hours you get a really sticky feel on the cards and they do an awful job of retaining the right shape.
I have no clue what the versions are called. To be honest, they did a pretty poor job naming them. De'vo is a shady character in general so I prefer to stay away from his products. I picked up three of the original decks and quickly realized that it was a waste of money.
I don't like trashing other companies or people - but this is the same guy who curses out his own fans on Facebook, calls out industry professionals on a regular basis for stealing his moves, and had one of the coolest cardistry videos on YouTube taken down for copyright infringement (despite there being none).
Oh, not to mention the fact that he cursed me out when I asked him if he was interested in any sort of cross-promotion.
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The original Blades were absolute trash in terms of design. The back designs were a cluttered mess, and the rest seemed like Blizzard's Diablo had a love-child with the Ellusionist Black Ghost decks.
The designs on the new decks are improved, but their biggest problem is the box and the typography. From an artistic standpoint, the box is horrible. It's not the artwork that is the problem. It's clear their artist is talented. However, their designer, the guy that takes the art and puts everything together to make the box - he has no idea what he's doing.
Random gradients run rampant, font choices are poor, and an all round trainwreck.
Handling-wise they are okay. The big issue is the utilization of the new Tally-Ho stock which for me doesn't cut it because of how quickly it wears down. It's absolutely godly out of the box, and then after a few hours you get a really sticky feel on the cards and they do an awful job of retaining the right shape.
I have no clue what the versions are called. To be honest, they did a pretty poor job naming them. De'vo is a shady character in general so I prefer to stay away from his products. I picked up three of the original decks and quickly realized that it was a waste of money.
I don't like trashing other companies or people - but this is the same guy who curses out his own fans on Facebook, calls out industry professionals on a regular basis for stealing his moves, and had one of the coolest cardistry videos on YouTube taken down for copyright infringement (despite there being none).
Oh, not to mention the fact that he cursed me out when I asked him if he was interested in any sort of cross-promotion.
wow i never knew this, thanks alex for the warning. also does this mean the new tally hos are bad also?
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Okay, I won't buy more devo. however there is one coming to me. I did a trade with a guy and he gave me devo as an extra deck.
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@MrMagic: They aren't "bad" per se they just don't last as long as the Ohio Tally Ho's.
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Sorry but I feel I must play Devils advocate here.
I don't doubt that what Alex has said is true as I have read similar elsewhere. However, in my dealings with Devo I have found him to be pleasant and helpful, much like Alex himself when it comes to queries regarding his cards.
The question however was not about Devo the person but about the cards he produces. It would seem that Alex's personal issues with Devo have fuelled his rant. All cards wear out through use some cards are totally useless straight out of the box (I'm thinking a certain theory 11 deck!) and some last for ages (Artifice!!)
Alex, your post, whilst hiding behind phrases such as, "From an artistic standpoint" reeks of hatred, you criticise everything from the name to the art to the font. And whilst you state that you don't like trashing companies or people, your post takes on an almost manic glee as you enjoy ripping apart every aspect of the Blades decks.
I'm not going to get into the whole Andrei (I have Genesis ) V. Devo (I have XB V1)
I'm not going to go into the whole "Cardistry" V "XCM" childishness the info is out there for those that are interested in researching it.
What Devo has or hasn't done is of no concern to me, do I like the decks he produces? hell yes!!
Do I find Devo a little strange? absolutely.
If Devo is as evil as you are making out, why did you approach him regarding cross promotion? I admire what you are doing Alex, I really do, to put out a deck through the kickstarter process, this website, all very entreprenurial.
But your post above makes you look very unprofessional.
Shall we see how long it is until this post is edited by a mod or I am banned for daring to have an opinion. we'll see, but if that happens then you'll just prove yourself no better than what you claim Devo to be.
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^ No edits, no bans - the goal of this forum is to encourage free speech. :]
I without a doubt have a personal problem with the guy. However, I am intelligent enough to put that aside to review the cards themselves. Remember, I am a reviewer at heart, and I was one of the first people to pick up his cards. From a purely artistic standpoint, their box design is absolutely horrible. Art is subjective, so everyone is entitled to like what they like. However there are objective standards with which to judge it.
Dee1orean, nobody would put you down for liking his decks, or demand that you change your ways. By far the most important goal I want to achieve on these boards is to allow everyone to fully express their opinions with no fear of being torn apart for them. Debates are encouraged as long as each side is treated with respect.
I do enjoy ripping apart decks, and I equally enjoy praising the ones I like. However, my critique is always constructive. I have said this over and over in the past: Your best friend is the person who takes the time to find what is wrong with what you do in hopes of you improving it. It's why the Vortex deck is still undergoing changes to this very day to make it as great as I possibly can before I ship them out.
In regards to the cross-promotion bit, it was actually my former-partner Robert who approached him. I'm not one for selling out for the sake of promotion. Robert is no longer a part of Aether, but the reply he received was directed at both of us. It has nothing to do with my critique on his cards.
From a professional standpoint, I would reserve my opinions about things that are of no concern to me, and believe me I do. However, I have no problem stating my opinion on De'vo, or Merz67 who is releasing all those trash decks right now with clipart that can be found with a basic Google image search.
If you disagree - that's up to you. However, if you take a look at his forums you'll more often find nothing but hate, unprofessional conduct, and childish cursing on his part.
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Wow dude, you come on here and one of your fourteen posts is a novel against the man responsible for the deck you just pledged. And straight out accuse the mods and Alex of something that they have not done to any posts. I am happy for you that you like devo and you are entitled to your opinion, but you might want to save it until your opinion holds value.
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De'vo does seem a bit shady, but before he gets into a hissy fit about his products should we rename him into "he who must not be named."
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De'vo does seem a bit shady, but before he gets into a hissy fit about his products should we rename him into "he who must not be named."
No, UC does that because they had people outright cursing him out and creating vendettas against the guy. No matter how shady he is I don't think it's deserving of what went on there in the past. :P
Brandon, I think dee1orean just may not be used to the idea of a forum with no censorship. Since we're not a magic company, there is no reason we should act like saying certain opinions is forbidden. Aether is an art company and we put our art on decks, which we happen to know a lot about.
No harm no foul. :)
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I understand...got a bit upset is all.
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ok thanks for the info on the THs I wish i knew more about cards, but i do love them so thats good in my opinion. :) also Alex if you see this please check your PMs
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I actually picked up a deck of midnight blades. I agree with what some of Alex was saying about the art...a little cheesy. However, I do like the handling.
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Thanks for being understanding Alex. I respect the fact that you believe in free speech and respect the opinions of others when they differ from your own. Life would be boring if we all thought the same right? You're right that I'm not used to a forum without censorship and I certainly don't want to earn myself rep as a trouble maker or keyboard warrior lol! At the same time. I will speak up if I feel its warranted. The main reason I felt the need was due to phantom proclaiming that he would buy no more Devo all based on one persons opinion. In order to make an informed choice people need opinions also I'm pretty sure I agreed with you in some instances and praised you in others. I like what I've seen of you deck so far I wouldn't have pledged if I didn't. Would I derfend you on another forum if somebody made similar comments regarding your deck and yourself personally? Most likely.As I said I like what you're doing and look forward to recieving my decks and seeing what the future decks you have planned bring. So once again thank you for being understanding my post wasn't intended to stir up such a hornets nest!
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phantom proclaiming that he
'She', just for future reference. It was a good guess and 99% of the time, you'd be right but not today.
I actually agree with you a bit; the blades are IMO good cards and as much as Alex tries to put his prejudice aside, I can't be sure, and in fact nobody can be sure if that is completely the case. Come to think of it Alex, you haven't actually said which objective elements of the design were poor; I'd genuinely be interested to hear that if just for the sake of learning about card design but moreover, it would be an irrefutable point you could make in this debate.
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What's up there about me?
I proclaimed who as he?
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Oops!!! My Bad!!! Just noticed the female symbol next to the word Gender Doh!!!
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Come to think of it Alex, you haven't actually said which objective elements of the design were poor; I'd genuinely be interested to hear that if just for the sake of learning about card design but moreover, it would be an irrefutable point you could make in this debate.
Objectively speaking, the art on the box is the kind of art you see from someone who begins learning Photoshop for the first time. The text effects are straight out-of-tutorial basics, the typography is all over the place with no consistency, the layout pays no attention to proper spacing and padding, and the original back design was so awful that all the details were blurred due to the air-cushioning (admittedly this is now fixed, and it was clearly a huge issue that warranted a fix in the new versions).
Yeah it can look cool, but the fact of the matter remains that aside from the hand-drawn elements, the design is very amateur. I do love the Diablo-esque art but at the same time it does little to push the boundaries of standard card design. Then again, that's not their intent.
Back to the amateur aspects, though; what irks me is that people think "if it looks cool, it IS cool" is appropriate for playing-card design when, in fact, that ideology is completely false in all other aspects of our lives. An entertaining movie may have huge errors that are laughably terrible. Millions of people have seen and loved Transformers, but that doesn't make its giant plot-holes forgivable. The writing in the movie, while entertaining, was in no way amazing and could have easily been written by a talented teenager. Nothing in that movie screams "the talent we have on our production is non-existent in any other production."
In a world where we have 10-20 new decks every month it really goes beyond "oh that looks cool!" The Trace decks look kind of cool to me, and if they were the only decks coming out this month I would have picked them up regardless of the fact that they take no talent to make. However, there are countless other decks coming out. If I find myself asking "Do I buy the Fantastique or the Infinity?" why on earth would I ask myself "Red Trace or Infinity?"
No matter how rich you are, money does become an issue at some point. For those who may only buy one or two decks this holiday season, they may look at the Vortex and skip out on it in favor of something that, in their eyes, is perfection. They will pick up the decks they know for a fact are everything they want, and are also what everyone else wants as well.
No matter ho much you guys say "just buy what you want and you'll never be let down!" that is never the case. People buy what they think will make them look awesome in a video or would be great to show off to their friends. Heck, it applies in all aspects of our lives. The clothes we buy are made to make us look good to someone else.
A critique judges standards in something. Art has standards. Any of you that have taken an art class or studied design on your own know basics like consistent typography, focal points, color balancing, etc. No matter how awesome a pink/green/yellow website may look to you, it will NEVER be rated positively by the standards to which we hold websites today.
So if you like the Blades, you like something that is, by any accepted modern standard of art, a mix of amateur design and great hand-drawn design. You can't work your way around that. Many would argue liking something outside of society's standards makes you unique and awesome.
Besides the cards are meant to be handled. Aside from the fact that soft stock simply does not last as long, they are amazing (in my initial review on UC I said it feels like they come pre-powdered).
I have personal issues with De'vo - but a product is a product and the cards I believe are not even designed by him. I also despise BBM for their tactics, but the designer of the cards? I have no reason to be "bias" against his work, which is why I kind of love the Samurai deck and the design of the Ryujins.
Heck, we all agree that Theory11's latest tactics of milking metallic ink is silly. Yet that has nothing to do with the quality of some of their decks. Likewise, the quality of some of their decks has nothing to do with how useless the "v2" Titaniums are.
tl;dr: A product is what it is. Bias has nothing to do with a good critique.
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Oops!!! My Bad!!! Just noticed the female symbol next to the word Gender Doh!!!
Haha, don't worry. There aren't so much girl in this society. I understand to assume everyone as a guy.
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For the sake of collecting, they seem to be great cards with the potential to have a great resale value, but I don't see spending ten bucks when I can spend seven and get arcanes or black ghosts which I will be willing to take out of the box.
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How much are the originals worth now? I got those for what, $6 a deck? The new ones actually look great (the cards, NOT the box!) and the old ones...not so much. I wonder if that affects resale value.
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I would say that those facts would indeed affect the resale. I would like to compare the Black Ghost 1 to the Black Ghost 2, but I have not handled the BG1. Either way, the way a card handles and how rare it actually is affects the resale the most, not the box art ( think White Centurions or Jerry's). To further support that theory, I have seen some cool box designs and the cards absolutely suck...those cards are not of worth to me. The back art is also a deciding factor is "value", but again we are faced with the same dilemma as the tuck art.
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Wow.....
I guess you can tell that I'm not a professional deck reviewer :P
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quantity (availability) + interest (fever) + real tradings at a high price = profitable (speculative) resales