Erdnase 216 "Squeezers"

[Don Boyer]

Check it out - from 52cartes.  It appears to be called Erdnase 216.

[MrMollusk]

Dat one way back...
I also can't really see how it relates to Erdnase. Is it wood grain? Animal print?
This should be interesting.

[Don Boyer]

Dat one way back...
I also can't really see how it relates to Erdnase. Is it wood grain? Animal print?
This should be interesting.

That might not be the back - it might just be the box.

EDIT: just realized that the hand is holding the deck.  Yup, it's the back...

Hmm...   Y'know, I saw some pretty interesting Bee backs when I visited the Dawsons last year.  It's possible that this could be a historical Bee back design.

[john]

Alright, so i just finished talking to a friend of mine who has these cards already and i thought i would relay the information to you. The deck is coming in more then just green so Don you should update the OP. The deck ISNT on Bee casino stock, according to him its very thin, don't know how thin though . It is also one of the best handling deck out of the USPC in recent months. As i said though this information is from a friend of mine and not from my own experience.



*NOT MY PICTURE*

[Don Boyer]

Alright, so i just finished talking to a friend of mine who has these cards already and i thought i would relay the information to you. The deck is coming in more then just green so Don you should update the OP. The deck ISNT on Bee casino stock, according to him its very thin, don't know how thin though . It is also one of the best handling deck out of the USPC in recent months. As i said though this information is from a friend of mine and not from my own experience.

Well, we know it's not the cards that have a green back - the first picture from Remi proved that.  I can't imagine what they'd do with other "colors".  I'll just use the actual deck name - Erdnase 216 "Squeezers".  We don't even know yet if it's a CARC deck.

[Xntrix]

We don't even know yet if it's a CARC deck.

Yeah... You can update that to a positive too.
Not sure how much I should say about this, so I'll keep it to; the 'Erdnase' thing is correct; it does relate heavily to him - and the two colors are correct too.

-Jake.

[Don Boyer]

We don't even know yet if it's a CARC deck.

Yeah... You can update that to a positive too.
Not sure how much I should say about this, so I'll keep it to; the 'Erdnase' thing is correct; it does relate heavily to him - and the two colors are correct too.

-Jake.

I had a hunch it was CARC - they're doing the most work with Bee decks of any company out there besides casinos.  I just couldn't say for certain, until now.

The photo of the deck back...  Kinda strange...  I don't know if I'll buy it, but I'm at least curious.

[hecrob]

Update maybe??

http://erdnase.com

They look like an autacad file... lol

[alex]

where can I buy? can anyone tell me?

[see_squared]

yeah, CARC posted this in their news section: http://conjuringarts.org/2013/02/discovered-bee-216-erdnase/

[Xntrix]

where can I buy? can anyone tell me?

Unreleased. Bill Kalush just sent a few decks out to his friends. Keep an eye on CARC's website for news - although these will undoubtedly be sold to CARC members first (and then non-members at a higher price if they don't sell out) - so it's a good idea to sign up. You get discounts on CARC products, access to Ask Alexander and a copy of Gibeciere every 6 months. 

-J.

[MrMollusk]

Well, that would explain the odd design.
I must say that I really want to know what a thin ivory deck feels like. In my experiences, smooth finish decks tend to be fairly thick. The Ask Alexander deck (Ivory finish) is nearly 17.5 mm thick. This one was 14.5 mm thick.

[hecrob]

  ITS OUT!!!

Squeezers

[Michael]

ITS OUT!!!

Squeezers

Thanks for the news! I'm going to head over there now to pick up a few these interest me.

[Don Boyer]

I must say that I really want to know what a thin ivory deck feels like. In my experiences, smooth finish decks tend to be fairly thick. The Ask Alexander deck (Ivory finish) is nearly 17.5 mm thick. This one was 14.5 mm thick.

Well, the D&D Steamboats are pretty thin, or at least pretty light.  I've found Ivory decks are usually thicker because they're usually on Bee Casino stock!

ITS OUT!!!

Squeezers

I might have to pick some up tomorrow.  I'll be in the area.

[Don Boyer]

I did manage to pick some up - a gift from Bill Kalush!  Also got a few extras, one of which you see in the picture... 

The handling is everything he said it is - and the cards are T-H-I-N like you rarely see.  But they don't collapse under use - good cards.

[Michael]

I did manage to pick some up - a gift from Bill Kalush!  Also got a few extras, one of which you see in the picture... 

The handling is everything he said it is - and the cards are T-H-I-N like you rarely see.  But they don't collapse under use - good cards.

Now I can't wait to receive my decks is this "Erdnase finish" noticeably different from the standard finishes out there?

[Don Boyer]

I did manage to pick some up - a gift from Bill Kalush!  Also got a few extras, one of which you see in the picture... 

The handling is everything he said it is - and the cards are T-H-I-N like you rarely see.  But they don't collapse under use - good cards.

Now I can't wait to receive my decks is this "Erdnase finish" noticeably different from the standard finishes out there?

The feel is distinct.  I don't know how he accomplished it, other than it's something he's been working on for a while.  I have nothing to compare it to, really.

The thinness of the cards makes double- and triple-lifts more convincing, that's for certain.

[Michael]

I did manage to pick some up - a gift from Bill Kalush!  Also got a few extras, one of which you see in the picture... 

The handling is everything he said it is - and the cards are T-H-I-N like you rarely see.  But they don't collapse under use - good cards.

Now I can't wait to receive my decks is this "Erdnase finish" noticeably different from the standard finishes out there?

The feel is distinct.  I don't know how he accomplished it, other than it's something he's been working on for a while.  I have nothing to compare it to, really.

The thinness of the cards makes double- and triple-lifts more convincing, that's for certain.

Well that'll give me something to play with and enjoy when I get them. Good thing CARC tends to ship fast in my experience!

[Don Boyer]

Well that'll give me something to play with and enjoy when I get them. Good thing CARC tends to ship fast in my experience!

They were putting orders in the mail while I was down there - that's pretty quick.

[nycplayingcards]

Just got a couple of these over at Tannen's, opened them up and I'm hooked! THE ERDNASE FINISH IS SO AWESOME!!!

http://www.tannens.com/shop//cart.php?m=product_detail&p=9882

[jmrock]

Not only did one of the two decks arrive dented, but am I the only one on here who is really disappointed with the lack of effort CARC took to clean up the imagery on the back of the box... It looks like an off-center poor photocopy... If it was their attempt to make the box look aged, I think they failed... For one of my favorite brand decks, it was a very sad showing... In my humble opinion...

[Michael]

I'll be receiving my order tomorrow in the mail so I can judge for myself. As long as the tuck isn't ruined or terribly ugly I usually don't mind. I'm more concerned with the actual cards themselves. A nice tuck is just a bonus (but a decent tuck is expected),

[Don Boyer]

Not only did one of the two decks arrive dented, but am I the only one on here who is really disappointed with the lack of effort CARC took to clean up the imagery on the back of the box... It looks like an off-center poor photocopy... If it was their attempt to make the box look aged, I think they failed... For one of my favorite brand decks, it was a very sad showing... In my humble opinion...

I looked at both the CARC deck and the original from which it was made - held them both in my hand.  They're pretty close to identical.  As far as the damage, try contacting their customer service for a replacement.

[Michael]

The back of my tuck box isn't damaged at all and the imagery looks fine as well. What gets me is that the spot cards and the courts seem to be in bad shape. What I mean by that is the indices are not all the same size and some seem to be "fuzzy" as if the printing was done strange. And the courts have some streaking of color on them. It seems like quality wasn't so good on the printing. Unless that's an "aged" look to relate back to Erdnase. The finish is pretty cool though.

[Don Boyer]

The back of my tuck box isn't damaged at all and the imagery looks fine as well. What gets me is that the spot cards and the courts seem to be in bad shape. What I mean by that is the indices are not all the same size and some seem to be "fuzzy" as if the printing was done strange. And the courts have some streaking of color on them. It seems like quality wasn't so good on the printing. Unless that's an "aged" look to relate back to Erdnase. The finish is pretty cool though.

I believe they were looking for the old style of printing.  The ink was applied less than perfectly on the older machines.  I believe the cards were made from direct scans of the original deck.  I don't remember seeing streaking of color, though.  Are you referring to the hair, where there's some spots that didn't get inked?  That, too, I think is an attempt at making the cards look as close to the originals as possible.  But I guess I could ask Bill Kalush the next time we speak.

[Michael]

The back of my tuck box isn't damaged at all and the imagery looks fine as well. What gets me is that the spot cards and the courts seem to be in bad shape. What I mean by that is the indices are not all the same size and some seem to be "fuzzy" as if the printing was done strange. And the courts have some streaking of color on them. It seems like quality wasn't so good on the printing. Unless that's an "aged" look to relate back to Erdnase. The finish is pretty cool though.

I believe they were looking for the old style of printing.  The ink was applied less than perfectly on the older machines.  I believe the cards were made from direct scans of the original deck.  I don't remember seeing streaking of color, though.  Are you referring to the hair, where there's some spots that didn't get inked?  That, too, I think is an attempt at making the cards look as close to the originals as possible.  But I guess I could ask Bill Kalush the next time we speak.

I realized after the fact that streaking is probably not the right term. Embarrassing seeing as my father used to work for Xerox for a while so these terms are what I heard a lot back in the day. But I was referring to the uneven printing on some of the courts that produce strips of lighter coloration. But now that I've had more time to look at them, I can see how this resembles an "aged" deck.

I actually don't mind that as much, especially if the images are from the direct scans of the original deck. The finish is super slippery though, much more so than magic finish. It's taking me a bit to get used to.

[Don Boyer]

I realized after the fact that streaking is probably not the right term. Embarrassing seeing as my father used to work for Xerox for a while so these terms are what I heard a lot back in the day. But I was referring to the uneven printing on some of the courts that produce strips of lighter coloration. But now that I've had more time to look at them, I can see how this resembles an "aged" deck.

I actually don't mind that as much, especially if the images are from the direct scans of the original deck. The finish is super slippery though, much more so than magic finish. It's taking me a bit to get used to.

That finish is a couple of years in the making, something Kalush was experimenting with.

I'm sure the scans were touched up a little, to remove most of the effects of aging and wear.  The original deck isn't so bright a white in the background.  But with a clean-up process on a deck's images, if you want to make them appear authentic to the era, you have to draw a line somewhere.  Think of it like using a pencil eraser to clean up a penciled sketch made by a different artist - remove too much and you're no longer cleaning, you're altering the art to a different appearance.  It's why art restoration is as much artistic as it is technical and scientific.

[Michael]

The more I play with these cards the more I like the finish. It isn't too slippery anymore but maybe that is because I'm used to it more.

I get your point though about the image clean up. Finding that perfect like between cleaning enough and too much is hard. I still feel it looks a little unfinished or lower quality but I guess I'm not used to handling vintage decks.

[Rob Wright]

Based on a conversation with Don over in the deck battles, I decided to order a couple decks. First thing I noticed was no tax stamp/seal. I went to the CARC website, and the picture of the original had a stamp. Not a big deal to me, but kind of surprised considering how much work went into replicating the original. Opened the deck. Ultra thin, ultra smooth, and ultra slick. I noticed they rattled in the box. 54 cards in a 56 card box is part of it I think. I stacked the 216s against a deck of Rider Backs. the 54 216s were equal to 52 Rider Backs. If I had to compare them to another deck. I would say a thin cheap Chinese deck, but in a good way.
Now that these have been out a few months. have you guys been using these, and what do you think?