Hi Discourse

[bhong]

Hi Discourse,

My name is Brendan. I'm a card collector from Canada. I mostly collect cards for their designs and just started recently. If anyone could recommend any books on playing card history, I'd be much obliged. Or any recommendation of beautiful cards to add my collection, that would be amazing. And here's a picture of my small collection:

[Don Boyer]

Hi Discourse,

My name is Brendan. I'm a card collector from Canada. I mostly collect cards for their designs and just started recently. If anyone could recommend any books on playing card history, I'd be much obliged. Or any recommendation of beautiful cards to add my collection, that would be amazing. And here's a picture of my small collection:

Welcome.  Nice collection.

You've got to go with what appeals to you when it comes to building your collection.  Find what strikes your fancy, and your budget, and go for it.  Don't know what's out there?  Hang out here a while, you'll get the lay of the land quickly enough...

[Curt]

Nice collection Brendan and welcome, always happy to see another Canadian join the forum

[ronyo_faukx]

I see two clear plastic decks in the top right.

I approve. There is no hiding a lack of poker face behind those.

[Don Boyer]

I see two clear plastic decks in the top right.

I approve. There is no hiding a lack of poker face behind those.

One is a Bicycle clear plastic deck, the other is a Kikkerland "Invisible Deck".  I have an eye for these things!

[ronyo_faukx]

I see two clear plastic decks in the top right.

I approve. There is no hiding a lack of poker face behind those.

One is a Bicycle clear plastic deck, the other is a Kikkerland "Invisible Deck".  I have an eye for these things!

I has one of the Kikkerland ones. It is truly swish. 

[bhong]

Thanks for the welcome, Curt.

I see two clear plastic decks in the top right.

I approve. There is no hiding a lack of poker face behind those.

Would you care to recommend any other clear plastic deck? I know there's a Hoyle one that I've been meaning to get.

[Don Boyer]

Thanks for the welcome, Curt.

I see two clear plastic decks in the top right.

I approve. There is no hiding a lack of poker face behind those.

Would you care to recommend any other clear plastic deck? I know there's a Hoyle one that I've been meaning to get.

I know the Kikkerland deck comes in two color schemes.  The Bicycle deck comes in at least three - the one you have, the inverse of the one you have, and a teal version.

I've also seen around a "glow-in-the-dark" clear deck - the faces will glow after being exposed to a bright light for a while.  Though I imagine it's not exactly convenient to lay out all the cards for a half-hour or so before playing... 

There are clear decks for Coca-Cola and Spongebob Squarepants.  A quick search on Amazon for "clear playing cards" will turn up more.

[bhong]

That glow in the dark one sounds like a fun one to get. The only problem with the Amazon search is that I'm in Canada ... I think our Amazon inventory is years behind the US one.

I had the thought of "I wonder if USPCC would try to make a see through paper playing card" ... until I realized they went through all that trouble with their special glue to prevent the cards for being see through to begin with.

[ronyo_faukx]

You can buy them direct from the Kikkerland site.

http://www.kikkerland.com/products/playing-cards-glow-in-the-dark/ - $12/deck

http://www.kikkerland.com/products/playing-cards-invisible/ - $9/deck

http://www.kikkerland.com/products/space-invader-playing-cards/ - $12/deck

----------------------
Also, I love the look of Mollaspace's 'Poker Face' cards:

http://mollaspace.com/products/see-through-poker-face-cards - $10/deck


Word of warning, don't get the 'Red Deck', there are much better designed Asian-themed decks out there, e.g. Blueblood and BBM Ryujin.

[Don Boyer]

That glow in the dark one sounds like a fun one to get. The only problem with the Amazon search is that I'm in Canada ... I think our Amazon inventory is years behind the US one.

I had the thought of "I wonder if USPCC would try to make a see through paper playing card" ... until I realized they went through all that trouble with their special glue to prevent the cards for being see through to begin with.

Did you know that you can shop on the American Amazon.com site, even from Canada, as long as you're willing to pay the shipping?

Re see-through paper cards - some of the cheaper brands out there literally are see through.  They either didn't bother with a graphite powder/glue mix or they didn't put in enough graphite - hold them to a strong light and you can read through the back of the card to see the front.  Not something you want to play poker with!

There's also a special card used in magic called a Hofzinser card.  It's a very clever concept - make the card see-through, presenting the image of one card from the back, but a totally different card from the front!  I have a few of them, they're awesome.  One good use would be to "force" someone to draw the "inner card" - but the standard version - from the deck.  Do the mumbo-jumbo and pull out the Hofzinser card, showing the front (with the wrong card) as theirs.  Of course, they say you got it wrong, but do more hocus-pocus on it and hold it up to the light...  Nice...

[bhong]

Some, but not all Amazon.com dealers ship north of the border though sometimes the shipping and then duty fees can add up pretty quick. But I've found it funny to see how the bigger companies label playing cards. Ellusionist labels what anything they ship as "educational" or "teaching items".

Thanks again, ronyo_faukx. The MollaSpace card look pretty sweet.

Now, I guess this wasn't their original purpose, but having a poker game with Hofzinser cards would be pretty fun. More so if you're the only one to know there's something special about them.

[Don Boyer]

Some, but not all Amazon.com dealers ship north of the border though sometimes the shipping and then duty fees can add up pretty quick. But I've found it funny to see how the bigger companies label playing cards. Ellusionist labels what anything they ship as "educational" or "teaching items".

Thanks again, ronyo_faukx. The MollaSpace card look pretty sweet.

Now, I guess this wasn't their original purpose, but having a poker game with Hofzinser cards would be pretty fun. More so if you're the only one to know there's something special about them.

Actually, they are teaching items and educational.  They teach you how to perform magic and cardistry.  Plus I'm thinking that educational materials are treated more favorably at Customs in other countries than games or similar merchandise. 

Playing poker with Hofzinser cards would be, among other things, very expensive - the cards are all hand-made.  Furthermore, the reveal seen from the back is NOT the same as the card seen from the front.  They're better for magic than anything else.

[Anthony]

Welcome to the site bhong, great group of card fans around here, very helpful.

...very nice collection