You are Here:
Faith Playing Cards By Ali Asfour & Buyworthy

Author (Read 2075 times)

Faith Playing Cards By Ali Asfour & Buyworthy
« on: July 20, 2020, 02:39:46 PM »
 

Aliasfour96

  • Newcomer
  • *
  • 11
    Posts
  • Reputation: 0
Greetings Everyone

My name is Ali Asfour, I'm new to the community and I would to introduce you to my deck "Faith Playing Cards". I'm collaborating with Josh Boyle "Buyworthy" and we are launching tomorrow Tuesday 21st at 3pm Pacific time (-7 UTC) - 6pm Eastern Time.

We are on Instagram @faithplayingcards , my main is @Aliasfour96 and my partner Josh @buyworthy_cards .
This is the Link for kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/buyworthycards/faith-playing-cards-escape-and-reshape-your-future

Tomorrow on launch, you will have the full story on Kickstarter. Please if you have any questions please contact me here or on IG on my main @Aliasfour96 .
 

Re: Faith Playing Cards By Ali Asfour & Buyworthy
« Reply #1 on: July 20, 2020, 02:43:28 PM »
 

Aliasfour96

  • Newcomer
  • *
  • 11
    Posts
  • Reputation: 0
Photos by @nothing_only_cards by Steve J.Rosenfield
 

Re: Faith Playing Cards By Ali Asfour & Buyworthy
« Reply #2 on: July 21, 2020, 02:56:47 AM »
 

Don Boyer

  • VP/Dir. Club Forum/DAC Chair, 52 Plus Joker
  • Administrator
  • Forum Sentinel
  • *
  • 19,172
    Posts
  • Reputation: 415
  • Pick a card, any card...no, not THAT card!

  • Facebook:
Out of curiosity, why did you opt to make the design marked, aside from the obvious reason that you're a magician?

I love a good marked deck as much as the next magician, but when it comes to custom work like this, it's not that big of an enhancement.  What I've been discovering is that magicians, especially old-school magicians but younger ones as well to a lesser degree, have a major phobia about using anything other than a plain old standard (as in "mass-produced") deck design in their shows.  If they do use something custom-designed, the design still tends to hew closely to the standard and strongly resemble the old stand-bys like Bicycle Rider Backs/Standard, Bee Diamond Back, Tally Ho Circle Back and Fan Back, Hoyle Shell Back, etc.  Some might even go as far as using Arrco designs or Studs from Walgreens, but those are still fairly standard-looking decks.  For the old timers, they're afraid the spectators will think that anything the doesn't look like the dog-eared deck sitting in their kitchen drawer should be considered suspect, while for the newer magicians, they know that any deck the audience gets near to will have a very good chance of winding up ruined, so better to stick with what's widely available and cheap instead of a limited-edition custom model.

Having said all that about magicians, they still only make up a really small fraction of the card-buying market.  Most are collectors, some are players - that much-larger end of the market tends to really stay away from marked decks because, should anyone discover you're using a marked deck in a game against them, they tend not to react well to the news.  Even if your markings are subtle, nearly all factory-printed markings can be discovered with a simple riffle test.

Long story short, making your deck marked may appeal to a really tiny fraction of the overall potential audience, but at the same time it will turn off a much larger segment.  You wind up reducing overall demand.
Card Illusionist, NYC Area
Playing Card Design & Development Consultant
Deck Tailoring: Custom Alterations for Magicians and Card Mechanics
Services for Hire - http://thedecktailor.com/
Pre-Made Decks for Sale - http://donboyermagic.com/
 

Re: Faith Playing Cards By Ali Asfour & Buyworthy
« Reply #3 on: July 21, 2020, 07:15:36 AM »
 

Aliasfour96

  • Newcomer
  • *
  • 11
    Posts
  • Reputation: 0
Thank you so much on the feedback, I really appreciate your opinion. I have to say I made something I love and I think people will also love. I have put in a lot of time and work into it.
I understand your point on the marking system. But you can simply not learn it (in my case if you don?t learn it you won?t know how to read it) and play the games you like to play.
That being said, the deck is dedicated for magicians and cardists. I don?t think adding a marking system to the deck will reduce the audience of the deck because many people who aren?t magicians are interested in magic and would like to do a magic trick without learning sleight of hand.
Going to your question, I love a marked deck and I simply love using it and being a professional (the commen sense says you can?t get caught if you do it properly). My first deck that I bought and made me enter to the magic community was a marked deck, The mentalism tricks expands a lot when you?re using marked decks (even with esp cards) we all have a marked deck in a our house (we either mark it or it?s already marked, even if it was a card only).
Every detail in the deck is considered something for the story, If you wanna buy this deck you?ll buy it for what it represents and for the message behind, lastly thinking of the marking system.
I think a marking system is a win-win situation, specially for cardists and audience who are getting into magic or have to do nothing with magic. Most cardists gets asked if they can do magic because they do card manipulation and many cardists aren?t magicians and know nothimg about magic, having a marked deck that is very appealing for cardistry and easy to read marking system that takes minutes to learn will give more potential for more backers.

Again, I really respect your opinion and appreciate your point of view, you might be right we all have different visions and I might be wrong, who knows! Thank you so much for your feedback, I have to say I?m working on many different projects and they are all not marked (this deck is special to me and it is my first project and I wanted to put everything thing I love in it and put alot of hard work and time and effort into the design).

Thank you so much,
Cheers,
 

Re: Faith Playing Cards By Ali Asfour & Buyworthy
« Reply #4 on: July 25, 2020, 03:14:17 AM »
 

Don Boyer

  • VP/Dir. Club Forum/DAC Chair, 52 Plus Joker
  • Administrator
  • Forum Sentinel
  • *
  • 19,172
    Posts
  • Reputation: 415
  • Pick a card, any card...no, not THAT card!

  • Facebook:
Thank you so much on the feedback, I really appreciate your opinion. I have to say I made something I love and I think people will also love. I have put in a lot of time and work into it.
I understand your point on the marking system. But you can simply not learn it (in my case if you don?t learn it you won?t know how to read it) and play the games you like to play.
That being said, the deck is dedicated for magicians and cardists. I don?t think adding a marking system to the deck will reduce the audience of the deck because many people who aren?t magicians are interested in magic and would like to do a magic trick without learning sleight of hand.
Going to your question, I love a marked deck and I simply love using it and being a professional (the commen sense says you can?t get caught if you do it properly). My first deck that I bought and made me enter to the magic community was a marked deck, The mentalism tricks expands a lot when you?re using marked decks (even with esp cards) we all have a marked deck in a our house (we either mark it or it?s already marked, even if it was a card only).
Every detail in the deck is considered something for the story, If you wanna buy this deck you?ll buy it for what it represents and for the message behind, lastly thinking of the marking system.
I think a marking system is a win-win situation, specially for cardists and audience who are getting into magic or have to do nothing with magic. Most cardists gets asked if they can do magic because they do card manipulation and many cardists aren?t magicians and know nothimg about magic, having a marked deck that is very appealing for cardistry and easy to read marking system that takes minutes to learn will give more potential for more backers.

Again, I really respect your opinion and appreciate your point of view, you might be right we all have different visions and I might be wrong, who knows! Thank you so much for your feedback, I have to say I?m working on many different projects and they are all not marked (this deck is special to me and it is my first project and I wanted to put everything thing I love in it and put alot of hard work and time and effort into the design).

Thank you so much,
Cheers,

If it's your vision, especially if you're planning to use this deck for performance yourself, then by all means, stick to your guns and do what you feel is right.  I am simply pointing out that there is a risk of losing some potential backers because it's a marked deck.  It has nothing to do with them "not learning the marking system" - if I pulled out a marked deck at a poker game played for money, even small stakes, and got caught at it, I don't think my fellow players would take to kindly to the idea, whether I knew the marking system or not.

BTW, if you really want to try something devious, check out my marking system.  It's read not by sight, but by touch!  You can know the top card (or the bottom card!) of a stack, even while blindfolded, without using a peek or a shiner.  Murphy's Magic Supplies and D. Robbins & Co. are both stocking some of my hand-modified decks, including models that have the Blind marking system built-in.  You can find them at better magic shops all over the world!  :))
Card Illusionist, NYC Area
Playing Card Design & Development Consultant
Deck Tailoring: Custom Alterations for Magicians and Card Mechanics
Services for Hire - http://thedecktailor.com/
Pre-Made Decks for Sale - http://donboyermagic.com/