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Playing Card Chat ♠ ♥ ♣ ♦ => Playing Card Plethora => Topic started by: thecollector on May 02, 2014, 01:56:40 PM

Title: Bicycle karnival series. How many decks?
Post by: thecollector on May 02, 2014, 01:56:40 PM

Hi I am a collector and wonder if anybody can tell me how many decks in the karnival series. ???

Title: Re: Bicycle karnival series. How many decks?
Post by: badpete69 on May 02, 2014, 03:17:34 PM

I think we had a ist on some thread at some point but here's a try at it from my collection. Don't think I have seen others

Title: Re: Bicycle karnival series. How many decks?
Post by: Nurul on May 02, 2014, 03:28:07 PM

There's also the Karnival gold and Karnival Delirium

Title: Re: Bicycle karnival series. How many decks?
Post by: badpete69 on May 02, 2014, 03:31:13 PM

hehe was about to go add delirium and gold now. They are not on my spreadsheet yet as they are eagerly awaiting being classified in my boxes

Title: Re: Bicycle karnival series. How many decks?
Post by: Don Boyer on May 02, 2014, 04:22:18 PM

Quote from: badpete69 on May 02, 2014, 03:17:34 PM

I think we had a ist on some thread at some point but here's a try at it from my collection. Don't think I have seen others
Karnival Originals
Assassins
Assassins Limited Edition Foil Case
Assassins Green Deck
Renegades
Renegades Purple Deck
Midnight
Midnight Limited Edition Foil Case
Dead Eyes
Dead Eyes Limited Edition foil Case
Hornets
Dose
Dose Redux Limited Edition Foil Case
Ryujin
Inferno
Death Heads Carnage Edition
Death Heads Armour Edition (plastic coated by Fournier)
Earthtone9
Z-Ray
Elite
Delirium
Gold

Hey, Badpete - you left out a few tags in the BBcode for the list.

A few notes:

The Armour Edition Death Heads weren't plastic coated, but 100% plastic, made in the same manner as the Bicycle Prestige deck - the feel and handling is identical. All the other remaining decks are coated paper, with the later models having Magic Finish.
The Karnival Hornets should not be confused with the Hornets deck made by Circle City Card Co. Karnival Hornets have more of a bee theme and a fine, repeating pattern in white of tiny vertical lines of skulls on the red back. I mean REALLY TINY, like "I need a microscope" tiny. It's the only Karnival deck made on Bee stock. The other paper decks were made on Bicycle stock.
Every deck listed was Bicycle branded with these exceptions:
- Karnival Hornets
- Karnival Dose - the Dose Redux deck was Bicycle branded.
- Karnival Inferno - USPC objected to some of the art and forced Big Blind Media to make some edits. I'm not sure if it was USPC's decision or BBM's but the idea of putting the Bicycle name on it was nixed.
- Karnival Death Heads Armour Edition - the Carnage Edition was Bicycle branded.
- "Karnival Originals" are simply known on the box as "Bicycle Karnival", while the black version is called "Bicycle Karnival Midnight". The "Gold" deck is the Bicycle Karnival deck (bears the same name) with gold metallic ink replacing the black in the original deck design - you could call it a second color, or third if you count Midnight as color #2.
A handling note - the finish on the original six decks is NOT known for holding up over time, but the newer versions of them all have Magic Finish. The first six were Karnival (white), Karnival Midnight (black), Karnival Assassins (red), Karnival Renegades (blue), Karnival Ryujin and Karnival Dead Eyes, all in the original non-foil boxes.
If you wish to use them for poker, choose carefully - most if not all of the designs have a one-way back design, some more subtle than others.
Big Blind Media released a deck called the Discoverie Deck, but designed it for someone else. It's not considered part of the Karnival line and has no Karnival branding on it, though it is listed on their website's store with all the other available Karnival Inc. decks.
Sam Hayles, noted artist behind the bulk of the series, released one deck with a different company called "Bicycle Samurai" - it's not a Karnival deck but many collectors of the Karnival line like it and pick it up as well.

Title: Re: Bicycle karnival series. How many decks?
Post by: thecollector on May 06, 2014, 12:17:46 PM

Thanks guys. Only 3 short in my collection. and anybody know where I might find midnight and midnight foil. and also dead eyes foil. Uk or Europe preferable? and one last question totally off the subject am I allowed to advertise items to people I have listed on my ebay page? I have gold arcane deck in Lucite case. and black ghost 1st edition in a Lucite case. by far the cheapest on ebay I am just not getting any interest.

Thanks again guys.

Title: Re: Bicycle karnival series. How many decks?
Post by: badpete69 on May 06, 2014, 12:22:40 PM

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bicycle-KARNIVAL-Midnight-Playing-Cards-FOIL-TUCK-CASE-limited-by-BBM-RARE-/170954276723?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27cdab3f73 (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bicycle-KARNIVAL-Midnight-Playing-Cards-FOIL-TUCK-CASE-limited-by-BBM-RARE-/170954276723?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27cdab3f73)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-DECK-Karnival-Midnight-LIMITED-Foil-Edition-playing-cards-for-magic-/251357838140?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a86183b3c (http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-DECK-Karnival-Midnight-LIMITED-Foil-Edition-playing-cards-for-magic-/251357838140?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a86183b3c)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bicycle-Karnival-Dose-Redux-Limited-Edition-Playing-Cards-In-Foil-Tuck-Case-/261328305338?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cd8617cba (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bicycle-Karnival-Dose-Redux-Limited-Edition-Playing-Cards-In-Foil-Tuck-Case-/261328305338?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cd8617cba)

I don't see the regular midnight deck but that one should be easy enough to track

EDIT found one

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Karnival-Midnights-Decks-Playing-Cards-Like-Bicycle-by-BBM-/180985219819?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a238f4aeb (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Karnival-Midnights-Decks-Playing-Cards-Like-Bicycle-by-BBM-/180985219819?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a238f4aeb)

Title: Re: Bicycle karnival series. How many decks?
Post by: Don Boyer on May 06, 2014, 09:00:08 PM

Quote from: thecollector on May 06, 2014, 12:17:46 PM

Thanks guys. Only 3 short in my collection. and anybody know where I might find midnight and midnight foil. and also dead eyes foil. Uk or Europe preferable? and one last question totally off the subject am I allowed to advertise items to people I have listed on my ebay page? I have gold arcane deck in Lucite case. and black ghost 1st edition in a Lucite case. by far the cheapest on ebay I am just not getting any interest.

Thanks again guys.

Big Blind Media is based in the UK. You can order from bigblindmedia.com in pounds sterling as well as US dollars and euros. You can find the most recent decks and any future releases there.