Just Discovered "Decks"

[demolitionman]

Hi All,
I haven't thought about cards since college (long ago), Tally-Ho circle backs were my chosen deck, maybe by default.
Poker, Crazy 8s, Gin... Just played poker with my nephew and his friends and sparked an interest in cards and spent a few hours on youtube learning about the explosion of card enthusiasts/cardists/illusionists and card variety, WOW!
Won Bicycle Shadow Masters and Crown Blue decks on the bay, waiting on their arrival.
Tracking Bicycle Excellence and Tally-Ho Titanium currently.
Still have a vintage 80s Tally-ho Red Circle Back...Held off buying stationary store decks but may buy a new Tally-ho Circle Back or Bee Club Special to hold me over.
Not sure what direction my purchases will take me other than having some quality cards.

Cheers,
Rafa
NYC

[Don Boyer]

Based on what you said, I'm guessing you went to school in New York City as well as residing there.  Outside of a magic store or a playing card retailer online, Tally Ho is only available within New York City - USPC treats it as one of their "regional" brands, not for sale nationally or internationally.  I used to get them for three bucks a pack at the 24-hour fruit/veggie store near my old apartment in Queens but I just moved outside of the city limits to Yonkers, though I'm still less than five minutes away from the Bronx by car.  Can't buy Tally Ho decks around the corner, but can pay hundreds less in car insurance, so... 

Welcome to the forum - pull up a chair and we'll deal you in!

[demolitionman]

Hey Don,
Grew up on Long Island just outside of Queens and went to University in Western NY.
What custom artwork decks do you recommend the most?

Cheers

[Don Boyer]

Hey Don,
Grew up on Long Island just outside of Queens and went to University in Western NY.
What custom artwork decks do you recommend the most?

Cheers

Wow - it's really a personal choice for the individual.  There's also different decks for different purposes - I perform magic as well as collect, so some of my collection is relatively boring but well-suited for performance.

I'm pretty fond of Randy Butterfield's newest, "Midnight Bowl-A-Rama" and "Midnight Cosmic Lanes" bowling-themed decks.  The former is a pair of paper decks from Legends, the latter is a plastic deck with glow-in-the-dark ink from the same printer.  I also liked pretty much everything by Uusi, Emmanuel Jose and Card Experiment.  But again, there's just so many different styles and so many different individual tastes out there.  I could write a list longer than a pro basketball player.

[demolitionman]

Thanks for the suggestions.
Waiting on delivery of one of the recommended artists, The Crown Deck in blue v2 by The Blue Crown, designed by Randy Butterfield.
In addition just ordered a deck from The Independence series by Kings Wild, The Crown designed by Jackson Robinson

[Anthony]

Welcome to the "Club" Rafa...........there's a big, big world of playing cards out there. But you've found a good place for guidance and conversation to help you build your collection. Like Don said, it's all a personal thing, pick up what appeals to you, don't be swayed to much by what others say.......it is after all, your collection. But, I would take the time to hear out the opinions posted here, sometimes you have the "1st look infatuation" with a deck, but as information becomes available, the "Shine" wears off a bit.

Enjoy, keep it fun and you'll have fun.

[Don Boyer]

Thanks for the suggestions.
Waiting on delivery of one of the recommended artists, The Crown Deck in blue v2 by The Blue Crown, designed by Randy Butterfield.
In addition just ordered a deck from The Independence series by Kings Wild, The Crown designed by Jackson Robinson

Nice choices - BTW, that's the blue Luxury Crown deck, not the blue Crown Deck v2.  The standard model is already Crown Deck v2!  Randy only designed the unique aspects of the Luxury Crowns, which were based on USPC's old Arrco face design as the originals were.  The artist "hydro74," if memory serves, designed the unique aspects of both v1 and v2 of the Crown decks.

[demolitionman]

Guess I'll have to say unfortunately?, its not the The Blue Crown Co. Luxury Edition but the Standard Ed., but like you said tis a good deck.

[Fess]

Guess I'll have to say unfortunately?, its not the The Blue Crown Co. Luxury Edition but the Standard Ed., but like you said tis a good deck.

It's a wonderful deck! I've been through bricks of the Crown decks. I am particularly fond of the... who are we kidding, all of them haha. I thought I would bring up Aloys Studios, haven't heard too much out of her this year but there's some really great floral designs available with colors that aren't too common. Aloys Studio are also responsible for the largest number of Tally-Ho recolors, not like the rainbow more like skittles from bright to pastel.

Welcome to the Forum. Look forward to seeing your opinions.

[demolitionman]

Picked up a Tally-Ho blue circle back from a local store last week, wow they are just as nice as the Blue Crown deck.
Also got the Kings Wild The Crown deck, beautiful artwork. Still waiting for delivery of a Bicycle shadow masters deck that I won on ebay, seller has yet to send...

[Don Boyer]

Picked up a Tally-Ho blue circle back from a local store last week, wow they are just as nice as the Blue Crown deck.
Also got the Kings Wild The Crown deck, beautiful artwork. Still waiting for delivery of a Bicycle shadow masters deck that I won on ebay, seller has yet to send...

Tally Ho are the decks of choice for a lot of magicians and cardists.  To my knowledge, they were one of Dai Vernon's favorites as well - he's often been photographed using a pack of them.

[demolitionman]

Tally Ho are the decks of choice for a lot of magicians and cardists.  To my knowledge, they were one of Dai Vernon's favorites as well - he's often been photographed using a pack of them.

The Shadow deck is m.i.a. and so is the seller...
Picked-up a Kings Wild Project Tally-Ho deck Turtle Back, traditional cut, really liking it, all custom designed by Jackson Robinson, it's thicker than reg. Tally-Ho's.
The Blue Crown Deck disappointed, a couple of cards bent while shuffling, the reg. Tally's seem to be a sturdier stock and are going to be my go to deck at under $4 bucks. Going to get a Bee deck and see what they feel like.

Cheers All

[Don Boyer]

The Shadow deck is m.i.a. and so is the seller...
Picked-up a Kings Wild Project Tally-Ho deck Turtle Back, traditional cut, really liking it, all custom designed by Jackson Robinson, it's thicker than reg. Tally-Ho's.
The Blue Crown Deck disappointed, a couple of cards bent while shuffling, the reg. Tally's seem to be a sturdier stock and are going to be my go to deck at under $4 bucks. Going to get a Bee deck and see what they feel like.

Cheers All

Pursue the Bicycle Shadow Masters with eBay - they have Buyer Protection for just such circumstances.  Next time, just get them from the source, Ellusionist.

Jackson did some fine work on that deck.  The same faces appear on the 52 Plus Joker's 2014 deck, also designed by him.  The silver deck with the slipcover case is still a members-only purchase, the gold deck in the side-loading tuck case is available at the Conjuring Arts Research Center.

Tally Ho decks have a fine stock.  The Blue Crown deck uses the same stock as Bicycle Standards - good, but not as sturdy and you sound like a man who likes a thick stock.

Bees you'll find are heavier than Tally Ho.  And Expert PCC has a new stock coming out soon, "Robusto," even thicker than that - the only things thicker are made of plastic!

[demolitionman]

I waited 2 days too long on ebay, 30 day buyer protection...it was a guy just starting college, we shot a couple of msgs, he apologized for the delay then mia. I'll contact customer service, it was only $6 but it's the principle.

I have another deck incoming which may be a surprise deck or replacement for Kings WIld Project Tally Ho deck, there was a bent corner on black joker straight from sealed tuck case.

Will def. pick up a Bee deck tomorrow on your recommendation, will keep my eyes open for the "Robusto"

[Fess]

Will def. pick up a Bee deck tomorrow on your recommendation, will keep my eyes open for the "Robusto"

Check out the metallic bee's from T11. I forget what they call them but they're very affordable at $4 or $5. Those are fun in my opinion, you may like the effect. 

[Don Boyer]

Will def. pick up a Bee deck tomorrow on your recommendation, will keep my eyes open for the "Robusto"

Check out the metallic bee's from T11. I forget what they call them but they're very affordable at $4 or $5. Those are fun in my opinion, you may like the effect. 

Bee Titanium, part of a series of Titanium decks including Tally Ho (circle backs only) and two versions of Bicycle (only difference is the tuck box).

[Fess]

Will def. pick up a Bee deck tomorrow on your recommendation, will keep my eyes open for the "Robusto"

Check out the metallic bee's from T11. I forget what they call them but they're very affordable at $4 or $5. Those are fun in my opinion, you may like the effect. 

Bee Titanium, part of a series of Titanium decks including Tally Ho (circle backs only) and two versions of Bicycle (only difference is the tuck box).

Yes haha, that's what they're called, Titanium Bee's. I always think of them as T11 Bee's and T11 Tally-Ho. (Which I have devoured entirely too many of.) Fun decks with their shimmer shimmers all sliding around. I even like the Ad cards on those decks. Have a peek at those Bee's, they may strike your fancy if you're looking for fun inexpensive Bees.

Thinking about it, pretty much any Erdnase Bee's are also a fun take on Bee's and really well done. Some of them can be found pretty inexpensive as well, under $10 anyway. Don't be intimidated if you come across a few fairly expensive Erdnase Bee's first, keep looking and you'll see the more economical ones for sure.

[demolitionman]

T11 Titanium Bees it is (Terminator Bee's, lol). If I can't find them at a good price and in a  timely fashion I'll pick up Bee Casino Quality Club Special deck at a local stationary store, or both...

The Bee Gold Edition Coterie deck looks really nice, although 5x the price...

[Don Boyer]

T11 Titanium Bees it is (Terminator Bee's, lol). If I can't find them at a good price and in a  timely fashion I'll pick up Bee Casino Quality Club Special deck at a local stationary store, or both...

The Bee Gold Edition Coterie deck looks really nice, although 5x the price...

It's a great deck - limited edition, though, and long sold out.  The unsigned, wrapped gold seal versions are still difficult to obtain, I think - that deck was being used as a "membership card" for Coterie 1902, which is an actual group of Hong Kong-based magicians.  Black-sealed unsigned decks were the common-enough ones, and gold-sealed ones signed by Zenneth Kok came out when collectors freaked out that there was a gold-sealed version of the deck, due to someone revealing it online.  The original intent was that a member of the Coterie would receive a gold-sealed deck when joining, and it would be unwrapped and signed on the back immediately - wrapped, gold-sealed decks are still very rare.  Zenneth was kind enough to give me one.

Originally, they were ALL supposed to be gold-sealed, but USPC messed up on the order.  If they hadn't, I'm not sure how they would have handled the marketing and using the deck as a club membership "card."

[demolitionman]

Don, you are a Man offering a wealth of information!
Are the KARNIVAL HORNETS PLAYING CARDS printed on Casino Bee stock, alternative to reg. Bee's...

[Don Boyer]

Don, you are a Man offering a wealth of information!
Are the KARNIVAL HORNETS PLAYING CARDS printed on Casino Bee stock, alternative to reg. Bee's...

The Karnival Hornets are indeed on Bee Casino stock.