Pictorial Review: The Egor Klyuchnyk decks (Ben Jones)

How well does your favorite deck hold up?
User avatar
EndersGame
Member
Member
Posts: 1450
Joined: Fri Mar 24, 2017 12:26 am
Cardist: Yes
Collector: Yes
Player: Yes
Magician: Yes
Has thanked: 521 times
Been thanked: 1181 times
Contact:

Pictorial Review: The Egor Klyuchnyk decks (Ben Jones)

Unread post by EndersGame »

*** THE FAMOUS PIPMEN OF ELEPHANT PLAYING CARDS ***

Introducing Ben Jones

Ben Jones is the man behind Elephant Playing Cards, which has produced numerous popular decks of playing cards, including the innovative Prism series and the creative Pipmen series. Currently Elephant Playing Cards is launching their new flagship deck on Kickstarter - which is appropriately called Elephant Playing Cards, and indeed features elephants as the central motif on the artwork throughout the deck.

While Ben's Prism decks and Pipmen decks are arguably his most innovative and creative, he's also produced a number of other decks, including collaborations with Anomaly World Studio's Egor Klyuchnyk. In this last installment of this series of reviews, I'll focus on the Medieval deck, and the deck that is currently being launched as a branded deck for Elephant Playing Cards.

Image


*** THE EGOR KLYUCHNYK DECKS ***

While most of the decks produced by Elephant Playing Cards have been Ben's own designs, there are two exceptions, both of which were a collaboration with designer Egor Klyuchnyk from Anomaly World Studio. They first teamed up to produce the Medieval deck, but this partnership was not be the last between Egor and Elephant Playing Cards, with the branded deck that was recently launched also a result of involvement from Egor's Anomaly World Studio.

Medieval Playing Cards

This next deck in the Elephant Playing Cards quiver is the Medieval deck, and was designed by Egor Klyuchnyk. This beautiful hand-drawn deck was inspired by the fearless knights, powerful lords, and gorgeous queens of medieval times.

Image

Besides the lovely and highly detailed black and white illustrations, the tuck case has a very papery feel, that brings to mind the touch of parchment or papyrus, lending extra authenticity to the medieval theme that the artwork depicts.

A beautiful addition to this deck is the red wax-style seal, and it was this unique seal that first attracted Ben Jones' attention and interest in this design. But despite the impressive looks, don't be afraid to open the box by breaking the seal, because once the deck is opened the flap will fold back inside the deck like a normal deck.

The card backs have elaborate renaissance styled artwork, with the influence of heraldry very apparent in the form of a coat-of-arms inspired design.

Image

The great artist Diego Velasquez served as an inspiration for the style found throughout the deck.

The published Silver version features black and white artwork for the most part, which serves to heighten the impact of the ornately styled artwork, and also causes the red of the Heart and Diamond pips to make even more of an impression than normal. The background canvas of the face cards is a off-white and uneven grey, which adds to the parchment feel and antique historical flavour of the deck.

The court cards feature a one-way design, much like the original old style of playing cards. The Kings feature a variety of knights, like the ones shown here.

Image

Meanwhile, here are some of the ladies that inhabit the medieval court. The elaborate and wide borders convey a sense of nobility and royalty that suits the court card characters well.

Image

The Aces are gorgeously over-sized, with very ornate and detailed artwork that fits the theme well.

Image

Each suit also has its own unique coat of arms, which serves as a subtle water-mark styled background design on the ornate number cards throughout the deck. The thinly bordered font used for the indices adds an extra level of style.

Also noticeable on the number cards are the unusually wide pips. This ensures that they make their presence on the cards very much felt, and evokes a sense of that which is unshakeable, and a clear statement of allegiance. I'm especially fond of the smug shape of the Heart pips and of intricate look of the Club pips.

Image

The two Jokers also have unique artwork, one picturing a knight on horseback, the other a griffin-like mythical creature, that also makes an appearance on the card-backs.

Image

This deck was produced in Legend's Playing Card's Robusto stock, which is an incredibly sturdy stock, reflected in the obvious thickness of the cards. These are extremely durable, and while they may lack the finesse and delicacy of other decks, they match the robust characters that this deck captures and conveys.

Now while the Silver version of the Medieval deck pictured above looks impressive, a Gold version that was planned as a stretch goal looks even more stunning!

Image

Unfortunately this goal didn't get reached, but there is a possibility that some time in the future this beautiful deck will still see the light of day! Staying tuned to Elephant Playing Cards on social media is one way to find out if ever this beautiful Gold version does get produced.

Image

Elephant Playing Cards

Another design that Ben is currently working on producing is a branded deck of cards, which is intended to be a flagship for the Elephant Playing Cards (EPC) brand. This deck, appropriately called Elephant Playing Cards, has just been launched on Kickstarter.

Image

This project is another collaboration with Egor Klyuchnyk, the artist behind the Medieval deck.

The tuck boxes feature embossing plus foil, so it is immediately evident that these decks are going to be another quality product, and a worthy bearer and ambassador of the EPC name!

Image

While the number cards have a standard look that is very functional, the court cards are entirely customized, with the colour scheme of the Desert deck shown here featuring warm pinks and yellows.

Image

Besides the Desert deck pictured above, there's also a Tundra deck planned.

Image

In contrast to the warmth of the Desert deck, the icy blues and purples of the Tundra deck reflect a frosty wasteland landscape.

Image

All the customized and over-sized Aces have elements that incorporate the designs of elephant heads, while the Jokers also feature elephants.

If you're interested in supporting this, head to the Kickstarter project for it here.


*** OTHER PROJECTS ***

Cyberpunk

Ben has more new projects in the works for Elephant Playing Cards, including one called Cyberpunk.

Not a lot has been revealed about it yet, except that it is expected to have lots of foil and embossing on beautiful dark stock.

Image


*** CONCLUSIONS ***

What do I think?

Innovative Prisms: Ben Jones isn't afraid to be on the cutting edge of technology, as is clearly the case with his Prism series, which were the first ever decks to employ a new UV gloss print to both sides of the cards, thereby adding a tactile and visual element that is simply not possible with standard printing. Combining this with a "prism" theme of rainbow colours, and an inspired graphic design that takes full advantage of this effect, and you end up with a very creative and beautiful looking custom deck, that has elements of beauty hitherto impossible. Of the people I've shown the above decks to, the Prism Night deck is a common favourite. Laymen are typically blown away by the impact of the gloss and colours of the cards, and many people who have looked at my Prism Night deck consider it the best custom deck they've ever seen, which is high praise indeed. I love it too, and it's just a pleasure to admire the cards and angle them in the light, watching the changing visuals produced by the gloss layer. I can't recommend these highly enough.

Unique Pipmen: As much as I appreciate the innovative looks of the Prism decks, as far as artwork goes I especially love the creativity behind the Pipmen concept. The detailed artwork on each card can be admired and enjoyed, and is sure to create some real talking points! I love how the stickmen/pipmen interact with everything, and even while playing card games the detail is fun to look at and appreciate during moments of down-time - the whole concept is very creative. Ben has done some very imaginative and brilliant work here, and I can't say enough about how amazing each card looks. This also gives these decks a very unique feel, making them stand apart from other custom playing cards. Certainly the world of custom playing cards has seen a lot of different ideas, but the idea of Pipmen is something that most people have never seen before.

Pipmen World: While the artwork on the individual cards of the Pipmen decks is already fantastic, what really takes this to the next level is how these individual cards combine to make a single larger picture in the Pipmen World decks. This is an outstanding idea, and it definitely has the feel of being a single whole, without feeling like being a cobbled-together collection of disconnected pieces. It's proven to be a fun exercise to assemble the cards to make that single image, especially if you've never seen the deck before and don't know what the overall image looks like. You can use the Pipmen World deck as a fun puzzle challenge: we've enjoyed giving it to friends, and watching them solve it. It's not as easy as it sounds, and typically takes around 20 minutes! Combining individual Pipmen cards with a complete puzzle is something that makes this deck an instant attention-getter, and you'll have people around you clamouring to see it.

Functional design: Even while Ben Jones' Prism and Pipmen decks are very creative works of art, it would be a shame to consign them to pure collector's items, especially since they are very usable. I've seen amazing artwork on decks of cards before, but it was purely cosmetic, and the decks themselves weren't functional because the artwork interfered with the clarity of the symbols. Fortunately, that's not the case with the decks from Elephant Playing Cards. The indices of each card clearly state what the card is, with the number and suit, so playability is always a factor in the design. As a result, the Prism decks and the Pipmen decks are actually decks you can use!

Medieval modernism: Besides the Prism and Pipmen decks, the Medieval deck seems like the odd child in the Elephant Playing Cards family. It lacks the innovative UV gloss of the colourful Prism decks, and it doesn't have the same inspired creativity of the Pipmen decks. To be fair, it's hard for any deck to match the level of creativity and innovation of the Prism and Pipmen decks. And the Medieval deck does have a different character also because it was not designed by Ben Jones himself, but by another artist. Even so, it does have many modern touches that make it special, starting with the stylish seal on the tuck box, the sturdy parchment-like looks and feel of the tuck box and cards, and a stylish pen-and-ink line drawing design with obvious influences from heraldry and legendary knights, which all adds up to a package that still makes it very unique and appealing.

Elephant ambassadors: My family has always loved elephants, and elephants are the all-time favourite animal for one of my children, who has been collecting elephant paraphernalia for years. So the Elephant Playing Cards brand was always going to be a hit for us. But that's especially going to be true of the new Elephant Playing Cards deck, that is currently getting funded on Kickstarter. If you're a fan of elephants, or if you like the looks of the EPC brand, this new deck is something you'll want to check out and consider supporting.

Quality printing: All of these decks are printed by Legends Playing Card Company, a proven market leader in playing card manufacturing. While they have a range of finishes, all of them are a quality product that is durable, as well as providing very smooth handling. I've previously done some detailed reviews of decks by Legends Playing Card Company here, and have covered comprehensively the different major finishes they offer in a follow-up review here, and I can only speak highly of their products. Even the tuck boxes are high quality, in most cases using casino-grade tuck paper with embossing and foil accents, and often featuring interior printing as well. Most of these decks use their Diamond quality finish, which features very precise printing, and a cardstock that is more sturdy and durable than normal, with an embossed finish that handles well for shuffling and spreads.

Ongoing projects: Ben Jones is a long way from hanging up his design boots, and has several more designs in the pipeline. He's also making a real effort to bring the designs of Elephant Playing Cards to an international audience that hasn't yet seen it. All this means that we can expect to continue seeing new designs from Ben, and I look forward to seeing the decks that he'll be producing from here on in. His current project for a signature Elephant Playing Cards deck looks terrific, although the style is quite different from what we're used to with Prisms and Pipmen! If his work interests you, then definitely consider staying in touch with his upcoming projects by following him on social media, to get the latest news and updates.

Amazon specials: Ben has just launched a couple of the Pipmen decks on Amazon, in order to expand the reach of his designs to a wider market. This is good news for buyers, because not only does it mean that these decks are readily available in an easy way from a big online retailer, but they are also currently at a very attractive price point as well. Currently you can get the Pipmen Standard deck for under $12 here, and the Pipmen World deck for under $14 here - which are remarkable deals that won't last!

Image

Recommendation

So are the decks from Elephant Playing Cards for you? Clearly these projects are a labour of love for Ben Jones. He's a dedicated publisher, and in the friendly correspondence I've had with him, he's also proven to be a real gentleman. These decks are produced with high quality, and they feature unique, amusing, and creative artwork that has all the marks of creativity and innovation.

Every collector who enjoys playing cards should have at least one Pipmen deck in his collection, and they make gifts for others as well. And every gamer should own at least one set of playing cards, and if you are going to own only one deck, I'd make it a beautiful custom one like these!

Image

Want to learn more?
Elephant Playing Cards: http://www.elephantplayingcards.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Kickstarter Projects: http://www.kickstarter.com/profile/585926215/created" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Follow Elephant Playing cards on social media for news of upcoming projects: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter.

Direct links for the decks featured in this review series:
- Prism Playing Cards: Prism Night, Prism Day, Prism Dusk, Prism Spectrum
- Pipmen Playing Cards: Red Edition, Black Edition, Shadow Edition, Collectors Edition
- Pipmen World Playing Cards: Pipmen World, Full Art Edition
- Medieval Playing Cards: Medieval Silver Edition
- Elephant Playing Cards: Kickstarter Project

Direct links for Amazon.com:
- $11.97 Pipmen Standard deck: purchase on Amazon
- $13.97 Pipmen World deck: purchase on Amazon

Image
--
BoardGameGeek reviewer EndersGame => Playing Card Reviews <=>Magic Reviews <=> Board Game Reviews <=

Image
User avatar
EndersGame
Member
Member
Posts: 1450
Joined: Fri Mar 24, 2017 12:26 am
Cardist: Yes
Collector: Yes
Player: Yes
Magician: Yes
Has thanked: 521 times
Been thanked: 1181 times
Contact:

Re: Pictorial Review: The Egor Klyuchnyk decks (Ben Jones)

Unread post by EndersGame »

As requested by someone, here are links to the entire series of reviews:

Part 1 - The Prism decks (Prism Night, Prism Day, Prism Dusk, Prism Spectrum)
Part 2 - The Standard Pipmen decks (Red Edition, Black Edition, Shadow Edition, Collectors Edition)
Part 3 - The Pipmen World decks (Pipmen World, Pipmen World Full Art Edition)
Part 4 - The Egor Klyuchnyk decks (Medieval Playing Cards, Elephant Playing Cards)
--
BoardGameGeek reviewer EndersGame => Playing Card Reviews <=>Magic Reviews <=> Board Game Reviews <=

Image
Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 38 guests