About three months ago, I had gotten so infatuated with watching videos of magicians and cardists that I decided to go ahead and start purchasing a couple of nice decks with which I could start to learn some fun flourishes, cuts, etc., but I didn't jump on the decision right away.
Around the same time, my daughter was home from college with her roommate, and we all wanted to play a card game, but I searched high and low and couldn't find a single complete deck in the house. I was frustrated and embarrassed, and while we ended up having a great night of Euchre with a cobbled deck -- a real Frankenstein's Deck -- it made up my mind to start buying some cards immediately.
I followed a facebook link to the Theory11.com website shortly thereafter, and made my first purchases. Since then, I've pretty much been on the lookout for our postal carrier every day with lots of small purchases here and there. I can only imagine where this is all leading .. lol.
As a graphic designer during my professional career, I'm always on the lookout for very specific styles and design tastes. It's been really interesting reading about other collectors' tastes here on UC -- it's so awesome how we all have our unique interests, and the world of playing cards can satisfy us all. Personally, I'm a big fan of clean and elegant design, but when it comes down to the particulars, I have some rather pointed interests:
- I'm not a big fan of the standard courts of the big design/production houses -- for some reason, the typical face cards have always bothered me with their rather stoic and geometrical Js, Qs, and Ks.
- I generally prefer line art to fully illustrated face cards -- not sure why, but it feels like most of the fully illustrated themes take on a GoT/mystical feel.
- I really love when designers play with subtle colors and transitions that aren't common -- as an example, the black suits of the LTD decks -- instead of black, they're a deep silver/grey -- another example are the standard courts of the Abandoned Deck with the unique metallic blues, burgundies, and golds -- yet another example, Absinthe v1 .. the greens, oh the greens!
- If the font is awful, I tend to hate the deck -- so sad, but true.
- I love intricacy, only if it has a strong sense of balance and composition -- clutter for clutter's sake is not for me. I think this is why I like the Theory11 decks so much -- their designers really have a grasp of busy design that adds to the whole effect.
The Break Down
My first batch of Theory11s ...
A smattering of independent designers and isolated brands ...
A very lucky purchase on ebay for my favorite Thirdway Industries series ...
Another purchase on ebay .. all Ellusionists this time ...
And finally, a handful of Bicycle decks that have caught my eye here and there ...
My Favorites
So far, with the few flourishes and cuts and sleight-of-hands that I've learned, I'm definitely growing an appreciation for high-quality cards. I didn't think that I'd be able to tell the difference between finishes and stock so quickly, but it can be really obvious when you get a great deck in your hands.
At present, my favorite decks to practice with are the following:
1. Abandoned - by Dynamo
2. Citizens - by Theory11
3. Artisans (black or white) - by Theory11
4. White Regalias - by Shin Lim
5. Aether - by Riffle Shuffle
I'm looking forward to adding more in the future, and will keep perusing all of your collections to get inspired toward other designers/developers. Thanks so much to all of you who have shared your collections so far.
If any of you want to see more detailed photos of the cards within the decks in my collection, please feel free to hop over to my collection webpage:
https://www.happyakrz.com/cards/happyakrz_cards.html
Please disregard the empty spots (still waiting on those decks to arrive) and my "Most Wanted" section .. that's for my wife -- Christmas and birthday suggestions! LOL
