This is the second part in a two-part series. Our friend @56Sealed attended the 52 Plus Joker Convention in Enlarger, Kentucky last weekend (13th-14th October) and kept a summary of what he did during the event. We are honored to have @56Sealed guest post and share with us what happened on the final day of the convention:
Day 2
Saturday started off with an auction of about 70 lots from extremely rare to highly collectible. Jackson Robison then gave a presentation about the process of creating the Intaglio deck, which started off as 54 hand-engraved brass printing plates.
In between all the event, members continued to buy and trade items for really fair prices. Decks from early 1800’s to recently released were for sale or trade.
Saturday’s formal dinner was punctuated with the Diamond Awards ceremony being held for the first time in which Gene Hochman received the Dawson Lifetime Achievement award for his work on the Hochman Encyclopedia of American Playing Cards. Lotrek received Deck of the Year for Golden Oath.
Uusi duo, Linnea Gits and Peter Dunham won Designer of the Year for Blue Pagan and Hyde Park Mouldings. Judith Dawson was honored as one of the founding members and driving force in the clubs continued success.
A silent auction, a magic performance by Daniel Nicholas, and a promise to make next year even better finished the convention.
Thoughts
I can tell you the events speak for themselves in both uniqueness and entertainment value but what’s not easy to convey is the sense of friendship and passion for playing cards everyone shared. People of all ages and collecting backgrounds mixed and mingled learning and sharing with each other. Lifelong friendship and business connections were stamped out in between events and well into each night.
Next year the convention will be held in Cleveland. However, it is only open to 52 Plus Joker members, but membership fees are extremely low for what you get. The annual membership costs of $27 include a monthly digital publication, quarterly printed magazine, access to a forum, expert appraisals, and parts of conjuring arts digital database. Everyone who has interest in playing cards is welcome to join. See you next year!
This exclusive guest post is written by @56sealed for Kardify. No part of this article can be reproduced without written permission from the author. You can follow @56sealed on Instagram.
