During the initial release, the demand for the White Monarchs were so overwhelming that the servers crashed. The White Monarchs are a limited edition version of the regular Monarch Playing Cards. This deck is made with the same FSC-certiifed paper and embossed box with gold foil that the original Monarch deck has. The main difference here is this deck is white instead of blue and quantities are much more limited.
The box is beautiful. It has two latin inscriptions on the box, “De Duobus Maliz, Minus Est Semper Eligenoum” (“Of two evils, the lesser must always be chosen” -Thomas Kempis) and, “Cerca Trova” (Seek and ye shall find). The gold embossings are stunning, and it is by far one of the the best card box I have ever seen.
The cards, although made with imported paper were printed at the United States Playing Card Company. The pips are standard but they do look bigger. The ace of spades is very detailed and look really really charming.
The court cards have standard faces but they do have a slightly muted colour with gold ink in place of the yellow on the regular Bicycle decks. The backs for me is a little disappointing. Don’t get me wrong… the design is meticulously detailed and do look sophisticated with the gold ink. The only thing is that it looks really vanilla and muted. Expected a little more from a limited edition deck.
This deck is smooth as butter! Fans, faros and spreads feels awesome due to the relatively thick stock with a nice finish.
Pros:
– Elegant and beautiful box design
– Sophisticated backs
Cons:
– Standard court faces
– Colours seems muted
Overall:
– 4/5
