The long awaited follow up to Lee McKenzie’s original Empire deck, Bloodlines, leaves off where the other ended so to speak. The design concept, look and feel of the deck connects Bloodlines to Empire in a great way without seaming redundant. The Subtle embossing on the tuck with just a touch of silver foiling make it both appealing to the eye, but keep it in the “Working Deck” category. The tuck also features a soft touch feel to it, along with a fully printed interior and custom seal.
The deck itself handles beautifully on it’s Bee Casino Grade stock from USPC and maintains the bold look of its predecessor. Completely custom down to the intricate pip design, Bloodlines is sure to please a wide range of Playing Card aficionados. The courts feature an exploded center pip design that continues the bold look, while maintaining its overall connection to the theme. In addition the Bloodline face cards sport a nice watermark that fills the card nicely. Bloodlines was available in 2 Standard versions, Royal Blue and Emerald Green, along with a Limited Edition which puts all it’s features on the inside, a foiled tuck interior and metallic inks and a limited print run will appeal to collectors.
I’ve always liked Lee’s designs and this one is no different, my favorite part of this deck is that’s its an everyday deck with an eye catching design. Magician’s and Cardists alike should enjoy this decks look and feel. I like the return of the “Signature” belly band, and as much as I like the original Empire deck, I wasn’t upset the indices “Banners” didn’t return. Overall another beautiful project by Lee and Kings & Crooks, I would say my only disappointment was in the Limited Edition, I thought the tuck could have used something more to make it stand out as a Limited Edition.
If you missed out on Bloodlines, they, along with other items, will be available on the Kings & Crooks website very soon!
The Collection segment is produced by Anthony Ingrassia of Kardify. No part of this article, images or video can be reproduced without written permission from the author and Kardify.com. To see more of Anthony’s (Sparkz) collection please visit sparkzcollector.com
