Alex Pandrea just released the vibrant NOC Sport early this morning, in conjunction with his 30th Birthday. The NOC Sport comes in two different colorway – Neon Green and Electric Pink and spots a sleek new tuck, designed by Toomas Pintson. The decks are printed by the U.S. Playing Card Company on Bicycle Premium Stock with Air-Cushion Finish and like it’s predecessor, the cards are marked.
NOC Sports are available from houseofplayingcards.com for $7. Also, remember to check out the birthday bundle Alex dropped on the site. Here are 5 things you didn’t know about the NOC series:
1. The origins of the name NOC deck. This is something Alex told when someone asked him in person.
Alex told Kardify, “I have a friend in Wall Street named Michael Nochimson. He invited me to a dinner in NYC one night. I arrived early and asked him what name the reservation is under. He texted back with three capital letters: NOC. I didn’t think much of that when I read it, but when I said it out loud to the hostess, it caught my attention. It sounded cool!”
2. Months later, when Alex was brainstorming for a name for this new concept, Someone asked Alex – But what’s the design?
Alex answered, “Nothing…Only Color! N-O-C. I then remembered the NOC name from my dinner with Nochimson. I knew I had to find a name that both stood for something and stood out to enough to become a brand, so it all came together perfectly. Now when people ask me in person what does NOC stand for I respond,“Nothing…”, they laugh, then I complete it by saying “…Only Color!”
3. Over the years NOC grew into one of the most recognizable playing card brands to date. The expansion wasn’t easy.
“We had to constantly re-invent the NOCs with each edition. How do you do that with a deck, which, let’s be honest, has no design? The v1 NOCs were as plain as can be. Thick borders, no marking system, nothing special – but people loved the cards. We asked ourselves, how can we improve? For the v2, we added the suit marking system, thin borders, and the free video with routines you can perform with the marking system, and duplicate card, which was included in the deck. For $5 you got all that! We didn’t stop there though. We released 2 “summer” colors that summer by popular demand for new colors, and by Christmas, had a special Black NOC out on the market.”
4. For the v3 NOCs, Alex switched to printing with the Expert Playing Card Company.
“I really wanted to make the NOC deck the best it could be, and quality of Expert’s cards were amazing. We added something in the v3’s that I’ve wanted to do from the first version – a sideways tuck. This really made the brand stand out even more.”
5. Alex wanted to create a bang to start NOC Signature series,
“I used this opportunity to add two things to the NOCs that people thought was not possible – White NOCs, and having them fully marked. Many people actually requested white NOCs, even though it was more of a joke than anything. I wanted to make it a reality while making them fully marked at the same time. The White NOCs sold out in record time – I don’t even have any left for myself!”
NOC Sport Green and Pink are available from houseofplayingcards.com for $7. Also, remember to check out the birthday bundle Alex dropped on the site.
Images were taken from House of Playing Cards.
