Just Launched on Kickstarter, Aoi Koi Playing Cards!

A beautiful fusion of Japanese art, traditional symbolism, and contemporary playing-card design, Aoi Koi Playing Cards by Stacey Jay Kelly invites collectors beneath the surface of tranquil Japanese temple ponds. Inspired by the elegant blue koi known as Asagi and the traditional indigo-dyeing technique Aizome, the deck embraces a rich palette of blues, delicate detailing, and shimmering foil effects.

The tuck box immediately establishes the deck’s luxurious character, featuring a continuous koi pattern that flows around every corner, complemented by holographic foil, glittering fish scales, and a textured red seal. 

Inside, deep navy coloring provides the backdrop for blue temple-style stamps with a subtle iridescent glow. The card backs continue the theme with a mirrored koi design, where layers of blue ink interact with holographic foil to create shifting highlights across the fish’s fins and scales.

The custom faces bring Japanese cultural influences to life throughout the deck. The ace cards feature blue koi swimming through their central pip designs, surrounded by shimmering water and the traditional Seigaiha wave pattern. 

The Kings portray Japanese warriors in intricately patterned robes before traditional Shoji screens, while the Queens depict Geishas beneath Wagasa umbrellas. The Jacks represent younger Kabuki actors, accompanied by flowering water lilies. 

Two differently colored Jokers showcase mirrored koi designs, while every pip card features a Goshuin-inspired composition referencing the sacred stamps and calligraphy found at Japanese shrines and Buddhist temples.

Backers have several editions to consider. Alongside the main holographic deck, a Slim Edition offers a format half the width of a standard poker-sized deck. The limited Furoshiki Edition combines both the holographic and slim decks with a 100% cotton Furoshiki scarf and a small signed art print. The set is presented in an embossed display box crafted from fibrous navy card and finished with a red band.

Printed by Legends Playing Cards Co. on Classic Finish. Pledge starts at $20 on Kickstarter.

Butterfly (Wedding Edition) Playing Cards

Butterfly Playing Cards has marked a special occasion with the release of the Butterfly Wedding Deck, created to celebrate the wedding of founder Ondrej and his partner, Hanka last month.

The deck is a borderless, unmarked edition featuring a gold-foiled back design and completely custom faces. The Jokers portray Ondrej and Hanka, while the couple also appears at the center of the Ace of Hearts. The Two of Hearts features their daughters, Josefina and Rozalie.

Printed by Room One on 270gsm Sleight Stock with a traditional cut. Only 200 decks are available for individual purchase, with a maximum of 12 decks per customer. Ondrej originally printed 500 decks, with more than 100 given as gifts to wedding guests and the remainder held for personal use and occasional promotions.

The decks can also be signed by Ondrej, with up to two signed decks available per order. Available now on the Buttefly Magic Store fot $28.

The Hobbit Playing Cards Bring Tolkien’s Adventure to Life

Continuing the successful Lord of the Rings playing cards series by Kings Wild Project, the new The Hobbit Playing Card Deck brings J.R.R. Tolkien’s beloved fantasy adventure to the table through hand-illustrated artwork by Jackson Robinson. The project was reportedly funded in just 4 minutes!

The release consists of two distinct decks. The Expanded Edition features 54 traditional cards plus 12 additional Dwarven court cards, bringing the total to 66 cards.

The Companion Edition is a traditional 54-card deck with its own character artwork, designed to complement the Expanded Edition.

Every court card was traditionally hand-inked and painted with watercolor, giving the artwork an organic, handcrafted character. Both editions are available with standard or gold-gilded edges.

Collectors can also opt for a two-deck Collector’s Set, bringing both editions together in a custom presentation box. A Gilded Collector’s Set is also available for those looking for the more premium finish.

With its beautiful hand-painted artwork, expanded Dwarven courts and multiple collector options, The Hobbit Playing Cards offer a detailed tribute to Tolkien’s world while maintaining the functionality of a traditional playing-card deck.

Pledge starts at $14 on Kickstarter.

Deck View: Lucky Draw Playing Cards

Modern. Geometric. Luxurious.

The Lucky Draw Playing Cards, released by Art of Play in collaboration with Sideshow Press, combine a clean modern aesthetic with subtle luxury and geometric detailing.

The deck features a minimalist card back complemented by contemporary faces. The custom court cards use abstract geometric artwork, while the pips incorporate distinctive maze-like patterns that continue across the Jokers and Ace of Spades. When put together, these elements give the deck a cohesive and sophisticated visual identity without overwhelming the clean design.

The cards are housed in a striking letterpress-printed tuck box, adding a tactile and premium element to the presentation. Printed by the United States Playing Card Company on premium crushed stock.

Tails of Mischief 2 Turns Four Playing Card Decks into a Tabletop Adventure

Tails of Mischief 2 by Jack Brutus Penny takes playing cards beyond traditional deck design, combining four hand-illustrated decks into an interconnected artwork, puzzle and tabletop game.

Within, every card face features holo foiling integrated directly into the illustrations. 

The foil reveals hidden pips, numbers and symbols as the light catches the cards, creating a striking effect where the artwork appears to conceal the playing-card information.

The four decks also connect visually. For example, cards in Decks A and B form continuous compositions, while Decks C and D add additional scenes and pathways. When combined, the four decks create a larger tabletop landscape filled with mice, fields, farms and hidden details.

The collection also introduces three ways to play, inspired by Japanese sugoroku. The Journey focuses on racing along the path, The Adventure adds strategic route choices, while The Hidden Garden incorporates creatures hidden within the artwork as gameplay elements.

With its combination of illustration, holographic production, puzzles and gameplay, Tails of Mischief 2 offers a distinctive take on the modern playing-card deck... one designed to be collected, explored and played. Pledge starts at $21 on Kickstarter.

Tiger vs. Snake Vintage Playing Cards

Tiger vs. Snake Vintage Playing Cards bring a colorful dose of vintage-inspired artwork to the playing-card market, drawing on the look and character of classic matchbox packaging.

Hand-illustrated by Alex Haines, the deck uses a vibrant orange and green palette, with the central artwork depicting a dramatic battle between a tiger and a snake. 

The nostalgic presentation continues onto the luxury paper tuck box, giving the deck a distinctive retro character.

The cards feature a full-color, hand-illustrated one-way back design. The faces use bold artwork and four-corner indices, making the deck suitable for both right- and left-handed players.

Printed on 300gsm linen stock and available now on A.Haines Playing Cards for $20.

Final Hours on Kickstarter! Pantheon Playing Cards by TCC

TCC Playing Cards is bringing four ancient mythological traditions together in THE PANTHEON on Kickstarter, an ambitious playing-card series inspired by the gods, symbols and legends of Norse, Celtic, Greek and Egyptian mythology.

The project takes a classical visual approach, drawing on Palace Oil Painting, Neoclassical decoration and symmetrical compositions to give the decks a unified historical aesthetic. Each mythology retains its own colour palette, characters and symbolism while contributing to the larger Pantheon concept.

Inside, the four suits represent Norse, Celtic, Greek and Egyptian mythology, while the court cards feature figures from each tradition. The design is built around a deep crimson and gold palette, with ornate borders and mythological symbols woven throughout.

Also, TCC has also produced four individual editions dedicated to each mythology. The Norse, Celtic, Greek and Egyptian decks feature their own tuck-box artwork, court cards and themed details while sharing a consistent design language across the series.

For collectors, the Black Collection Deck offers a darker interpretation of the Pantheon design, shifting the artwork into a black-and-gold palette. It is available exclusively through the Gilded Collection, which is limited to 500 sets worldwide and includes six decks with gilded edges.

Available NOW on Kickstarter from $12.50.

Top 5 Coolest Pokémon TCG 30th Celebration Cards

A design-focused look at five standout cards from the Pokémon TCG: 30th Celebration expansion! For my first Pokémon TCG feature, I wanted to focus on something that feels right at home here... great card design.

The Pokémon TCG: 30th Celebration expansion is one of the most visually diverse collections in the game’s history, bringing together everything from brand-new rarities and pearlescent finishes to nostalgic reprints of some of the franchise’s most recognizable cards.

Rather than ranking these cards by playability or market value, I’m looking at them through a collector’s lens: artwork, composition, originality, finishes, and overall visual impact.

Here are my five personal favorites:

5. Meowth- 144/128

The first card features the familiar Kanto region with Meowth enjoying the ultimate catnap beneath a warm, sun-drenched sky. Desginer OKUBO takes a more urban approach, with another Illustration Rare depicting Meowth fully committed to its purr-fect slumber. Both cards use relaxed compositions and playful characterisation to make everyday moments feel wonderfully charming.

4. Sylveon ex- 153/128

Artist You Iribi delivers an effortlessly sleek take on Sylveon ex, with flowing ribbons framing the composition and subtle pastel shifts creating a soft, luminous palette. The linework and elegant colour balance give the card a polished, almost fashion-editorial feel.

3. Mew ex- 152/128

This Special Illustration Rare by Kuroimori is one of the collection’s standout chase cards. Mew rests peacefully in a lush, sun-dappled forest, with soft ambient lighting filtering through the foliage and delicate honeysuckle framing the scene. The natural palette and layered greenery give the artwork a beautifully serene, storybook quality.

2. Pikachu ex- 150/128

While the two Pikachu ex cards form a clever day-and-night pairing, the nighttime version by Kantaro edges it for me. Pikachu leads a lively celebration beneath a star-filled sky, surrounded by nighttime and Ghost-type companions including Gengar and Chandelure. The contrast between the glowing characters, deep nighttime palette and festive parade atmosphere gives the artwork a wonderfully cinematic quality. It’s also one of those instantly recognisable pieces that has come to define the visual identity of the 30th Celebration set... a particularly fitting choice for an anniversary collection.

1. Jirachi ex- 155/128

A stunning card! Legendary TCG illustrator Akira Egawa may have delivered a genuine masterpiece with this SIR. The artwork combines cosmic, star-filled lighting with delicate, ethereal brushwork to create an incredible sense of depth and scale. Jirachi feels almost suspended within a vast galactic landscape, giving the card an atmosphere and visual richness that goes far beyond the typical trading card.

Deck View: Jetsetter Jet Black (Premier Edition) Private Reserve Playing Cards

Vintage. Sleek. Sophisticated.

The Jetsetter Premier Edition in Jet Black (Private Reserve) continues Paul Ruccio’s vintage-inspired series, drawing on the classic design language of vintage casino and airline playing cards. The deck combines a clean, understated aesthetic with modern touches, making it especially appealing to aviation, travel, and playing-card enthusiasts.

The Jet Black edition features recolored standard faces inspired by traditional airline and aviation color schemes, paired with a classic casino-style card back. The black colorway is carried through the card backs, Ace of Spades, and court cards, giving this edition a darker and more sophisticated appearance than earlier Jetsetter releases.

Like all Jetsetters, the deck is housed in a durable synthetic tuck box accented with silver foil and clear UV spot varnish. Printed by the Expert Playing Card Co.

Fulton's White Owl Playing Cards

Fulton’s White Owl Playing Cards offers a Halloween-themed companion to the previously released Black Cat deck, celebrating the popular White Owl candy with a playful twist on the brand’s cryptic fall aesthetic.

Designed with illustrations by Ethan Kowaleski, the deck features completely custom artwork and a carefully controlled Pantone color palette throughout the cards.

The deck is housed in an embossed tuck box with strategically placed spot UV gloss, adding contrast and texture to the packaging while reinforcing its candy-inspired theme.

As the inverse counterpart to Black Cat, White Owl continues Fulton’s seasonal playing card series with a lighter, sweeter take on Halloween.

Now on Fultons Playing Cards for $20.

Kovadrin Playing Cards by Kevin Cantrell

 

From the Cantrell Brothers, the Kovadrin Chronicles on Kickstarter campaign expands beyond its graphic novel with a custom deck of playing cards created by Kevin Cantrell in collaboration with theory11, inspired by the endless night of the fantasy world of Kovadrah.

The Kovadrin Playing Cards feature the story’s nocturnal atmosphere with an entirely black design and cold-foil printing across every card. The tuck box continues the premium treatment with multi-level embossing, three foil colors, and black ink printed on premium card stock.

Two editions of the deck are on offer during the campaign. The Standard Edition is the ongoing version, featuring the black-and-cold-foil design and available through most campaign tiers and as an add-on.

The Limited Gold Edition is restricted to just 1,000 decks worldwide and adds gilded black edges and a distinctive red seal. Only 200 of these decks are available during the campaiagn in select reward tiers, rather than as an add-on, with each featuring an exclusive numbered seal.

Designed as an artifact from the world of The Mourning Tower, the Kovadrin deck translates the series’ themes of starlight, darkness, and ancient mythology into a highly specialized collector’s playing card release.

Pledge starts at $20 on Kickstarter.