Pin Up Military (Battletime Edition) Playing Cards

Now on Kickstarter, the Pin Up Military (Battletime Edition) Playing Cards are dedicated to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Pin Up style, or pictures of models or actresses whose mass-produced pictures were intended for informal displays gained popularity during the first World War.

For the soldiers, there was a representation of an ideal beautiful woman and symbolizes the ones waiting for them at home. The characters are women of modern war- harsh and relentless, combining force and restraint (which is inherent to the classic Pin Up style).

The art created by Sviatoslav Pashchuk, both on tuck boxes and the cards modern weapons and symbols are meticulously illustrated. Two decks are on offer- Field, and War, both are fully custom with beautiful hand-illustrated face cards.

The War edition tuck box is printed on black stock and comes with gold, copper, red foil, and embossed. Inside, the mirrored back design includes metallic gold ink to give the cards a touch of luxury.

The field edition is printed on green stock and features silver, copper, red foil, and embossing on the tuck box. Inside, the mirrored back design includes metallic silver ink and a different Ace of Spades.

Pin Up decks will be printed in Ukraine by NPCC and pledge starts at $14 on Kickstarter.

Shadows and Dust Playing Cards on Kickstarter

Shadows and Dust Playing Cards is a striking deck series by Agitcom dedicated to gladiators. Now funding on Kickstarter, the idea was to create a deck that would reflect harsh reality, the strength, and spirit of brave warriors in that time period. 

According to the designer Sviatoslav Pashchuk on the KS campaign page,

For a long time, I had the idea to create a deck dedicated to gladiators. The turning point was the trip to Switzerland in 2019, where during a gloomy and rainy day I accidentally found the museum with an exhibition of gladiatorial armor. I am a big fan of Ridley Scott's films, and one of my favorites - the Gladiator. This exhibition in Switzerland impressed me so much that I started working on the deck dedicated to these strong and courageous men. 

Three editions are on offer during the campaign: Rudis, Dust, and Shadow. Each edition comes with its own custom tuck box but shares similar custom artwork on the backs and face cards. 

Each hand-illustrated court card features twelve men and women from Ancient Rome, meticulously finished with beautiful richly decorated garments and weapons. The artwork on the Shadow Edition, in particular, is truly striking with silver metallic ink against the dark background. 

The mirrored card backs feature the coliseum adorned with decorative elements and ancient patterns of the Romans. The Rudis Edition comes in blue metallic, Dust in red metallic ink, and Shadow Edition comes with red metallic ink on a contrasting background. 

The aces intricate and bold, consistent with the overall theme on the face and card backs. Individually, they are strong enough to be artwork on their own. 

The cards are secured in a beautifully crafted tuck box. The restrained and dark colors of the boxes, and the small accent on the foils, symbolize short and instantaneous eruption of glory at the peak of life and the brink of death. Rudis comes with gold foil, Dust in copper foil, and shadow in striking red foil. All tucks come with embossing. 

The decks will be printed by the Expert Playing Card Co. on Classic Paper with Linen finish. Pledge starts at $15 on Kickstarter now.

Also with NFT trending at the moment, a crypto card is available as a pledge tier featuring one of the aces of Shadows and Dust. It has a three-dimensional format and an animated structure. Don't miss out!

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First Look: Like Lightning Playing Card by Agitcom

A new deck from Agitcom scheduled to launch on Kickstarter tomorrow (April 7th, 2020). Like Lightning Playing Card are inspired by the stories of brave riders of the Wild West. According to Sviatoslav Pashchuk,

Stories about US West have been fascinating me from childhood. I'm a fan of Jack London's books. His tales about times of the gold rush have always aroused my imagination. I have read books about Smoke Bellew a hundred times. Eventually, I was brought up on the films of Sergio Leone and Clint Eastwood. Therefore, the cards I created this time have a close connection with old US history. It is a story about brave men and women who created the legend. This is the story of America's first horse-drawn mail delivery. Pony Express.

The characters featured on the deck are real people and Sviatoslav wants to pay tribute for their fearless and noble work that has united the United States of America and has become an example of the coordinated work of hundreds of people as a single mechanism. From the horses, who carried brave riders through many dangers, to the women who supported these men in long distances.

The is fully custom and hand-illustrated in a dry graphic style and almost achromatic palette. Sviatoslav explained,

I decided to make this deck closer to the realistic style. I like to create characters with strong-willed and beautiful faces. The eyes of heroes should ray strength and confidence - this makes them real. I work in an absolutely classic style - pencil and eraser, then scanner and computer graphics.

The deck is enclosed inside a stunning brown tuck with stunning gold foil. The idea behind the design of the tuck is to evoke emotions that had the first discoverers of the Wild West. Hence, the main design element of the tuck is in the shape of an oval gold bar, symbolizing the then Gold Rush of America. Sviatoslav concludes,

When you hold the box of these cards in your hands, you should have a sense of belonging to the story. Other decor elements, such as the black pattern, I did in the style of trim that was applied on the leather horse harness. We have to remember that all great things were created by ordinary people.

That is why the color and foil of the other box, Copper edition, has a copper color and copper green oxide that gives the appearance of old weathered metal. Ordinary people do brave and incredible actions... and they arrive to the destination due to great efforts.

The decks will be printed by the USPCC and scheduled to launch on Kickstarter tomorrow (7th of April). Don't miss out!

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Kickstarter: Amazons Spartans Playing Cards by Agitcom

Amazons Spartans are the first deck in the new series created by Sviatoslav Pashchuk currently funding on Kickstarter. At the time of writing, Amazons Spartans are 54% funded of its $13,500 funding goal with 28 days to go.

Over a year in the making, the deck is dedicated to the women warriors of Amazon. According to Sviatoslav on the campaign page,

Amazons arised a long time ago because these women warriors were a real historical fact. When creating the heroines, I did not try to strictly adhere to any rigorous historical reconstructions and costumes, but tried to imagine how beautiful these ancient warriors could have been. However, the characters' costumes and weapons are almost authentic.

Like all Sviatoslav's previous decks, the artwork is gorgeous with meticulous detailing and decoration on the cards and tuck box.

The deck is 100% custom, from the beautiful royals, intricate card backs to the bold Ace of Spades and jokers.

The stunning tuck box has its own insignia- a symbol of the shield and the spear. The design elements, as well as the ornamentation of that era, makes the tuck really stand out! Reminds me of a Theory11 produced tuck.

Amazons Spartans will be printed by the USPCC on Classic stock with Linnen Finish. Pledge starts at $15 on Kickstarter.

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Card Flash: El Recuerdo Playing Cards

Created with the spirit of freedom in mind, El Recuerdo Playing Cards by Sviatoslav Pashchuk are dedicated to Mexico’s heroic struggle for independence. I am pleasantly surprised how the decks turned out!

El Recuerdo beautifully combines the modern attributes of Mexico with the history and traditions of the Incas and the Maya. The idea was to make El Recuerdo decks more graphics, similar to the old money used in Mexico in the 17th century.

The face cards have a large number of symbols. For example, each suit has a unique armament of that time, the ancient Incas symbol, which symbolizes the suit, Mexico most recognizable plant, an integral part of the national cuisine.

Also, the center of each hand-illustrated court card contains Maya golden calendar and a decorative plate. The Victoria edition of the decks combined the ordinary courts of the Revolution edition and the Muertos courts of the Muertos edition, which symbolizes the transition between the two worlds.

Interestingly, the backs of three decks and the tucks form the color of the Mexican flag. The tucks are incredible with beautiful embossing and stunning gold foil on intricate design elements. Overall, one of our favorite deck of 2018! Oh.. the NPCC decks handles very well. They certainly have upped their game over the past year.

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Kickstarter: El Recuerdo Playing Cards by Agitcom

Created with the spirit of a freedom in mind, El Recuerdo Playing Cards by Sviatoslav Pashchuk of Agitcom is dedicated to Mexico’s heroic struggle for independence.

The deck combines the modern attributes of Mexico with the history and traditions of the Incas and the Maya. On the theme of the deck, Sviatoslav mentioned on the campaign page,

The nation of any country is formed and is strengthened in the course of the struggle for its independence, this is why I decided to choose revolution as the main theme and added exotic elements and traditions of the old culture, in which today’s Mexico has grown.

The idea is to make El Recuerdo Playing Cards more graphic, similar to the old money used in Mexico in the 17th century. Sviatoslav continues,

I have “borrowed” the font and decorative elements, and added ancient patterns of the Incas and the Maya. Face cards have a large number of symbols. Each suit has unique armament of that time, the ancient Incas symbol, which symbolizes the suit, Mexico most recognizable plant, an integral part of the national cuisine. The center of each card contains Maya golden calendar and decorative plate with an eagle holding a snake in the beak (the same eagle is depicted on the coat of arms of Mexico), surrounded with 31 stars, symbolizing the states of Mexico.

After 7 months of work, the deck is finally ready with each element balanced and worked out. All illustrations were originally sketched on paper, Sviatoslav explained,

This is my favorite way to draw, and then scanned and transformed into digital format.

Multiple stretched goals are available on the Kickstarter campaign! The first goal is adding foil and embossing to the tuck box. The next stretched goal at $11k unlocks an all-new edition of El Recuerdo- the Victoria edition, where two types of characters will be combined – ordinary and Muertos style (pictured below). The two styles symbolize the transition between the two worlds.

Finally, the third goal features the tuck box in an all-new Muertos design. The backs of three decks, as well as the decks itself, will form the color of the Mexican flag.

El Recuerdo Playing Cards will be printed by NPCC and are available now from Kickstarter. Pledge starts at $10.