Royales Rivieras Playing Cards Capture the Glamour of the French Riviera

Royales Rivieras is the latest luxury playing card collection from Kings & Crooks, expanding the vintage casino-inspired Royales series with a new theme celebrating the elegance of the French Riviera and Monte Carlo.

Designed by Lee McKenzie, the collection draws inspiration from sun-soaked Mediterranean coastlines, classic Riviera style, and the timeless glamour of Monte Carlo casinos. The series launches with three distinct editions, each representing a different moment of a Riviera day.

The Azur Classic Edition features turquoise-inspired artwork with metallic gold inks, while the Rosé Classic Edition reflects warm late-afternoon hues accented by gold detailing. Completing the trio is the Dusk Players Limited Edition, a casino-inspired deck featuring a full-bleed back design, enhanced indexes, metallic gold accents, and an individually numbered collector's seal.

All editions include fully custom artwork and premium tuck boxes finished with gold foil, deep embossing, soft-touch matte lamination, interior foil detailing, and custom seals. The Dusk Players edition adds a wraparound numbered seal, emphasizing its limited-edition status.

Printed by WJPC on their imported, thinner (300gsm) black core stock with the butter varnish cardistry finish. Pledge starts at $16 on Kickstarter.

Cavaliers Playing Cards by Kings & Crooks

Immerse yourself in the atmosphere of Old Havana with the Cavaliers Playing Cards, an opulent deck that draws inspiration from the legendary cigars of Cuba. Designed by Lee McKenzie of Kings & Crooks and funding NOW on Kickstarter, these cards capture the essence of old-world artistry and craftsmanship, evoking the mystique and passion of Cuba’s rich cultural heritage.

The Cavaliers Classic deck features a tuck box adorned with shimmering gold, red, and ivory foils, finely embossed on premium matte black card. This design reflects the luxurious and bold style of traditional Cuban cigar brands.

The back design flourishes with intricate gold ink on black, inspired by authentic cigar aesthetics.

Each Ace and court card is meticulously custom-designed, blending elegant and vintage elements to create a timeless feel.

The deck is a visual celebration of classic cigar aesthetics, complete with Ace-specific gold coins and phenomenal vintage styling.

The Limited Edition Cavaliers Export 1800 transforms a standard card box into an authentic Cuban cigar box, complete with distressed details and iconic branding. This exclusive design is custom-engineered to look like a vintage cigar box, complete with a printed illusion of cigars and traditional advertising on the reverse side.

Each card is uniquely aged, featuring custom court cards and Aces adorned with “Republica De Cuba” export stamps. The cards are printed on premium card stock with a linen finish for expert handling, making them feel luxurious while maintaining the appearance of a cherished antique.

The Gilded Edition of the Cavaliers Export 1800 elevates the luxury with antique gold foil edges and a richer tuck box featuring a traditional export seal in full gold foil. This edition includes 56 ornately designed and individually distressed cards, maintaining the full Export 1800 design enhanced by metallic gold glints. The cards are a blend of vintage detailing and modern craftsmanship, creating a deck that is both beautiful and functional.

Also, available during the campaign, a deluxe cigar-style box inspired by the most expensive cigar designs in the world. This solidly constructed box holds 3-6 decks, fully lined with black velvet to protect your cards. Ornately decorated with black and gold foiled Cavaliers artwork and closed with a magnetic lid, this box is a luxury item fit for the finest playing card collectors.

Experience the elegance and timeless luxury of the Cavaliers Playing Cards, available exclusively on Kickstarter from $14.

Deck View: Royales Classic Playing Cards

Prestige. Timeless. Flair.

Embrace the exhilarating spirit of chance and seek your fortune at one of the world’s most luxurious casinos. Designed by Lee Mckenzie, this fully custom-designed deck of cards is inspired by an unforgettable night of glitz, glamour, and fortune at an iconic, fictional casino set in vintage-era Monte Carlo. 

The card backs feature a midnight blue colorway with an intricate 2-way back design, custom illustrated faces, and court cards. The indices have been modified to reflect a more casino-esque style with larger indexes for even greater readability during play. The deck is packaged in a luxurious tuck box with added blind embossing in compliment to the already gorgeous gold and white foil embossed Royales tuck design.

The deck has been meticulously crafted with undeniable character and flair! Elegantly playful but ultra-sophisticated, the Royales celebrate a fine line between modern-minimal and old-world-classic style.

WIN a RARE LIMITED EDITION Royales Private Reserve for YOU and Two Friends

We've partnered with Kings & Crooks to give you a chance to WIN a RARE LIMITED EDITION Royales Private Reserve for YOU and YOUR TWO tagged friends:

The Royales Playing Cards are currently funding on Kickstarter and has hit its £88k stretched goal. Designer Lee Mckenzie has released an incredibly rare and valuable deck for collectors that will potentially dramatically increase in value after the campaign due to the limited quantity of the Private Reserves. The deck comes with ALL the blings... foil backs, gilded edges and premium features, it's also one of the most expensive decks Lee has ever made.

To WIN a deck for yourself and TWO tagged friends, head over to our Instagram account (@kardify) NOW to find out how. Also, don't forget to check-out the Royales Kickstarter campaign.

View this post on Instagram

GIVEAWAY! We’ve partnered up with @kingsncrooks to give you a chance to WIN a DECK of ROYALES PRIVATE RESERVE #playingcards each for YOU and TWO tagged FRIENDS. WIN ONE DECK OF ROYALES PRIVATE RESERVE EACH FOR YOU AND YOUR TWO TAGGED FRIENDS. SWIPE ON THE POST TO SEE MORE OF THE LIMITED EDITION DECK. KINGS & CROOKS ARE CURRENTLY FUNDING ROYALES PLAYING CARDS ON #KICKSTARTER. LINK ON @KINGSNCROOKS’ BIO
 To enter:
1️⃣ FOLLOW @kardify and @kingsncrooks on Instagram 
2️⃣ TAG TWO FRIENDS under this photo on one comment. 3️⃣ ON THE SAME comment, let is know what you think of the deck by just using THREE EMOJIS. 4️⃣ Ensure that your account is PUBLIC and your tagged friend is in your follower list. Winner will be picked at random. BETTER YOUR CHANCES by tagging more friends on a separate comment. ⚠️ Note: YOU and YOUR TAGGED FRIENDS need to be following @kardify and @kingsncrooks to win this RARE deck.

Competition ends on Monday, 24 August and the winners will be announced on Instagram. Let's start tagging! 👑

A post shared by kardify.com (@kardify) on Aug 22, 2020 at 5:03am PDT

Kings & Crooks Unveils 3 New Royales Decks on Kickstarter

Kings & Crooks' Royales Playing Cards Kickstarter campaign has just reached the halfway point and the project is currently 642% funded with over 1300 backers! Incredible! The campaign has achieved its multiple stretched goals which means unlocking TWO new editions of Royales- the Players Limited Edition, the Players Gilded Limited Edition and the Marked Players Noir Edition.



The ROYALES 'Players' Limited Edition ($19) is a Kickstarter Exclusive, only available during the campaign and will never be available to buy again. The Limited Edition in Scarlet Rouge features a full-bleed beautiful casino-style back design in a deep, ultra-lux scarlet red with metallic gold ink detailing.



The custom illustrated faces and court cards have also been modified to reflect a more casino-esque style with larger indexes for even greater readability during play. The deck is packaged in a luxurious tuck box with added blind embossing in compliment to the already gorgeous gold and white foil embossed Royales tuck design, the matching rouge-red matte box will also be finished with a custom die-cut seal in black and metallic gold which wraps around all 3 sides of the tuck. WOW!



The Royales 'Players' GILDED Limited Edition ($30) is as luxurious as the Limited Edition but with a deluxe upgrade! The deck features gold gilded edges and a gold foil-pressed, black label band, each one will be numbered for collectors!



With Royales being a casino inspired deck, plus designer Lee Mckenzie's background in card magic, he has been wanting to create the perfect complement to the entire collection, a fully-featured marked deck! The Marked Noir Royales Players ($19) is designed to work in many different situations and be readable from a variety of positions and handlings. According to Lee,

I've been refining the marking system for a long time, but I won't reveal the secrets just yet. I can assure you it's elegant, simple, and stealthy. Plus, it looks ridiculously sexy too :)

The deck features rich black and metallic gold ink! Looks incredibly sophisticated and beautiful! For the working magician, this looks like a versatile deck that will compliment your magic routines.

Don't miss out on the Royales campaign on Kickstarter. Only 15 days remaining!

[post_ad]

Exclusive First Look at Royales Playing Cards by Kings & Crooks

[Update] Royales Playing Cards are now LIVE on Kickstarter!

From Kings & Crooks comes a fully custom-designed deck of cards inspired by an unforgettable night of glitz, glamour, and fortune at an iconic, fictional casino.



Designed by Lee Mckenzie, the deck is set in vintage-era Monte Carlo. They're an artistic invitation to escape into a thrilling and prestigious world of chance that exists behind doors off-limits to most.



The luxurious deck is fit for the elite high-roller tables of vintage-era Monte Carlo, an intoxicating place of grandeur that attracts the beautiful, billionaires, and the crème de la crème of high society.



Over 5 years in the making, the deck has been meticulously crafted with undeniable character and flair! Elegantly playful but ultra-sophisticated, the Royales celebrate a fine line between modern-minimal and old-world-classic style.



Exuding timeless class and high-end prestige, Royales Playing Cards invite you to embrace the exhilarating spirit of chance and seek your fortune at one of the world's most luxurious casinos. Fortune favors the brave my friends, welcome to Royales!

Royales Luxury Playing Cards launches on Kickstarter July 28th (6pm UK time). ALL backers in the first 24hrs ONLY will get a FREE deck of Royales!.

[Update] Royales Playing Cards are now LIVE on Kickstarter!

Sign up on the pre-launch page now to get notified, and subscribe to Kings & Crooks for more decks and details.

[post_ad]

Deck View: Outlaw Playing Cards

Mean. Wild. Rebel.

Outlaw Playing Cards is a fully custom deck with a bad attitude and big cojones. Designed by Lee Mckenzie of Kings & Crooks, the deck is inspired by the wild, ride or die attitude of rebel motorcycle clubs. The fully custom deck features a savage, no-holds-barred design that captured the authentic, uncaged outlaw spirit and the fierce freedom these born-to-ride rebels live for. Complete with motorcycle club Ace of Spades patch and a custom rebel crew of court cards, these are probably some of the meanest looking Jacks, beautiful Queens and toughest Kings you‘ll ever deal with. Outlaw playing cards are printed by the US Playing Card Co.

Available now from JP Games.

Kickstarter: Kings & Crooks Just Released Outlaw Hell Riders Limited Edition Playing Cards

With 17 days to go, Kings & Crooks have just released the Outlaw 'HELL RIDERS' Limited Edition Playing Cards on Kickstarter. According to founder Lee Mckenzie on the latest backer update,

We're well over halfway to our goal now at 60% with 17 days to go! But we're not there yet... So to give us the best shot at reaching the goal, I've decided to take a gamble and switch up my plans. Instead of waiting until we reach the funding goal, I'm going to release the Limited Edition Outlaw deck now!

The deck prominently features a distressed look, creating a realistic weathering and vintage cracking effect. The burned-out red Outlaw back design will be marked - hidden, but easy-to-read to reveal the identity of every card at a single glance.

The Outlaw Hell Riders Limited Edition will be printed by USPCC on a premium, crushed card stock and cased in a matte, embossed tuck with a custom aged seal design and inner print. Available as an add-on for AUD$15 (~USD$12), and limited to 6 decks per backer on Kickstarter.

Kickstarter: Outlaw Playing Cards by Kings & Crooks Launches on Kickstarter

After 4 years, Kings & Crooks are back with a brand new deck! Outlaw Playing Cards is a fully custom deck with a bad attitude and big cojones.

On the design, founder and desginer Lee Mckenzie told Kardify,

Inspired by the wild, ride or die attitude of rebel motorcycle clubs, I got hooked exploring the notorious world and iconic culture of these rule-breaking road warriors and began a mission to create one of the most bad ass decks of playing cards on the planet. A savage, no-holds-barred design that captured the authentic, uncaged outlaw spirit and the fierce freedom these born-to-ride rebels live for.

Complete with motorcycle club Ace of Spades patch and a custom rebel crew of court cards, these are some of the meanest looking Jacks, beautiful Queens and toughest Kings you‘ll ever deal with.

This one is for the hell-raisers. The wild ones, trouble-makers, rebels, and risk-takers. Outlaw playing cards will be printed by the US Playing Card Co. and are available NOW on Kickstarter. Pledge starts at $14.

News: Kings & Crooks' Outlaw Playing Cards Releases Today!

Early this year, Kings & Crooks teased on Instagram (@kingsncrooks) thier brand new deck- Outlaw Playing Cards! Like designer Lee Mckenzie's previous releases, Outlaw will be seeking funds on Kickstarter.

100% custom. 200% bad ass. Dropping soon on Kickstarter...

A post shared by Kings & Crooks (@kingsncrooks) on Jan 2, 2018 at 7:25am PST

The deck is fully custom and comes complete with motorcycle club Ace of Spades patch and a custom rebel crew of court cards, these are some of the meanest looking Jacks, beautiful Queens and toughest Kings we've ever seen!

Outlaw playing cards are available will be launching on Kickstarter 16th January, noon PST. Don't miss out!

Collections: Empire by Lee McKenzie

Empire by Kings and Crooks which is headed up by Lee McKenzie was a breakout deck on Kickstarter. Everything about it was just inspiring. It had a strong design with bold imagery and every single card element was touched and customized. This deck really reflects the designer, Lee is an amazing designer with passion and some very inspired visions.

The bold dark red and gold color pallet lent itself very well to the feel of the deck and the striking and strong Ace of Spades, Jokers and Court cards just rounded off this deck. The custom pips and "Side Band" design also brought a unique feel to the deck when handled, shuffles and fanned.

The tuck box and back design played the perfect set up for the deck inside. Highly recommended, but be warned, Empire is very hard to find and will command a premium price, if you can find them at all.

Kickstarter: 7 Questions with Lee McKenzie of Kings and Crooks

It's great to see Lee McKenzie back in the limelight with his long anticipated follow up to his hugely successful Empire deck. Lee's decided to continue the Empire theme with Empire Bloodlines now LIVE on Kickstarter!

With all the work that goes into a new project and campaign, Lee was still nice enough to spare a little time to give us some insight into Bloodlines and Kings and Crooks.

What was the inspiration of the Bloodlines design?
The original Empire was at the very core of the Bloodlines. I wanted them to be connected as a new deck in the series, but rather than just a new color, I wanted it to have a life of it's own too. To stand strong but still have the epic Empire spirit rushing wildly in it's veins. So you'll see some similar core elements from the original Empires, but tweaked and modified to incorporate a whole new design that surrounds them, which allows the deck to stay true to the Empire theme, but still offer a very fresh and bold look. After waiting almost a a year since the first one,  just a new color would have been a slap in the face to everyone.

Was the intention of your next deck always meant to be a “Continuation” on the Empire deck?
Yep. After the first Kickstarter, I felt like there was still a lot of room to take this concept further and evolve it into something just as bold but with a whole new appeal. With the originals now very rare to find, I wanted to spark life back into the Empire brand and have it around for a lot longer for more people to enjoy.

How much time has gone into the concept and creation of Bloodlines?
I've been working on and off on Empire Bloodlines since around September 2013, before it even had a name. The fulfilment and shipping of the first deck was 99% taken care of in December but there were a handful of folks missing addresses, damaged items, missing items and other things that dragged it out to much later. Combining that with developing and planning Kings & Crooks direction in the future and all the moving parts it would take, the artwork wasn't truly finished until about a month ago (even tho I was still tweaking until 2 days ago)! Creating the trailer for Empire Bloodlines was another huge undertaking, and although not absolutely necessary for a product, I love to try and bring people into the world I've created within the playing card design, using powerful stories, graphics and audio to give a real sense of what an Empire Bloodlines deck stands for. Plus, a little bit of entertainment is always nice.

This being your second Kickstarter project, are there things you learned from your 1st experience that will help the Bloodlines campaign, both behind the scenes and in rewards for backers?
Definitely. Having backers feel connected as part of the team and journey you're on was personally a very important for me to do. For example, wanted to thank each and every backer, so I did. I written out over 800 personal messages to every single backer who pledged. I received messages back from people thinking it was some kind of automated response! I wanted backers to know how much their contribution matters and that I appreciate it. However, doing that, as good intentioned as it was, took a huge amount of time, which could have been spent coming up with ways of adding more value for backers in other ways. This time, I'll be jumping where I can, as much as I can, but I now also know the importance of trying to find other ways to give more value to backers. Also, this time around I'm focusing on trying not to go insane dealing with the many plates in the air that running a campaign can be. Less stress, more focus and a relaxed approach will help me be able to serve people in a more effective way and less "reactionary", if that' even a word. When you spend all your time reacting and putting out small fires out everywhere, you miss the bigger picture.

Even since the Empire campaign, the Playing Card industry has exploded, what are your thoughts on where it’s at and where it could be headed?
I don't think it will stop any time soon. I remember Ellusionists Vintage 1800 , Tigers and Ghost Bicycle decks. They blew my mind and open doors in my imagination. Theory 11 with the Guardians too. Since Arcanes, one of the first non-Bicycle branded main stream custom decks, the card industry has been growing so fast. Interest in playing cards, magic, cardistry and gambling doesn't seem to ever stop either. And along with that will always be creative people wanting to contribute and be a part of something they enjoy. The tools and platforms will become more and more. However, as I have witnessed too, the amount of playing card ideas that just seem to lack heart and ability to execute what could have been a fantastic concept, is also on the increase. Anyone can be creative and I encourage everyone to step up and do their thing in their own way, but there's a huge difference between doing it in a way that is appealing to other people to enjoy and that really does justice to your idea, and doing it in a way that just adds to the existing noise in the market. If your aim is to sell your art, I believe you owe it to your idea and concept to execute it as well as possible, even if that means finding someone else to help you if you don't have the vision or skill. At the end of the day, it's all subjective and beauty is in the eye of the beholder, which makes things seem like a level playing field. But If there's a certain level of quality out there that people have come to expect and you want to join the fun, do it in your own way but in the best way you can to really let your idea shine at full potential. If you have give it everything, with your heart on your sleeve and passion in your eyes, you can never go wrong, no matter what anyone says really. Results and opinions may differ but if you expressed it fully without holding back, and even if it didn't work out, you can never regret not taking the shot.

Can we expect to see more coming from Kings and Crooks in the coming year?
In a word, hell yeah. The original Empire, although a successful but extremely limited edition, hasn't quite allowed me the flexibility to progress as fast as I'd like. Being a one man show is hard, hard work. But you gotta love the grind, even the tough days. To know you still have the fire that drives you inside is all you need to take the next step. Then the next one. So when Empire 'Bloodlines' comes to a close, I hope it's successful. I hope we smash the funding goal, because every step that we do will help in progressing that little bit sooner to the next exciting step. I'm on Kings & Crooks full time, but to be able to make a full time living doing what I love takes work. 365 days to overnight success is probably a more accurate phrase in that sense. Step by step.

Can we expect to see the Empire Series continue to expand?
I'll never say never. But right now, I feel that after Empire 'Bloodlines' is out there, I'd like to get going on some ideas that have been burning in the back of my mind. I have ideas enough for the next 10 years, it's just a matter of how long it takes me until I can fully explore each idea and present it in the best way possible to everyone. Kings & Crooks exists for reasons beyond creating some of the finest playing cards you'll own. The Warrior Card Amour and the 'Hustler's Code' shirt on this Kickstarter are prime examples of that, and we're only just getting started.

Pledges for Empire Bloodlines start at $13.00 AUD and are available in Royal Blue and Emerald Green, not to mention you have got to check out the Warrior Card Armour, it's just awesome! Help Lee bring Bloodlines to life! BE A BACKER!

As always we would like to thank Lee for his time, we're sure your campaign goal will be met and the new Empire will be a reality! You can help support Lee's project Empire Bloodlines on Kickstarter as well as follow Lee on his website Kings and Crooks soon to be LIVE "Be part of a bolder breed of playing cards"

Review: Empire Playing Cards

A big milestone in my career was the day I stepped from out of the shadows of my boss and did it myself… It was a complete cock-up.

Then there are guys like Lee McKenzie. Lee, once an artist for that company that gets way more hate than it deserves for regurgitating decks in different colours that we still buy because we secretly like them and want them for our ever expanding collection. Lee has recently left that company to build his own; Kings and Crooks.

The first deck for Lee on his own turf was Empire. Blisteringly successful, his project shone with the force of a thousand suns to burn a hole in enough pockets to make Brad tremble a little. It was this deck that saw Lee with Success on Kickstarter and release a deck for magicians and collectors now hard to get your hands on.

Why is Empire so hard to get a hold of these days? Those that had them for sale have sold them, those that bought them have kept them, and I dropped a deck in to the pool, so there’s one less deck to be had.

Empire will likely remain the most sought after Kickstarter deck for us. Even though we can no longer get them, I am constantly bombarded with requests to restock them, however Empire was a limited release and there is just no more to be had. We live in hope for an unlimited release in the future.

Does it work? 

I was, as my wife put it “Embarrassing yourself again Joseph” by practicing in public with this deck, a complete stranger walks up to me and says “that’s a fine deck of cards you have there” and then just walked away, I didn’t even get a chance to tell him where to buy it from. Sure I was taken aback, but I think it is a testament as to how well the deck works.

This deck has a bag of tricks too, the six of heats reveal and the subtle one way feature. Empire is functional and collectable.

The art

Lee McKenzie… ‘Nuff said.

What I don’t like

That I don’t have anymore.

What I do like

What I like is this deck is completely customised, and completely functional. Unlike other highly popular, fully customised decks, this one serves its owner well in the usability category. I also like that they handle just as good as about every other high quality deck ever printed by the USPCC.

Empire! Uhh, what is it good for? Absolutely anything

Want to play poker? Go ahead. Are you a magician? A deck doesn’t come any better. Need a bookmark? Lee has you covered with a box full of them that will make your fellow book club members jealous. Good for XCM and flourishing and also highly collectable, this deck gets my highest rating ever… three thumbs up.


This review is written by Joey Heininger for kardify. No part of this review can be reproduced without written permission from the author. You can check out Joey's Australian based online playing card store at theFlush.com.au Use discount code KARDIFY to save 10% for orders above $50.