Deck View: NPCCD 2019 Playing Cards

Culture. Beauty. Architecture.

In anticipation of the National Playing Card Collection Day (NPCCD) this month, we've decided to feature the NPCCD 2019 deck this week. The beautiiful deck is inspired by the beauty of Morocco, commonly known for its mesmerizing architecture and its labyrinth-esque marketplaces. Designer Alex Chin meticulously encapsulated the culture and architecture design into the deck.

The tuck box exterior is where the journey begins. The 2-piece box is printed on premium linen and pearlescent stocks featuring golden and silver intaglio engravings inside and out. The tuck also showcases an intricate geometry mimicking the detailed plasterwork and textiles of Morocco.

Inside, the face cards feature 4 indices to allow reading right to left connected by the archways Morocco is known for. Interestingly, the court cards are not represented, and instead, a custom plasterwork pattern featuring all the pips was created embedded in the background. Ace of Clubs is the featured ace of NPCCD. The Jokers are lights on and light off. The lights on feature the keyhole silhouette turning into a lantern exposing a genie inside.

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First Look: Check Out the 2019 NPCCD Playing Cards

This year’s 2019 National Playing Card Collection (NPCCD) was inspired by the beauty of Morocco. The country is commonly known for its mesmerizing architecture and its labyrinth-esque marketplaces- the two aspects of the culture that designer Alex Chin wanted to imbue into this series when designing it. This year’s theme was to encapsulate this culture into this year’s 2019 NPCCD Palace Edition.

On the deck design, Alex told Kardify,

I wanted the deck to feel like a journey that would adapt to the collector. The themes that came out from developing this journey were ACCESS and DISCOVERY mimicking the experience one has from getting lost in the central medina only to find something even greater. It’s a series about not just knowing where to look but also how to look. The tuck box exterior is where the journey begins. The 2-piece box is printed on premium linen and pearlescent stocks featuring golden and silver intaglio engravings inside and out. The face features intricate geometry mimicking the detailed plasterwork and textiles of Morocco. The 4 diamonds represent the 4 “gates” of the medina as an entry point for the journey.

The back features a small keyhole pattern revealing a peek towards the inside, which makes the deck really unique! Alex explains,

If you cannot look inside it represents the “locked” version while if you can see space behind the keyhole it represents an “unlocked” version. The box was made without any half-circle thumb flaps to make it difficult to open without access. To “unlock” the deck you use your thumb to slide out the inner box in the keyhole to reveal the gate. The inner box reveals the beautiful gate. The sides feature a SPADE (blue) and CLUB (copper) representing the spade and club gates. There are 3 completely separate decks that were printed to help better represent the 3 variations of each gate.

Inside, the face cards feature 4 indices to allow reading right to left connected by the archways Morocco is known for. Alex describes,

It was only because of the creative constraint of being unable to illustrate people that their complex architectural geometry was invented and embraced as a method of expression throughout culture. As an homage to that court cards are not represented and instead a custom plasterwork pattern featuring all the pips was created to be embedded in the background of all the cards. Based on the value of the card the pattern would “reveal” the appropriate pips in the plasterwork. The Palace Gate features the textured effect on the faces of the pips so that you can also feel the architecture as well.

Ace of Clubs is the featured ace of NPCCD. The Jokers are lights on and light off. The lights on feature the keyhole silhouette turning into a lantern exposing a genie inside. Lights off show the glimmer of the texture of the walls. Each joker is custom to their respective deck.

There are 6 decks in the series. 3 variations for both locked and unlocked gates versions of the deck. The decks are available in singles as well as in (3-Pack) Palace Packs or Secret Kingdom Set (6-Pack). The sixth deck features the cards gilded in gold and is ONLY available in the Secret Kingdom Set. It is numbered out of 250. All other decks are numbered out of 499. The sticker seal represents the oriental rug that you will see in the hidden corridor being repeated. Alex concludes,

This deck is hands down the most costly deck I’ve ever had to produce from the mirrors, to the secondary tuck, to the finish, to the gloss. But I hope people will enjoy the experience.

There will be a Special Supporter pricing for the first 48 hours. Head to NationalCardCollectionDay.com on October 17th to cop these stunning decks. Don't miss out!

First Look: Check Out the Stunning 2018 NPCCD Playing Cards

For those of you who didn't know, it's National Playing Card Collection Day (NPCCD) today (October 17th)! NPCCD celebrates the collection of one of the oldest forms of portable art (circa 1200s). Playing cards are literal galleries of art and inspiration, showing and communicating the intentions of an artist to the public while also archiving the cultural values of their time. Collecting these art pieces allow us to be curators of our own galleries to display representing different checkpoints in time. These collections can be seen as extensions of the collector and this day is a time to celebrate and share their collections to the public.

To celebrate this special day, Alex Chin has released the 2018 Official NPCCD Deck. The deck was first unveiled during the 52 Plus Joker Convention in Cleaveland, Ohio. On the design inspiration, Alex said,

The design started with the initial sketches that led me to play around with the classic Vase or Face illusion that deals with foreground and background perception. From there the design theme got further entrenched into the idea of playing with perspective on a level that we have not yet seen before in the card world. I wanted to create something TRULY special that others haven’t seen before and ended up creating the 2018 NPCCD series featuring the world’s first light filter deck that literally changes design based on the box that you receive.

The theme of the series is about PERSPECTIVE and what we see. Since the holiday is about sharing with the world how we see cards as art, Alex created a piece that displayed that sentiment. The result is a truly remarkable deck that literally changes your perspective based on the filter each person sees noting that we can see the same design differently based on these filters.

The deck is fully custom and meticulously designed. The back design features a mobius strip that reveals a sphere of 2 heads. Inside the head of one person is the exterior head of another represented by different colors. Small suit symbols hide in them and are revealed to show what they are thinking about which change based on which “reality box” you use. There is a crown above each head and a line of chess pieces that head the top and bottom of the card. They are interspliced with one another to mimic columns.

The Aces is meant to blend the lines where the box stops and the cards begin. It shows through the front facing window. Each bulb of the club holds a different chess piece. In total it holds 6 different chess pieces but will only show specific ones based on which reality it is in. The red filter boxes will show the King while the blue filter boxes feature the Queen.

The beautiful tuck box features gold and silver intaglio engraving onto astral pearl stock that exudes a feeling of luxury. Each box contains 2 large die-cut windows featuring either a red or blue “worldview” that shows the deck inside. According to Alex,

The color of this window is what determines the design of your deck. The tuck flap is a side loading custom die that is shaped like the famous ribbon face. It is part of the innovative “kinetic diecut window” I designed which allows the diecut to change shape through layering. The opened window shows more information on the cards. When closed it completes the illusion of a pawn chess piece between the faces.

There are 6 different decks! Each one represented by a different chess piece shown on the back. 2 decks feature all red filter box. 2 decks feature all blue filter box. 2 decks feature a mix of one red and one blue filter on the box.

The white and black decks are hand gilded in red, blue, and holographic. Only 500 of each deck is run. Orders are mystery deck. You don’t know what color you will get. There will be a Special Supporter pricing for the first 48 hours. Head to NationalCardCollectionDay.com on October 17th to cop these stunning decks. Don't miss out!

News: 5 Things You Should Know About The 2017 NPCCD Playing Cards

For those of you who didn't know, it's National Playing Card Collection Day (NPCCD) today (October 17th)! NPCCD celebrates the collection of one of the oldest forms of portable art (circa 1200s). Playing cards are literal galleries of art and inspiration, showing and communicating the intentions of an artist to the public while also archiving the cultural values of their time. Collecting these art pieces allow us to be curators of our own galleries to display representing different checkpoints in time. These collections can be seen as extensions of the collector and this day is a time to celebrate and share their collections to the public.

To celebrate this special day, Alex Chin has released the highly anticipated 2017 Official NPCCD Deck. This limited edition deck is printed with USPCC on premium Bicycle stock and Magic finish. Available for sale now at NationalCardCollectionDay.com. Here are 5 things you should know about the deck:

1. Features a never before seen 2-part box design.
To celebrate the Second Annual National Playing Card Collection Day Alex wanted to focus on the idea of twos and engineered a completely new deck just for this holiday. Alex told Kardify, "The deck features two different layers (inside/outside) as well as two different pieces (top/bottom) to play with this design theme. The exterior acts as a friction sleeve which is why it lines the sides from top to bottom, but also exposes the box itself highlighting the thumb tab where you pluck the box open. I call it a Pluck Tuck."

2. Pearl Sleeve Colors are random and extremely limited. 
According to Alex, "I wanted to play with our ideas of limited edition and embrace variety." There are two different editions of the deck (Hand-gilded Black Sleeve and Pearl Sleeves). Both editions are run out of 499 decks making them extremely rare. But of the pearl editions, there are a variety of colors featured within that 499 with some colors being rarer than others. So there might be 150 of one color, 25 of another color and 75 another color all within the pearl sleeve numbering system. "I liked the mystery of not knowing what color you might get when you order them but still having them rare making it a lot of fun to collect. If you order more than one though I'll guarantee you that you won't get the same colors in the same package so you're not stuck with duplicates."

3. The design aesthetic comes from the quatrefoil "the fanciest shape" 
"I stumbled on this fascinating podcast about the origins of the quatrefoil symbol in America. It actually came about during the peak of the Industrial Revolution when designers were seeking "simpler times" and so they referenced pattern books that featured this quatrefoil. It unintentionally became a symbol that represented handcraftsmanship and uniqueness away from the factories. Eventually, it got culturally adapted into a symbol of luxury. But I loved it because it sort of represents where the market is right now and also reflects the nature of the box as well. Each box is assembled and packed by hand referencing this era of craftsmanship the quatrefoil used to represent."

4. There's a limited 48-hour launch sale going on NOW. 
For only 48 hours the decks will be set at a special launch release pricing and be raised after October 19th midnight. I wanted to reward people who were actually celebrating the event itself since this deck is about bringing more awareness to the holiday.

5. 100% of deck profits go towards a good cause, Portfolio52, the world's largest playing card database. 
All of the profits from NPCCD deck sales go towards helping maintain and build Portfolio52.com. It's a completely free tool to help discover new playing cards, trade with others, and make managing your collection easier. "It's something I wished I had when I first started collecting! Unfortunately running a site this big costs a lot of money and time. Instead of asking directly for donations which felt a bit weird, I wanted to give back to the community by creating a unique deck they could display in their collection as a badge of support for the website and the art of card collecting in general."


Celebrate National Playing Card Collection Day by showing off your collections on social media! As a special promotion for the 2017 NPCCD deck release, Alex will be holding a photo contest on Instagram (@seasonsplayingcards). Share a photo of your collection today with #CardCollectionDay for a chance to win your very own deck! To learn more visit the website NationalCardCollectionDay.com