Arcadia Signature Edition Playing Cards on Kickstarter

The Arcadia Signature Edition is inspired by the meaning behind the brand name, Arcadia. Arcadia is an idealized vision of perfect harmony in nature and has often been depicted in Renaissance art by shepherds herding their sheep in untouched wilderness. According to designer Christian Ellingstad,

The actual word comes from the Greek province also called Arcadia. In Greek mythology, this place was considered as the home of Pan, god of the forest, rustic music, shepherds and wilderness - a character that appears in the artwork of the deck.

There are two standard versions of the deck on offer during the campaign- forest green and earthy brown. Both decks feature fully custom card backs, courts, Ace of Spades and jokers.

The custom back design showcase a sun setting behind mountain tops is the main motive on the mirrored backs.

Ace of Spades features an illustrated spade with picturesque nature. A crown is topping the spade and within it, a starry sky can be seen behind three mountain tops.

The courts are 100% custom but still based on traditional faces printed with Gold metallic ink. Christian explained,

My greatest challenge of designing court cards is to make them completely customized while keeping the "traditional court look". I want magicians to be able to use the cards in their magic routine. The courts and pips should, therefore, look familiar to spectators so they don't raise any suspicions. At the same time, I want them to be unique to this deck. This has been accomplished by drawing the courts from scratch with unique faces and ornaments but retaining the silhouettes of the traditional courts.

The green deck will be packaged in a stunning tuck box, hot foil stamped with three different foils: green, gold and white. While the brown tuck will be foiled with bronze, gold, and white. Both beautifully embossed on high-quality card stock.

The cards will be printed by USPCC and the tuck boxes will be expertly crafted by Gambler's Warehouse. Pledge starts at $15 on Kickstarter.

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First Look at the Royal Verge Playing Cards

The Royal Verge playing cards were created to inspire a timeless and elegant design that will never grow old.

Roman numerals combined with the classic clocks trigger a feeling of a royal order which dates to the Victorian Era. Petros Chrysochos founder of Dealt Company told Kardify,

Destino and I worked for more than a year to bring this deck to life. It will be going live on Kickstarter at the beginning of February. An official date will be released soon.

The deck includes fully custom illustrated cards from the pips, courts, aces, and the jokers.

This deck has a stunning two-way back design with a Binary Marking System integrated on the back which is easy to learn. The tuck alone features gold & white foil on purple premium paper stock.

Royal Verge will be printed by Cartamundi on their acclaimed E7 finish and their proprietary Slimline paper stock. The tuck cases will be printed by Gambler’s Warehouse. The deck will launch on Kickstarter on February 11th. Don't miss out!

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Kickstarter: Bicycle Jade Playing Cards

The Bicycle Jade Playing Cards combines magic and elegance in this beautiful and fully customized deck of cards. Produced by Gambler's Warehouse and designed by SHAPESHIFTERS, the deck blends 2D and 3D technique to create something unique.

Each card has been carefully designed to preserve the essence of the inspiration. The color and details have been wisely combined to create fantastic illustrations, in which the court cards show characters whose beauty does not detract from the courage they face with their weapons and armor made of metal and gemstones.

The face cards use white backgrounds and have been lavishly decorated with very elaborate but subtly presented structures to keep the cleanliness without sacrificing detail and exquisite elegance.

The card back looks like a goldsmith's work, in which the green jade stones are mounted on a complex structure of aged gold with a delicate symmetrical design. The harmony and balance of the greens is combined with the strength and energy of the reds to offer an intense color combination.

These fairytale warriors are enclosed in a tuck case turned into a jewel utlizing advanced design techniques. Printed by the United States Playing Card Company and pledge starts at $13 on Kickstarter.

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Conquerors Playing Cards are Available for Pre-Order on Patreon

Conquerors are the first Thirdway Industries decks made for Patreon. It's available for preorder now and it will be shipped to everyone during July 2019.

Designed by Giovanni Meroni, Conquerors is a small project that includes two decks- Conquerors Audax, which is the unlimited edition with a lot of metallic inks; and Conquerors Victoria, a 777 decks limited edition, with a premium, triple foiled tuck box made by Gambler's Warehouse.

You will notice that the Conquerors use a new, bold style made by thick lines - it's more simple than Giovanni's usual decks and he consider it relatively minimalist. A lot of thought has gone into the Conquerors. The main theme of the deck is Victory.

Giovanni told Kardify,

Have a purpose is important for everyone – Conquerors are the ones who fight in order to achieve their personal Victory, whatever their goal is. The "War" described in Conquerors is a big metaphor: the courts are fighting to achieve their personal dreams, not for annihilate each other.

Also, each suit represents a different characteristic. For example:

• Spades represent Strategy – they play carefully to have an advantage point. They’re patient and smart: they know that sometimes, the wait is wiser than act.
• Hearts represent Bravery – they inspire their army with their heart full of courage. They’re reckless and willing to sacrifice themselves for Victory.
• Clubs represent Brute Force – They don’t have a plan, they just trample everything and everyone stand between them and Victory.
• Diamonds represent Power – Money, Influence, Resources – some people don’t need to fight in order to win. Some can just buy their Victory.

Finally, the Jokers are the most important characters of Conquerors. Giovanni explained,

The male joker is Mars Invictus, the invincible, brave God of War. He represents the battle itself, the strength to keep fighting to achieve the Victory. The first female joker is Victoria Alata, the Winged Victory herself. She’s the central character of Conquerors and the coveted prize for everyone. She’s completely merciless – for her, the only important thing is a win – how is not really important. The second female joker is Fortuna Velata, the Goddess of Luck. She’s frivolous and unpredictable, but her favor is precious. She usually protects the brave ones, so she’s not really blind.

Conquerors will be included in the May and June Patreon Sword of the Conqueror Package. The Sword of the Conqueror is a $30 subscription plan who grants a $50 package of Thirdway Industries items every month.

If you are not a Patron, Conquerors can also be preordered from Thirdway Industries website - it will have a strong discount until 30th June.

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Kickstarster: Luminosity Playing Cards by Blackink Playing Cards

From Blackink Playing Cards, Luminosity Playing Cards are inspired by Norse Mythology depicting the age-old conflict between good and evil. Luminosity is a fully custom deck with a story, with incredible artwork by Jody Eklund and story written by Ricky Cassford. From the Kickstarter campaign page,

Visually inspired by Norse Mythology, we have created a rich narrative representative of a deeper spiritual meaning that is brought to life through this set of unique and custom illustrated playing cards.

The Luminosity Playing Cards is more than just another deck. Not only is it functional, but the deck has unique characters with their own story. As the Kickstarter project progresses, Jody will be revealing more characters with their back story and unraveling the mystery of The Luminosity.

Two editions are on offer during the campaign- the Standard Edition (SE), and the Kickstarter Exclusive Edtion (KSE). Both come with completely custom artwork, from the courts, aces to joker and card backs. The SE card backs sports a blue ink metallic colorway and the KSE in stunning copper ink.

The face cards of the SE include Silver Metallic ink accents which give it a touch of elegance. Copper Metallic Ink is used for the background design elements of the face cards, pips, and indices on the KSE deck.

The Tuck Case designs for both editions are unique and will be printed on matte grey card stock adorned with elegant copper hot foil stamping and embossed. The background pattern of the KSE tuck box will have a metallic coating applied. Both tuck boxes will be produced by Gambler's Warehouse.

Printed by the USPCC, the Luminosity Playing Cards are available NOW on Kickstarter for $15 for the SE and $18 for the KSE.

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Kickstarter: 7 Questions with Costa Pantazis of Primordial Playing Cards

Primordial playing cards are designed by Charles Adi (Blackout Brother) and produced by Costa Pantazis. It is conceptualized based on the idea that the primordial deities are the first gods and goddesses born from the void of Chaos who formed the very fabric of the universe. Currently seeking funds on Kickstarter with a goal of £20,000, the project is only 56% funded with 27 days to go.

Three decks are on offer during the campaign, the Aether, Chaos and Pantheon Edition. The Aether and Chaos edition is limited to 1,500 print run each and features detailed artwork, metallic inks (gold for Aether and red for Chloe) and foil embossed tuck-boxes. The Pantheon edition is the limited edition and only 200 will be printed. The rare deck comes in its own unique Gold Carat X1 Case with a black laser-engraved lid and gold foil printed outer sleeve.

With this being Costa's first venture into the custom playing card arena on Kickstarter, we were happy to have a chance to talk to him about his maiden voyage and concept behind Primordial Playing Cards.

For those of us who don’t know, can you give us a summary of Primordial Playing Cards?
Primordial playing cards by Costa Pantazis and designed by Charles Adi (Blackout Brother) are based on this idea. The primordial deities are the first gods and goddesses born from the void of Chaos who formed the very fabric of the universe, were known as the Protogenoi (protos meaning "first," and genos "born").

Can you describe Primordial Playing Cards and why you are passionate about it?
The Primordial cards are based around Greek Mythology. While several card campaigns in the past have covered this theme I chose to focus on the primordial characters as to me they were more interesting and something to memory that hadn't been done before. Depending on the performance of the first campaign I will defiantly look to explore other areas under this subject and have plenty already drafted out and ready to go.

Talk to us a bit about going from the first draft to the final version. How did you get to this finished product?
It actually turned out to easier then thought, the advantage of covering this particular theme in the cards presented me with an even spread of characters to use on the courts, 8 male (kings and jacks) and 4 female (queens) so thankfully this came together very quickly and planning in advance went very quickly and smoothly. I enlisted the services of Blackout Brother for the design process after seeing his past work on successive campaigns for in house projects by Gambler's Warehouse such as the 12 Labours Of Hercules, Bicycle Spirit and Imperium playing cards series which most will be familiar with. Also as he had already designed Greek Mythology based playing cards was an added bonus so I knew he was a safe pair of hands to oversee the design aspect of this particular deck.

What was your most brilliant breakthrough when designing the deck?
Again, it was the incorporating the actual theme into the deck and how it just worked from the start for various reasons. It just came together on its own really. I'd say my biggest breakthrough is actually getting this first project actually moving and launched really, it's taken a good six months from start to finish. The first one is always the hardest, there have been a few hurdles along the way through but I got there in the end. I would say the most challenging part has been contacting and getting everything ready regarding different manufacturers to oversee the creation and eventual and fulfillment. Researching and finding the best people for this and thankfully all have been very responsive and assisted me leading up the campaign; Gambler's Warehouse, Custom Carat Cases, USPCC and CoinsForAnything among the few.

From the Primordial Kickstarter project page, what are a few of your favorite reward levels and why? 
I would definitely say the Carat Case editions of the decks. I contacted Sherman from Custom Carat Cases to propose designing a limited series of cases for the project, limited to roughly 100 of each size variation. The difference with these cases is they are available in different colours to match the decks and there is a wide selection to choose from. White to match the standard deck, Red to match the darker decks which come in different sizes to carry either 1, 2 or 4 decks and there is also a limited 200 special edition deck (gold gilded) which comes with it's own Gold carat case, all have black laser engraved lids and foiled sleeves which match the deck designs on top. These carat case editions will only be available during the Kickstarter campaign and will be strictly limited in number and will not be available afterwards.

What’s next? Can we expect more deck designs in the future?
Subject to the first campaign performance being successful I'm already planning to expand further on the theme covered in this deck as there is plenty in the subject which I can cover, I already have plenty of draft ideas down and ready to go. As I'm new to the playing cards market I have no plans to start multiple projects on a regular basis like most other established designers and creators and will wait until fulfillment on this series has begun before launching any new projects to ensure everything runs smoothly and all items are delivered to the backers.

Given this is first run on a playing card project the earliest I would consider launching a follow up will be once fulfillment has begun on this project. Leading up to the first campaign's fulfillment I will have a few new projects ready to launch and will asses the right time to bring them forward and over time hopefully I can build up to doing more products and campaigns on a regular basis like most others. I can't tell you too much about them as that would be revealing too much but there are a few good ideas on paper for possible designs which from what I can see haven't been done yet, some single decks projects and others which could become a series run over time.

Finally, what are your favorite playing card decks?
There's been several to be honest I really couldn't point it down to a few. Stockholm17, Thirdway Industries projects along with Vanda's recent planets series were favorites of mine. Giovanni at Thirdway has offered great advise on my campaign and I can't thank him enough as it's been great to have someone so experienced in the playing card industry being there to help or answer any questions or concerns I've had during my campaign's initial process.

Thank you for your time Costa! At the time of writing, the project is already 56% funded with than 27 days to go. If you want to support Primordial Playing Cards, you can find it on Kickstarter here! Pledge starts from €9 (USD$10) and the deck will be printed by the USPCC.

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Card Flash: Aphelion by Parama Playing Cards

Currently being fulfilled by Gambler's Warehouse, Aphelion Playing Cards is an elegant deck created for the collectors and magicians in mind by Raffaele Ianzano and Paolo Tisato of Parama Playing Cards.

The semi-custom deck features a gorgeous back design, beautiful Ace of Spades and two unique jokers.

The court cards are standard with updated color palette to match the overall theme of the deck. For a touch of elegance, both face and card backs have been printed with Pantone metallic gold ink.

The tuck box is beautiful! The exterior is embossed and accented with stunning gold foil and the interior is printed with an elegant repeating pattern design.

For me, Aphelion Playing Cards turned out better than expected. Gorgeous design and a functional deck for magic or game nights. Congratulations to the team at Parama Playing Cards for an incredible first deck. Printed by Legends Playing Card Co with classic finish. Available from Parama Playing Cards now.

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Kickstarter: 5 Things You Didn't Know About Cutters (Deep Blue Edition) Playing Cards

Currently seeking funds on Kickstarter, Cutters Playing Cards by JM Authentics is a love-letter to the golden age of playing cards- a Casino deck designed for intricate card work. Headed by Jordan Murphy, the idea of Cutters is to craft a deck to the highest standard possible for the magicians in mind. Jordan tells Kardify, "This is a deck made with a purpose in mind, not made aesthetic for the sake of it, but each design choice suited to what the deck will be used for. I really hope we’ve been able to do the old styles justice while incorporating the latest production technology. Every design choice has been made to make The Cutters a true homage to the decks that came before."

Here are 5 things you didn't know about Cutters Playing Cards:

1. The borderless backs are influenced by Steamboats and Bee Casino Playing cards. The stars that make up the back design are based on the North Star and the constellations used by sailors to guide their way home since the first humans were able to sail upon the seas. Jordan explained, "We have two Cutter sailboats separated within two casino styled ovals, you can imagine that maybe you are looking at them through a spyglass or a porthole. Also, You can see if you look closely, a bird flying alongside the sailboat. In maritime lore, it is good fortune and favorable to sail whilst followed by an Albatross, and so we included one alongside our Cutters."

2. If you know your ships you may notice that the ships used on our Jokers are not traditional Cutters. This is because they are based on the Merchant Ship Bethia/HMS Bounty which was classed as a Cutter, not due to its size, but it's small armament. "The Merchant Ship Bethia which later became the HMS Bounty has a rich history culminating in betrayal and mutiny, we couldn’t not include it in this deck." 

3. The Cutters Tuck Case is a hybrid of styles- combining the face of the Steamboat box and the back of Bee Casino decks with Cutters theme. The rich contrast of blue on white and bold fonts make the artwork pop from the box whilst maintaining that classic feel. "Perhaps the point I'm proudest of is that I believe we will be the first custom deck of cards to have the casino windowed tuck case. Originally the window in Casino decks allowed the manufacturers to know which deck was within the box, as they were a generic print, but this window can also serve a purpose for covert peeks! Having the tuck case printed by Gambler’s Warehouse has also allowed us to have the production date for the cards on the box. For the first time, this information will be made available to card technicians and collectors to whom it is vital."

4. Jordan has opted to keep the court cards standard. At their core Cutters are not just for practice but for performance, especially at the table. "We have changed the color palette to match those used throughout the deck. In past designer decks one reason some people opt not to use them in performance is that it can be difficult to quickly distinguish between custom pip colors during peeks. For this reason, we have kept the standard high contrast red and black pips."

5. Jordan's personal experience with table magic didn’t start until he was given his first Steamboat and Bee Casino decks. "I fell in love with the feel of these decks and how they made me want to progress in card magic. After delving into table magic more I began making close-up pads and eventually started JM Authentics. Without those initial decks JM Authentics wouldn’t exist and I wouldn’t have had the experiences, opportunities, and friends that I have today and most importantly I wouldn’t have met amazing people who I was then able to build close up pads for and help them progress their magic. Steamboats and Bee Casino decks are very special to me, Cutters even more so, I hope they can be for other people too."

Cutters will be printed by the US Playing Cards Co on Crushed paper stock, with a traditional cut. If you like what you've read and want to support Cutters Playing Cards, you can find it on Kickstarter Here! Pledge starts at £8.

Card Flash: SINS and EVA Playing Cards

 

Thirdway Industries' SINS and EVA Playing Cards have now reached the fulfillment stage! The decks are currently being fulfilled via Gambler's Warehouse and are both being shipped together! This is certainly good news for fans of Thirdway Industries who backed both Kickstarter projects.

First off, all 3 SINS tuck are stunning! The colors of SINS Corpus in particular just pops. The limited edition SINS ANIMA look especially striking with red tuck and face cards. Combine the gorgeous design with a meticulously selected range of colors and you get this gorgeous set.

The EVA playing cards deck is AMAZING! Giovanni did an incredible job putting everything together. The letterpressed tuck case is subtle and includes beautiful deep red foil. The deck features metallic inks on the beautiful face cards, all female courts and the card handles really well! This deck is sure to be a conversation starter!

If you helped bring this project to life, you will absolutely love these decks. If you missed out, you can find it on Thirdway Industries online shop on October 31st.

Card Flash: Medieval Playing Cards

Currently being fulfilled by Gambler's Warehouse, Medieval Playing Cards is a collaboration between Anomaly World Studio and Elephant Playing Cards (EPC). The deck is fully custom and hand-illustrated with great attention to detail. The cards have a vintage look and feel to them, from the one-way courts, gorgeous aces to the striking indices and unique subtle coat of arms background for each suit. Backers will love this great looking deck! Printed by Legends Playing Card Co on Robusto card stock.