Card Radar: Playing Cards by Coat of Arms

Created by Coat of Arms, a Chicago-based post-production company in collaboration with illustrator Scott Benson, this hand-illustrated deck of playing cards are inspired by the age of discovery.

Each suit represents a different house: Spades - Knights, Clubs - Mariners, Diamonds - Bandits and Hearts - Royals.  The court cards are unique in that rather than the traditional courts, the courts are custom hand-illustrated with their own traits and personalities.

The back features a Belgian horse's head and a crest adorned by flowered vines. As if they have seen hundreds of games already, these cards appear aged in their design but fresh and crisp in their quality.

The deck features 54 gorgeously illustrated deck with custom Faces, Aces, Jokers and Tuck. This delightful deck is printed by Quality Playing Cards on a high quality, plastic-coated and linen card stock.

Available from Coat of Arms Shop for $15.

Deck View: MIRAGE Playing Cards

Magic. Modern. Elegant.

Conceptualized by magician Patrick Kun with assistance from Simon Black/Toby, MIRAGE is a modern elegant deck of playing cards specially crafted for both magic and cardistry. The back features an optical spiral illusion when spins which is great for Cardistry. Also, the interior design for the tuck case has a nice 3D looking pattern to match the theme.

In terms of the design, the back features a dark blue hue reminiscent of the night sky, with four corners resembling epaulets on a uniform. The crosshatched pattern on either end of the deck showcases a crystalline, multifaceted pinstripe garb that serves as a quasi-3-dimensional illusion within the background of the card. The Ace of Spades and Jokers are custom while the standard courts are used to hold the traditional functionality of the cards. The deck also comes with a specially designed Hyper card that can be given away as a souvenir.

Printed by the Legends Playing Card Company, the Mirage deck features LPCC's Classic Finish card stock, a soft and 'papery' feeling stock which requires no break-in period. Perfect for any card enthusiasts, sleight of hand artists, cardist or poker nights. Available from Patrickkun.com and JP Games.

News: Draconian Brimstone Playing Cards Is Now Available To Pre-Order

Midnight Card Company teased the Draconian Brimstone through its various social media pages last week. Like the original Draconians, the Draconian Brimstone is inspired by a time of legendary dragons and features beautiful dragon scales, hypnotic borderless back design and eye-catching redesigned tuck.

Meticulously designed by Randy Butterfield and printed by the Legends Playing Card Co, Brimstone will be a FINAL Draconian deck and only available as an add-on within the Grinders' BackerKit.

The newly designed Brimstone Tuck will feature a Reddish-Orange Foil, and a Grey Pantone Ink that will have a UV Spot Ink overlay. The Cards will use the same Classic Finish as the original Draconian design.

The Draconian Brimstone started as an idea sparked in my mind by Legends' owner, Lawrence Sullivan. The idea was simple - Black Draconians. It excited me so much, I couldn't get it out of my thoughts until I saw it come to fruition. I HAD to see it become a reality for all of us! 

The Brimstone Deck is currently in the prepress stages with Legends and fulfilled with the Grinders decks. The Draconian Brimstone Pre-Order will ONLY be through the Grinders campaign ($4 Brmstone add-on tier), so don't miss out!

News: CHOICE (Green Edition) Playing Cards

Originally funded on Kickstarter, CHOICE Playing Cards are a contemporary deck inspired by history and by hand-drawn playing cards of the past. This deck has been designed by Ben Kolozsi with simplicity in mind.

The Green Edition of CHOICE features an elegant rich, dark green back with gold foil on top. A very classic look! Also, the Ace of Spades takes on a simpler form as well as the Trumps (Jokers) no longer have a T-index in each corner.

Only 1,000 deck where printed by Expert Playing Card Company on their best stock and finish. Limited time Black Friday price of $9 for a single deck (originally $13) or $90 ($7.50 a deck) for a Brick of twelve decks.

Available from choiceplayingcards.com