News: Issue Nine of Kardify Magazine Now Available!

The ninth issue of Kardify magazine is now available to our AWESOME Patrons! Patrons who pledge $3 or more will be able to download it directly on our Patreon page. This issue is a compilation of selected articles we’ve published over mid-January to early February. Our goal is to help you stay on top of playing card news.

Funds received from the magazine will help us keep the site running and growing, and bringing new quality content to you. Our aim is to support designers by backing on crowd-funded projects and supporting magic and playing cards retailers with their new releases. If you want to support us, please head over to our Patreon page.

If you have an idea for an article you would like us to pursue, do get in contact with us. We hope you enjoy the read. In this issue:

+ Bicycle Dragonlord White Edition: Find out what we think about TCC's latest deck designed by Sam Hayles.

+ Essentia Relaunched: Redesigned, tweaked and back on Kickstarter!

+ Cabinet of Curiosities: 5 things you didn't know about Cellar Window's intriguing deck recently funded on Kickstarter.

+ Cubeline Playing Cards: Crafted for cardistry by Bas John. Find out more.

+ Cobra Playing Cards: First release by JP Games outside the popular LUXX series.

+ Adam Borderline: Check out Adam's EDC all the way from the UK.

+ Watermelon Playing Cards: First look at Flaminko Playing Cards' new deck releasing mid-month.

+ Ellusionist's Secret Menu: Find out what's on Ellusionist's secret menu and how to get access!

… and more! 39 pages of articles and deck images. Enjoy!

First Look: Art of Play's Peau Doux Playing Cards, The Cards That Cardini Used!

Art of Play in collaboration with Pitchford Entertainment Media and Magic have released a modern poker-sized replica of the special "Peau Doux" playing cards used by Richard Valentine Pitchford (1895-1973) or better known by his stage name, Cardini.

Cardini is known for his superlative manipulation act, which showcased his unparalleled card fanning and production skills. For his fanning sequences, Cardini originally used a brand called "Park Avenue," which was obtainable from Woolworth's, until he was introduced to a card with an even more attractive back design on general sale in Walgreens drug stores in 1934. Trademarked as "Peau Doux" cards, the brand name was derived from the name of Mrs. Walgreen's dog Po Do, which translates from French as "smooth skin".

The stunning Art Deco design depicted a series of five concentric arcs in red, black, white, gold, and red, reading from the top left-hand corner to the bottom right-hand corner of the card. The deck carries the iconic image of the winged horse Pegasus, silhouetted in gold, emerging from the gold arc.

Cardini realized the potential of the deck for display fans and color changing effects. He wasted no time in entering into a transaction with the Walgreen Company. It is believed that he bought up the complete stock of the cards, extracting from the company an assurance they would not manufacture any further decks. Cardini even went so far as to purchase the printing plates, which he then smashed, further to protect his exclusivity. Today, an unopened Cardini' bridge-size 1934 Peau Doux playing cards go for up to $700 in auctions.

I am pleasantly surprised how well these turned out! Art of Play's replica is a faithful reproduction, from the Art Deco-styled tuck box to the iconic card backs. The Ace of Spades has been updated and features the pegasus instead of Mrs. Walgreen's dog Po Do.

Gold metallic ink on the courts and the card backs create a striking and elegant look, especially when used in contrast against the black background. Also, the indices and suits have been enhanced to match the theme of the deck, giving it a more modern look and feel. The jokers feature a black and white illustration of Cardini's profile.

Peau Doux’s, will be available in a limited supply this Friday (9th February 2018) on Art of Play for $15. Don't miss out if you want to own a piece of magic history. Use coupon code KARDINI at checkout to get 10% off the Peau Doux decks on Art of Play.

News: The Souls Deck by Cristian Pestritu

For the past months, Cristian Pestritu (Instagram: @cristian_pestritu) has been teasing the Souls deck on popular social media platform, Instagram. Three years after coming out with the idea for the deck, the deck will be available for sale soon!

A post shared by Cristian Pestritu (@cristian_pestritu) on Jan 23, 2018 at 8:22am PST

Souls are based on a minimalistic custom design and innovative pipes with a red-gold color gradient, representing the best a part of Cristian’s persona and style.

A post shared by Cristian Pestritu (@cristian_pestritu) on Jan 24, 2018 at 8:53am PST

The usual court cards have been updated with the faces of close friends of the creator. This includes Jeremy Griffith, Adam Veller, Angelo Pangalos and Daniel Madison).

Designed for the magicians, particularly the table worker, the minimalistic back design is fully marked (suite and value). if you love gambling routines, an instructional video for the marking system and a personal magic routine is included with every deck.

Printed by Bomb Magic, Taiwan and Souls is available at $9.95

Kickstarter: King’s Game Playing Cards by Bona Fide Playing Cards

The King's Game Playing Cards is Bona Fide Playing Cards' take on the ancient and universal game: Chess. The theme has been done several times by Ellusionist with the Knights deck and recently, Murphy's Magic Queens Playing Cards, but not fully illustrated like the King's Game Playing Cards currently funding on Kickstarter.

Popularized in Europe during the Middle Ages, Chess became a favorite among the higher class and at some point was even used to teach war strategy to nobility and royalty, thus being dubbed as the game of the Kings. With this in mind, designer Karin Yan brought together a deck that aims to represent all the different aspects of chess while adding a regal touch to it.

King’s Game features an entire game set within one deck where the back depicts a globe-like chess board and the different chess pieces are unconventionally distributed among the court cards forming two houses: The Black house represented by Spades and Clubs and the White house represented by Hearts and Diamonds. Karin explained,

With this distribution, I intended to focus my design on the figures that each chess piece represents more than focusing on the pieces themselves. That being said, I also didn’t want to leave out a major factor in a game of chess, which is the number of pieces played by each player and that’s how the unconventional one and two-way court cards were created.

Regardless of the unconventional court cards, the deck was designed to be both artistic and functional at the same time, with standard number cards and clear indices and pips making them perfectly playable.

There are two tucks available in the Kickstarter campaign- The Black game, with gold and black foil, and the White game, with copper and silver foil. The tucks depict two Kings playing a game of chess (one on the front and one on the back).

The King's Game Playing Cards will be printed by the Expert Playing Card Co., and pledge starts at €13 for a single deck. Check it out on Kickstarter here!

If King’s Game is successfully funded, Karin aims to create a follow-up deck depicting the Lewis chessmen and there’s a chance that the chess series will be completed with an oriental Shogi (Japanese chess) inspired deck.