News: 52 Plus Joker Convention Part II- Second Day and Thoughts

This is the second part in a two-part series. Our friend @56Sealed attended the 52 Plus Joker Convention in Enlarger, Kentucky last weekend (13th-14th October) and kept a summary of what he did during the event. We are honored to have @56Sealed guest post and share with us what happened on the final day of the convention:

Day 2
Saturday started off with an auction of about 70 lots from extremely rare to highly collectible. Jackson Robison then gave a presentation about the process of creating the Intaglio deck, which started off as 54 hand-engraved brass printing plates.

In between all the event, members continued to buy and trade items for really fair prices. Decks from early 1800’s to recently released were for sale or trade.

Saturday's formal dinner was punctuated with the Diamond Awards ceremony being held for the first time in which Gene Hochman received the Dawson Lifetime Achievement award for his work on the Hochman Encyclopedia of American Playing Cards. Lotrek received Deck of the Year for Golden Oath.

Uusi duo, Linnea Gits and Peter Dunham won Designer of the Year for Blue Pagan and Hyde Park Mouldings. Judith Dawson was honored as one of the founding members and driving force in the clubs continued success.

A silent auction, a magic performance by Daniel Nicholas, and a promise to make next year even better finished the convention.

Thoughts
I can tell you the events speak for themselves in both uniqueness and entertainment value but what’s not easy to convey is the sense of friendship and passion for playing cards everyone shared. People of all ages and collecting backgrounds mixed and mingled learning and sharing with each other. Lifelong friendship and business connections were stamped out in between events and well into each night.

A post shared by 56sealed (@56sealed) on Oct 11, 2017 at 11:45pm PDT

Next year the convention will be held in Cleveland. However, it is only open to 52 Plus Joker members, but membership fees are extremely low for what you get. The annual membership costs of $27 include a monthly digital publication, quarterly printed magazine, access to a forum, expert appraisals, and parts of conjuring arts digital database. Everyone who has interest in playing cards is welcome to join. See you next year!

This exclusive guest post is written by @56sealed for Kardify. No part of this article can be reproduced without written permission from the author. You can follow @56sealed on Instagram.

News: 52 Plus Joker Convention Part I- USPCC Tour and First Day

Our friend @56Sealed attended the 52 Plus Joker Convention in Enlarger, Kentucky last weekend (13th-14th October) and kept a summary of what he did during the event. We are honored to have @56sealed guest post and share with us what happened during the convention:

Day 0
The 52+Joker convention is sure to be long talked about and remembered by anyone would attended this year in Erlanger Kentucky. The event was staged around a tour of the United States Playing Card factory.

A post shared by Murphy's Magic (@murphysmagic) on Oct 13, 2017 at 8:37am PDT

Groups of 15-20 went on hour-long tours of the factory that started with an NDA and ended with a very insightful Q&A and a small peek into USPCC's rarely seen collection. That’s all I can say about the tour but that’s just where the fun began.

Day 1
Friday kicked off at 8:00 am with first access to the trading room where each club member filled their tables with displayed and for sale items.

In the afternoon, Kevin Roche gave a very informative presentation about Coca-Cola’s long history of using playing cards for advertising. Paul Bostock also entertained the members with a history of how playing got the standard look we are all used to today.

Bill Kalush of Expert Playing Cards hosted the annual deck release announcements. Bill spoke of the new Exquisite Bolder deck and it’s never before used combination of features. Jackson Robinson presented the new Skull and Bones deck with ink printing on a holographic Perfecta foil card back.

A post shared by Paul Carpenter (@encarded) on Oct 13, 2017 at 4:38pm PDT

Paul Carpenter revealed the previously only teased Radia, also utilizing the new ink on foil card back and beautiful watermark effect on the faces.

Alex Chin designed the Club Deck and discussed the process from concept to reality. He also spoke about the second annual National Playing Card Collection Day deck in its many varieties. The designers really pulled out all the stops this year.

A post shared by Alexander Chin (@seasonsplayingcards) on Oct 19, 2017 at 3:39pm PDT

The nights planned events ended with a poker and games night but spilled over to lobby were members gathered to share stories, magic, cardistry and all things cards.

A post shared by Jackson Robinson•Luxury Artist (@kingswildproject) on Oct 13, 2017 at 8:09pm PDT

Stay tuned tomorrow for day 2 of the convention where the inaugural Diamond Awards took place and @56sealed's thoughts about the convention. This exclusive guest post is written by @56sealed for Kardify. No part of this article can be reproduced without written permission from the author. You can follow @56sealed on Instagram.

Dan and Dave Featured on Great Big Story's 'Kings of Cardistry'

Last week, Dan and Dave were featured on Great Big Story (GBS)'s Kings of Cardistry micro-documentary. The story is part of GBS's Human Condition series that connects you to some of the most peculiar, stirring, extraordinary, and distinctive people in the world. Great Big Story (GBS) is an independent LLC fully funded by CNN, and it aims to create video that is appealing to millennials, and shareable on social networks.

Watch the Buck twins tell their story and deal out some of the best moves in the game. Their mesmerizing, seemingly gravity-defying flips and tricks stem from card flourishes originally used by magicians to introduce their tricks. Now, thanks to artists like Dan and Dave, cardistry has spun off as an art form all its own—keeping the magic without the abracadabra.

First Look: Yoga Playing Cards by 9780 Design

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

Launching 19th October on Kickstarter, Yoga Playing Cards is a fully custom deck inspired by the age-old practice. Meticulously designed for the card collector in mind by 9780 Design, the deck features 4 custom aces, custom joker card, vibrant color palette and hand-drawn custom court cards in different Yoga poses.

On the design, Manoj Kaushal of 9780 Design explained,

It all started with a simple thought. How would the kings and queens look if they were performing yoga? We explored this thought and what came along was this beautiful illustrations of Kings, Queens and Jacks giving us a never before seen image of court cards.

Every court was hand drawn to make sure the face orientation and hair-beard style were maintained. Manoj continued,

We never wanted to use random characters for our court cards and were very particular about the fine details that made a king a king, a queen a queen and a jack a jack in a deck of cards. Every little feature of the royals were taken care of... right from their face orientation to their hair and facial hair style.

Also, the deck features a full-bleed back with an intricate symmetrical design. The deck is housed in a clean and simple tuck. Manoj explained,

The second point of inspiration was, we wanted to create a deck that felt rejuvenating and peaceful. The simple and clean look paired with vibrant color splash gives it a feel of tranquility.

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

Yoga Playing Cards will be printed by Expert Playing Card Co. and is scheduled to launch on 19th October on Kickstarter. Pledge starts from AUD$15 (~USD$12) and there will be early bird rewards available.