Baseball Inspired Cardistry Playing Cards on Kickstarter

Just launched on Kickstarter, the concept for Cardistry Playing Cards was originally inspired by the 1989 movie Major League, as well as a shared love of collecting trading cards when growing up by Mike McClure of Lit playing cards and his regular collaborator Brad Gabbard of Native Tongue Studio.

It quickly evolved into a light-hearted trading card themed deck with elements imagining cardistry itself as a Major League sport.

Inside, the bright bold colorway contrasts the somewhat restrained back design making for a stunning everyday carry deck and makes for spectacular fans. The deck also comes with a custom Ace of Spades, two-toned and recolored pips, and unique indices resembling baseball uniform letters and numbers round out the deck.

The court cards are traditionally styled but reimagined as baseball teams. The red team (hearts and diamonds) are in the field, while the blue team (spades and clubs) are pp to bat. Brad also included one or two faces you may recognize as pop culture references. This is something that has become a signature inclusion in his decks.



For the Joker, if you’ve ever seen the movie, needs no introduction. Only now he’s been renamed and looks over his Lit playing Cards along with his rum.

For this deck, Mike and Brad went all out on the packaging to provide a nostalgic experience from the start. The tuck box design is directly inspired by old trading card wax packs. The Kickstarter only hobby edition goes a step further and comes inside foil packaging made by the same folks that package baseball cards and even have, you guessed it, a stick of bubble gum!



Also, if you ever opened one pack of Baseball cards growing up then you’ll instantly recognize the half brick box, which is inspired by the retail boxes the packs were sold in.

The deck will be printed by the USPCC and pledge starts at $13 on Kickstarter.

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Only 3 more days to go on Kickstarter! 4 Clans Playing Cards

Only 3 more days to go on Kickstarter! Four Clans is the third collaborative release by Doc’s Playing Card Co. & designer Brad Gabbard of Native Tongue Studio featuring Samurai and Japanese culture. On the theme and design of the deck, Brad told Kardify,

As always, our main goal is to produce stylized, interesting cards while maintaining the highest standards in feel and handling. For this deck we travel back to Feudal Japan. Years of brutal war between samurai clans have left the country in ruins. Only four clans remain, each fighting for control of the entirety of Japan for their leader, the shogun.

 

Fully custom, each clan is represented in the deck by a different suit. The custom pips are styled after each clan’s kamon, or crest.



Every part of this deck was created with careful attention to detail and, while the story and clans are fictitious, a great deal of effort was put into ensuring all other elements are portrayed as accurately as possible. Also included is an ad card that gives background information on each clan. 

There are 4 editions on offer during the campaign, Standard Edition and a Limited Edition with premium foiled tuck box, and two gilded editions. The decks are printed by the USPCC. Pledge starts at $13 on Kickstarter!

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C.A.R.D.S., an Immersive Story-Based Puzzle and Playing Cards

C.A.R.D.S. is an exciting new Kickstarter project from designer Brad Gabbard that combines playing cards with a thrilling adventure puzzle. This project follows in the footsteps of Stockholm 17’s Eye of the Ocean, which also used decks of cards along with a book and puzzle to tell a story. C.A.R.D.S is an innovative way to use playing cards in an interactive and engaging way, making it a must-have for puzzle and card game enthusiasts.

C.A.R.D.S. stands for Compliance Aptitude & Restricted Data Survey. The series is based on a retro theme and tells the story of a mysterious company named Rector Industries, which has been contracted by an unknown entity to conduct a testing program for candidates. Each candidate would receive a deck of cards that plays a crucial role in solving the puzzle.

There are two available editions: Ledger Green and Compliance Orange. There are other companion items that come with the deck – the book which explores the lore of the company; the coin with a set of numbers; a mug, a pen holder, and a custom ID badge to complete the experience for the story.

The card back design features a minimalistic yet classic design that bears the fictitious company name and logo on both sides. There are tabs on the left and right sides, breaking the border to compliments a good visual look when the cards are fanned. These are the two main colors for the back: olive green and orange, creating a clear contrast for the design. For Ledger Green, it uses olive green for the back with orange tabs, whereas Compliance Orange, uses orange for the back with olive green tabs.

Both Jokers feature an identical design of an advertisement of Rector Industries, complete with logo and name. It comes in two different solid colors that are the main color set for the decks.

The number cards feature custom numbers, pips, and layouts. It is designed to look like evaluation questions, what looked like “complete the sequence” puzzles complete with an answering box. These are the puzzles mentioned in this series, and not many number cards are shown to preserve the integrity of the puzzle experience.

All of the Aces feature customized enlarged pips. They also come with special instructions from the company on the bottom side, and it is unique – such as licking the card or stamping your fingerprints. The cards served as samples for the new hires.

The court cards feature custom portrait illustrations of characters assigned as members of Rector Industries Supreme Board of Directors. Each court completes with the company logo and job title. The portraits are drawn with eldritch elements, suggesting these characters are hiding sinister plans.

The tuck case will be made with a premium matte stock of green/orange color. There is the matte finish white hot foil on the white band that circles around the box, bearing the name of the deck and the Rector Industries logo.

Printed by Legends Playing Card Co. and pledge starts from $16 for a single deck of Ledger Green/Compliance Orange on Kickstarter. If you are really interested in experiencing the lore of this deck series, you may get the booklet and coin as add-ons.

On Kickstarter, LORE Scandinavian Folklore Playing Cards

The team Native Tongue Studio has long been fascinated by the unique history and traditions of the many different cultures around the globe. One such tradition is that of folklore and stories passed down through the generations. In terms of folklore, one region stands out in particular, Scandinavia.

LORE is Native Tongue Studio's personal take on some of the characters commonly found throughout Scandinavian Folklore. According to designer Brad Gabbard,

While the tales can vary between regions, many of the characters themselves share

similar descriptions across the land. Many of the stories can also get quite dark. That’s what drew us in...

Currently funding on Kickstarter, the fully custom deck emphasizes the contrast between some of the more innocent-looking aspects of Scandinavian folklore and the dark undertones lying beneath the surface.

Each court card features a traditional folklore character shown in its most sinister form. From Mara, Troll to the Elf, Dwarf, and Pesta. 

The deck is packaged in beautifully foiled and embossed tuck boxes by Fresh Impression Letterpress on unique Oxford fabric textured stock. But once inside, the dark and creepy undertones come to light. Bard continued,

As seen in our Tough Luck collab with Doc’s, we tend to make decks with loads of personality. We tend to make decks with loads of personality. We enjoy when not all is what it seems on the surface.

Four editions are available on Kickstarter- Midsummer Blue Edition, Midwinter Red Edition, Vaesen Foil Editon, and Vaesen Gilded Edition. The Kickstarter exclusive Vaesen editions come with unique Rose Gold fully foil card backs.

Printed by Cartamundi, B9 True Linen Finish on Slimline Stock. Pledge starts at $16 on Kickstarter.

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Lucky Playing Cards Funded in 8 Hours on Kickstarter

Whoah! Loving this collab deck of playing cards by Doc's Playing Card Co. and design studio Native Tongue. Lucky Playing Cards is luxurious yet practical and functional.

According to Irish Legend, if you are lucky enough to capture a Leprechaun you can barter for his treasure. The team wanted to create a deck based upon the legend for quite a while. According to founder, Michael Mcclure,

As a child I was fascinated by these little men that stand about as tall as a three-year-old, pinch you if you don't wear green on St. Patrick's Day and hide gold at the end of rainbows. One day while talking to my friend and Artist Brad Gabbard of Native Tongue Studio, I ran the idea by him. Over the next several months he designed and redesigned many backs and court card combinations until he was able to come up with the perfect combination of both.

The deck they created a deck that would appeal to cardists, magicians and collectors. To achieve this goal, the team has crafted a fully custom St. Patrick's Day-themed courts feature along with a beautiful custom Ace of Spades and Jokers.

Clover pips are used in place of Clubs, as well as unique metallic gold and metallic green suits rather than traditional black and red. Also, we were told that a number of additional secrets are hidden throughout the deck.

The more of them you find, the more "lucky" you can make the deck for yourself...

Lucky Playing Cards will be printed by the USPCC using the finest traditionally cut crushed stock and finish in the industry. Metallic gold and green inks will feature throughout, including the courts.

Pledge starts at $12 for a single deck on Kickstarter.

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Ludus Magnus Playing Cards, Less Than 3 Days Remaining on Kickstarter.

Produced by Michael McClure of Docs Playing Cards in collaboration with designer Brad Gabbard of Native Tongue Studios to create a deck built for the “Rare, Limited, and Luxury Edition” playing cards community on Facebook.

Over a year and a half in the making, Ludus Magnus is a thematic deck that befits a Roman-era currently funding on Kickstarter. The overall design of the deck is based on the Roman Gladiators’ theme depicting the Roman history of bloody sport in an arena, the empire’s form of entertainment.

The custom faces of the cards showcase a cross-section of the Colosseum, adorned with a golden foil broken border and center index. The Ace of Spades presents a sword and shield with the name of the deck and the initials of the card collector’s group.

The courts present the people of ancient Rome: maidens, seers, emperors, and gladiators. The back design is a sophisticated illustration of the Roman theme: shields with helmets and lion insignias along with a sword and a Roman phrase. It has a hint of the golden broken border as same as on the faces – creating a fabulous continuous line when the cards are fanned. The cards will be printed by Legends Playing Cards on the super smooth Viper Finish.

There are at least four editions of this deck on offer during the campaign. The Luxury Edition features embossed matte black with gold foiling. The Limited Edition features embossed matte black with gold and red foiling added with embossed matted red sleeve attached on the sides and back – like an arena opening its doors.

The exclusive RLLE Edition features embossed gold metallic with gold and red foiling. The Rare Edition features an embossed matte red tuck and sleeve with gold and red foiling. The tuck box design shows the big lion insignia guarded by four gladiator armory with showing the initials of involved parties in the creation of the deck.

Pledge starts at $17 for a single Luxury Edition OR get all four editions for $130 (including the Ludus Magnus Mini Deck) on Kickstarter.