Black Hole Edition Orbits Playing Cards

The Black Hole Edition Orbits playing cards was born from the visionary mind of Joe Feldpausch back in 2017. After years of conceptualization and shelving, this unique deck finally sees the light of day, thanks to the collaborative efforts of Joe and the designer Daniel Schneider.

Meticulously crafted over a year in pre-production, this deck boasts a distinctive design where the hole mirrors the signature Orbit O on the back, creating an intriguing visual effect. With warped card faces around the black hole, this deck promises not only a fresh aesthetic but also invites exploration of new grips and moves.

Crafted for cardists, and collectors the Black Hole Edition Orbits is a must-have for those seeking innovation and style in their playing card collection. Printed by Cartamundi on B9 True Linen Finish and available NOW from Orbit Decks for $15.

These Are the Five Design Updates to Orbit V7

The new Orbits are going 80's! The seventh edition Orbit deck was released last weekend and there are a few noticeable changes and enhancement done to the deck.

1. The iconic card back now features a pink dominant center along with the mountain range from the V5 Orbits that are now inverted so they are a window to whats behind the card rather than the original mountains.

2. Pips and indices are based on a retro Arrco deck in Chris Brown's private collection- they are a bit thinner than previous Orbit pip packages (that are also Arrco) and look a little wavy. This was not an accident as the team wanted to capture the essence of a 70's deck that would have been used in the 80's, imperfections and all. The red has been replaced with pink on the V7's for an extra eye-catching aesthetic.

3. New custom court faces have been added, the Queen of Clubs, the King of Clubs and the king of Spades. The courts in the Orbit deck have played an important part in Chris' life and have guided him through some tough times.

4. The rainbow at the bottom of the tuck box inside the Orbit logo is a direct tribute to the lives lost in the 1986 space shuttle Challenger on their mission STS-51-L. The last names of the crew can be found on the inside of the V7 tuck because those who gave their lives for space exploration should never be forgotten.

5. The V7 Parallel Edition. During the V7 design process, designer Daniel Schneider showed Chris the final render of the inside of the V7 box and was blown away by how 80's it looked. Chris desided to make the design it's own deck and introduve the parral iniverse concept and hence, the Parallel Edition. Throughout the deck of the V7p's you'll find some things have been changed/flipped from the V7 to further highlight the fact that you're now in a parallel universe.

The Orbit V7 and V7 Parallel Edition are available NOW from theorbitbrown.com for $13 and $15, respectively. The decks are printed by the USPCC on premium Crushed Stock with Air cushion finish, made on the Web press.

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Christmas Edition Orbits Released!

Just in time for the festive season, the Christmas Orbits are now AVAILABLE for sale! This will be the first official Christmas deck from the Orbit team and there will be more 🎄 Christmas editions as time moves forward. 

This special release is inspired by the spirit of Christmas with the tuck box, card backs, Ace of Spades and Royals updated with items synonymous with the festive season. 

The orbit decks sports a prominent central O symbol, which boldly defines the Orbit brand decks. In this edition, a picturesque night sky with stars of a mountain has been added to the card backs. 

Printed by the USPCC and available NOW from orbit.af for $15. Total print run of 10,000 decks.



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The 2022 Christmas Edition Orbits Released!

Just in time for the festive season, the 2022 Christmas🎄Orbits are now available on orbitworld.us! This is the SECOND official Christmas deck from the Orbit team.

This special release is inspired by Christmas festivities with the tuck box, card backs, Ace of Spades and Royals updated with items synonymous with the festive season.

The orbit decks comes in s striking red coloway and sports prominent central O symbol, which boldly defines the Orbit brand decks. In this edition, a seasonal wreath has been added to the tuck box and card backs.

Printed by the USPCC and available NOW from orbitworld.us for $15. Total print run of 10,000 decks.

7 Questions with Derek Grimes of Paradigm Playing Cards

Designed by Derek Grimes and produced by Murphy's Magic, Paradigm Playing Cards is a unique deck crafted for both magicians and cardists in mind. A Paradigm is a standard, perspective, or set of ideas- a way of looking at something. Derek set out to do just that, and after a year in the making, Paradigm is a deck which you could begin by showing the slickest packet cut off, then right after do an Ambitious Card routine! With pretty standardized Pips and indices and standard reimagined Courts, this deck is sure to not raise any suspicion.

Prior to the release of the deck last week, we had a chat with Derek about his design background, inspiration, and design process behind the Paradigm Playing Cards.

For those of us who don’t know, can you tell us about yourself and what is your design background?
My name is Derek Grimes and I'm 35 years old. I currently run a YouTube channel called Disfunkshinal Reviews, where I review playing cards and magic releases. I’ve been doing that for a year and a half. I’ve been into magic since I was 11 years old when I went to see David Copperfield live on his “Forces Unseen” tour. As far as my design background, I am very artistic. Always drawing, tattooing, and more! I went to school for graphic art and design about ten years ago to become a freelance digital artist and ended up dropping out 6 months in, do too bad financial reasons.

Can you describe the Paradigm Playing Cards and why you’re passionate about it?
I started working on this deck a little over a year ago. A Paradigm is a standard, perspective, or set of ideas. A Paradigm is a way of looking at something. I wanted to design a deck that didn’t just look good, but is also mechanically visual and usable! I love this deck because its a crossover deck...a jack of all trades... the best of three worlds. The visual elements of the back design call for some out of mind packet cuts and visuals, whilst the duplicate card and standardized pips, indices, and courts make this a workers dream. Let's not forget about the 3 of hearts reveal! And of course its a perfect gift for that poker player in your life. I'm very passionate about this project as I am all of my endeavors for a few reasons. One because this is my first project and I want it to be more than successful! Also, I feel the Paradigm series can blow up to become the next big name like the Orbits and or Fontaines.

Walk us through the process you took to design this unique deck. How did you come out with the idea and how did you get to this finished product?
Since I'm not yet familiarized nor have Adobe Illustrator, I actually hand draw my back designs on blank face cards. It allows me to get a better feel of the actual design in hand right away. I started designing this deck a little over a year ago. A lot of times we see these decks that people put out for the cardistry world that are just either hideous thrown together shapes or designs and or just a deck a famous cardist or magician said is cool so everyone buys it! I wasn’t trying to be part of that crowd. I wanted to put out a deck that made sense in all aspects. Also, we see a lot of separation of categories. People saying decks are specifically for cardistry or saying a deck is only for magic. I wanted to merge the two. I started with the linework, Colors came next.

The original concept was only one set of circles in the center which was a yellow and white background. Seeing as I'm also right-handed but use opposite in holding a deck, I wanted to design a deck that looked great flourishing from any angle or hand. I was lucky to have Luke Wadey ask to look at my design to mess with and add some shadowing as well as other subtle changes such as aligning it to perfect grid format. Luke was also pivotal in helping with the tuck design. I wanted an infinite style tuck and he delivered in a huge way and exceeded my expectations. Daniel Schneider as busy as he was also working on a couple other decks, also was crucial in this deck. In my opinion, Daniel is the best when it comes to custom courts. He has proved it every time with his own decks, the Orbit series, and even most recent in the Daniel Madison release. I wanted to only have a handful of custom courts to ensure I kept the deck as standardized as possible. I also wanted to use standard courts but enlarge them a bit to show the details on each card. I did the same with the aces and enlarged all center pips rather than just the Ace of Spades. I tried to keep this deck as standard but different from anything you’ve seen prior.

How did you get feedback?
I got feedback about the deck from family, friends, Luke and Daniel. I can never say how grateful I am for having two of the best designers play a part in my deck! I might be wrong but I'm almost positive this is the first time 2 big name designers worked together on one deck. At first, I was very scared about it because I didn’t want to be overshadowed on my own deck or have people say or think I didn’t design this and it was all Luke and Daniel! But, after a while, I put my guards down. I also had great feedback from Mahdi Gilbert, Hocus Pocus, Daniel Madison, and a couple others. It's funny because looking back at the original concept of this deck I will say it was not the greatest. But the finished deck is something special.

What was your most brilliant breakthrough when designing the deck?
There were a few breakthroughs but the most brilliant and key part was the adding and enlarging of the center circles and the heavy shadowing to give the design depth.

What’s next? Can we expect more deck designs in the future?
I am working on a couple more designs as we speak. And I have already begun the second edition of the Paradigm deck. I'm hoping to take a page out of the Orbits book and finish with 12 editions of the Paradigm series. As of right now I'm working on getting this worker deck for magicians finished in which I'm going to be printing with Cartamundi on their new E7 stock once it becomes available after the exclusive they have with Ellusionist ends.

Finally, what are your favorite playing cards? 
I love standard bicycle decks of course and I have a bunch of sealed and opened blue seal decks from the ’80s and ’90s but my favorite playing cards I have to say are the Red Roses by Daniel Schneider. The black roses series have always been a favorite of mine due to the minimal look and they also resemble standard Rider backs. Red is my favorite color and its the first deck I was ever featured in as the Jack of hearts! I actually have over 100 sealed decks. They will always be my favorite. But my unicorn of decks is the Jerry's Nugget original deck! Never owned or touched one but I hope to one day trade or own one somehow. That's why I'm also excited for the Jerry's reprint by Expert Playing Cards.


Paradigm Playing Card is available NOW from your favorite Murphy's Magic Retailers.

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News: Orbit Brown Drops INCREDIBLE Teaser for Orbit Fifth Edition Playing Cards

Over the weekend, Chris Brown premiered the Orbit Jam 4 at AMC in Santa Clara, California. The very well produced video features quite a number of recognizable name in cardistry- Jaspas, Henrik Forberg, Nick Stumphauzer, Joe Feldpausch, Matt Beaudouin, Shivraj Morzaria, Anna De Guzman, John Stessel, Edgar Hernandez and Sean Oulashin showcasing their incredible card flourishes. Chris told Kardify,

Seeing the Orbit Jam 4 in a theater changed everything for me. I became instantly addicted. I need to do this for the next one. The reaction to the 5th edition Orbits was incredible. So many people helped out with the reveal. There were many times where something could have easily gone wrong or went delayed but they didn't. Everything fell into place perfectly. Easily one of the most chaotic weekends of my entire life but I'm glad both the deck and the Jam came out within a day of each other.

Considering the number of incredible talents featured, this sleek video is very well put together and is probably THE best cardistry video this year. The mesmerizing showcase was a hint of what to expect for the fifth edition of the popular Orbit deck, which was teased at the end of the video by another incredible Cardistry talent! Check out the full view below:

News: The Fourth Edition Of The Orbit Deck Has Landed!

Just in time for the holiday season, magician Chris Brown (@orbitbrown) released the Fourth Edition of the popular Orbit deck. The Orbit deck was originally crowdfunded on Kickstarter back in 2015, the second edition came out in 2016 and the third in mid-2017. For the Fourth Edition, Chris wanted to give everybody a chance to own one. In his write-up Chris said,

We printed 23,000 because we don’t care about breaking sales records or selling out in one hour, we care about everybody getting a chance to own these so they can complete their Orbit deck collection. Our customer base has grown exponentially and we think we are ready for the expansion of volume with our 23,000 decks weighing in at a little over 2 and a half tons.

What caught our eye about the Fourth Edition is the update of the card backs. The first three orbit decks had a very prominent central O symbol, which boldly defines the Orbit brand decks. In the new Edition, a new design element has been added already recognizable card backs. The solid line orbital path is simple yet effective, making fans and spread even more attractive with the Orbit deck. On the design, Chris said,

The borders were made a bit thinner than before to ensure the white shuttle line was noticeable in the spread. The black and white combo makes this deck a visual treat that will be hard to top.

On the popularity of the Orbit decks, Chris tells Kardify,

The support I have been receiving from the community is monumental. I was not prepared for this level of response. It inspires me to try harder to keep the support coming because I feel that support should be earned with each project. I shouldn't automatically receive support merely because of who I am. I put all of my heart into every bit of each project because to me it's a part of me that I am giving to the world and the world deserves nothing short of the best.

Like the other Orbits, the Fourth Edition features the same duplicate jokers, double backer, a duplicate 8 of spades and a hidden one-way design. Printed by the United States Playing Card Co, the Fourth Edition feature the Premium (Bee Stock) quality stock. Available NOW from theorbitbrown.com for $12.

Cardistry: 3 Questions with Ryszard Blaszczyk of Cloud9 Playing Cards

Cloud9 Playing Cards is an intriguing deck by young Polish magician, Ryszard Blaszczyk currently funding on Kickstarter. Magic is always his biggest passion and he carries at least one deck with him everywhere he goes. Ryszard told Kardify,

I can’t imagine myself leaving the house without them. I’ve always been into magic and cardistry, so a few years ago we decided to form a business and start producing cards we love. For us, it was always about producing something really special; something different.

Cloud9 was designed to give you an amazing experience for magic and cardistry. The deck features custom faces, unique back design, cool balloon aces, and playful pips. All in vibrant blue and rose colorway.

What is your inspiration behind the Cloud9 Playing Cards How did you come up with the idea?
I was walking down the beach with my sister's lovely labradors and I stopped to lay on the sand for a while. Chill a little... So I started thinking about the design. I looked up and what I saw was just a blue sky. It was perfection - only two beautiful clouds, pure and white drifting away... It was almost like a painting, I thought "damn, that's it, we got it!"

Now when you see our cards, it's easy to feel that way. Imagine laying on the beach... feeling the warm sand between your feet and dreaming... Feels like being on a Cloud 9, doesn’t it?

We first noticed the deck on Instagram. What do you think of the playing card community in terms of the feedback and support that you’ve been getting so far?
I have been involved in the magic/cardistry/art community for a long time now. I always loved the idea of creating something for people, a piece of art that is useable to do everyday miracles. I still can’t believe that it got such a good response, it’s absolutely amazing. We had a lot of support, more than we could ever expect. If it weren’t for all our friends and supporters, Cloud 9 would still just be a dream, with me lying on the beach, looking for ideas!

Finally, what are your favorite flourish and playing card decks?
That’s a very good question, one of my favorite subjects! I will have to hold myself back a little to not turn the answer into a book! I'll limit it to flourishes that I can perform and playing cards that I own. One of my absolute favorites moves is Anaconda, it looks amazing in slow motion and it shocks every time. Giant spring, as well as various Z type cuts are an awesome way to show your skills.

With playing cards, I love Memento Mori and Knights created by Chris Ramsay and friends. Virtuoso handle perfect for cardistry, as well my latest purchase, Art & Machine; beautiful art. I also really love Orbits, as it was these cards that convinced me to go with crushed Bee stock. They handle like a dream!

If you want to support Ryszard and Cloud9 Playing Cards, head to Kickstarter here! Pledge starts at $13 and the deck will be printed by the USPCC on Classic Stock with Air-Cushion Finish.

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Detailed Look at the Orbit V6 Deck

We just received the Orbit V6 and we LOVE it! Designed by Daniel Schneider, the deck combines the best design elements of the V4/V5 and features space, aliens, and trees, making this design a beautiful harmony of things the Orbit team loves.

Whilst the vibrant color palette of the V5 gives the deck a retro look and feel, the V6 has a darker tone, giving it a sense of mystery and intrigue.

In terms of the design, here's what the product page had to say,

The entire Orbit Crew sat down and spoke about design theory along with what makes playing cards look good up close and from afar. We made more renditions of this edition than all previous back designs combined. We believe we have a formula for what makes a deck aesthetically pleasing. After months of brainstorming we came to this final design. We couldn't be happier and it's our favorite deck to date. One of our rules is, we don't create a new Orbit deck unless it's going to be our new favorite deck to date.

Besides the new subtle one way back design on the V6, you will notice that the jokers have been updated with alien Jokers who have abducted Carl and are now riding his bike!

The face cards are pretty much standard, similar to those of the V5s.

Printed by the USPCC, the new Orbits will have the same crushed premium stock, same matte box, and same traditional cut as the V5's. Available now from theorbitbrown.myshopify.com for $13.

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Kickstarter: 3 Questions with Jason of Seers Laetus Playing Cards

Saxon and Jason have been friends for many years and attended the same high school. They would play with cards and show each other tricks and flourishes. One day Jason suggested to Saxon that it would be fun to make their own deck and give back to the community. That was in the GCSE year and they spent all of that time to conceptualize the deck. Then early in their A-Levels year, Jason and Saxon launched the Seers v1. Jason told Kardify,

Although Seers V1 didn't fund I kept on designing with Saxon's support and developed the Aspectu design and then the Laetus as well as more exciting decks for next year and following years! Although most are still just ideas!

Seers Laetus is the third deck by Seers Playing Cards currently seeking funds on Kickstarter. The contrasting colorway combined with the geometric card backs makes this deck truly striking. Crafted for cardistry, the deck offers two different rear fanning designs that will make flourishes stand out. The pips and indices are custom and the courts are pretty much standard with updated colorway.

Last week, we had a quick chat with Jason about the inspiration behind Seers Laetus, the community, and their favorite flourish and deck.

What is your inspiration behind the Seers Laetus Playing Cards? How did you come up with the idea? 
As I said on Instagram Saxon hit me really hard with a big stick! No, I was looking at playing cards online and thought 'wow I have an idea!' after some adjustments to he initial design (spanning over a few weeks) we had a back design down, it's a bit of a boring story but it is the truth.

We first noticed Seers Playing Cards on Instagram. What do you think of the community in terms of the feedback and support that you’ve been getting? 
Our community on Instagram (@theseersplayingcards) is especially friendly we always receive a great amount of support. Especially with our new decks. Our community and the general cardistry community on Instagram is absolutely awesome they are very helpful for us!

Finally, what are your favorite flourish and/or playing card decks?
My personal favorite flourish is the riffle fan, and my favorite deck is the Magus we plan to release next year, Saxon and I both love the Orbits they're amazing!

Thanks for your time, Jason! The Seers Laetus Playing Cards will be printed by the USPCC and are available NOW for $10 on Kickstarter.

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News: The Orbit Deck Fifth Edition Released in Retro Teal/Orange Colorway

The Fifth Edition of the Orbit Deck now sports a teal/orange colorway giving it a retro feel. According to Chris Brown on the product page,

Color The teal and orange come in perfect timing for the start of summer in the Northern Hemisphere. The 4th Orbits were black so it only makes sense to bring in some color and warmth for the 5ths. NASA was founded in 1958. Which was 60 years ago this year. This is another reason why we chose teal. Teal was a very popular color for cars in 1958. The white and red specs found on the orange inside of the box are also a nod to the retro vibe.

The card back has been enhanced. The fifth edition design took a page out of the fourth edition’s book with a design that reveals it’s beauty in a fan- the comet trail has been pushed to the very edge, giving it a beautiful visual that was specifically made for cardistry. The mountains around the circle were inspired by the Uranian moon, Miranda.

All face cards have a teal accent giving the deck a uniform look throughout. The deck is housed in a gorgeous tuck printed on matte paper. The tuck interior features an eye-catching vibrant orange with some new text.

The Orbit Deck Fifth Edition is available NOW from theorbitbrown.com for $12.

Related deck:

Alex Pandrea Respond to House of Playing Cards' Mystery Brick Controversy

The House of Playing Cards' Mystery Brick has begun to arrive for those who managed to purchase them last month, during the holiday season. Many took to Reddit to express their disappointment about the brick's 'rare' decks. Here are a few examples: Card Card To put these comments into context, here's the description on the original product page:

LIMITED BRICKS AVAILABLE. GUARANTEED RARE DECK(S) INCLUDED. ONCE SOLD OUT THAT'S IT

You’ve NEVER seen a mystery deck deal like this one! We hunted down some of our best and most requested inventory and set aside some EXCLUSIVE decks just for you! This holiday season, we want to save you from the insane aftermarket prices of sold out decks! So we set aside limited quantities of rare decks, sold out decks, best sellers and a few surprises if you’re lucky! Savings are great, but why not save in style?

Some of accused Alex Pandrea of false advertising as the photo used on the product page does not reflect reality: Card Card Here is a snippet of Alex's response. Full Reddit thread here. Alex on HOPC:

First off, I want to start by saying that in my 10 years of producing playing cards my number 1 goal was to provide good quality cards at a great price. I've always kept my prices as low as possible so that people can afford them without feeling ripped off (like other companies and decks being released today). I don't think anyone in the community sells decks at under $10...NOC Originals being $5-$7. I fought hard to keep these prices this low over many years, despite price increases every year from USPCC, tuck cost and paper cost increases, shipping increases, warehouse and fulfillment fee increases, etc. I constantly do many deals and sales on my site where you can always have a chance to save even more - so I can say with confidence that we have thousands of people who love us for this and I am proud of what we've done.

On the Mystery Brick:

Now regarding the decks themselves. ALL decks advertised in the ad copy where used for the 200 mystery bricks. I would NEVER advertise a list like that if I weren't including them in the product. Why would I ever do that? To risk my companies 10 years of reputation on 1 product? No way! There were in total 50 mixed decks of Fontaines, DB decks, Orbits, Anyone etc, in the bricks- not including the Fort NOC deck, Pink NOC3000X2, and Survival Winter NOCs (which some might not consider rare but I guarantee they are rarer than the decks in the photos!!). These are also all sold out decks etc. I'm truly sorry if you didn't like those decks. I guess I have to start creating something other than boring old NOCs :/ WITH THAT BEING SAID - I should NOT have used the photos I used for the promotion. That is on me 100% - no excuses for that.

Alex's apology:

I am truly sorry that I did. I regret it not only because of this ordeal - but because it was a shitty thing to do now looking back, and obviously gave the wrong impression about the product. I didn't think that one through, so for that I am very sorry. We actually took the initial photos of our "rare" decks that we had way before coming up with doing a mystery brick. We didn't know exactly what we were going to use those decks for. Just sell them for the holidays? Include them as gifts? Mystery decks? At that point there was no plan. It was only after deciding to do the brick did I decide to use those particular photos to show off some dope decks. It was a very last minute thing - and we printed the brick boxes very quickly, snapped a few more photos, and just didn't think about it. It's obvious now that we should have realistic photos of examples of bricks you can possibly get.

Next steps:

Ok, so what now? Well for one, that probably was the last mystery brick I'll do haha :)) - I know, good riddance. Second, if I ever do similar bundles or different types of product I will make sure to be 100% transparent with all promotional material - AKA don't scam people I guess. Lastly, if you still feel like your brick was a "rip-off" and you got decks below the value you paid then I would agree you deserve a refund. It's the right thing to do. This is why I am going to open up my private shop email for those of who want to reach out to me personally about this. The address is : alexpandreashop AT gmail. You will be speaking DIRECTLY with me so you can let me know about your dissatisfaction.

Very well written response. A few Reddit users have started receiving their refunds: Card

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Check Out the 2023 Christmas Edition Orbits

Ever since the first release of the seasonal Orbit deck back in 2021, the team at Orbit has made it an annual deck. For this year, Orbit comes back with another great Christmas Orbit deck… the 2023 Christmas Orbit Playing Cards.

The tuck box features a full-length illustration that wraps around the box. It is a scene where a family is taking a freshly chopped pine tree home to decorate as a family. The front shows the parents securing the tree on the pick-up truck.

The card back shows the child with the dog sitting on the snow to watch the sunset – which is also the one-way back design of the deck. Combining three decks in a T-shape will complete the illustrations on display. The box will be made in matte stock.

The cards will as always feature the iconic circle on the back. The faces feature retro Arrco 1960s design for the pips and courts. As per tradition, the courts are custom-modified to fit Orbit, the crew’s faces, and Orbit’s family.

The cards will be printed by USPCC on premium thin crushed stock with Air Cushion finish and traditionally cut. Only 3000 decks are made. The deck is now available for $15 on Orbit World.