Deck View: Goshawk No.3 Vintage Playing Cards

Vintage. Luxurious. Classic.

The Goshawk No.3 Vintage Playing Cards by A. Haines Playing Cards is a beautifully hand-illustrated deck inspired by classic decks of old. Inspired by the Goshawk bird, this deck is designed in classic red. 

Inside, the deck includes 100% custom artwork. The Ace of Spades features an illustration of the Goshawk and additional decorations on the other Aces. The court cards are hand-illustrated in deep cobalt, gold, and vintage red, following a unique pattern. 

The back design features classic scrollwork and motifs, designed to look impressive when fanned or spread. Each deck includes unique Jokers and an extra card printed with vintage type. The deck is packaged in a luxurious matte tuck boxes feature intricate old-world designs, printed inside on the inside with an all-over antique plaid pattern. The deck is capped with a custom stamp sticker seal.

Printed by Legends Playing Card Co., these hand-illustrated vintage playing cards are perfect for collecting, games, magic, or cardistry. Available for $18 on AH Playing Cards online store.

Bicycle Reen Barrera- Our Daily Dread Playing Cards

Bicycle Reen Barrera- Our Daily Dread Playing Cards is a deeply personal, fully illustrated art deck that blurs the line between gallery work and functional playing cards. Produced by RunIt Decks and officially licensed by Bicycle, this release transforms Reen Barrera’s visual storytelling into a tactile, hand-held experience... one meant to be shuffled, examined, and lived with.

Inside, every card features unique original artwork, resulting in 56 custom illustrations across the deck. The card back design is built from the visual language of the Ohlala universe, filled with expressive, watchful eyes. These layered gazes create a sense of tension, awareness, and introspection, reinforcing the deck’s theme of confronting uncertainty and the subtle dread embedded in daily life.

The court cards bring Reen’s iconic characters to the forefront. Figures such as Ohlala, Mother, Duge, Yessir, Tori, and others are reimagined as Kings, Queens, and Jacks, each retaining their distinct personalities while fitting naturally into traditional card structure. 

The number cards continue the narrative, with several designs integrating the pips directly into the artwork, allowing form and function to coexist without sacrificing playability. Suit-specific color palettes guide the mood of each section of the deck, shifting the emotional tone as you move from card to card.

The tuck box features Double Sided Fate, an artwork first exhibited in Hong Kong. Designed with a full wraparound layout, the illustration flows uninterrupted across every face of the box, enhanced by a subtle dimpled texture that echoes the canvas surface of Reen’s original paintings.

Printed by the United States Playing Card Company, the deck uses premium Bicycle stock with the classic Air-Cushion finish, ensuring smooth handling, clean spreads, and reliable durability. Despite its heavy artistic focus, Our Daily Dread remains a practical deck—balanced for gameplay, magic, and display alike.

Bicycle Legal Tender Playing Cards

Bicycle Legal Tender, designed by Jackson Robinson, reimagines the intricate craftsmanship of historic American currency as a fully custom playing card deck. Released as part of USPCC's Bicycle Designer Series, the deck blends classic Bicycle handling with richly detailed, engraving-inspired artwork that pays homage to the visual language of vintage U.S. banknotes.

Money has always been more than a means of exchange—it’s a showcase for national symbolism, ornate filigree, and meticulous linework meant to reward close inspection. Legal Tender translates that tradition directly to the tabletop, drawing from the same ornamental borders, portrait-style vignettes, and razor-fine detailing found on historical currency. Every card feels like a miniature print, designed with the patience and precision associated with collector-grade engravings.

Produced as an official Bicycle-branded release, Legal Tender continues to balance timeless aesthetics with modern execution. Jackson Robinson’s artwork gives the deck a cohesive, fully custom look while preserving the familiar feel players expect from his designs. 

Bicycle Legal Tender stands as a refined celebration of traditional illustration, where classic design, craftsmanship, and usability intersect in a deck that feels equally at home on the card table or in a collector’s archive. Available now $14.99 from Cardtopia.

Woodland Legends Playing Cards

Now seeking funds on Kickstarter, Woodland Legends is a richly illustrated playing card series by artist Nicolai Aaroe, presented in three distinct limited editions and inspired by the folklore of Reynard the Fox and classic tales such as Robin Hood.

Set in the woodland realm of Fernspire Forest beneath Cinderleaf Castle, Woodland Legends tells the story of six fox clans bound to the land’s most treasured natural resources: ashroot, fern, cinderleaf, and rowanberries. Each clan represents a different truth of the world, and while they share the forest’s abundance, they are not equal in coin or power. The narrative, written by Aaroe as A Tale of Six Clans, weaves themes of friendship, courage, and loyalty into a fully realized illustrated universe.

The project began as a purely human-driven art journey, documented from early sketches to finished designs. Every court card and pip has been hand-illustrated, resulting in a completely custom deck. Across the series, 18 unique woodland characters bring the fox clans to life.

Woodland Legends is produced in three editions: Ashroot Gold, Cinderleaf Orange, and Fernspire Green, each limited to 999 decks. All three are manufactured with special raw “herbage” tuck stocks made from grass and leafy plant fibers, reinforcing the organic theme of the series. The tuck cases feature embossed landscapes of trees and rolling hills that wrap fully around the box, accented with metallic foil detailing on all sides.

Each edition carries its own distinct back design variation tied to seasonal moments in the story, emphasizing the resources gathered and traded by the clans. The aces feature ornate, organic compositions inspired by fox tails, fern spires, roots, and branching woodland forms.

The two jokers depict the central locations of the narrative: Cinderleaf Castle and Fernspire Forest - anchoring the story’s world within the deck itself.

Printed on premium card stock with a linen finish and finished with metallic edge gilding, Pledge starts at $25 on Kickstarter.