Kickstarter: Elite Playing Cards- Bicycle Platinum Deck Reaches Goal

Elite Playing Cards who in the past have brought us incredibly designed cards from the most recent Bicycle Majestic to the Ritual series, have just reached their goal of $15K for their new project, Bicycle Platinum. The entire project is set to end funding on July 17th and be printed by USPCC to be delivered in October of this year.

Click here to visit Bicycle Platinum Kickstarter project page.

Bicycle Platinum is an all black playing card deck that centers around the main theme of platinum. The cards use their all black design to contrast against the metallic inks used to represent platinum.

The project also comes with some interesting add-ons including an anodized aluminum card case to match your Platium deck. This is available in black and silver. This is not a stretch goal, it is simply an add on for those that are interested.

However, Bicycle Platinum edition card clips were added as stretch goals if the project reaches $25K in funding.

Just like Elite Playing Cards is not new to the card industry, they are also not new to Kickstarter. Elite's most recently funded project Bicycle Majestic is currently being printed at USPCC and is set to be delivered in September of this year.

Designers: Big Blind Media Interview Part II- Dose Production's Sam Hayles Discusses Karnival Elite

This is part II of a two part interview series with Big Blind Media. Part I interview with Big Blind Media's Owen Packard can be read here. 

As Owen Packard mentioned in Part I of the Big Blind Media Interview, he calls on the creative mind of Sam Hayles. Sam is the designer for all of Big Blind Media/Karnival playing cards and is not new to the style Owen seeks to obtain. Sam runs Dose Productions out of Edinburgh where his design background reaches back to the late 90's. With Dose Productions, Sam has created some of the darkest, most bomb-dropping and edgiest designs to ever grace the music scene and now the playing card and magic industry.

Sam's work defies what we thought we knew with designs that range from futuristic color bombs to abstract premonitions of the apocalypse... or of an alien abduction...or of a trip to Hell. And just when you thought Sam was only about heavy metal, he throws in a touch of elegance and sophistication. It is all there.  His most colorful designs are his darkest designs with a depth that just can't be reached. Sam Hayles' artwork is all out madness that sucks you in every time you pick up a deck of his cards or flip through the cover art of an album he designed.

In Part II of our interview with Big Blind Media/Dose Productions, TuckCase.com spoke with Sam about his venture into the playing card world and his thoughts on the upcoming Karnival Elite.

Tuck Case: In terms of concept and design, what kind of images/imagery can we expect with this deck? and why did you go with those images?
Sam Hayles: The concept for this deck : Elegance, dark and baroque. I used lots of ornaments and also images of imaginary animals like unicorns and a phoenix.

The deck is all black with lots of white and a hint of red. No skulls in this one. Oh surprise! Just to prove that we can do it!

Tuck Case: How long was this deck in the making?
Sam Hayles: I would say a couple of months as we first talk about the concept of the deck and then find and decide on the the name. We then try out different typography. I then work on experimenting the first designs to find the style we will use on the full deck. I usually start with the Ace Of Spades or the back design.

I did a nice owl design for this one but at the end we didn't use it as we only wanted to use imaginary animals.

Tuck Case: Since your decks have a lot of "heavy metal" imagery, what bands have you been listening to lately while designing? Any specific band on your playlist during the creation of Elite?
Sam Hayles: This was done between end of 2012 and beginning of 2013. I always listen to music when I work so I do have a LOT in stock.

I can't remember what was on my playlist during the Elite period of creativity. I am currently enjoying listening to the latest albums from Alice In Chains, Queens of the Stone Age, Boards of Canada, Clutch, and Earthtone9. My regular favs in my playlist are bands like Faith No More, Soundgarden, Interpol, NIN, Killing Joke, Fugazi, Massive Attack, Napalm Death… I also listen to a lot of film soundtracks.

Tuck Case: It is known that USPCC/Bicycle censored some of your work from being printed. How has that impacted you and your work going forward?
Sam Hayles: It hasn't changed a thing really. I oppose all kind of censorship and I truly believe that the worst thing about censorship is........

Tuck Case: What do you use to design? What is your tech setup/workstation?
Sam Hayles: I am a pure 100% Mac user. My dad bought the first Apple Macintosh in 1984 and as a kid I was like amazed by this machine.

Today - I have a Macbook pro, the latest iMac 27" with a second 24" screen and a good old Power Mac G5, which has been serving me well for more than 7 years now.

I mainly use Photoshop and Illustrator. I don't use a tablet much. I rather draw on paper and scan in my drawings.

Tuck Case: What advice can you give other designers looking to produce a custom deck of cards?
Sam Hayles: Be original and creative and do your own thing.

Here are some of Sam's designs courtesy of Dose-productions.com as well as a video of Karnival Elite Playing Cards in action by Ric Edgell:

Revealed: Non-Court Card Design for UnCommon Beat’s The Black Book of Cards

Coming to Kickstarter soon, Uncommon Beat has been meticulously designing and releasing images of their upcoming playing card project The Black Book of Cards. Here is a news release they issued today regarding the design on the non-court cards in that project.

From Uncommon Beat (6/27/2013):

We’ve been working diligently on the non-court cards and wanted to share what we have created. Since all cards are designed by building each line of text to create pattern and to portray the illusion of form, this is a very intense process. As you saw in our last update, the court cards are meticulously created portraits using type to form the court faces delivering an almost 3D effect without the use of shading. Our distinctive process turned out to work better than expected and really makes the faces feel life-like and almost tangible.

We wanted the non-court cards to be just as important and design focused as the court cards therefore we treated each card as its own piece of artwork within the Black Book. In many decks of cards, the court cards carry the main weight of the design and while the non-court cards may be customized, they may not be as design focused as the court cards. We didn’t want that to be the case for The Black Book of Cards so we set out to create a unique design on each card utilizing the negative space to create the actual silhouette of the pips instead of just creating a unique design for each pip that sit on a blank canvas. Each card within the Black Book holds its own by possessing a unique and time-intensive typographic design portraying a different look, feeling, and presence.

We’ve completed the first stage of the design development for the non-court cards and would like to share them with you. While the text on the cards will change to reveal the words that describe those who hold each card based on the day they were born; the overall design, pattern, and text placement will remain unchanged. We’ve already received fantastic feedback on the cards and hope you enjoy each one as much as we do! 

Here is a look at the non-court cards:

Designers: Big Blind Media Interview Part I- Owen Packard Talks About Upcoming Karnival Elite Playing Cards

Based in the UK, Big Blind Media is a magic media and playing card company known for their "heavy metal" and edgy design work in both their magic videos and on their line of Karnival playing cards.  Makers of the darkest playing cards on the market such as Karnival Inferno, Karnival Assassins and Karnival Death Heads (images below); Big Blind Media is not afraid to push their capabilities and push the limits of what USPCC feels comfortable with printing. Fans know them for it. Fans love them for it.  Fans keep coming back for it!

Big Blind Media  is run by Owen Packard, who is also a guitarist in heavy metal band Earthtone9. One listen to the band's aggressive style and you will understand where Big Blind Media gets their vision. Owen does the same for the magic and playing card industry that he does with his band - always driving new ideas louder than ever each time he goes to work.

With that, TuckCase.com spoke with Owen as well as designer Sam Hayles as they gear up to release the next deck in the Karnival line of playing cards - Karnival Elite playing cards. In this two part post, you will learn the story behind Karnival Elite directly from Owen and Sam in two exclusive interviews only on TuckCase.com....


Tuck Case: Your next deck, Karnival Elite, is coming out rather soon, do you have a release date in mind?
Owen Packard: Yep - we are looking at mid-July for the Karnival Elite to land. It is always a loooooooooong process from first thought to release date, and we get very impatient waiting ha! But each step of the process is quite involved, so it can take a long time to get a new deck into somebody's hands!!!

Tuck Case: Why the Karnival Elite playing cards? What inspired the idea behind Elite?
Owen Packard: Well, we wanted a deck that was slightly more elegant. Something that embraced everything that defines the Karnival range (edginess, rock 'n roll, etc....) but presented a more baroque and refined vibe. Sam (Hayles - designer) and I talked at length and fiddled with a lot of ideas before we settled on this look. We are really pleased with it. It's clearly a Karnival Deck... but it's something a bit different too.

Tuck Case: What stock will the Karnival Elite playing cards have?
Owen Packard: It'll be on the standard USPCC stock. We don't tend to fiddle with the stock too much - we just use the tried and tested USPCC stock (and finish) for that unparalleled feel and quality.

Tuck Case: In a post on BMPokerworld.com it was said that there will be 5000 printed for the release? Is this a one time only limited release?
Owen Packard: Yep - just 5000!!!!

Tuck Case: In the same press release from BMPokerworld.com, it also mentioned there will be a Standard Red Bicycle 7 of clubs face up in the center of the pack. Why is this being done?
Owen Packard: Aha. Well, let's just say that magicians might be able to find a use for an errant card from another deck being face up and SEALED INSIDE a deck of Karnival Elite's!!!

Tuck Case: As a UK based company, what challenges do you face working with a US based production company USPCC?
Owen Packard: We work with USPCC via their European sister company Fournier, so there are a lot of people involved in each step of the process ha! But to be honest it is not too much of a headache. We have a US office in Florida too, so we have all global positions covered. We have been doing decks with USPCC for over 5 years now, so we have the system pretty much down, and we have a great relationship with them. And let's face it - if you want the best playing cards - you want BICYCLE!

Tuck Case: Karnival Elite Designer, Sam Hayles, has designed all of your decks, correct? How did you team up with him?
Owen Packard: Sam and I go way back. He has worked with a lot of the heavy metal and rock bands I know over the years. In fact, Sam has done the artwork for the last two albums my own band released. So we are close anyway. I would use Sam on ANY project that needed a design element. I love his work. I love his style. Plus he has an amazing ability to take ideas and generate something cooler than you can even imagine.

Come back tomorrow to read the Part II of the interview with Big Blind Media as you will hear from designer Sam Hayles.

Kickstarter: Home Run Games' Bicycle 8-Bit Playing Card

Home Run Games' Bicycle 8-Bit Traditional 5400 Playing Card project moved into the Promotion Stage on upcoming crowdfunding site, JumpStartCity.com. As stated in this TuckCase.com post about the new crowdfunding site, a project does not go directly to a funding stage. The Bicycle 8-Bit Traditional 5400 Playing Card project will be in the promotion stage for approximately 3 weeks in order to gain traction, fans and potential backers. At that time it will move to the "Active" stage on Tuesday, July 16 at 8:44 PDT.

Home Run Games is not new to the crowdfunding world. In fact, Home Run Games ran two very successful 8-bit playing card projects on Kickstarter this past winter and spring. The first playing card project was inspired by video games and raised over $40K. And the second playing card project was inspired by traditional cards and raised just over $25K.  Both projects featured the same classic pixelated 8-bit look/feel of early video games that the current 8-Bit playing card project on JumpStartCity.com features. The JumpStartCity.com project is actually just a variation to the Kickstarter 8-bit Traditional playing cards.

Here is a closer look at the Bicycle 8-Bit Traditional 5400 playing cards, click on the image to view the project on JumpStartCity.com:

Home Run Games is all over crowdfunding. They are also running a "8-bit" card game project on Kickstarter as well. Click here to check out the Press Start Pocket Table Top Game project.

Designers: Traction Explains Process Behind Upcoming Bicycle Sideshow Freaks Deck

In order to provide the very best for our readers, Tuckcase.com approached Traction, a Cincinnati based design firm, a few weeks ago with a request for a guest post about their work with The United States Playing Card Company. Traction agreed and we mapped out possible post ideas. Since USPCC is releasing the Sideshow Freaks Deck on July 1st, both of us agreed that a process piece explaining the design would be a good post to feature. Katherine Monasterio, a writer at Traction, wrote the following post with direct quotes from the Traction designers regarding their thoughts behind the design of the Sideshow Freaks Deck. We hope you enjoy this glimpse into the design process of an actual deck designed exclusively for USPCC!

Traction is but one member of the legion of design firms behind the quality work you see from the United States Playing Card Company. You've already seen Tuckcase.com cover our Speakeasy Deck, but today we wanted to show off another of our recent designs: the Sideshow Freaks Deck.

Picture it: Peanuts and popcorn. Bold yellow and red stripes everywhere you look. String lights guiding you through grass-carpeted avenues between tents. We wanted to recreate the feel of an old carnival full of classic characters like fire eaters, the bearded lady, sword swallowers, and more, so that's exactly what we did with the Sideshow Freaks deck. What does this process look like? We'll walk you through it.

Step One: Figure out who's on the face cards. With our theme in mind and card back ideas already flowing, we wanted to secure our cast of characters for the face cards. "I knew right away I wanted to keep the classic card illustration style," says Emily Webb, who designed and illustrated most of the face cards. "So that meant taking the Standard Deck faces and poses, and combining them with freakshow characters. It was like a puzzle, trying to figure out how they'd all symmetrically fit. That was definitely the hardest part."

Pictured here are a few candidates for jokers and card back characters:


Final Joker and face cards:



Close-up of the Queen of Diamonds aka The Bearded Lady:


Step Two: Hammer out the back design. Ronny Young, illustrator and videographer, designed and executed the card back based on Emily's face cards. He wanted to include some of the prominent characters, but also add a few surprises. “There are loads of hidden elements in the card back,” says Ronny. “At the top and bottom, the fangs and mouths of the snakes create an elephant shape. At the sides, the snakes—and the eyeball shape of the strongman in the middle of the deck—create an ‘808’ motif.” The placement of the characters, the tension of the tall man crushed into the space, and the fang-like sides of the circus tent all combine for a slightly creepy look into the world of these sideshow characters.

Pictured here is an early concept for the card back design:


Final back design:


Step Three: Finally, design the tuck. The tuck design fluctuated between the current two-headed lady, a ringmaster, and a fire-eater. Ronny, who also designed the tuck, weighed in on the final product. "The two-headed lady alludes to the classic two-headed sideshow character,” Ronny says. “But it also references the Greek muses Thalia and Melpomene, who you see on the happy-sad masks in theater. We even put the two-headed lady in front of curtains, inviting people to come in and experience the uneasy tension between delight and tragedy that exists in the world of sideshow freaks."

We choose a character for the final art on the tuck. The “Carnie Deck” was the working title of Sideshow Freaks.


Final Tuck Case:


After that, the only thing left was to carefully vectorize each of the illustrations to make them smooth and perfect for the final printing. We think the deck turned out marvelously. Do you?

Post Author: Katherine Monasterio

About Traction: Traction is a design firm located in Cincinnati, OH. They specialize in high end branding and creative projects for a multitude of clients such as The United States Playing Card Company, NBA, Mindbody, Prilosec OTC and many more including local and national brands.

Traction is also behind the Bicycle Speakeasy Deck, Club 808 and others. Check out other ways Traction worked with USPCC at Traction's portfolio!

Visit Traction on the web at TeamTraction.com!

Be sure to check out the Bicycle Sideshow Freaks deck when it is released next Monday on July 1st.

Designers: Encarded's Paul Carpenter

Name: Paul Carpenter
Age: 36
Location: Sarasota, FL
Career title: Creative Director at an internet development firm, Founder of Encarded
Company: Encarded Custom Playing Cards
Years In Design: 20+
Years Designing Playing Cards: 2
Playing Card Decks Created: Tendril, Aurum
Upcoming Project: Deco (printing July 2013)
Favorite Playing Card Decks: I have a lot, but a few that come to mind are Seasons, JAQK, Curator, Artisans, and Bohemia
Website: www.encarded.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/encarded
Twitter: www.twitter.com/encarded

In just 2 years, Paul Carpenter has carved out a nice section for himself in the playing card industry with his company Encarded. Paul has designed and brought to market not only custom playing card decks with unmatched design but collector's items and playing card accessories of the same caliber. In March 2012 on Kickstarter, Paul raised over $40K or 200% of the original goal when he launched his company's first deck, Tendril. Tendril eventually paved the way for Encarded's second and most luxurious deck yet, the mystical "Aurum." The success of Encarded's first two playing card decks lead to the upcoming Deco playing cards, which are set to be released this summer. Deco pays homage to casino-style decks of the past, such as the highly in-demand Jerry's Nugget. Along with playing cards, Paul is also at the forefront of technology, marketing and overall branding strategy when it comes to companies in the industry with Encarded's fully branded e-commerce website and involvement in social media and industry forums.

"I like to pursue new ideas, trying things that other designers might not have thought of. Holding a deck of custom cards in your hands is a wonderfully tactile experience, and I want to bring a little sense of wonder to each deck I make." - Paul Carpenter on playing card design.

Upcoming Project Photos: Deco

Kickstarter: Mazing Playing Cards Combine Mazes and PlayingCards

For most the idea of combining mazes and playing cards is fairly new. To some it is even unheard of. However, combining the two does not seem like a long shot. Mazes and playing cards are closely tied together by illusion, puzzle solving and logic. "Can you figure it out?" is one question that is asked before beginning any maze puzzle. Similarly, that same question is asked when someone is fooled by a card trick.

This week (7/21 to be exact) the Mazing Deck was launched by Teach By Magic, a company that creates unique educational lessons taught through magic and puzzles. The Mazing Deck was created to be "a maze that functions as a deck of cards" that provides a challenging yet fun experience. This ends up serving two functions - the first being a fully functional set of playing cards and the second being 52 solvable mazes that will challenge all.

Click here to visit the Mazing Deck on Kickstarter.

Each maze in the Mazing Deck was designed by Brian Daniel South at TeachByMagic.com, who has been drawing mazes since he was a little boy. For each card maze, people can start at either pip and work their way to the other pip. This makes cheating harder as you can't just go backwards to solve the maze. Interestingly enough, each card in the Mazing Deck can be combined together to create one big "choose-your-own-adventure" maze.



The deck features a back that is closely related to the Bicycle Rider Back but instead features a "magician maze back" as seen here courtesy of Teach By Magic:



Here is an example of the number card also courtesy of Teach By Magic:



The project will be in funding for $12K on Kickstarter for 31 days and cease funding on July 24th. If funded, the Deck will be printed by USPCC and feature Bicycle stock/magic finish. Teach By Magic is not new to the USPCC process as they have created many different educational/magic decks with USPCC in the past such as their line of flash cards.

Despite being a unique concept, the Mazing Deck is not the first playing card deck to feature maze puzzles. The first was the successful "The Hedge" deck created by The Faro Playing Card Company, which ran on Kickstarter in February of this year. The difference with The Hedge Deck is that it was designed to pay homage to the hedge mazes that were made popular in Europe during the 16th-18th centuries. It does not offer more in depth puzzle solving the Mazing Deck offers with the combination maze and the court cards are closer to traditional court card design.

Kickstarter: Federal 52 Releases Black Back For Limited Edition Reserve Note Deck

It is no secret that Jackson Robinson's Federal 52 is one of the summer's hottest playing card projects. In fact, it might just be the hottest of the entire year. Since the launch of Federal 52 Part II last Saturday (6/15), backers and funds just keep going up and up. And with that, the project just keeps getting better and better. When the Limited Edition Reserve Note deck was first announced there was chatter about the actual cards - "How and will they be different from the unlimited Reserve Note deck?" However, Jackson quickly calmed down the horde of supporters and let everyone know that the only difference with the Limited Edition and the unlimited decks would be the actual tuck case or box.

Until now....

In a video update that was just posted on the Federal 52 project page on Kickstarter, Jackson just dropped the heaviest news yet for reaching the $100,000 mark in the project - that being the news of the new Black Bicycle Deck and the new Black Back for the Limited Edition Reserve Note deck.

Today's news also comes with the release of 50 more Limited Edition decks at 2 different times. The first wave of 25 being released on/at 6pm tonight and the second being released on/at 6am tomorrow. Both pacific time.

Without further ado, TuckCase.com is proud to release the photos of the Limited Edition Black Back courtesy of Jackson Robinson:

Designers: Panini Golden Age 2013 Playing Card Inserts

Sports designer John Mata of Eight-Zero Creative created and designed a complete playing card deck that will be inserted into the new Panini Golden Age 2013 baseball card packs, which feature baseball players as well as other notable figures. The playing cards will follow suit and feature the same vintage and old-fashioned look and feel.

The baseball cards are to be released in big retailers, Target and Walmart, at the end of June (6/26/2013) and will include one playing card in every three packs (24 packs in a box/8 playing cards per box). This will give collectors the chance to build an entire deck of cards just by buying the baseball packs. The total 52 playing card set will not be offered in a complete set in stores. However, there is a good chance complete decks will end up on Ebay or forums.

Here are pictures of the playing cards courtesy of John Mata's Dribbble:






From the Panini America blog:

Review: Bicycle Raider White Playing Cards

The Bicycle Raider Playing Cards are from the now defunct Magic Network. Created in two colors, black and white, this review will focus primarily on the white deck.



The Specs: 

Name: Bicycle Raider White Playing Cards
Company: Magic Network (Defunct)
Release Date: 2010
Stock: Standard
Finish:  Air Cushion
Colors: Black and White, grayish blue, red, blue
Face: Standard
Size: Poker

The overall theme of the design centers around pirates or "raiders" with subtle nautical design elements found throughout the deck. The tuck case is not overly detailed. In fact, the front of the tuck case only features the custom Ace Of Spades design, which loses certain design elements in the heavily black inked spade. If you look closely you will be able to pick out certain elements but nothing is blatantly apparent. This can be good or bad with playing cards but in this case it is bad because the design is not intentionally hiding anything. It is a lot of abstract nothing. However, the simple can be good for magicians as it does not look suspicious like a lot of custom card decks do.



The most interesting thing about this deck are the Jokers. The Joker designs are not your typical joker designs. They feature graphite or charcoal type drawings of a skull-faced pirate. The artwork is incredible as it is not something you would normally expect on a Joker. One of the Jokers features a Seven of Diamonds reveal that is great for magicians.



Although this deck is the white version to the original black edition, the back design worked much better for the black version as it pulls out more detail in the design. With the white edition the elements tend to get washed out. This is especially apparent with the nautical star used for the centerpiece as you can see in the comparison below.

Bicycle Raider White Back, Magic Network (Defunct) Ad Card

Bicycle Raider Black Back 

The court cards are recolored standards. The grayish blue color change/addition looks like it is glow-in-the-dark or some sort of UV ink in the daylight but in the dark it is clearly not the case.  The recolors add to the custom aspect to this deck. A nice addition but not the best executed recolor job since this deck is mainly black and white.The grayish blue seems out of place.



The durability of this deck is exactly what you would expect from a Bicycle standard deck. Nothing less, nothing more. It fans great and springs off the hands with ease as any card flourisher would love.

Notes on the Bicycle Raider White Playing Cards:

• The deck was produced by Magic Network, who is no longer in business.


• The black version was the original playing card deck in this series and the better one.


• The white deck just forces the a design that was originally intended for an all black design.

Final Assessment: The Bicycle Raider White playing cards are not all that glorious. In fact, there isn't much too them. While the Joker design is quite unique and unlike most Joker designs, the rest of the deck is just uninteresting and uninspiring. There are decks that are much more appealing with a black and white design such as the Bicycle Archangels playing cards. If you must have this deck, they will work great for magic given the Joker reveal and won't stand out as a fixed or special deck to a crowd of spectators.  Your friends may like them too if you pull them out for a game of poker. But for any serious card collector, the Bicycle Raider playing cards are just another deck in the box.

Score: 8/10  

Kickstarter: Ellusionist Designer, Lee McKenzie, Goes Solo with Epic Launch of EMPIRE Playing Cards

Last month, Tuck Case posted an interview with the critically acclaimed Ellusionist playing card designer, Lee McKenzie. At the end of the interview, we hinted at an upcoming project that would blow you away.

"...in the coming weeks there will be more information about Lee McKenzie being posted on Tuck Case. For now I will call it a “follow up interview with a special treat” for everyone! Get excited!"

The wait is over for that special treat. Today, June 18, Lee McKenzie launched the EMPIRE Playing Card project on Kickstarter. This is Lee's first solo playing card project under the newly formed Kings & Crooks Playing Card Co. The project will last 31 days and cease funding on July 18, 2013. If funded, the project is estimated to ship in December 2013.

Click here to visit the EMPIRE Playing Cards Project on Kickstarter.

EMPIRE Playing Cards feature epic imagery that is completely custom from the pips to the backs to the tiniest details on the tuck case. EMPIRE turns traditional playing cards into a royal and majestic masterpiece that makes the perfect deck for any magician, hustler, gambler and/or cardist. The deck includes multiple Latin and English phrases and bold symbols of strength and courage. The entire deck is weaved together with one major theme that is written on the tuck case: "Be Bold. Build Your Empire. Carve Your Dreams On The Face Of The Earth." And that is what Lee McKenzie is doing with this brand new deck of cards.

If funded, the deck will be printed by the United States Playing Card Company (USPCC). It will also feature the finest stock and performance finish that USPCC has to offer. Although Lee is based in the UK, all decks will ship out of the US so as a US backer do not worry about additional shipping charges as you will not incur any. International/non-US backers have shipping costs posted with each reward level.

Because the project uses UK currency, the total US price of your pledge = [Pledge Amount] X [1.57].

Stay posted for Part II of this post as Tuck Case will post an in-depth interview with Lee about the EMPIRE Playing Card Project.

A preview of the deck is below courtesy of Kickstarter:

Kickstarter: The Spirit Behind Total Eclipse Playing Cards

Caleb with his twin brother and friend (Rosse, Jimmy, Caleb)[

Caleb Gates is a man with many hats. He is an engineering student by day, a card designer by night - And he is the young man behind Total Eclipse Playing Cards project on Kickstarter, which was launched last month on May 31. Caleb is also a magician, an Eagle Scout and with this new pursuit, an entrepreneur. Believe it or not, Caleb is 19 and self-taught himself how to use Adobe Illustrator for this project. At only 19 years of age, Caleb has not only launched his first Kickstarter but he has over 300 project backers and is over 60% funded to goal.

Click here to visit the Total Eclipse Playing Card Project.

Caleb, who has been extremely transparent with his backers and people within the playing card industry, has already had his design approved by USPCC and is ready to go to production once the project is funded. The deck has also caught the attention of another Kickstarter project, a film called Fallen Cards: Rise of the Magician. Caleb told Tuck Case, "the film Fallen Cards: Rise of the Magician will feature a number of world renowned magicians, martial artists, and cardistry experts including but not limited to Dan and Dave Buck. I was recently approached by the group and they offered to feature my cards in their film.  Our projects could both benefit by us all working together because what a group can accomplish is so much more than that of an individual.  The coolest thing about Kickstarter is that it’s a supportive community."

Throughout this entire process Caleb created posters, business cards, a Facebook page and even a website, allfouraces.com to promote the project. Caleb isn't stopping there either. He has a few stretch goals in the works if the project surpasses the initial goal of $10,000. Although no stretch goal designs have been officially released yet, Caleb mentioned to Tuck Case that he is looking into T-Shirts and finalizing a custom seal. However, he only has 13 days to reach 100% before the funding period closes. Act now!


About The Cards



Total Eclipse features an all black card design similar to the highly successful Ellusionist's Shadowmasters. The decks differs in that the Caleb's design features contrasting colors that make this all black deck brighter than ever. Caleb designed these cards with the magician in mind as he is also a magician. Mostly self taught, Caleb has learned a lot of his recent tricks from Jarek 1:20's Youtube channel How To Disturb Reality. The idea for the Total Eclipse was sparked when Caleb was looking to create just one deck of cards for himself.  However, after learning the ways of USPCC (Printer of the deck), Caleb realized if he wanted his own custom deck he would have to fulfill a printing minimum. That is when he came to Kickstarter for help. During his research, he stumbled upon Russell Kercheval’s all black Quicksilver Card Deck, which he admires greatly.

The Total Eclipse deck will feature the standard 52, 2 jokers and 2 gaff cards. The gaff cards being a double back and a blank black face. It will be feature standard Bicycle stock and an Air Cushioned Finish.

If you are a fan of all black card decks specifically Ellusionist's Shadowmasters, Quicksilver Playing Cards and Bicycle Black Tiger playing cards, the Total Eclipse Playing Cards are perfect for you.

Here are images of the deck courtesy of Kickstarter: