Collections: The return of the Tendril by Encarded

The original Tendril’s have always been one of my favorites, bold, colorful……….and hard to find. Encarded has a knack for really re-inventing itself so to speak with each deck, their completely different, but you know it’s an Encarded design. So after 4 other amazing projects Encarded decided to bring back it’s “Modern Classic” for new collectors as well as those who were around for the original Tendril campaign.

The return of the Tendril’s came in a few versions, one true “Companion” deck to the original and a few close relatives. The easiest way to define Nightfall, it’s a “Colorful Negative” version of the original. Nightfall features the same design as the original, but in a bright and bold Blue color scheme. The face cards also mirror the original with a variation in color, a blue background that fades to black edges replaced the white bordered black background and the reds have taken a more “Orange” direction in color, while the blacks have gone with a slightly more intense blue to yellow color variation. One of the features I like most, and it’s a small thing at best, is the Nightfall tuck is the same as the original Tendril tuck, in material and design, which solidifies the connection between the two perfectly.

The Ascendant version comes across as a very close relative to the original Tendril, still keeping the beautiful organic feel of the original, but incorporating a bold green color scheme with some new spherical line work. Greens and Blues blend nicely together on the face and key cards with the Greens taking the place of the Black spots and a light Blue the Red spots. The Court cards hold true to the Tendril originals and the Jokers get an update to the intricate sphere design from the tuck case. Speaking of the Tuck case, that too got a bit of an update in material, this time in a soft touch Black stock with a black foil to accent the Tendril’s and a bold Green Foil for the new spheres, suite markers and print. Overall a beautiful deck that fits right in with the “Family”

The Project did offer backers a few treats, one in the way of a handmade “Mega-Tuck” that housed 3 decks, one of which was the original Tendril along with its new additions. Those were limited to 32 and no doubt due to the scarcity of the original deck. The other was the Tendril Ascendant Special Edition. This was another handmade tuck witch featured a flecked black tuck with gold foil accents and Paul Carpenters Signature, the decks were also limited to only 50 and are truly stunning.

The Tendril series is eye-catching, functional and collectible; Encarded covered all bases with the new release by giving collectors another opportunity to enjoy the design and concept of the original without having to break the bank to do so, but also gave die hard collectors something to add to their RARE category. If you can, find the original Tendrils for your collection, but this is one that is very scarce and will put a ding in the wallet, but if you really just enjoy the concept and presentation of the organic feel of the Tendril concept, pick up Nightfall and Ascendant, they’ll more then fill your needs.

Both decks are available on the Encarded site along with a few cool add-ons, the 3 deck bamboo stand is one of my favorites. Encarded did an awesome job with the Tendril follow up and Paul is one designer who always has my attention with each new release.

You can visit Encarded on their web site as well as follow them on social media on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

The Collection segment is produced by Anthony Ingrassia of Kardify. No part of this article, images or video can be reproduced without written permission from the author and Kardify.com. To see more of Anthony's (Sparkz) collection please visit sparkzcollector.com .