With so many choices and so many new projects popping up in the Playing Card community, it seems like the burning challenge for designers and artists is about building a better mouse trap. While I strongly believe that originality and creativity is still the key, many still put a lot of emphasis on something unique, different and that has never been done before. But there are those themes that have been around a while with varying successes and failures. Maybe not as persistent as Zombie decks, but Egyptian themed decks have been done numerous times, much like the Zombie decks though, we haven’t really seen an Egyptian themed deck taken to the next level, as it were.
That, I’m happy to report has changed for the Egyptian theme…..we can only hold our breath on the Zombie decks. Just a few months ago I received my Egyptian tandem from Steve Minty who launched a Kickstarter featuring two decks, the Osiris and the Anubis Luxury Playing Cards. I’ll be the first to admit that with any Kickstarter project you have to take the creators concept with a grain of salt, what the creator see’s in his mind’s eye sometimes falls a bit short of expectation. Not that the finished product is bad, but I’ve heard from creators themselves that it fell a bit short of their expectations. When I saw the Anubis and Osiris project I truly liked the design, the color palette’s being used and all the intricate line work and iconic elements of Egyptian culture that were being used throughout the two decks.
But what I received in the mail was just amazing. It doesn’t happen often that I’m really blown away by a deck the minute I take it out of its shipping package, but this was one of those times. While Steve described and detailed the decks perfectly on the campaign, including the gold foiling that was to be included on the back designs, its one thing to describe something, something completely different to see it in your hands.
Osiris and Anubis feature two unique back designs, a beautiful set of custom court cards as well as custom spot cards, Ace of Spades and Jokers. The details across both decks are stunning and the color palettes are perfectly used on this theme. Both decks are presented in nice heavy stock tuck box, both featuring similar designs on the front, except the name of course, and on the back you have mirror versions of the actual back design. The detailed line work continues over the tuck flap and the decks are sealed with a striking custom “Stamp” like seal. Both decks have eye popping gold foil accents and a subtle embossing that makes them feel as luxurious as they look. The Anubis deck has an earthy color palette using browns and blacks as base colors and gold details that just pop off the cards. The hearts and diamonds do retain some red details in the pips on the spot cards as well as the royalty.
The Osiris deck uses more of a bluish/turquoise color palette, again using brighter teal and gold colors to make the details jump off the cards. Just as the Anubis deck, the Osiris deck also retains that splash of red on the hearts and diamonds. While foil stamping card backs is becoming more readily seen in recent times, I have to say that the way it’s been presented on these two decks is nothing short of perfect. The detail coupled with the standard ink line work in the background is just stellar. It’s so amazing that honestly words can hardly do the decks justice.
In a world of collectors who want to keep their decks sealed, I implore you, if you own either of these decks and haven’t opened them you’re really missing out on the overall beauty of these decks. And if you don’t own either, for the $18.00 price tag you couldn’t ask for more “Bang for your buck”. Steve did an amazing job with this project. The end result is just stunning, so much so I wonder if he even anticipated how well this Egyptian tandem turned out. Osiris and Anubis are most certainly on my top decks of 2016, pick a couple of these up, open them and enjoy them, you won’t regret it.
You can keep up to date with everything Steve Minty is working on by following him on Facebook as well as his main site, which also features his store and all his wonderful works, past and present.
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.
Kardify is the leading online destination for playing cards news, reviews, and cardistry culture. Enjoy the best editorial content daily.
