First Look: Origins Shadows of History Playing Cards by Rick Davidson Part 1

[Update] Origins Shadow of History Playing Cards are now LIVE on Kickstarter!

Beautifully crafted by designer and illustrator Rick Davidson, the Origins Shadows of History deck is a follow up to the successful Origins First Edition and Grail Limited Edition decks.

Shadows Of History Playing Cards by Rick Davidson on Sketchfab

Inspired by the elegance and charm of playing card history, this new deck features a completely new tuck design and back, while the face card art has been redrawn, updated and rendered in full colour.

According to Rick,

The goal again is a deck of the highest quality, with metallic foils and embossing.

A second unique deck is also part of the campaign. This deck, the Rouen 1567 is a carefully crafted recreation of the original historic deck, with full body one way court cards that inspired the playing cards we know and love today.

[Update] Origins Shadow of History Playing Cards are now LIVE on Kickstarter!

The campaign will also offer a very special limited MetalLuxe™ collectors edition. This special run is planned to feature the rare and expensive MetalLuxe backs, premium tuck stock and special seals. Campaign launches Saturday, 4 March 5pm EST.

Deck View: Don Quixote (Hidalgo) Playing Cards Vol.1

Characters. Novel. Gentlemen.

From the team at Cellar Window, the Don Quixote Playing Cards Vol. 1 is a custom-illustrated deck inspired by the famous novel, The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha. The Hidalgo deck shares a glimpse of the beautiful characters within the novel written by Miguel Cervantes with the whole world.

Fully custom, the courts are personified by the main characters from the first volume of Don Quixote as well as their beautiful queens and very colorful characters featured as jacks. All memorable characters are illustrated in great details that befits a novel that stood the test of time.

The Hidalgo tuck features a classic matte black finish with gold foiling on all sides sealed a custom perforated seal design. The deck was printed by Legends Playing Card Co on Emerald Finish. Available now from JP Playing Cards.

Also, check out Don Quixote Playing Cards Vol. 2 now funding on Kickstarter!

Cardistry Touch Released Matthew Beaudouin's MTH EP Bundle. Makes SQUISH Tutorial Free.

Early February, the team at Cardistry Touch released a portrait video featuring ICO Season 2 Champion, Matthew Beaudouin. A few days later, Cardistry Touch released a free tutorial, SQUISH, in conjunction with the release of MTH EP, featuring 5 of Matt's best moves.

The SQUISH tutorial is very well edited features Matt's smooth cardistry motion, clear instructions, and multiple angles to help you learn. Check it out!

First Look: The Right of Kings Playing Cards by Alex Rivas & Paul Lombardi

[Update] The Right of Kings are now LIVE on Kickstarter!

From the mind of Alex Rivas & Paul Lombardi, comes The Right of Kings, a board game that combines intense strategy, memory, and diplomacy crowned by a set of collectible playing cards.

Launching on Kickstarter, the original Right of Kings deck was inspired by the notion of four powerful kingdoms historically striving for balance and their search for the rightful king to rule them all.

Each suit portrays a unique cultural identity, commonly identified with their geographic influence. From the Norths men to the Mid-South and the West world to the Far East, they all collide to combine an amazing mix of culture, tradition, and superstition.

The layout in the number cards reflects the concept of the military formations in both on defense and attack mode resulting in a very original display of forms unlike the conventional suit presentation.

According to Alex,

The Right of Kings was originally conceived as a standalone set. However, as I was working on the design of each suits the idea of extending the concept of the rightful king on to the board game made perfect sense.

In the game, all kingdoms battle to reach “the Oreka”, the medallion of truth that could shift the balance between the realms. Every round is a crusade where players thrive to assemble their court, build an army and unveil the right King before any other player.

[Update] The Right of Kings are now LIVE on Kickstarter!

The Right of Kings Playing Cards will be available in two sets: Medieval and Renaissance and will be printed by the USPCC. Each deck will have its own unique color tones, look and feel. The provisional launch date is 1st March. 

First Look: Brew House Playing Cards Re-Launch

Coming to Kickstarter tomorrow February 23rd the relaunch of Brew House Playing Cards from Daniel Kroemer and Forge Knox. Brew House has gone through some nice design changes as well as offering a more simplified campaign. 

Inspired by vintage beer advertising and beautiful glassware artwork that we've grown so accustomed to seeing in our favorite pubs and restaurants, Brew House comes from a personal love of the genre. 

According to Daniel,

I've always loved beer advertising. Fuel was added to that fire even more, when I began working at The Design Pub. I've collected old beer memorabilia for quite some time now, along with signs and brewery glassware.

Daniel continued,

A little fun fact about myself is that I have a collection of over 1,000 different glasses from all over the world, all because I love the artwork involved with each of them. I noticed a lack of any classy beer related playing card deck on the market so it seemed like an opportunity to create my own.

The Brew House campaign is offering some "Early Bird" specials, multi-deck tiers with a saving incentive as well as well as some hand-crafted add-ons. The Brew House decks come in two colors, but each deck is completely unique as a stand-alone offering.

Mark your calendar's and give Brew House Playing Cards a closer look on launch day. We wish Daniel the best of luck with his campaign and hope everyone gives this masterfully designed set a look.


To keep up to date on the project you can visit the pre-launch page at www.brewhouseplayingcards.com as well as the projects Instagram account.

5 Things You Need To Know About Thirdway Industries' SINS Playing Cards

On Friday, February 17, Giovanni Meroni of Thirdway Industries launched SINS Playing Cards on Kickstarter. The project hit its funding goal of €17,000, and as of the time of writing, 504 backers have pledged €36,498 toward the project. These are the five most surprising and illuminating details Giovanni shared about the project to generate interest from potential backers.
 
1. Printers are still being evaluated. 
For SINS Giovanni decided to evaluate two options, United States Playing Cards Company and Expert Playing Card Company. Thirdway Industries decks were all previously printed by EPCC. For SINS Giovanni thinks that USPCC may be an awesome option. The decision will be made at the end of the campaign, based on several factors.

2. The decks have a subtle chronological order.
In SINS Mentis, Adam and Eve thought about eating the Apple of Knowledge, but they actually didn't do that. In SINS Corpus, they ate the Apple and they became mortals. In SINS Anima, they accepted what they did, and they became the first two true Sinners. So the chronological order is Mentis > Corpus > Anima

3. Card backs are inspired by Eden.
The backs are inspired by the Eden, in three different moments: In SINS Mentis no one ate the Apple of Knowledge, so Eden was bright. After the Original Sin happened in SINS Corpus, Eden has fallen in an endless night. After Adam and Eve accepted mortality, Eden became "red" - the color of many things.

4. Anima is red because of life. 
Giovanni decided to use red for SINS Anima for many reasons. Red can be both a "bad" color than a "good" one. It is the color of blood and the flames of hell, but it is also the color of blood, passion and life.

5. Giovanni wanted to change his brand name to Snakeway Industries 
With SINS, there will be a total of 12 Thirdway Industries decks with a Snake - 6 Omnia decks are based on the Uroboros, the God Snake who eats its own tail. Also Dedalo Alpha, Apeiron and Pantheon include snakes, on Hermes caduceus, on Hera's and Pasifae's scepter. This is somewhat unintentional, but Giovanni had a thought to chage the TW logo with a little snake. However, it's not happening. For now.


SINS Playing Cards are now available on Kickstarter! To find out more about SINS and anything Thirdway Industries, visit them at thirdway.it or follow them on Facebook.

Deck View: Pipmen (Black Edition) Playing Cards

Playful. Creative. Fun.

From the team at Elephant Playing Cards (EPC), Pipmen Playing Cards is a fun, creative and a semi-transformation styled deck. Pipmen takes the creative impulse a step further in a Leremy-inspired playful design.

From the number cards to the courts and jokers, each design is unique. The court cards are reversible and tell a story. The Black edition deck is the standard version offered during the Kickstarter campaign.

EPC is currently seeking funding on Kickstarter for Pipmen World, the follow-up to Pipmen. Pipmen World features little Pipmen interacting with the suit symbols on the face of each card to make unique scenes. Each individual scene connects to all the others to create a large picture - an incredible picture of the Pipmen's world! Check out the Kickstarter project here!

Printed by Legends Playing Card Co. For more cool playing cards, check out JP Playing Cards.

First Look: SINS Playing Cards by Thirdway Industries Part 3

[Update] SINS Playing Cards are now available on Kickstarter and fully funded!

In the third and final part of our first look at Thirdway Industries’ upcoming SINS Playing Cards, we will look at the SINS Anima, the limited edition deck of the campaign. In the first part, we looked at SINS CORPUS, the unlimited deck based on sins that influence the body - and in the second part, the SINS MENTIS, the second unlimited deck that influenced thought.

As usual, Giovanni Meroni likes to keep the final and limited deck a surprise. He did mention that the ANIMA will be based on all the seven Sins - and will be completely red. Red cards and red box!

The ANIMA Spades are inspired by Sloth and Pride. Diamonds represented by Wrath and Greed. Clubs represented by Envy and Gluttony. Finally, Hearts are the apotheosis of Lust, with an accent of Wrath.

In all three decks, the jokers will be Adam and Eve but they are different in each deck. Giovanni explained,

Adam and Eve once lived in Eden - they were pure, but they were also unaware. When Eve ate the Apple, she condemned us all, but she also opened our eyes. SINS may be our worst temptations, our dark side - but they're also the emotion that made us awake, alive and human.

Giovanni continues,

SINS are the fuel that drove mankind to greatness. Humans made great endeavors in their name - some full of Greed. Others lured by Lust. So, is SINS another "evil" deck? I don't think so. The project have a strong theme and it's more mature than any other I did, but I tried to see it in a positive way. SINS may be bad, but they also represent the freedom to be human.

The launch date for the campaign will be 17 February 2017 (UTC 14:30- 15:30 in Milan and 9:30 in New York).

[Update] SINS Playing Cards are now available on Kickstarter and fully funded!

To find out more about SINS and anything Thirdway Industries, visit them at thirdway.it or follow them on Facebook.

Cardistry: Registration Now Open For Cardistry-Con 2017

If you're planning on attending this year's Cardistry-Con, here's your chance to secure your spot. Tickets for are now on sale on Eventbrite, but they're likely to sell out quickly, so you'll want to hurry to reserve your spot.

[Update] Tickets are sold out within 60-seconds of launch. If you are still interested, join the waiting list.

In under a minute! Wow!!! This will be a legendary event! Get our the WAITING LIST for another chance to register.

A post shared by Cardistry-Con (@cardistrycon) on Feb 17, 2017 at 8:14am PST

Dan and Dave have been twitting the registration date on their social media account this week:

Who's ready for @cardistrycon 2017! Registration goes live February 17th at 8am PST. Visit… https://t.co/pK36CKzv4c pic.twitter.com/78Yv3JT1C2

— Dan and Dave (@bucktwins) February 11, 2017

Running from July 7-9 in Downtown Los Angeles, California, this year's Cardistry-Con should offer plenty of interesting stuff for cardists.

At $165 per person, the cost of attending is reasonable and definitely worth the experience! You'll want to move quickly to secure your spot, tickets are expected to go fast! Click here!

[Update] Tickets are sold out within 60-seconds of launch. If you are still interested, waiting list is available.

7 Questions with Matt Preuss and Nicolai Aaroe of Märchen Playing Cards

A collaboration between Forge Arts and Nicolai Aaroe, Märchen Playing Cards brings the mysterious world of German legend to life. The cards celebrate Germanic culture from the Brothers Grimm to the cuckoo clock, with lavish designs.

Fully custom, the Märchen back design decorated with an entrancing blend of scrollwork, foliage, and heraldic crests. The courts are meticulously illustrated in exquisite detail by Nicolai each featuring a different German legend. All face cards will be printed with metallic gold inks. Stunning!

We managed to have a quick chat with Matt Preuss from RarePlayingCards and Nicolai about Forge Arts, designing Märchen Playing Cards and their plans for the future.

For those of us who don’t know, tell us a little about Forge Arts?
Matt: Forge Arts is our new custom label brand for RarePlayingCards.com. This new brand will be comprised of originally designed decks of playing cards that we collaborate on with very talented artists from around the world.

Our experience with RarePlayingCards.com has attributed to our passion for custom decks with unique, elaborate artwork and interesting themes. We finally wanted to bring to fruition the fun ideas that we have thought of over the years that would appeal to the community.

Forge Arts as the project creator for Märchen is now building its foundation on Kickstarter. It is important to note that while Märchen Playing Cards might be our very first deck, everyone involved in the project is very experienced in the field and we are very confident that this is going to show when the decks are manufactured.

What do you guys love most about being a designer? And what are some favorite projects you’ve worked on?
Matt: Nicolai Aaroe, the lead artist of Märchen, has worked on several successful decks in the past including Indictus, Dominus, Midgard and more. Nicolai will address the design aspect of Märchen.
Nicolai: The freedom to do whatever you want to do with a theme is very appealing to us and we do our best to work within some of the more acknowledged standards for poker playing cards, in relation to pips, values and indexes. For Märchen, we want it to be as unique as possible while still playable. The Germanic theme is something that is appealing to us personally, and being able to draw inspiration from the local area and geography was an absolute plus.

Can you describe the Marchen Playing Cards? and why you’re passionate about it? 
Matt: Märchen brings the mysterious world of German legend to life. The cards celebrate Germanic culture from the Brothers Grimm to the cuckoo clock, with lavish designs. Being our premiere deck, Märchen has been a blast to work on. We’re passionate about German folklore particularly and this project allows us to use our shared creativity to create a premium deck of cards that will be cherished by any collector. We really got a taste for creating decks ourselves and we already have our next idea planned well.

Talk to us a bit about going from the first draft to the final version. How did you get to this finished product?
Matt: Getting to the finished version was an exciting journey. Today there exists many types of custom decks with various themes, but we have yet to see one with a heavy Germanic element.

The first draft was loosely derived from a central idea of a Germanic themed deck. Starting with the court cards, we then took inspiration from various folklore and legends that stemmed from that region. We researched characters that would fit well with the court cards and bolster the story of the deck. From there we included the joker cards comprised of a cuckoo clock, castle, tree, and crest. Finally, we polished every design and character into the final version.

What was your most brilliant breakthrough when designing the deck?
Matt: Deciding to have two separate editions of the deck was the biggest breakthrough. This allowed us to expand our creativity since the Schwarzwald edition is tied to the Black Forest and the Hamelin edition is tied to the medieval towns and castles of a past era. This creates a contrasting element to the deck that really gives it life.

What’s next? Can we expect more deck designs in the future?
Matt: Absolutely! We already have another project ready to go that we’re excited to announce in the near future. However, our primary focus right now is to fully fund and produce a high-quality debut deck for all of our backers.

Finally, what are your favourite playing cards?
Matt: No. 17 Le Chat Rouge by Stockholm 17
Nicolai: Magna Carta by Seasons Playing Cards

Thank you for your time, guys. At the time of writing, the project is 72% funded with 20 days to go. If you want to support Märchen Playing Cards, you can find it on Kickstarter here!


Märchen will be available in two editions: Schwarzwald (dark green) and Hamelin (cream) Edition. Each tuck box will be sealed with an individually numbered sticker draped in a stunning, deep red color. Pledge starts from $14 and the deck will be printed by Legends Playing Card Co. on their diamond finish card stock. Dealer chip, companion booklet, and uncut sheets are available as an add-on.

Card Gear: Joker and the Thief

Card Gear is our monthly feature dedicated to discovering new inventory, setup and accessories used every day by card designers, cardists, magicians and collectors. The concept originated from the popular social media site, Instagram: #passthepockets. Whenever one of these hashtags come up on the social news feed, there's always something new to discover, no matter who that person is.

This month, we have the EDC of James Milaras from the Joker and the Thief Playing Card Company. James is a cardist based in Australia and also the producer of the stunning Joker and the Thief Playing Card decks. Also, James has just successfully crowd-funding his next deck, Dystopia Playing Cards on Kickstarter. Congratulations!

Due to living in a hot climate, he enjoys simplicity, as carrying too much at any given time can become uncomfortable. All the items in his everyday carry have practical and minimal use. James' gear (Italics are James' comments):

+ iPhone 6s (Mobile powerhouse, allowing James to run Joker and the Thief on the go, with all the reliability and functionality.) 
+ The Old Timer knife (An occasional carry in actual fact, but is used frequently around the house for general tasks. The multiple blade types this knife sport allows for a series of tasks to be easily dispatched.)
+ The Brass Zippo lighter (Also more of an occasional carry. With its classic look, feel and function, all fire based tasks are attended by the help of this reliable tool. Plus it’s fun to practice tricks with.)
+ Moleskine notebooks (Clean, and look great. This is an essential. Along with an Artline pen, all ideas, tasks, and notes are jotted down, tracked and taken care of.)
+ Joker and the Thief Playing Cards (Of course!). (During Australia’s hot months, the Joker and the Thief decks prove to be the perfect everyday carry. With enough durability to keep up with the demand of Cardistry in a hot climate, and sporting fantastic looks to boot - The Joker and the Thief range serve as excellent everyday decks.)
+ Dan and Dave X Joker and the Thief’s croc clip (every bit Australian, and proves to be a luxurious yet functional item designed to keep your cards straight.)


What’s yours? If you would like your card gears to be featured on Kardify, contact us.

Deck View: AVIATOR (Heritage Edition) Playing Cards

Vintage. Explore. Innovation.

The AVIATOR playing cards are inspired by Howard Hughes and his pioneering advancements in aerospace design and technology. The deck is a collaboration between the United States Playing Cards Company and reimagined by Dan and Dave.

AVIATOR features a vintage tuck-case, reimagined courts, an eye-catching Ace of Spades and card back showcasing Hughes's racer, high above the earth- a symbol of idealism and the spirit of innovation.

Available now from Art of Play for $7. Also, for more cool playing cards, check out JP Playing Cards.

Cardistry: Cadistry-Con Announces Date for Its 2017 Conference

Brooklyn, Berlin... Los Angeles. The Cardistry-Con website has just been updated that the 2017 conference will take place this summer in Downtown Los Angeles, California on July 7-9. Cardistry-Con is an interactive conference centered around the art of cardistry, where Cardists from all over the world will gather and explore the limitless expressive potential of a deck of playing cards.

Registration will go live on February 17th at 8am, Pacific Standard Time. Space is limited and like every year, it is expected to sell out.

First Look: SINS Playing Cards by Thirdway Industries Part 2

This is the second part of our first look at the upcoming SINS Playing Cards series from Giovanni Meroni's Thirdway Industries. In part one, we looked at SINS CORPUS the first unlimited deck in the series. In this first look, we will focus on the SINS MENTIS, the second deck of the campaign.

SINS MENTIS will be available at launch and it is based on the Sins that influence thought. Hence like the first deck, each suit represents a unique theme: Diamonds represent Greed, Clubs is Envy, Spades represents Pride and Hearts is Lust.

If you've noticed, Lust is can be found on both the CORPUS and MENTIS decks. According to Giovanni,

 Lust is doubled because it affects both body AND mind... and it's my favorite sin!

As for the deck design, the backs of SINS represents the Eden, the place where the first Sin happened. Giovanni continued,

In SINS Mentis (right), Eve was planning to eat the Apple of Knowledge, but she didn't actually do that - so Eden was bright. In SINS Corpus (left), Eve ate the Apple and she was banned. Without her and Adam, an eternal night fell on Eden. This means, chronologically, that SINS Corpus was happened after SINS Mentis.

Join us next week when we look at the final deck in the SINS series, SINS ANIMA! The provisional launch date for the campaign will be 17 February 2017. Stay tuned!


To find out more about SINS and anything Thirdway Industries, visit them at thirdway.it or follow them on Facebook.

First Look: ROYAL LINES Playing Cards by Greg Wanko

Launching this Friday on Kickstarter, the ROYAL LINES Playing Cards is a fun and vibrant deck of cards designed by Greg Wanko. The design of the ROYAL LINES deck is well thought out, from the hierarchy to the traditional playing card motifs. Greg explained,

A good deck balances form and function. Filling every card face with embellishments or some uninspired stock photo (like the kind of deck you find in a museum gift shop) weakens the deck because it breaks down the structure. The highest cards should be the most exciting and the lower cards need to play second fiddle. The aces are both low and high so they should be somewhere in the middle in terms of the artwork. These sort of basic ideas about hierarchy and classic playing card motifs are what drove the design of Royal Lines.

About a year ago Greg started drafting the deck in his free time. He started looking at the history and various styles of playing cards and did lots and lots of sketching. Greg said,

My intention was to create a deck that maintains all the playable characteristics of the classic deck but free of the restrictions in production and printing that were present when those designs took shape. The designs themselves are a mixture of rigid forms and colorful patterns. Each suit of royals has a set of common lines that I started from. Patterned segments then expand outward from these lines to form each court.

Strong lines define the custom-illustrated court cards, each with their own distinct traits.

Some people think the original courts represent famous historical figures, while other magisteria exists about the Black Moria and the Suicide King. I wanted to replicate that sort of depth of meaning with my courts by leaving them tethered together, but not overtly connected. Royal Lines for me, is going back to the basics and creating a fun and vibrant deck of cards to be played with first and admired later.

This fully custom deck will be printed by Legends Playing Card Co and will go live Friday, 10 February 12PM Central. Early bird reward tiers are available!

Card Radar: Flight Cards

If your a basketball fan there is no need to even explain what this deck is all about. An homage to one of the greatest basketball players of all time and the shoes that not only carried him to new heights, but became iconic in their own right. 

Flight Cards is the passion project of a small team of sneaker enthusiasts who wanted to showcase the design, cultural influence, and chronology of the greatest sneaker legacy of all time.

Each suit has a curated selection of AJ’s featuring, arguably, the most important sneakers of His Airness’ legacy – the first thirteen. These thirteen silhouettes were the sneakers that propelled him to fame, and were designed and worn during his first and his final games in Chicago.

The sneaker model cleverly relates to the rank of the card: ace is the AJI, 2 is the AJI, 3 is the AJIII, etc. This deck is a history lesson in sneaker culture, and an homage in the form of 55 poker cards.

Flight Cards retail for $20.00, but are available at Touch of Modern until February 13th for $15.99!

First Look: Pipmen World by Elephant Playing Cards

Early last year, Ben Jones and his team at Elephant Playing Cards (EPC) released the playful Pipmen Playing Cards. It was successfully funded on Kickstarter having achieved over 129% in funding. This year EPC is back with a follow-up, introducing Pipmen World.

Pipmen World is a creative new deck of playing cards which features fun little Pipmen interacting with the suit symbols on the face of each card to make unique scenes. On the design, Ben said,

Each card is different, and the court cards (the Jack, Queen, and King) and also unique reversible Pipmen scenes. These colorful scenes make the Pipmen cards incredibly creative, but that is not all the deck has to offer. Each individual scene connects to all the others to create a large picture - a picture of the Pipmen's world!

This puzzle aspect of the deck makes it truly unique. While there has been diptych or even hexastich decks before (a picture in 2 or 6 parts), no other deck has made a self-contained picture with all the cards, which in themselves are individual pictures. Pipmen World is a world first Polyptych puzzle where every card has its place. Ben continues,

In addition to the puzzle aspect, Pipmen World is a fully functional deck of playing cards. The Pipmen interact with the clear suit symbols, and the card number and indices in the corners are completely unimpaired with a white border bounding the artwork. Because of this, the deck can be used for any card game, while still being a great game to bring to parties.

The Pipmen World will be printed by Legends Playing Card Co and will feature silver foil accents on the tuck, custom Pipmen seal and interior tuck printing (stretched goal). Scheduled launch date, February 14th on Kickstarter.