Art of Play Releases Ace Fulton's Casino Femme Fatale Playing Cards

This is probably the most striking Fulton's Casino deck released to-date by Art of Play! The highly collectible Ace Fulton’s Casino Femme Fatale playing cards in a contrasting black and pink colorway is truly eye-catching.

Inspired by vintage casino playing cards, the Ace Fulton's Casino playing cards combines retro style with a simple and refined design that adds a touch of sophistication and elegance to your collection and poker nights.

The new deck features the original enlarged logo back design, standard Arrco-style court cards, a new ace of spades and matching marquee jokers.

Printed by the U.S. Playing Card Co. on D&D's trademark thin stock preferred by cardists. Housed inside a premium letterpress-printed tuck box. Limited Edition of 5,000.

We are told that the limited Artist Proof (signed and numbered) Edition and the custom dealer's brick box have been sold out. Available on artofplay.com for $12. Don't miss out!

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Deck View: Jetsetter Premier (Green Edition) Playing Cards

Destination. Flight. Vintage.

The Jetsetter Premier Edition in Green is a follow-up to the Blue, Restricted Red, and Jet Black Editions. The Jetsetter Green is a subtle nod to the original Luxury Edition deck, inspired by the roadside signs that guide travelers and plane spotters to their destination airports around the globe.

The card backs showcase the airplane pattern and the Jetsetter logo in the traditional two-way casino-style design. The Ace of Spades exhibits the Jetsetter logo with green accents and the spades logo in the center. The court cards have been re-colored to match the overall theme of the deck, with the clubs and spades courts in green, black and silver while the diamonds and clubs in deeper casino red, black, and gold. Finally, the trademark Jokers features the round trip boarding passes.

What makes Jetsetter Premier Edition series so special is the vintage and classy feel of the deck but with modern appeal. The deck is packaged in a durable synthetic stock tuck box with UV spot accents and silver foil. The deck is printed by the Expert Playing Card Company.

Watcher Playing Cards Private Release!

The guardians are here! Designed by Adrian Valenzuela and produced by Riffle Shuffle, Watcher Playing Cards are a vibrant deck featuring low-poly artwork throughout and an intriguing narrative.

According to the product page,

The guardians are here! They have always been and always will be. They don't judge, they don't try to correct our path. They just watch, waiting for our evolution; waiting for us to develop new abilities, to discover wonders until the end of times. 

The deck is fully custom with mesmerizing card backs, bold Ace of Spades and one-way court cards with an earthy tone color pallete.

The polygons represent the abstract way we all are, the sharp decisions that we make, the solid walls that we build and the stability that we accomplish with time. The yellow tones represent the path that we're in, the first steps to our future, this is the beginning, and they are Watching.

Available now for $7.95 for the next 24 hours When you purchase 6 decks or more, they will arrive in a 1 of 200 Premium Embossed Half Brick Box.

Printed by United States Playing Card Company with Bee Casino Stock. Limited Edition of 3000 decks.

Originally published on cardistrybeast.com

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Gemini Casino Gold Edition Released. Sold Out in 24 Hours!

The Gemini Casino Gold Edition is the seventh deck in the Gemini Casino series. The deck was sold out within 24 hours of release.

Designed by Toomas Pintson, Gemini is a fictional casino deck inspired by treasured classics like Jerry's Nugget and Dunes Casino playing cards. Gemini was made to look like a vintage deck you might find in an old Las Vegas warehouse from the ’70s.

As the name suggests. the new edition sports a metallic gold colorway on the tuck, card backs, courts, and joker. Like its predecessors, the face cards are standard to maintain familiarity. The tuck is kept secure with a gold foil seal.

The Gold Gemini Playing Cards looks classy and will definitely stand out in your collection. The deck is printed by the United States Playing Card Company on high quality thin crushed stock.

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First Look at 5th Kingdom Playing Cards

5th Kingdom is a beautifully crafted deck designed by Maria Fedoseeva (Behance: @msavchenko) and produced by PlayingCardDecks. The deck will be launching on Kickstarter on Saturday 27th September.

The Semi-Transformation deck is hand-illustrated and feature fully custom artwork! Each suit is the whole world of kings, queens, warriors, and legends- all filled with unique nature, heroic deeds, stories, and culture.

Illustration expresses these four worlds through colors and rhythm: Spades depict ancient African culture, Diamonds is fairytale Japan, Clubs embody a medieval culture of Europe, and Spicy and colorful India is represented by the Hearts.

What we love about these cards os the unique Original artwork on every face card incorporating pips of the number cards into an artistic design.

2 limited editions are available during the campaign; the artist edition with one way back in black and the player edition with two way back in blue colorway. Both have the same face cards but alternative backs and tuck cases.

Definitely a great for your collection and even a family game nights. Printed by the USPCC on Classic Stock and Traditional Cut with Embossed Finish.

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Kickstarter: 5 Things You Should Know About Ristretto Playing Cards

Designed from the ground up, the fun Ristretto Playing Cards are conceptualized by Beau Cremer and designed by Andy Hamilton. The deck is currently funding on Kickstarter, and it's already more than 58% its goal, raising just shy of £6,100 (USD$7,500) with two weeks to go. The deck is fully custom with hand-illustrated Aces and court cards of incredible and inspiring people and the intricate coffee themed back with coffee rings become part of the larger picture.

Here are the 5 things you should know about the Ristretto Playing Cards.

1. Coffee Scented
What's better than a coffee themed deck? A deck you can actually crack open the tuck and be greeted with a delicious scent of a freshly brewed cup. Beau explained, "By adding the scent to the tuck case we can bring the best flavor to your nose without jeopardizing the handling of the cards."

We are told that the scent is activated only when you contact the strip for the first time so keeping the deck on the shelf will keep its flavors sealed until you decide to open them.

2. 100% Custom
Legendary artist and co-founder Andy Hamilton created a new and fresh deck from the ground up. From the inspired court cards to the coffee themed back the intricate detail oozes its way through every card. It doesn’t stop there, we carried it through to the tuck by adding a tasty seal to keep in the freshness.

3. Inspired by Legends
"The whole coffee idea came about from sitting down and having a cup of Joe with some amazing people. This then turned into who else could learn a lot from these people so a list of incredible people was created to become part of the deck. From magicians to bartenders you will learn so much from these people and leave inspired."

4. Limited Edition Dark Roast Deck
"With the standard ’Tricky Roast' deck to be printed on the B9 slimline stock by Cartamundi. What better way to keep the deliciousness flowing than with a limited edition deck (limited to 500) waiting in the wings on a stretch goal, with the same B9 stock but added hot stamp and cold foil faces and back. Now, who better to create dreams come true than you and the Cartamundi cuties."

5. Thinking Outside the Box
With the court cards being such high-quality designs, backers of the 'custom design' pledge tier are able to get custom artwork of themselves. "So from a picture you send us, Andy begins the process of drawing you a custom piece which takes from start to finish 8 - 10 hours. That's right no APP, no fancy filter, just good old fashion skill! We send you a screenshot of it, you okay it and we send it immediately to print. The artwork is then digitally printed is on 170gsm Rives archival A3 paper, so it's perfect for hanging and won't fade."

Then while the artwork is in print, Beau will begin to create you a digital edit. You will be photoshopped into a coffee-related scenario, this whole edit takes him about 3- 4 hours. He will then send you this image which will be 3240 × 4050 so you can post on social media, or put as your desktop/phone wallpaper.


Available now on Kickstarter, pledge starts at £12 (USD$15) for a single deck.

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Vivaldi Playing Cards Now on Kickstarter!

Vivaldi Playing Cards have just launched on Kickstarter! The team at Passione Playing Cards is hoping to raise $15k and aims to bring the baroque vibe and the music of the Italian composer and violinist Antonio Vivaldi to life with a set of masterfully illustrated decks. The deck is currently 59% within the first 24 hours of the launch.

Designed by Sofia Bolognesi, the Vivaldi ensemble is composed of two main decks: Vivaldi Allegro and Vivaldi Largo, plus Vivaldi Concerto: a special, limited and numbered book-like edition holding the playing cards of both variations. Only 250 Vivaldi Concerto will be produced. More images on our First Look here!

Vivaldi Playing Cards will be printed by USPCC on Air-Cushion finish. Stretch goals will be revealed during the campaign. Pledge starts at $16 on Kickstarter.

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Kickstarter: 7 Questions with Andrew Dodds of Diffractor Playing Cards

Currently funding on Kickstarter, the London Diffractor Playing Cards is a mesmerizing deck by VXD International in collaboration with Lance T Miller, Vrijdag Premium Printing and Cartamundi. This is the second edition in Diffractor city series, which will comprise of 10 cities, to be released one edition per year. What makes this deck series so unique is the patented transparent holographic on the face cards and the eye-catching luxurious metal cases.

Diffractor Playing Cards incorporate transparent holographic that are normally only seen on security and identity documents, such as passport or driver's license. The technology allows an additional layer of eye-catching custom holographic artwork over and above the standard playing card ink artwork, via carefully aligned and detailed transparent holographic foils, stamped with heat and pressure into the card front and back faces. With that, four new detailed artworks have been designed for the transparent holographic that are stamped into all the pips in this London edition.

Last week, we had a chat with Andrew Dodds, co-founder of VXD International, about his design background, inspiration and design process behind the Diffractor Playing Cards series.

For those of us who don’t know, can you tell us about yourself and how did VXD International come to be?
My name’s Andrew Dodds and I’m the co-founder of VXD International and the inventor of ‘Diffractor’ playing cards. Prior to founding the company, I worked for 17 years professionally as a bridge design engineer in the UK, having graduated from Sheffield University in the UK with a Masters Degree in Structural Engineering and Architecture.

The concept, which led to the eventual foundation of VXD International came about in 2009, while sat on an airplane. Across the airplane aisle, I was watching someone play Solitaire on their laptop and thought ‘why are playing cards always so bland’. Bearing in mind, I wasn’t aware of the (relatively fledgling) custom playing cards industry at this point, so I’m not taking anything away from the designers who were pushing the boundaries back then. I had grown up collecting sports trading cards (Michael Jordan cards specifically) in Germany, so I knew a thing or two about flashy cards already. A few weeks later I was sat in a restaurant, under some bright lighting on our table, with my then-girlfriend and she passed me her new UK Driving License to ask me a question about it. It had new transparent holographics built into the card, over the personal information and pictures. Seeing those detailed transparent holographics and how they can basically float above the existing printed part of an ID, I instantly thought that seemed like something new. That was the light-bulb moment for the business and eventually led to the development of Diffractor playing cards and the foundation of VXD International.

I am a co-founder of the business, with my brother’s best friend at school, a Dutch national named Joris van Wees (who also happened to collect basketball trading cards back in the day). He was always a very creative person and we complement each other very well, with our mix of creative and technical skills.

Can you describe the London Diffractor deck and why you’re passionate about it?
The ‘London Diffractor’ deck is the second in a series of 10 decks that we have planned. Once per year, for 10 years, we will release an edition of the ‘Diffractor City Series’. Last year that began, with the ‘Vegas Diffractor’ edition and this year (currently) we have the London Diffractor edition released to the public. I’m passionate about it for a many reasons, including the amount of time we have taken to bring this new playing card technology to market and incredible efforts that have required, the fact that London / the UK is a place close to my heart, the fact that this product has come about due to my invention, etc.

Walk us through the process you took to design the deck. How did you come out with the idea and how did you get to this finished product?
Firstly we plan a timetable to make sure we deliver the last city edition to our loyal backers before we launch the next. We’ll always do that. Leading up to launch, we design for approx. 9 months or so. It starts with a concept, which comes from Joris and myself and then we communicate this to Lance. Lance and I then set out a timetable for the design work and set up weekly design progress meetings, done via Skype, so we can steer the artwork together. In the meantime, I am working with our factories on the technical details of how we actually get the ideas we are having manufactured. That involves me traveling quite a lot to Holland, where our specialist printer, ‘Vrijdag Premium Printing’ is located and to China, where we manufacture our metal cases. We’ve recently also formed a partnership with Cartamundi, who sort and cello-wrap the decks for us and also produce our tuck boxes. That all culminates in deliveries to our warehouse in Germany, from where we fulfill our backers worldwide.

What was your most brilliant breakthrough when designing the deck?
Absolutely no doubt, the biggest breakthrough driving each deck was and will always be the invention of the tech itself.

How did you and Lance Miller end up collaborating together?
Joris and I were not originally playing card designers, but when the idea came about for Diffractor playing cards, we of course set about researching playing card history and design. We were looking at examples of playing card backs that we liked online and came across a card drawn by Lance Miller (his business card it was, in fact) and we used it for inspiration for many months/years, referring to it always as the ‘Miller Card’. This was around 2011/12/13 before we had even got the patent granted for the technology. After another 3 or 4 years of trying to find a factory that was willing to take a chance in the development and printing of the first deck (the ‘Vertex Deck’) and the production of that deck (designed by Joris and I), we reached out to Lance (via Instagram I think) and asked him if he’d like to collaborate with us on the first edition of the planned city series, which gave rise to the Vegas Diffractor.

With so many playing card projects competing for funding, why should potential backers choose your deck?
We value our customers tremendously. I spend a lot of time speaking to anyone who contacts me, no matter what the query, wish or criticism. We clearly offer something truly unique as well, as is evident from the patent that was granted to us.

Finally, what are your favorite playing cards?
Lotrek’s playing cards. Golden Oath – it has to be.

Thank you for your time Andrew and all the best! At the time of writing, the London Diffractors are only 67% funded with 21 days to go. If you like what you've read here and want to support Andrew you can find it on Kickstarter Here!

The London Diffractors Playing Cards will be available in two editions: Emerald and Ice Blue. Pledge starts at $29 and the decks will be printed by Cartamundi. Don't miss out! Add flair to your collection, game nights, magic routines, or cardistry!

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Deck View: Off the Wall Playing Cards

Fun. Abstract. Culture.

Designed in South Africa by Studio Muti, Art of Play's Off the Wall Playing Cards are inspired by the 80s surf and skate culture in sunny California. Think of it as an anti-minimalist deck with bold and wild colored aesthetics that are almost certain to turn heads.

Off the Wall features a borderless back-design, oversized abstract court cards and a vibrant tuck box printed with shiny silver foil. The fun and energetic color palettes combined with a beautiful abstract design will certainly add some character to your next card game and cardistry. One of our favorite deck release last year and was our honorable mention in our Top12 Playing Cards of 2018.

Printed by the United States Playing Card Co. on Dan and Dave's trademark thin stock. Available now from Art of Play for $15. For other cool decks, check out from JP Games Ltd.

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Cardistry: Alphabet Playing Cards by Mano Santa

Alphabet Playing Cards is the second release from Mexico-based cardistry brand ManoSanta. Alphabet is completely different from their debut deck, 45s Playing Cards, which sports three bold connected design- the horizontal, the vertical and the curve on the card backs.

Alphabet is made of fifty-six cards with different back designs. The unique back design sports a metallic blue colorway in the background with white letters littered throughout, bordered in black trim and hand made logos for each card in red detail.

The face cards are pretty much standard with the color palette of the red courts updated with red instead of the traditional black. The deck is packaged in an attractively retro aesthetic tuck box with the word 'Alphabet' printed sideways down the left side.

Loving the change in direction for ManoSanta for the second deck. Compared to the 45s, the Alphabet deck looks and feels more fun! Printed by The U.S. Playing Card Co. on thin stock preferred by cardists. Limited Edition of 2,500.

Available NOW from artofplay.com for $13.

First Look at Vivaldi Playing Cards

Vivaldi Playing Cards are launching on Kickstarter 23rd September. I had the honor to have a sneak peak of the deck more than a year ago and am truly excited that the decks will finally launch on the crowdfunding platform. The team at Passione Playing Cards is hoping to raise $15k and aims to bring the baroque vibe and the music of the Italian composer and violinist Antonio Vivaldi to life with a set of masterfully illustrated decks.

Designed by Sofia Bolognesi, the Vivaldi ensemble is composed of two main decks: Vivaldi Allegro and Vivaldi Largo, plus Vivaldi Concerto: a special, limited and numbered book-like edition holding the playing cards of both variations.

The Vivaldi Allegro features beautifully hand-illustrated custom courts with a (bowed) string instrument, while Vivaldi Largo is represented by courts with a different type of string instrument: lutes. The cards have been illustrated in a baroque style and the spirit of the music of that time.

The color palette of each suit on both decks matches the mood of a season, a homage to The Four Season- one of the most famous masterpieces composed by Antonio Vivaldi. They will be metallic accents on the face cards of each deck, Vivaldi Allegro- silver and Vivaldi Largo- gold.

The book-like edition tuck case of Vivaldi Concerto has been designed with collectors in mind. Like previous Passione Playing Cards projects, the book-like double tuck-case holds the Largo and Allegro decks in lavish luxury that feels and looks like velvet fabric. Only 250 Vivaldi Concerto will be produced.

The Vivaldi Playing Cards project will be printed by USPCC on Air-Cushion finish. Stretch goals will be revealed during the campaign. Follow the campaign page and mark your calendars for 23rd September. Don't miss out!



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