First Look: Check Out the 2019 NPCCD Playing Cards

This year’s 2019 National Playing Card Collection (NPCCD) was inspired by the beauty of Morocco. The country is commonly known for its mesmerizing architecture and its labyrinth-esque marketplaces- the two aspects of the culture that designer Alex Chin wanted to imbue into this series when designing it. This year’s theme was to encapsulate this culture into this year’s 2019 NPCCD Palace Edition.

On the deck design, Alex told Kardify,

I wanted the deck to feel like a journey that would adapt to the collector. The themes that came out from developing this journey were ACCESS and DISCOVERY mimicking the experience one has from getting lost in the central medina only to find something even greater. It’s a series about not just knowing where to look but also how to look. The tuck box exterior is where the journey begins. The 2-piece box is printed on premium linen and pearlescent stocks featuring golden and silver intaglio engravings inside and out. The face features intricate geometry mimicking the detailed plasterwork and textiles of Morocco. The 4 diamonds represent the 4 “gates” of the medina as an entry point for the journey.

The back features a small keyhole pattern revealing a peek towards the inside, which makes the deck really unique! Alex explains,

If you cannot look inside it represents the “locked” version while if you can see space behind the keyhole it represents an “unlocked” version. The box was made without any half-circle thumb flaps to make it difficult to open without access. To “unlock” the deck you use your thumb to slide out the inner box in the keyhole to reveal the gate. The inner box reveals the beautiful gate. The sides feature a SPADE (blue) and CLUB (copper) representing the spade and club gates. There are 3 completely separate decks that were printed to help better represent the 3 variations of each gate.

Inside, the face cards feature 4 indices to allow reading right to left connected by the archways Morocco is known for. Alex describes,

It was only because of the creative constraint of being unable to illustrate people that their complex architectural geometry was invented and embraced as a method of expression throughout culture. As an homage to that court cards are not represented and instead a custom plasterwork pattern featuring all the pips was created to be embedded in the background of all the cards. Based on the value of the card the pattern would “reveal” the appropriate pips in the plasterwork. The Palace Gate features the textured effect on the faces of the pips so that you can also feel the architecture as well.

Ace of Clubs is the featured ace of NPCCD. The Jokers are lights on and light off. The lights on feature the keyhole silhouette turning into a lantern exposing a genie inside. Lights off show the glimmer of the texture of the walls. Each joker is custom to their respective deck.

There are 6 decks in the series. 3 variations for both locked and unlocked gates versions of the deck. The decks are available in singles as well as in (3-Pack) Palace Packs or Secret Kingdom Set (6-Pack). The sixth deck features the cards gilded in gold and is ONLY available in the Secret Kingdom Set. It is numbered out of 250. All other decks are numbered out of 499. The sticker seal represents the oriental rug that you will see in the hidden corridor being repeated. Alex concludes,

This deck is hands down the most costly deck I’ve ever had to produce from the mirrors, to the secondary tuck, to the finish, to the gloss. But I hope people will enjoy the experience.

There will be a Special Supporter pricing for the first 48 hours. Head to NationalCardCollectionDay.com on October 17th to cop these stunning decks. Don't miss out!