Sovereign Playing Cards on Kickstarter

A sovereign is a person who has supreme power or authority... and Jody Eklund is attempting to represent Sovereign with a new set of playing cards on Kickstarter. The unique deck reimagines the courts of a standard deck of playing cards with illustrations that are gorgeous and intricate.

Sovereign is a homage to some of the most well-known Kings and Queens of the greatest European empires of all time. Each one of the historical kings and queens depicted in Sovergin is a  shadow of what true sovereignty is meant to be.

The artwork of the courts feature English Aristocrat (King Henry The VIII, Queen Elizabeth I), Scottish Aristocrat (James I, Mary Queen), Spanish Aristocrat (Phillip II, Isabella I) and French Aristocrat (Louis XIV, Marie-Antoinette).

The eye-catching card backs showcase Jody's intricate artwork with 2 metallic gold inks. Each court, ace and joker cards will have original illustrations

Three editions are offered through the campaign- Red, Blue and Exquisite. The Red and Blue Editions will us a Blue and Red soft touch card stock, respectively. The tuck will be adorned with an Elegant gold foil and detailed embossed scrolls.

The Exquisite Edition sports a white tuck, gold foil and embossed. The backs of the Exquisite edition, however, are printed with MetalLuxe Foil instead of metallic inks.

Sovereign will be printed by the United States Playing Card Co. and pledge starts at $14 on Kickstarter. Also, add ons such as the Luxury case, custom brick box and for the collectors, the Exquisite Set. The set contains all 3 decks- gilded and numbered, and the Sovereign emblem on the cover laser engraved.

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Kickstarter: The Serpent Playing Cards by Deckidea

Over the past months, the Hong Kong-based team at Deckidea has been coming out with interesting and captivating deck designs and "the Serpent" is no exception.

The Snake themed playing card is a fully custom-designed deck of playing card, which forms a snake when one fans or spread out the cards. Jason Cheng, founder of Deckidea, told Kardify,

The design originated from the desire to give extra meaning to a deck of cards when it is fanned or spread. I found the shape of a deck of fanned cards resembles a snake up really well.

Jason used that as a concept, and 100+ hours of work later, “the Serpent” was born.

Jason also wanted the deck to be more playful, so he designed the 12 court cards as unique snakeheads. One can use any of these court cards as part of the “Snake Fan”. This gives the fans or spreads a fresh new look every time.

The joker is another interchangeable card but as an ouroboros, which allows you to 'complete' your fan in a very unique way. “the Serpent” comes in 3 colors. Green, White and the limited edition Rainbow (only 200 copies printed). The decks will be printed by Cartamudi on the B9 finish.

Available NOW on Kickstarter. Pledge starts at $13 and add-on such as the Dealer Coin is also available, with snake “Heads” on one side and “Tails” on the other.

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Thirdway Industries Releases Eva Noire and Paradis for Pre-Order

These beauties are currently available for pre-order on thirdwayindustries.com. Eva Noire is a redesign of the Eva deck, released back in 2017 by Giovanni Meroni.

For the new edition, the courts will be different from the original edition and the background will be in a black instead of the usual white. Comparison below:

The deck features FOUR metallic inks on the beautiful face cards and all-female courts!

Eva Paradis has the same cards similar to Eva Noire, but with an incredible tuck box made with a golden metallic paper that shines like real gold! According to Giovanni,

There are around 250 Eva Paradis available and this number was forced by the gold paper I’ve used for the tuck box, there were only a few sheets available and I’ve bought them all. Eva Paradis is the first deck I’ve done purchasing the paper myself.

Sounds incredible! The deck will be printed by the USPCC and you can get them via thirwayindustries.com or Patreon. A single deck starts from $18.

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La Pasta Playing Cards by the Dutch Card House Company

The Dutch Card House Company has just released a new deck series on Kickstarter- La Pasta Playing Cards. It is the first deck in a series of 6 decks that celebrates all things pasta.

This first set includes both ‘Farfalle’ and ‘Fusilli’. The Farfalle sports a red colorway. Farfalle means butterfly and the pasta originates from the north of Italy. Especially its fans make this deck stand out.

The blue edition deck features the Fusilli, or spirals. We can thank the century-old southern-Italian tradition. The grooves in the pasta are good for holding pasta sauce, but work great as playing cards too!

When designing the deck, the designers drew inspiration from pop art, which can be seen in all design elements of the deck. The cartoon-like shapes and shadows make this deck truly unique! The back design, as well as the faces, fuse together to make a complete set of cards.

Also, there is a limited edition collector box that can be purchased alongside a pledge, or if you pledge for 6 decks or more, the collector box will be included for free. The design of the box gives clues as to which types of pasta they will release next.

Pledge starts from $14 and at the time of writing, the deck is only 29% funded with less than 12 days to go. If you want to support this vibrant and fun deck, head over to Kickstarter now.

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Deck View: King's Game (White Edition) Playing Cards

Strategy. Functional. Universal.

The King's Game Playing Cards is Bona Fide Playing Cards' take on the ancient and universal game: Chess. Designer Karin Yan brought together a deck that aims to represent all the different aspects of chess while adding a regal touch to it.

King’s Game features an entire game set within one deck in black colorway where the back depicts a globe-like chessboard and the different chess pieces are unconventionally distributed among the court cards forming two houses: The Black house represented by Spades and Clubs and the White house represented by Hearts and Diamonds.

The deck was designed to be both artistic and functional at the same time, with standard number cards and clear indices and pips making them perfectly playable. The King's Game White Edition comes with copper and silver foil tuck box. The tucks depict two Kings playing a game of chess (one on the front and one on the back). Printed by the Expert Playing Card Co.

Available from bonafideplayingcards.com.

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5 Things You Should Know About REGENESIS by Zalem Industries

REGENESIS is the first deck of playing cards by zalēm industries. With the launching of the new deck on Kickstarter, founder Alex Matencio has also rejuvenated DIVA Playing Cards with a new brand.

Here are 5 things you should know about REGENESIS Playing Cards:

1. What happened to DIVA Playing Cards
According to Alex, Diva Playing Cards is totally changing. The Diva decks will remain as a series under the umbrella of a larger brand: zalēm industries.

2. What is zalēm industries
zalēm for short. The art direction and purpose have moved to some new grounds with the unveiling of Regenesis. According to Alex, "While producing cards remains will remain the main social activity, I'll bring along a universe to complete with each new deck or artwork release. So, expect posters and more to accompany your decks."

3. The Universe of zalēm 
zalēm's personality, as a whole, as a brand, its image, is highly inspired by the dystopian atmosphere found in GUNNM's universe, Huxley's A Brave New World and the movie Equilibrium. Alex said, "Today I'm making my own graphic world and atmosphere out of it, a mixture of pop art, brutalism, metabolism, modern urban styles, streetwear and a bit of myself. To open the doors for zalēm, I have prepared an introductory deck called REGENESIS".



4. The Concept of Regenesis
Colors are priceless as they have this power to pull and push ecstatic emotions from and to you. "I like to try and capture then portray some essences of the imaginative part of my mind into colored shapes. REGENESIS is some sort of stream of consciousness lost in space and time continuum - and happy to be there. Within the underground of zalēm, there is an intent to bring back colors, and to use cardistry to put them in motion by the power of cards x the hands."



5.The Art of Regenesis
Regenesis is made out of 4 Pantone colors: sharp indigo for the base, a sea-foam green for the stream, a vivid coral for emphasis and pastel pink for punctuation. The face cards are adapted-standard faces. "You'll find zalēm's glyph logo (the letters zē) printed right in the center in plain white of the courts. Big enough to make a statement. As for the pips - except for the colors and the sorta-watermark (blacks in seafoam green, reds in coral). Now, enjoy 4 fully customized aces that go in harmony with the back design!"


Regenesis is now funding on Kickstarter. Pledge starts at $15 and the deck will be printed by the USPCC. At the time of writing, the deck is only 35% funded with less than 16 days to go. If you want to support zalēm industries, head over to Kickstarter here!

Theory11 Will Be Releasing The Monarch Mandarin Edition Today!

[Update] The Mandarin Monarchs are now on Theory11.com

Happy Lunar New Year! To celebrate the auspicious occasion, Theory11 has teased the release of a brand new Monarch! The Mandarin Edition Monarchs sports an orange colorway after the popular small citrus fruit.

A close-up view of the teaser image reveals the stunning gold embossing of the tuck box. Like all previous Monarchs, the court cards will have standard faces and meticulously detailed line work the card backs most likely in the orange colorway, consistent to the tuck box.

View this post on Instagram

新年快樂 Monarch Mandarin Edition. In celebration of Chinese New Year. This week only! Tomorrow at 3pm ET. #theory11

A post shared by theory11 (@theory11) on Jan 23, 2020 at 12:36pm PST

Printed at the United States Playing Card Company. The deck will be released on Friday, 24th January at 3PM ET. Available this week only. Due to the limited nature of this deck, we are pretty sure these will go fast!

[Update] The Mandarin Monarchs are now on Theory11.com

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United Cardists Deck of the Year 2019, Vote and WIN!

It's that time of the year when the playing card community come together and reflect upon all the amazing decks to have been released throughout 2019 and officially recognize those of excellence that has really stood out among the rest in both quality of beautiful craftsmanship & design and show our appreciation to the talented designers & dedicated producers behind them.

This year's exceptional decks impressed us and compiling all the impactful, inspiring and well-executed decks have been challenging. Check out our Top12 decks of 2019 list. Now it's time to have your say and vote on your favorite decks. Head to the United Cardists Deck of the Year (DotY) tread.

Our collab deck with Murphy's Magic, Six Strings has been nominated for 4 categories,
+ Best Pips,
+ Best Courts,
+ Best Back and
+ Best Joker.

Head to the United Cardists Deck of the Year (DotY) tread and vote for your favorite decks on a list of categories: Best Tuck Case, Best Ace, Best Joker(s), Best Gaff / Extra Card(s), Best Pips, Best Courts, Best Use of Color, Best Back, Best Deck For Fanning, Best Deck For Cardistry / Flourishing,  Best Deck For Magic, Best Non-Poker Deck, Best Rookie Deck, Best Innovation, and Best Overall Deck.

Also, each voter will automatically get exactly ONLY ONE entry into the prize giveaway and has the same chance as everyone else that participated. Here are the prizes (so far) donated by forum members, designers, producers, and companies. Check out the HUGE prize donation list here.

Good luck!

20/20 Playing Cards by Kings Wild

To kick-off 2020, Jackson Robinson has created a truly unique deck of playing cards inspired by the simple and graphic design of a traditional eye test chart.

The 20/20 deck is the January deck featured in the Kings Wild Shorts playing card subscription featuring a fun line-up of quirky custom court cards, full of vibrant color and life.

20/20 comes in 3 different editions: Standard, Limited and Signature. The standard deck comes in a striking white tuck case with holographic foiling. Unlike the Limited Edition, the Standard Edition will NOT be individually number. The face cards are similar. The Standard Edition is made available to Kings Wild Shorts subscribers until Feb 1st, 2020 and the remaining decks will then go on sale to the general public for $15 plus shipping.

The Limited Edition is limited to 500 decks and features a clear Carat DS1 Deck Sleeves in place of the usual tuck case. Each deck is individually numbered and comes with a holographic seal.

The Signature Edition is extremely limited and has a smaller than the normal print run. Also, each signature edition deck comes with an extra hand signed card and a hand-signed black tuck case with clear holographic foiling.

The 20/20 playing card decks are designed in a way that makes the cards a joy to look at and also very usable for any type of card game. 20/20 are printed by the United States Playing Card Co. on Bee Casino Stock with Embossed Finish.

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We Just Released Issue 32 of Kardify Magazine on Patreon

Issue #32 of Kardify Magazine is now on Patreon! Patrons who pledged $3 or more on will be able to download the latest issue from our Patreon page. Issue #32 compiles selected articles published from mid-December to mid-January. Deck images, articles and news to keep you informed and up-to-date with the latest playing card news, releases and previews. If you love playing cards, you will love Kardify Magazine! 

Also, don't forget to check out our other cool reward tiers on Patreon! The new tiers include monthly desktop and smartphone wallpapers, mystery deck shipped to you every 4 months of ongoing contribution, social media shout-outs, and multiple sponsorship tiers! Check it out!

Funds received from the magazine will help us keep the site running and growing, and bringing new quality content to you. Our aim is to support designers by backing on crowd-funded projects and supporting magic and playing cards retailers with their new releases. If you want to support us, please head over to our Patreon page. If you have an idea for an article you would like us to pursue, do get in contact with us. We hope you enjoy the read. In this issue:

+ Cartamundi Acquires The USPCC: HUGE news for the start of 2020! The acquisition was on December 31, 2019. Find out more!

+ Charmers: Check out this elegant deck evoking the art, luxury, and taste of the Victorian-era by Lotrek.

+ The Virts FW17: The Virts are giving you an awesome gift... one deck of the popular FW17 Virtuoso Playing Cards.

+ Star Wars: Check out Theory11’s single largest collab in their 12-year history!

+ Guerilla Echo: The follow-up to Cardistry-Con 2019 Deck of the Year Award winner. Guerilla Echo Playing Cards is the latest deck by Taiwanese cardistry group, LotusinHand.

+ SINIS: Have a look at the deck with an unexpected modern twist designed by Cardinates in collaboration with Murphy's Magic.

+ Joker & the Thief: Find out more about the reproduction of the Circus No. 47 deck digitally recreated from scratch by Azured Ox and produced by Will Roya.

+ Nutcracker:  The fully custom deck crafted from the ground up by Jackson Robinson designed to communicate the joy, wonder, and imagination of Christmas.

… and more! 50 pages of articles and deck images. Enjoy!

David Blaine Releases TWO New Gatorbacks!

David Blaine's Gatorbacks are one of his most collectible deck series. They have sold out faster than any other deck David has produced and are among his favorite. The Green Gatorbacks remains one of the most highly sought-after rare decks.

David has been intimately involved with the design and feel of these decks. Like most of his decks, the artwork is realized by acclaimed artist, Mark Stutzman. Two new editions of the Gatorbacks have been released on David's online store- the Silver Gatorbacks and Rose Gold Gatorbacks.

The Silver Gatorbacks is an alluring deck featuring Silver and White Foil on White Soft Touch stock. Multi-level sculpted embossing offers intricate textures, while silver foil glints beside icy white foil.

The eye-catching Rose Gold Gatorbacks are the first from USPCC with Rose Gold Foil, the first with Metallic Rose Gold ink, and the first tucks crafted from premium 'Leather' stock. The contrasting Rose gold foiling beside black foil blazes with rich, fiery tones, as multi-level sculpted embossing offers intricate textures. Stunning!

Inside, the court cards and a new joker design command attention with metallic trim, complimenting card backs designed with reflective MetalLuxe ink on both editions. The thin crush cards printed on premium stock handle brilliantly and provide subtle artistic features.

Available NOW from shop.davidblaine.com for the next 6 hours for a discounted price of $15.

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Deck View: Monarch (Purple Edition) Playing Cards

Regal. Breathtaking. Timeless.

A new member of the royal family. In a vibrant, regal, purple color palette. When Theory11 announced the deck last year, we couldn't wait to get our hands on these! Illustrated by Curtis Jinkins, the latest edition of the popular luxury deck features brilliant gold foil on an embossed, deep purple tuck case.

The semi-custom deck features custom Ace of Spades, Jokers and Card Backs. The courts are standard with updated colorway, with a vintage, timeless aesthetic when combined with the custom artwork.

Monarch playing cards are made in the USA on FSC-certified paper derived from sustainable forests. The cards themselves are printed with vegetable-based inks.

Cardistry: Discounted Snackers Blackberry For The Next 48 Hours

The cool guys at Organic Playing Cards have just released their first deck of 2020. Snackers Blackberry Flavor is the second deck in the Snackers series and they added a couple of different things this time.

The deck sports a unique purple/lilac colorway with the card backs, standard suits, and traditional courts updated with the color palette to the overall theme of the deck. Instead of weapons, the courts now have blackberry treats and juice on their hands.

Like before, the decks come in a re-sealable fruit snack bag, but this time essential oil is used to make sure the scent stayed in the bag! Also, a Half Brick Box is available to put your fruit snack bags in.

Another fun, and colorful deck for cardistry, magic, and themed-game night with friends. Printed by USPCC on Bee Stock with a premium finish. Limited run of 3,000 decks.

Available now from RiffleShuffle.com for $8.95 for the next 48 hours. Check out the trailer below, featuring Sean O.



This story first appeared in cardistrybeast.com and is republished with permission.

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