Kickstarter: Art of Steampunk Vol. 2 Playing Cards

The Art of Steampunk Playing Cards Vol. 2 is the follow-up to the Aristo Steampunk Playing Cards funded back in 2018. The decks are a unique fantasy version of nineteenth-century Victorian England imbued with today's technology, resulting in devices and contraptions that seem to have sprung from the mind of a mad twenty-first-century scientist. 

Fully custom, the deck features iconic imagery and lots of metal detailing, luxury colors for 54 playing cards of steampunk art. The courts follow the characters in Steampunk outfit with heavy weaponry, bowler hat, goggle, and military-inspired garments with garments from the Victorian era: corsets, bustles, petticoats, and gowns – all with a modern twist!

Also lots of post-apocalyptic elements like gas masks and ragged clothing. There is also military-inspired clothing, suits with waistcoats, top hats, and the like. 

The pips combine elements of techno-fantasy imagery in mechanical steampunk style. In the VOL.2 the team decided to make classic number cards, with smooth and elegant design for those who use standard decks as a regular go-to, but still a pleasure to play and perform with. 

The ACES are decorated in a clockwork mechanism style with spiral springs and a set of gears details. Objects ran from jewelry made of gemstones, watches, and keyholes. The card design is stunning, it gives the illusion that they actually have metal and stone parts on them. The Aces are highlighted with gold and deep colors. 

The JOKER card is a presentation of the distinctive "look" of a Plague Doctor. The plague doctor costume looks like a cross between a steampunk crow and the Grim Reaper and has come to represent both the terrors of the Black Death and the foreignness of medieval medicine. The plague doctor is arguably one of the most enigmatic figures to have emerged from the Middle Ages. 

The exquisite card backs are inspired by old-world luxury, the line art pays homage to a vintage sophisticated aesthetic. The design elements include clock parts, with lots of gears and mechanical moving parts: Clockwork movements. The details displayed exemplify the range and beauty encompassed by the Steampunk movement. 

 
The deck will be printed by United States Playing Card Company, AIR CUSHION Finish with the CLASSIC PAPER STOCK. These cards are made with sustainable forest papers, starch-based laminating, and vegetable-based inks. Available now on Kickstarter for $11.

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Three More Days on Kickstarter, Apoteosi Playing Cards

Three more days on Kickstarter, Thirdway Industries' Apoteosi Playing Cards is inspired by the genesis of the World. 

Designed by Giovanni Meroni, the deck is FULLY custom and feature solid cold-foiled card backs with ink overprinting. Fans of Giovanni will notice the same foiling used in Apocalisse, but instead of gold foil, holographic foil is used.

Like all Giovanni's decks, there is a cool back story:

After seven years of War (Apocalisse), the Armies of Hell had conquered the World and turned their attention to an invasion of Heaven.

Follow the story with custom courts featuring Knights, Angels, and Demons. From Adam, Creation, to Wealth, Peace, and Freedom! The suits of Apoteosi reflect the suits of Apocalisse in reverse. Spades represent Justice, Hearts represent Peace, Clubs represent Life, and Diamonds represent Abundance.

You will notice some familiar courts, like Adam, Justice and Eva who makes an appearance as the Apoteosi royals. Also, the metallic inks used on the cards will be extremely shiny. Wow!

Apoteosi will have a premium-paper black tuckbox, with two intricate layers of foil- gold and holographic. Printed with Cartamundi, the deck will be limited to 3000 decks. It will be sealed and numbered. Pledge starts at $35 on Kickstarter.

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Henry & Sally Playing Cards From Art of Play

Check out Art of Play's new deck produced in collaboration with the world-famous Danish microbrewery, Mikkeller along with art director Keith Shore. 

The hop-sniffing, long-nosed lovers Henry & Sally can be found on each label that shares their story and adventure together.

This Limited Edition 100% custom deck features an original bordered back design, two jokers, and thirteen custom face cards. 

They all feature the couple on various adventures on each of the face cards. Note that they are repeated for each of the suits.

The deck comes in a contrasting blue/brown colorway which makes it really unique and striking at the same time. Definitely suitable for cardistry and game nights.

The deck is packaged inside a series of SIX unique collectors boxes, distributed at random (3 brown and 3 blue tucks). Printed by the United States Playing Card Co. Now on Art of Play for $20.

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Deck View: Flying Dog (Second Edition) Playing Cards

Intriguing. Vibrant. Metaphor.

A follow-up to the truly unique deck from Art of Play featuring all-new artwork. Produced in collaboration with Flying Dog Brewery and visionary artist Ralph Steadman, the second edition is truly vibrant and showcases classic Ralph Steadman Art Collection beautifully printed on a deck playing cards. 

This limited edition deck feature 15 paintings, fully custom face cards, and a new dynamic ink splattered back design. Each court card is a work of art by itself and weaves metaphor into an intriguing visual that captures the imagination. Now anyone can experience the magically surreal art of Ralph Steadman.

The deck is packaged inside a custom sealed letterpress-printed tuck box. Printed by the United States Playing Card Co. and available NOW from Art of Play for $25.

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Check Out CardCutz's FUN New Deck, Neoteric Playing Cards

Fun, bright AND bold! Neoteric Playing Cards by CardCutz feature a range of geometric shapes throughout the deck with a fun and unique colour palette. 

The deck's fun colours don't stop with the back design. The face cards are bright and angular, making the semi-custom courts stand out. Definitely perfect for cardistry! 

Here's the cool unique thing about the deck. You can make the card back come to life by riffling through the cards to see the silver ball move and dodge the obstacles! 

 

Printed by the U.S. Playing Card Company on a crushed stock with a traditional cut. Limited edition of 2,377 decks.



Get yours now exclusively from cardcutz.com for $13.

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ANYONE Released The Re-Imagined Smoke Playing Cards

ANYONE has collaborated with Buck twins, Dan and Dave to re-imagining the Smoke & Mirrors brand. The original Smoke & Mirrors brand playing cards were designed to be a personal deck for the twins. The decks were custom-tailored to their taste with original art by Si Scott. That was back in 2007. 

The minimalist Mirror reprint was released in 2018 by cardistry group, Anyone Worldwide and the follow-up Smoke reprint was released and sold out yesterday.

The reprint sports a minimalist white tuck box with Dan and Dave's logo prominently featured. The same design is showcased on the card backs with bold black borders. Meanwhile, the face cards are pretty much standard but the word Anyone embedded within the royals. The Ace of Spades and Jokers are custom.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by ANYONE (@anyone) on Sep 23, 2020 at 12:59pm PDT

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Squeezers V3 Playing Cards Sold Out in Less Than 4 Hours!

The team at Organic Playing Cards dropped Squeezers V3 Grapefruit edition yesterday and 5,000 decks were sold out in just 4 hours! 

Squeezers playing cards are a fun deck with a bright contrasting color palette and recognizable semi-custom vibrant court cards! Perfect for any magician or cardist. 

Squeezers V3 sports a deep orange and contrasting metallic blue colorway on the box, pips, and courts. This deck comes with two identical jokers, a double backer, and a duplicate 8 of hearts! 

Similar to Squeezers V2, when you order 6 decks of Squeezers, they will come in a custom half brick carton! This one will also be scented to smell like grapefruit. 

Printed by USPCC on the same stock as Bee Playing Cards.

Article originally published on cardistrybeast.com.

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Passione Playing Cards to Close. Releases One Last Deck!

We just heard the news: After 6 years, Italy-based Passione Playing Cards Ltd. will close at the end of this year after finishing pending projects. According to founder Riccardo Conturbia,

There are many reasons behind my decision, nothing grave, do not worry, I'm in good health and everything is fine, but among the reasons, probably the most important is that Passione never really caught on, but the appreciation was limited to a niche within playing cards lovers.

Of course I want to reassure everyone: Florentia will be completed and fulfilled, only after that I will close the company.

Since this is the last year for Passione, Riccardo would like to do something special, a special little project to bid farewell to the community, Inferno Acheronte 2020 (pictured above)! 

The deck will not be crowdfunded but will be offered to Passione's mailing list. The new edition of the original Acheronte double-box tuck case (now out of stock) and will be delivered before the end of this year. Riccardo continued,

The original edition was our first in a series of double-box tuck cases we specifically designed to be opened like a book. Collodi's Pinocchio, Vivaldi Concerto and Florentia Aeterna are all evolutions of Acheronte and we believe that old and new supporters could like this "remastered" edition.

Inferno Acheronte 2020 includes the cards from Inferno Dite and Inferno Cocito in the most luxurious double-deck tuck case you can think of: printed in Italy by Archivio Tipogrfico on leather-like paper and adorned with red and black foil. 

How can you get this awesome double-deck? 

It's simple: Email Riccardo on with the email address on the form. You will receive a PayPal invoice for the decks and the shipping. Inferno Acheronte 2020 will have an MSRP of $50, but you can buy them at $40 each plus shipping with this pre-sale. 

Click Here! for the form to reserve your Inferno Acheronte 2020 double decks!

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FANTAST GOLD Playing Card, Less Than 3 Days on Kickstarter!

Two years ago, Bond Lee produced his first deck of playing cards FANTAST with Legends Playing Card Company in a deep blue colorway. The star of “The Amazing Magician” has created a mystical deck built around the idea of pursuing your dreams.

 

Fantast Gold is the second edition deck successfully funded on Kickstarter. The stunning deck design originates from dreamlike imagery inspired by butterflies. 

According to the campaign page,

Dreams are like butterflies in various ways: beautiful, yet they can be fragile. A resemblance of reality against illusions. The circular spiral pattern exhibits a magnificent level of fine art. The background reflects the sky, dreamlike, and mystifying like the butterfly.

 

The mesmerizing design combined with a beautiful gold foil stamped, makes the card back look absolutely stunning! For the face cards, all pips and courts are fully custom. Bond Lee & MS Magic wants to show how powerful dreams can be to the world. With this deck, he has fulfilled his life's goals and is pursuing his dreams courageously. 

The deck is packaged in a premium quality tuck box with gold foil stamping. Fantast is printed on premium-quality German Koehler playing card stock with an air-cushion finish by MS Magic Production.

Less than 3 days remaining on Kickstarter. Pledge starts at $13.

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First Look at TCC's Fluid Art Playing Cards

[Update] Fluid Art Playing Cards are now on Kickstarter!

Crafted for the Cardists, Flourishers, and Collectors, Fluid Art Playing Cards by TCC Playing Cards embodies the motion, flow, and design which draws inspiration from fluid paintings. Scheduled to release on Kickstarter on 24th September, the deck comes in two color variations, two different editions, a luxury gilded edition, and an elegant collector’s box set... oh there are exclusive backer gifts included as well! 

The deck series is inspired by Fluid Paintings. Pigments flowing freely atop blank canvas, fusing familiar colors with uncharted excitement. The brilliant color pigments, without the confines of lines, bring forth a new experience which is the Fluid Art Playing Cards. This everchanging and dream-like creative technique produces an abstract art that is unique like no other. 

The Fluid Art Playing Cards begins from the Blue Fluid painting and extends from there. There are three editions- Standard edition, Cardistry edition, and Luxury gilded edition (only available with the collector's box set). 

The Standard Edition features standard card faces and retains the standard Ace through King design. The eye-catching and visually striking combo of orange and blue complementary colors permeates every facet of the playing cards. With crisp narrow white borders and simple fresh design, the Standard edition can be defined as Art. 

The Cardistry edition shares the same vibe and color scheme as the standard edition but features different tuck, back design, and card faces. The Cardistry edition does not have pips on the face cards, instead, it is replaced by a unified pattern. 

The vortex-shaped spiraling center coupled with the two-toned corners creates a beautiful belt pattern when the cards are fanned, and elevates the coolness factor to its fullest. The Fluid Art Playing Cards Cardistry edition can be described as Trendy. 

The Luxury Edition is a Kickstarter exclusive on available as part of the Collector’s box set. Luxurious craftsmanship and limited availability add to the attractiveness of the deck. The Luxury edition adopts the standard playing card faces, with numbers and suits, catered toward the collector niche. 

The back design of the Fluid Art Playing Cards Luxury edition was designed in a more advanced style, with all new vein lines, colors, and details. Giving it an elegant and noble vibe. 

The Fluid Art Playing Cards are printed in Taiwan, using Fluid Art Playing Cards exclusive paper stock, aptly named, Fluid stock. It is the combination of imported German black core paper stock + Fluid Stock finish, culminating in an ultra-thin feel, and smooth experience. Perfect for cardistry.

[Update] Fluid Art Playing Cards are now on Kickstarter!

Pledge starts at $8 on Kickstarter from 24th September.

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Issue #40 of Kardify Magazine is Here!

Issue #40 of Kardify Magazine is NOW on Patreon in both EPUB and PDF format! Patrons who pledged $3 or more on will be able to download the latest issue from our Patreon page. This issue compiles selected articles published from mid-August to mid-September. 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 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:

+ Mono-X: An eye-catching deck featuring black/white and grey colorway with distinctive pattern utilizing a variation of line thickness.

+ Babylon Fontaines: Check out the insane new Fontaine collab deck with streetwear brand Babylon LA.

+ Scarlett Bicycles: Stunning, elegant, and luxurious. Three decks of playing cards dedicated to Jackson Robinson’s second daughter, Scarlett.

+ Playing Arts Future: New art deck featuring illustrations by different international artists on their vision of the world 100 years from now.

+ Wayfarers: The brand new deck from Joker and the Thief 2 years in the making, and one that the company considers being the first TRUE spiritual successor to their now acclaimed, original Joker and the Thief design.

+ ArrowDynamix: Check out cardistry headliner Kevin Ho's first major release through his new brand, Momentum since leaving the Virts back in 2018.

+ Fulton's Casino Orange:  After selling out the Ace Fulton’s Casino Tobacco Brown edition last year, the Ace Fulton’s Casino Vintage Backs series is BACK with an all-new orange colorway!

+ Red Metallic Gatorbacks: Silver, Rose Gold, Metallic Blue... and now Metallic Red! The new addition adds a sophisticated and stylish element to any card collection. Check it out!

… and more! 63 pages of articles and deck images. Enjoy!

Deck View: Standards (Gold Edition) Playing Cards

Elegance. Ornate. Detailed.

Produced by Art of Play in collaboration with Kevin Cantrell Studio, Standards playing cards are crafted with meticulous attention to detail. The deck is inspired by nineteenth-century British opulence, an era of elegance unsurpassed.

The limited gold edition deck is the third deck in the series and only available exclusively with the bespoke box set. The gold Standard comes with fully custom artwork from the bold Ace of Spades, intricate card backs, to the gorgeous courts and ornate jokers.

Printed by The United States Playing Card Co. on Dan and Dave's proprietary crushed-stock preferred by professionals. Hand-assembled in San Diego, CA.

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Wayfarers Playing Cards NOW on Kickstarter!

A brand new deck of playing cards from Joker and the Thief has launched on Kickstarter! Wayfarers Playing Cards is a project that has spent 2 years in development, and one that the company considers being the first TRUE spiritual successor to their now acclaimed, original Joker and the Thief design. 

Fully custom, Wayfarer embodies the spirit of travel and adventure with a bold, and commanding design. The Wayfarers courts are gorgeous and fit the overall theme beautifully. Each suit of the Wayfarer’s court cards represents nature’s elements, with each royal having dominion over that aspect of reality.  

  

The Spades represent dominion over the sky and air travel, with the clubs representing the woodlands and overland adventures. The diamonds loosely reference our deck Seafarers by representing the oceans and all who voyage upon it. 

Finally, the hearts are the expression of the journey beyond this world. Wayfarers are for those who yearn to wander far and wide and Joker and the Thief made sure this message is front and center. 

One of the most recognized aspects of a Joker and the Thief deck are the incredibly luxurious tuck boxes and Wayfarers is no different. This deck will feature incredible bronze embossed foil with white pigment foil impressed into the premium black paper stock.

Wayfarers will be printed by the USPCC on Crush Paper Stock and Finish. Pledge starts at $16 on Kickstarter.

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