After three successful campaigns, Jack Brutus Penny is back with Tails of Mischief Playing Cards on Kickstarter. Tails of Mischief is somewhat of a stand-alone sequel to his previous release, Nazo Nazo. This series tells the story of the mice living underneath the Guest House: when the cats are away, they get to enjoy their life. The designs are inspired by Japanese ukiyo-e wood-block printing, historical culture, and Buddhist and Taoist philosophies.
There are four different editions of the series: The Whey of the Woods – The Whey of the House – The Whey of the Fields – The Whey of the Island. Every back design of the decks are different, yet they are all full-bleed artworks that will create very beautiful fanning artwork visuals! Each of them represents one of the Four Seasons, and also, the four virtues.
The tuck box features premium matte stock with excellent features. There is intricate laser cutting, and clear holographic foiling with embossing effect – creating the most beautiful tuck boxes for the series. The front side shows the title of the series with the stylized Japanese kanji letters – they represent the editions of the decks.
The card backs showcase Jack’s logo – a rabbit man walking the dog within the wavy pattern. Having all four decks displayed and aligned by the sides shows a special feature: they will form the illustration of the delicatessen.
The Number Cards are designed as semi-transformative cards: where the pips interact with the background. Also, they are designed to be puzzle cards – you get to align them to create a large illustration. The number cards from 2 to 9 from each suit are used – the 10s can be used to overlay the art to create a new scene!
The Aces all feature enlarged customized pips: a composition of mice doing their stuff. The courts are a special call-back to the classic royals we remember – it is a two-way illustration holding up banners in the form of the classic royals.
The series also comes with a very special wooden box that can store and display all four decks. Along with this, there is a folding album which is a long coloring book for adults. There is also a novella specially written for this decks series: the tale of the mouse wanderer going through the four Wheys.
The decks will be printed by Legends Playing Cards Company. Pledge starts from $29 for a single deck between the four available editions on Kickstarter.
