Posts Tagged ‘USPCC’

Karnival Hornets – Review

Nov 23rd, 2011
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Have your ears been buzzing (and many similar puns)? We’ve been having a look at the latest Bicycle Karnival Cards from BBM – they’re Hornets – and we like them a lot. Let’s see what all the fuss is about.

Karnival Hornet BackHere’s the back and front of the tuck case. First impressions are good.

In case you haven’t worked it out yet – Hornets look a lot like Bees. And I’m not just talking about insects here! I’ve always like the understated class of the borderless Bee design, and that immediately inclines me towards these Hornets.

Karnival Hornet Zoom

Karnival Hornet frontBut as we know, Sam Hayles and the BBM folk are obsessed with skulls. So if you take a closer look at the ‘pleasing geometrical back design’ you see that it actually consists of skulls (and crossbones). Lots of them. All over…

The skull and crossbones and the hornets themselves also feature on the Ace of Spades and the Jokers (which bring in the inevitable skeleton too! and a 3S reveal). But all rather tastefully done.

Karnival Hornet Ace of SpadesIf I’m honest, what I like most about the deck is that you don’t really notice the skulls at all. Now I know that a lot of the BBM faithful won’t understand that – but skulls don’t do it for me that much – which was why until now my favourite Karnival deck was the Karnival Ryujin.
But I think the Hornets may have taken that crown. And I love the slightly mesmerising effect of spreading or fanning the borderless deck (see pictures below).
Karnival Hornet Joker
Before we leave the appearance of the cards, the faces (apart from the AS and the Jokers) are classic Bicycle faces and easy to read. You are also provided with a rather odd extra card (not pictured here, sorry) – which has a Hornet back, and most of the front of a Karnival Dose but with a ‘torn away’ effect in the corner revealing the pip of a 6H. Don’t really know what that is useful for apart from advertising…
Karnival Hornet Barcode Reveal I should also just mention there is the almost obligatory barcode reveal on the tuckcase.

We need to say a word about card quality and handling. A new deck is incredibly smooth and slippy – handles like a dream. It is apparently printed on Bee stock – and I still don’t know if I’m imagining it but it feels slightly thinner. But there are few sleights that will be hindered by this – and many will actually be helped.

Feast your eyes on what I consider to be the attractive geometric effects of a stacked, spread and fanned deck before you read our conclusion…

Karnival Hornet Edge of Deck
Karnival Hornet spread
Karnival Hornet fan

All in all we’re a big fan of the Hornets. In Karnival terms it feels to be an understated design which is very pleasing on the eye and handles beautifully. Available right now direct from BBM for £4.99 + p&p.

And watch this space for our Christmas competition and the chance to win yourself a deck!

Bicycle Gargoyles – first look!

Jun 6th, 2011
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Gargoyle Box BackThe good folk at MagicNevin have just taken delivery of the latest deck from Diavoli productions – the Bicycle Gargoyles.

As with all of the Diavoli designs (see our review of 3 earlier decks here) they are visually impressive. Here’s a look at the box:

Gargoyle Box Front

As you can see, the design is inspired by Gothic style architecture and, in particular, Gargoyles. I found fascinating an extra card which is included by Lance T. Miller, the designer, explaining the rationale behind his design. You don’t need to have read this to enjoy the design (and I won’t spoil it here) but it frames the whole thing in the context of the struggle betwen good and evil – drawing on the Gargoyle’s historic role of warding off evil.

The card backs are printed in black and silver/gray ink. The overall effect is pleasing and looks nice in a spread – the Gargoyles themselves aren’t too prominent in that kind of layout:

Gargoyle Face Down Fan

The card faces are printed in silver rather than black ink, with the red indices only (not the actual pips in the middle of the cards) printed in red. It is a dramatic look, though to my eyes it makes the rest of the face on red cards look a little washed out.

Have a look at some court cards and see what you think (my photo may not help here)…
Gargoyle Court Cards

There is an extra prediction card included – a ’slashed’ 3 of Spades – here it is, plus a look at the Jokers and another shot of the box.

Gargoyle Prediction and Joker
Gargoyle Prediction and Case

Gargoyle ribbon spreadThe USPCC are advertising a new finish on these cards ‘magic finish’. I have to say that my first impressions of the handling were very favourable. In particular, a few of the decks I have recently tried from BBM have felt slightly on the thin side – these felt like a return to classic USPCC form, and were extremely smooth.

All in all a stylish pack, and like all the Diavoli decks, a limited edition. Available for £7.49 at MagicNevin immediately.

David Blaine and Bicycle Cards go Popular

Nov 17th, 2010
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David Blaine in conjunction with the USPCC has released a range of ‘popular’ magic which includes a Stripper Deck, a Svengali Deck and a Marked Deck. Whilst some magicians get quite het up about these kinds of products, my observation is that they have little overall effect on the public’s attitude to magic generally.

David Blaine Bicycle Deck

Since David Blaine is such an ambiguous figure – especially in the UK (I think he may be rather more popular in the US) it will be interesting to see how these fare and whether they make it into the high street.

Ironically several ‘proper’ UK magic suppliers are stocking them. Alakazam seem to be the cheapest at the moment. And at only £4.99/deck they probably come in cheaper than a USPCC factory prepared equivalent. Might make a great Christmas present for a child wanting to get into magic? But we haven’t looked at a deck in person yet so can’t comment on the quality. Do let us know if you see them first.

BBM’s New Baby! Bicycle Karnival Renegades

Mar 6th, 2010
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I had to get the words ‘New Baby’ into the title since we’ve just had our first child! I mention this partly as a proud dad, and partly because that is the reason I have only just got round to posting my impressions of the new Renegades deck which BBM kindly supplied to review. Since the cards are officially released on Monday 8th March, and pre-orders are possible now, now seems a good time to say more…

Bicycle Karnival Renegades
The Look

This is now the 4th Generation of the Karnival Deck – which all feature the striking artwork of Sam Hayles.

Bicycle Karnival Renegades
The trademark skeleton, who first obtained ‘gangster’ clothes in the ‘Assassin’ editions, has now been given some new weapons – a knife and a bomb on the Jokers, and a cleaver and an axe on the Ace of Spades.

The Details

The pack comes complete with the ‘usual’ extra card which has a reveal (6C) on one side.  There is also a reveal on one of the Jokers (who has a 4S in his hat) and an extra double backed card which is useful for many routines.  There is no barcode reveal on the tuck case as we have seen in all the earlier editions.

Like the previous designs, this one incorporates a subtle 1-way feature in the back design.  I think this is an under-used device in magic – it is often discounted because it is found in so many elementary magic books, but with the right handling can be a powerful tool.

Bicycle Karnival Renegades

The Handling

The cards are printed on the usual USPCC  ‘Air Flow Finish’ stock and handle extremely well straight out of the pack.  If you are used to Bicycle Cards there will be no surprises here.  Like all packs they benefit from a little ‘breaking in’ and they won’t last forever, but they perform well and are ideal for all the usual moves and routines.

Bicycle Karnival Renegades

The Verdict

As usual, the appeal of these cards will depend on the kind of magic you do.  Now we have Assasins and Renegades there are effectively a red-backed and a blue-backed Karnival deck – and I can see all sorts of interesting effects involving colour-changes and the 4 different packs.  I wouldn’t use them for children’s magic or the vicar’s tea party, but for the right audience they will go down well.

And if you’re just one of those people that loves collecting playing cards, you’ll have to have one of these limited edition packs.  So get right on over to BBM and order yours now!

125th Anniversary Bicycle Cards

Feb 5th, 2010
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125th Anniversary Bicycle Cards

A fitting way to celebrate 125 years of Bicycle Cards, the USPCC have released these Anniversary edition cards. They feature a distinctive Vintage aesthetic with a signature metallic foil face on the special edition tuck case.

The deck is sealed with a commemorative 125 years deck seal and features 2 jokers, one from 1885 and one from 2010. Each playing card is marked with 1885-2010 on its face.

I suspect they will become collectible. Now available at MagicNevin for only £4.99.

125th Anniversary Bicycle Cards

Save Tally-Hos (and Bicycle Cards too?…)

Jan 14th, 2010
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Since the USPCC is under new ownership, they are apparently discontinuing a number of their card ranges, much loved by magicians. Therefore, can I commend this petition to Save the Tally-Hos to all lovers of card magic…

New Bicycle Card Box now hitting UK

Nov 27th, 2009
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Although USPCC started producing the new boxes in the summer, it has inevitably taken a while for the new look boxes to come over here. Apparently Murphy’s Magic in the US bought up all the old style stock from USPCC.

The new boxes look like this:
New Bicycle Card Box

Some magicians are worried that this will mean problems when switching in gaffed card boxes (such as Alakazam’s Extractor). However, it seems unlikely that most lay-people will notice the difference – especially if there is some time delay. Most ‘normal’ people aren’t particularly interested in card boxes!

As a bit of a card Geek, I don’t like all the words on the new design so much – and the card design on the back of the case is the basis of some clever bits of magic. But I suppose it would be possible to stick a card on the back of the case. Various people also supply old-style tuck cases – so you could just use one of them while they are still available.

If you purchase new-boxed cards in the UK, do let us know where you got them from.

Arcane Deck from Ellusionist

Oct 27th, 2009
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OK, so not strictly Bicycle Playing Cards, but still printed by the USPCC. Interestingly they are released formally today, the day after the new Karnivals. I was going to provide some more information, but the Ellusionist site seems to have collapsed under the weight of all those magic card geeks popping over to have a look. Why not try http://www.ellusionist.com/arcane-deck-playing-cards.html when the dust has settled in a day or so :-)