The Look

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

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.

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.

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!

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.

The new boxes look like this:

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.