Playing Card Collectors Anonymous

 I just wanted to send out a quick note to readers about this blog moving forward for the next few months. As August neared, it became increasingly difficult for me to devote as much time to writing for the blog and provide quality content to readers. I am a college student, and I was in the process of moving into a new apartment and starting classes at the end of summer.   Going forward, I hope to find guest writers at least once every other month to continue to provide content. I am a political science major, so I have to put a lot of energy and focus into writing. Writing for the blog is something I love, however, I find that I lose focus and forget how to address this audience in a less formal, more conversational manner.  Please, feel free to contact me if you are someone interested in contributing to the blog as I take a short sabbatical from providing content. And to those who have given me submissions for their interviews, I will be working on getting those edited and published

A Quick History on Gilded Decks      Gilded decks are all the rage among the modern deck collector community, but few collectors nowadays know where and when gilded decks began.  What does "Gilded" actually mean?      The earliest known use of the word appears in 1540, meaning "covered or tinged with gold or a golden color" (source: Merriam-Webster), meaning gilded decks are ONLY those with gold edges. Silver, green, red, etc. would technically not qualify. That's the literal definition though. It has crossed over into other colors now, the same way the term "vintage" was taken from the wine industry and generalized to mean anything between 20-90 years of age.  So how far back in time are we talking here? Gilded decks can be traced back to King Charles VI of France where he paid 56 sol for three decks of gold-edged cards. Check out this YouTube video here . How do we know this?      In his book of accounts for 1392 or 1393, Charles or Charbot Poupart,

🂡  Deck  of the  Day  --  July 29th, 2020  🃁 Calelum & Azure - Thirdway Industries The Calelum & Azure Playing Cards by Thirdway Industries is the newest edition of Pantheon with its stunning new colors and metallic inks. This latest release comes with two new decks for $83 USD on their website for pre-order which will be ready by October of 2020. Thirdway Industries is the designer of some other fan-favorite decks such as Modern Idols and Betrayers Playing Cards. This is an exciting new addition to some of this designer's beautiful collection of decks. Side by Side Comparisons of Previous ( Left ) Card Designs to Current ( Right ):        

🂡  Deck  of the  Day  --  July 27th, 2020  🃁 Shiba Segaiha  The Shiba Segaiha Playing Cards designed by Marcus Mak is a design inspired by everyone's favorite Japanese cultural icon, the Shiba Inu dog breed. The geometric pattern is beautifully incorporated with the cartoon figure and minimalist pip design. This deck will surely satisfy any Cardistry connoisseur as the flourish makes for a brilliant, aesthetically pleasing fan. The price for this deck will be $10 USD for one deck on their Kickstarter along with other special rewards offered for purchasing two decks or more. Be sure to follow this Kickstarter and pledge before Tuesday, August 18th if you love this new design!    

🂡  Deck  of the  Day  --  July 24th, 2020  🃁 NOC Colorgades -- Desert Orange and Tropic Green   The NOC Colorgades Desert Orange  and Tropic Green  decks were designed exclusively for Art of Play . This one-of-a-kind black tuck box showcases the beautiful gradient orange and green cards with its ace of spades and small-circle cut-outs. The play on colors and contrast with these decks is what makes this series by NOC truly unique and aesthetically pleasing. You can grab one or both of these decks on Art of Play's website for just $10 USD per deck. This deal won't be around for long as these decks are limited edition!       

🂡  Deck  of the  Day  --  July 22nd, 2020  🃁 Blue Metallic Gatorbacks The Blue Metallic Gatorbacks by David Blaine is a deck that everyone's been talking about in the card collecting community. This new edition, and fan favorite, comes with white and blue foil on the tuck case and blue MetalLuxe printed on the cards. This design is truly stunning from the inside out... a perfect deck to display with the rest of your Cardistry decks... that is, if you don't mind this deck stealing the show from all the others. Don't wait too long to get your hands on this new deck... they're currently priced at $20.00 USD on their website, and I expect they will soon be sold out in the coming months. You can check out more deck designs by David Blaine here .

🂡  Deck  of the  Day  --  July 20th, 2020  🃁 Malibu v2 Playing Cards Malibu v2 Playing Cards by Gemini will be your new favorite Cardistry deck with its beautiful, vibrant color scheme mimicking the summer sky in Malibu, California. This unique deck is a wonderful addition for collectors who are particularly drawn to colorful designs and artwork. As these decks are only limited in quantity, you can still grab yours for $12.95 USD before they go out of stock!       

The Virtuoso P1 Deck If you follow The Virts on Instagram, you probably have already heard the news... the new Virtuoso P1 deck is now available for pre-order to those who subscribed to be apart of the Virts Family. This is their newest deck since releasing the Virtuoso FW17 back in 2017. For those who are in love with the Virtuoso designs (like myself), this is extremely exciting news.  This special edition deck comes with a generous offer... that is: you can pre-order this deck for free and only pay for the shipping cost. I expect most people who are subscribed to their "exclusive" newsletters are going to buy more than just one deck for $19 (not including shipping). However, I have to give Huron and his team props for this genius marketing strategy, as many Virt family members are going to start buying this decks by the brick to sell in the future. This deck will go for $22 once the pre-order launch ends in 3 days. Now, the most important question arises...  What is this