I have been something of a fan (no pun intended) of the Luxx playing cards since JP Playing Cards produced their original deck back in 2014. Since then we’ve enjoyed the version 2 deck and especially the Luxx Palme deck last year. So when a box full of the new Luxx Eliptica deck arrived we couldn’t wait to see what was inside.
Like the Palme, the Eliptica is a beautiful borderless design, but it comes in four pastel-type tones. I say pastel-type since their gold accent makes them all seem richer than that – so perhaps there is another word I should be using.
(By the way the box in this picture is a beautiful foil stamped LUXX brick box which comes free if you order any 12 LUXX decks from JP Playing Cards.)
I’ll let you into a secret – I never like opening decks of cards for review – it always seems to spoil a thing of beauty. So I decided which deck to focus on in a very scientific way – I asked my 6-year old daughter which colour to open – which is why this review focuses on the purple deck!
The tuck cases themselves look splendid with the cellophane making the gold accent on the design seem almost iridescent. Inside though, they are a rather plain (certainly when compared to the earlier LUXX editions) white. This first edition run also features a striking numbered gold seal – which not only looks good, but will be of appeal to the collectors among you.
Here’s another closer look at the case – I rather like the lighting on this shot!
Let’s get to the cards themselves. They’ve been printed by Legends Playing Card Company on their ‘classic’ finish. This is a good quality card stock which handles nicely – and is certainly comparable to Bicycle cards.
(Apologies – this picture is slightly out of focus)
The LUXX series has always aimed itself at least partially at the Poker player and the Eliptica deck feature very clear (slightly larger than normal?) indices. The suits have also been customised – each with a slightly ‘bulbous’ feel. I really like the way this works out on spades, hearts and 
diamonds, but the clubs feel a little ‘squashed’. You can see this on the Aces which have the very large spots that I always prefer.
The court cards appear on solid backgrounds and are somehow reminiscent of ‘wood cuts’. I really like the look of these.
Here are two sets for you to enjoy.
The back design, as you may have noticed, is made of many gold ellipses (hence the name) arranged rather like the petals of a flower – but then interacting to make bigger patterns across the beautiful borderless design.
This makes from some very appealing fans and spreads.
The only other element worthy of note is the design of the Jokers. These feature a traditional ‘jester’ style character looking out of a window decorated with ellipses. It is a strong design and would work well in magic or gaming contexts.
So all in all we think the Eliptica Deck is a great deck. With our one reservation about the design of the clubs excepted (and that is a small and very personal preference) it is a good looking deck (good job Randy Butterfield!) which handles well. If you’re a magician, a poker-player or a collector these would be well worth your consideration. Grab the first edition while you can – and why not go for a brick and get the custom box too? It’s a lovely solid box which would store your collection beautifully.
Available direct from JP Playing Cards (who kindly provided the review cards) – £7.49 a deck.
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