I’m an increasingly big fan of full back designs i.e. designs with no borders and that is just what you can see on these new Madison Dealers.  The card geeks will appreciate the green – which is the exact colour of the original Erdnase Expert at the Card Table.  I believe they also contain a marking system.  And, of course, they handle spectacularly well.  £7.50

Here’s another full back design which ticks another of my partciular aesthetic boxes – since it is a beautiful vintage style.

These Vintage Plaid Cards come in two different colours – California Blue (pictured) and Arizona Red – and just drip with nostalgia.  £5.99

And watch this space for our review of the brand new Karnival Delirium cards.  We’ve just been taking some pics and the review will be live in a few days…

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Whilst playing cards have long been a tool for magicians or for poker players of all ages, our favourite decks are always those that have been printed by those with a love of design in mind.

A unique deck of playing cards can take hundreds of hours to design; the effort, love and affection that goes into the process is nothing short of amazing. Whilst in more recent times there has been an explosion of ‘custom decks’ by the big US magic companies – it’s the smaller, independent designers and companies that have raised the bar in recent years.

Companies such as Uusi, Encarded, Vanda and Misc Goods Co have lifted the lid on creativity to such a level that sometimes it’s hard to appreciate the dedication that’s put into the work until you hold these unique pieces of work in your hand.  I know what you’re thinking – I would say that, right? Well not necessarily. Whilst theory11, Ellusionist & The Blue Crown’s cards sell in their hundreds these guys are arguably lesser known to the every day playing card buyer. Collectors have long been praising the companies mentioned, but outside of the industry they very often don’t get the credit they deserve.

So, to give a little credit to these highly skilled designers I wanted to highlight some of the most beautiful decks released in the past 12 months. All decks have been printed by the world famous, United States Playing Card Company – so you get the quality and design in one beautiful package. The first cards in the spotlight are:

Aurum Playing Cards

The purple Sovereign Edition was printed with a run of only 4000 cards in mid 2012 to critical acclaim. The Designer at Encarded.com, Paul Carpenter describes the Aurum deck as “intricate, elegant and fit for the Venetian royalty that inspired it.”

Every card was intricately designed and features multiple metallic inks, Paul also describes the design as “purposefully imperfect.” Some of the features of the card are listed below:

• Bee Casino Stock and Magic Finish.
• Metallic Inks: Each card has multiple metallic inks, including golds, purples and metallic blacks.
• Continuous Line Texturing. Both the faces and backs features a single, continuous line that wraps around itself in an unbroken stroke from one edge of the card to the other. If the line was unwrapped and in a straight line, it would be an incredible 279″ long. On the back the line is metallic purple on a solid purple field, and on the faces it a subtle grey.
• All features of the deck are custom, from the pips, to the court, to the indices.
• Lavishly appointed tuck box. Every possible extra feature, and some new ones, are built into the box. The box has custom stock, embossing, extensive gold foil, metallic ink and a custom diecut on the back.
• Guaranteed Production numbers. We won’t magically find more in the warehouse someday. Each edition of Aurum is made in the numbers stated and will not be produced again. If you get a special edition, you will know exactly how rare your deck is.

The Aurum deck was also produced in two other stunning variations, 550 of the ‘White Gold’ edition were housed in a beautiful tuck box made from pearlescent paper that shimmers both gold and white. Each of these decks came with a special individually numbered, holographic seal. Finally, the special ‘Laser Cut’ edition was described by The United States Playing Card Company as “the most expensive deck ever produced”. These cards are as rare as it gets for a USPCC deck and at last reading, only 90 have been made available for sale at encarded.com.

You can buy this deck and other beautiful, collectible and unusual decks at JP Playing Cards, Europe’s fastest growing collectible playing card store.

Card Collector’s Corner is published in association with JP Playing Cards who specialise in rare and collectible playing cards in the UK.

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Taking Care of Your Playing Card Collection

If you landed on this article it’s probably because you would like an answer to one of the following questions?

• How should I store my playing card collection?
• Does humidity cause problems to playing cards?
• How can I clean my playing cards?

First things first, if you’re serious about keeping your collection for a long time and want to keep your playing cards in the best possible condition then follow these steps:

Keep your playing cards in a cool, dry room.

Humidity and high temperatures increase deterioration – and as a result inviting growth of mould and mildew which causes the binder layers of the card to potentially break down.

Avoid storing your playing card collection near bright lights, direct sunlight or sources of heat. Store in a room with a decent amount of ventilation and try (if possible) to keep the room at a similar temperature through a day. Large fluctuations may cause warping in some cases.

­I’ve had a few questions from customers looking for advice when they can’t avoid a damp room due to the age of the house – well, there are a few things you can do to minimise any possible issues in this case.

Dehumidifiers are an obvious preventative measure but can be costly, however purchasing two or three larger silica gel bags can be just as effective. Sized around 10cmx10cm these can be extremely effective as they can be heated and dried in the oven or microwave, recycled and used again. I would suggest this from Amazon.

For the really keen collector, simply buying a humidity meter could help keep an eye on the room temperature and moisture levels. For only about £4 this is a great option. Humidity levels are naturally around 30–40% in winter and 40–60% in summer so anything above this and you know you need to take a little action to help your decks live longer.

Be careful when attempting to clean your collection

If you need to remove soiling on the cards then it’s best practise to use a clean, soft brush. A Women’s make-up brush or a brand new soft paint brush tends to work well.

Card Collector’s Corner is published in association with JP Playing Cards who specialise in rare and collectible playing cards.

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