The Karnival Dose (Redux Edition) and Karnival Midnight (Deep Purple Edition) are both limited edition (2,500 each)  re-runs of earlier decks, but in different colour ways.  So the classic Karnival Midnight (from 2009) has had a makeover in purple and the Karnival Dose (from 2011) – which already had a slight back change in another limited edition in 2012 – has been made over in (blood?) red.

We’re watching you…

Well I did say it would be briefly didn’t I?  Now, if no one is watching, let’s talk about 1984…

This feels like a very different style of deck from previous Karnival decks and marks a step into the social and political arena – and away from skulls.  Mainly. There are still a couple of skulls on the back design – but they are wearing suits, so that’s ok…

If you’ve enjoyed Orwell’s dystopian novel then you will appreciate some of the ideas worked into this deck.  Clearly the idea of surveillance is significant – with a watching/transmitting eye at the heart of the design – and a warning on the tuck case!  The jokers pick up on this theme – their heads replaced with an eye and a ‘watching tv’ respectively, and with the slogans of ‘the party’ written underneath.

The colours are striking and the classic Karnival radiating pattern makes for an appealing fan or spread – face up or down.  The indices have been re-drawn in a brutalist style font and the pips are big and bold.  And you will notice another intervention of the theme on the Ace, nine, eight and four pip cards – see if you can work it out from the picture!

The pixelation of the faces on the court cards is a brilliant touch which fits well with the theme and adds interest to the design.  I was delighted to see two useful extra cards (instead of the usual advertising card): a double backer – which is useful in a variety of magic routines; and a double-faced card (7C/3H) which will also have plenty of uses.

They handle, fan and spread beautifully – with the classic intricate Hayles detail on both sides of the card making visually appealing displays.

All in all this is a great deck which is up to the usual Karnival high standards.  A must for collectors and could fit in well to an intriguing magic routine too.

The Karnival 1984 deck and all the other available Karnival decks can be purchased from Merchant of Magic (with thanks to Big Blind Media who kindly supplied the review copies).  And don’t miss the cracking bundle deal – 6 decks and a free uncut sheet!

The post Karnival 1984 review – and two other limited edition Bicycle Karnival Decks appeared first on Bicycle Cards.

First up to mention are the 3 (yes THREE!) new Karnival decks put out by BBM. We’re going to do a more in depth look at these soon with lots of lovely pics – but here’s a teaser!

The Karnival 1984 deck is the only completely new design – the others are variations on older decks.  Find out more here.

If you want a really different and bold design, why not take a look at the Bicycle Ultimate Universe deck. I’m struggling to describe these – to me they look a bit like a techno take on Aztec culture! But draw your own conclusions. They are certainly bright (unless you go for the greyscale version) and bold. I can’t really imagine using them for magic – but a must for collectors.

On the rather more understated end of the spectrum is the Bicycle Midnight Moonshine deck.  A classy looking deck printed on high quality card which takes you back to a different era.

And finally (there are so many more releases but we can only mention a few of them) here is a gorgeous deck if, like me, you are a little bit of a Royalist at heart – or you just like your history.

The Tally Ho British Monarchy deck is just as it sounds – a deck based on and influenced by the history of the British Monarchy.  I love the elegant and detailed back design, and the concept – where every court card is depicts a monarch from British history.  It comes on premium card stock and is reasonably priced.  Well worth a look methinks!

Let us know if you’ve come across any noteworthy decks we should know about.

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