In fact, for the sake of nostalgia, here’s all the Karnival Decks we’ve seen since then (I’ve omitted a couple of BBM releases that don’t quite fall into the Karnival category) – you can click on it to see it in all its glory…

So, cutting back to the chase, what is the Gold Edition Deck?  Well the original Karnival Deck has long been out of print and so this is a limited edition re-run, but (you’d never have guessed this) with GOLD ink for the back design and tuck case.

Here’s an Original and a Gold side by side to give you the idea…

Unlike some other Karnival releases (e.g. the Karnival Ryujin for example, it is only the back (and the case) which use the gold ink.  The faces of the cards are almost exclusively your standard Bicycle Faces (the Ryujin used gold ink for the red pips you may remember).  The only custom faces are on the Jokers and the Ace of spades – and again these are the same as the original Karnival Deck (apologies for the background on this pic – I should have used a close up mat).
Compared to all the custom faces you see on so many new decks these days, you may think this is rather under-stated.  But more positively, if you are actually using these for performing, they are much easier to read and much less ‘suspicious’ for spectators than all the custom stuff.

Other unusual points to note are the absence of a deck seal and the inclusion of a useful blank card to match the deck (plus the obligatory advertising card).  There is a nice subtle card reveal on the Joker (as pictured above) and also a barcode reveal on the tuck case.

The cards feel just ever so slightly thin to me – so I don’t know if USPCC used a different stock.  But as ever the air-flow finish makes fans and spreads and the like very easy.  This is likely to become quite collectable since the print run is only 4000.  So head on over and buy one now before they run out.

Available direct from BBM.

(PS watch this space for a chance to win one in our summer competition!)

The post Karnival Gold Edition Review appeared first on Bicycle Cards.

But I’m conflicted.
Let me come clean about a few things. I have had this nagging suspicion with some of the other Karnival decks that they might not appeal to every audience. This is probably a sign that I’m not cool enough – and I guess with any special design like this you are going to find some people who won’t like it. But the dragon design on the Ryujins seems to me a bit more classy and more widely appealing.

On the other hand, the rather tastefully designed new Joker is not going to suit some people. It is elegantly done, and in no sense explicit, but it does feature nudity. So that will put some people off. Although it must be said that most of the magic I do with cards could be done without any Jokers in the pack – so you could always remove them if you were bothered by this.

The ace of spades is very striking with intertwined dragons and the rather classy gold ink used for the back design. You also get the apparently obligatory ‘prediction’ card (‘you will choose the 5 of diamonds’) – which I feel is rather spoiled by the advertising on the back of it. Rather nicer is the 9 of hearts ‘spiked’ under the sword of one of the Jokers. There’s also a barcode reveal on the tuck case if you like that kind of thing. A matching blank-faced card is also supplied which is always useful.

The Ryujins are printed on regular USPCC stock and so handle as well as you would expect them to. There does seem to be quite a lot of ‘border’ on the back design, and on my deck these are slightly unbalanced leaving a pronounced ‘one way’ effect. I am not sure if this is intentional or is just a USPCC printing problem – you see it on normal Bicycle Decks from time to time. However, I don’t think a layperson would notice.
Ed note: having checked with BBM – there is a subtle one-way effect in the actual design; the off-centre printing is a bonus!

Bottom line – this is a nice and visually striking deck which handles well. But pick your audience carefully…

BBM are still doing their pre-order deal (buy 3 or more decks and get a free Renegade chucked in) – head over to their pre-order page for more details.

The post Bicycle Karnival Ryujin – First Impressions! appeared first on Bicycle Cards.

This is a very different look for the Karnival Deck – more oriental in style and with metallic gold ink. We’ll do a proper review when we get our hands on some. Watch this space… (to make that easier, why not follow us on Twitter or join our Facebook page?)

The post BBM announce Bicycle Karnival Ryujin Deck appeared first on Bicycle Cards.