This deck is part of a trilogy: "three skills every great showman must posses - Style, Confidence and Mystery." This, for me, was the only one of the three worth having because the other two did not seem quite right. The Style Deck, for example, has the rather ugly company logo on the back design, which rather subtracts from the style in my view. Presumably I am not attracted to them because I do not posses Style (elbow-patched jacket) or Confidence (sitting indoors with elbow-patched jacket.)
The back design here is pure black, which is simple yet clever because it really does make you want to know what the mystery is; what is on the other side of these cards, hmm? The deck is printed on Aristocrat Stock which differs to Bicycle stock in a way that I can only describe as more slippery. I also think that Aristocrat lasts a bit longer with handling than the normal stock, but that might just be me. Essentially, Aristocract = more dropable.
I like the Pips on the number cards, but they would be better if they had some variation in texture; repeated textures show up badly on cards with lots of pips like 7s 8s and 9s. The Jokers are also a little ugly - they have the company logo on, and the name "Bedecieved" hidden in the graphic, which is a little eye-mangling, I think.
I like the Pips on the number cards, but they would be better if they had some variation in texture; repeated textures show up badly on cards with lots of pips like 7s 8s and 9s. The Jokers are also a little ugly - they have the company logo on, and the name "Bedecieved" hidden in the graphic, which is a little eye-mangling, I think.
The Court Cards are lovely, the idea to have the faces removed adds to the whole Mystery feel, and the graphic style is rather nice. The only drawback to these is the rather tight boarder around the pictures. I think this stifles the elegance of the deck a little, and appears to me as a little ironic because it is essentially confining the mystery. Normally Court Cards do have boarders, but here it does not work.
Overall, a very nice deck, just held back a little by its unmysterious elements.
Overall, a very nice deck, just held back a little by its unmysterious elements.
Scores 4 out of 5