The first version of the deck was blue, had a print run of only 2500, and only managed to hit its Kickstarter target on the final day when it was put up for crowdfunding in 2015. The circle design on the card backs makes it ideal for cardistry.
AL SCHNEIDER MAGIC VS DVD MAGIC CAFE SERIES
The Orbit series is extremely popular with card flourishers, and it's not surprising why. The Orbit decks come from magician Chris "Orbit" Brown, with involvement from designer Daniel Schneider. While many of the initial decks didn't evidence much variety aside from recolouring the back design, in recent times we have witnessed some more innovation, such as collaborations with other artists, and a UV black-light edition. Today the Fontaine company has a significant number of releases every year, and they are typically so much in demand that each sells out in minutes. Zach built on this success with further releases of the same design but in different colours, and later expanded his Fontaine brand to include clothing and other merchandise. When he tried his hand at crowdfunding one, it became an instant success. But the popularity of his videos did have the result of producing a demand for decks like the one Zach was using. It wasn't even originally conceived as deck that would be published more widely, nor was including it in his cardistry videos originally intended as a marketing gimmick. Inspired by the iconic Jerry's Nugget casino deck which appears later on this list, around 2013 Zach whipped up a simple design of his own, printed the deck, and began using it in his cardistry videos. Zach began making a name for himself with his creative cardistry videos, some of which went viral on youtube. The reason for the success of this brand is the man behind it, Zach Mueller. After all, what is there to get excited about card backs which have a lower-case "f" put together in a simple and minimalist design, and card faces that are mostly standard? When you first see a Fontaine deck of cards you might wonder why. The Fontaine brand is one of the biggest and most recognizable brands in the world of playing cards today, especially in cardistry circles. In this article we'll introduce you to some of the more popular series of this sort that many playing card enthusiasts enjoy collecting. Almost every new release is quickly sold out, and previous releases don't take long to fetch high prices in the secondary market, as collectors scramble to "collect 'em all". In the last few years alone there are several "brands" that have generated a huge wave of momentum. These are decks that have effectively become a brand of their own by virtue of their sheer popularity. Yet others follow a single brand like Theory11 or Ellusionist.īut arguably one of the most popular series to collect are what some refer to as "hype decks". Alternatively, you might collect cards that have a single theme, such as music, animals, advertising, or even something more obscure and yet interesting like typography or animation - you'd be surprised how many decks fall into these categories alone! Some people like to collect decks of a certain type, like transformation decks, or reproductions of vintage decks. So you might collect decks from a particular creator, like Alexander Chin (Seasons Playing Cards), Giovanni Meroni (Thirdway Industries), or Jody Eklund (Black Ink Playing Cards). This is why many collectors of playing cards tend to focus their collecting in some way. There's a vast amount of cards that have already been produced, and there's steady flow of new cards that are being released on an ongoing basis. But even just collecting what you like will quickly prove limitless. The longer you've been collecting, the more you realize that you need to limit what you collect to what you really like, regardless of what the rest of the world says or likes. No matter what you collect, if you're a collector, the hobby of collecting can quickly become all-consuming. Gotta Collect 'Em All: Hype Decks and Popular Playing Card Series to Collect