Advice on Split Spades

[Decrios]

Hi everyone!
I'm fairly new to cardistry and playing cards, so I don't know much yet. I'm currently using Shadow Masters and Arcanes and love them.

I'm looking at the Silver Split Spades in eBay, as I really want them. However, with the gold edition being half the price, is the silver edition worth it? Are Split Spades decks even worth it in general?

Also, how long is it usually before a new Split Spades deck is released? Is it an idea to wait till the next release and hope for a similar colour design as the Silver Edition?

Sincerely, an unexperienced card curious person,
Hans

[Decrios]

To clarify, I really love the look of the Silver edition, but like the Gold one too. Just not sure if they're worth it at their price points, since I haven't tried them yet.

[the.asics.kid]

Worth/value is pretty subjective, especially in the collector's realm. Therefore, it is hard to tell you wether they are worth it or not.
They are designed by Mark Stutzman for David Blaine, which raises their price since, you know, David Blaine.
From a stock/finish perspective they are like your regular Bees. The Metalluxe editions feel a bit different (from my perspective) since Metalluxe is changing the characteristics of the card slightly. If you like the gold ones almost as much as the silver and are planning on using them anyways then, for the sake of budget, I would advise to go for the cheaper option.
Gold Split Spades are still available at David's webshop btw. So if you aren't getting them below retail I would advise to shop them there and not on eBay.

[Don Boyer]

Hi everyone!
I'm fairly new to cardistry and playing cards, so I don't know much yet. I'm currently using Shadow Masters and Arcanes and love them.

I'm looking at the Silver Split Spades in eBay, as I really want them. However, with the gold edition being half the price, is the silver edition worth it? Are Split Spades decks even worth it in general?

Also, how long is it usually before a new Split Spades deck is released? Is it an idea to wait till the next release and hope for a similar colour design as the Silver Edition?

Sincerely, an unexperienced card curious person,
Hans

Unlike the Shadow Masters and Arcanes, Split Spades aren't in regular production.  They were all limited run decks - printed once and never printed again.  For Blaine's decks in particular, he generally makes them for his own use, then after a period of time makes them available to the public for sale.

As far as new Split Spades decks - there's no answer to that other than "if David Blaine feels like it."  No one thought he'd make the silver and gold ones, but when USPC made MatelLuxe, it looks like he couldn't resist.

Are they worth it?  That depends - what are you doing with them?  If you're only playing solitaire, forget it, buy a pack of Bikes or Studs and call it a day!  If you're a collector, it's up to whether you consider them to be appealing to you or not.  And if so, to what degree - that's what will determine what you're willing to pay for them.

I generally advise new collectors to not go crazy with the older decks - for the beginning, stick to recent releases and decks that are still in production.  Chasing after some of the older decks can drive you a little nuts and it's better to ease into the hobby of playing card collecting in a more affordable way at first.  Try to buy only what's really speaking to you, what really jumps out at you and that you think is cool.

Alternately, if you want to go for some of the rarer stuff, especially the older stuff, consider getting "trading fodder" decks - decks that you can get at original retail now that are reasonably sure to appreciate in value, to use as trade material for getting some hard-to-find decks from other collectors down the road.  But be careful - there's never a guarantee of a deck's ability to retain or appreciate in value.  I've seen decks that went from being hard-to-find collector's items and highly sought-after to becoming so undesirable that some retailers were using them in place of packing peanuts to protect other decks in shipment!

[Decrios]

Thank you for your replies! I'm definitely taking your advice on not buying discontinued yet, as I plan on using them all, mainly for cardistry. Luckily, the new Silver Gatorbacks are a near perfect alternative to the silver split spades in my opinion. I'll be getting those soon as a birthday present to myself. Any idea when these might sell out, how fast should I order them?

[Don Boyer]

Thank you for your replies! I'm definitely taking your advice on not buying discontinued yet, as I plan on using them all, mainly for cardistry. Luckily, the new Silver Gatorbacks are a near perfect alternative to the silver split spades in my opinion. I'll be getting those soon as a birthday present to myself. Any idea when these might sell out, how fast should I order them?

The best advice I can give in that regard is: there's no such thing as a David Blaine deck that doesn't eventually sell out.  Some do so faster than others, some are more (or less) rare than others, but all do sell out at some point or another - it's the nature of limited-run decks.  He's not known for doing reprintings, either - he might introduce a new colorway, as he did with the Silver and Gold versions of Split Spades, but that's more the exception than the rule.  I think the only reason he even did those was because of USPC introducing the MetalLuxe process for metallic foil printing - otherwise, I suspect he would have left that line alone and moved on.

In short, don't wait for a clearance sale.  He does rarely run special offers, but don't simply wait around for them because they don't always come.  Instead, if one does occur, take the opportunity to buy extra, like when your favorite stock's price takes a drop but is predicted to rise again!

[the.asics.kid]

Nobody can give you an estimate when they will sell out. At least nobody without knowing the size of the print run. Seeing that they sit on the shelf for a while now I would say there is no hurry to get them but maybe there're only a few left and they're gone as we speak.
A holofoil Gatorback from DB was already teased so,  if you miss out on them there will be at least one more edition of the Gatorbacks - but who knows when and for how much, lol.