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EndersGame · « **on:** February 14, 2024, 05:56:21 AM »

Apollo Playing Cards by ARK Playing Cards (Kickstarter)

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/elementplayingcards/apollo-playing-cards-by-ark

Current funding level: already funded
Kickstarter ends: Tuesday, March 12, 2024

In the world of luxury custom playing cards, creator ARK Playing Cards is well-known for their quality and lavish production. Apollo Playing Cards is their latest project, currently up for funding on Kickstarter. As the name suggests, it's inspired by sun god, Apollo, one of the 12 main gods associated with Mount Olympus.

ARK is especially renowned for their unique tuck boxes, and once again they've brought something new to the table with this lovely deck. The tuck case has a pop-out feature that unfolds and then rotates to form a complete circle, represents the sun which symbolizes Apollo. This animated gif does a good job of showing what this effect looks like:

Hidden behind what you see are magnets and a sliding structure that makes all this go smoothly, and stay in position when the tuck case is closed. The vibrant yellow colours, of course, evoke the warm and bright sunshine associated with Apollo, and together with the lavish details of the artwork and design, emphasize the feeling of luxury.

The card faces depict the famous twelve gods of the ancient Greek pantheon, as well as other aspects of Greek mythology.

Apollo is also associated with music, medicine, and prophecy, and these aspects also inspired much of the artwork and design. Besides the court card that depicts Apollo, this is also evident with the Ace of Spades, which pictures Apollo's famous victory over the Python, set against the background of the lyre frequently associated with Apollo. The lyres also reappear on the Jokers.

Much like we've seen with previous ARK projects, the Apollo project is available with different levels and styles of luxury packaging:
● Standard Deck (limited edition of 3333): single deck, including the creative pop-out plus tuck case (US$30)
● Artist Boxset (limited edition of 999): holographic foil deck & monochromatic deck, in a gift box with a book (US$75)
● Walnut Boxset (limited edition of 333): holographic foil deck with gilded edges, plus a collectible coin, in a walnut gift box (US$185)
● Luxury Black (limited edition of 99): black-edged deck, plus an embossed metal plate (US$150, only available as part of the "All-In" reward)

Extra add-ons like uncut sheets and coins are also available separately. Here's a preview of how each of the above four packaging and deck options look.

1. Standard Deck