{TXT} - Bicycle Silver Vision Deck Review

[KPopFever605]

I was meaning to do a review on this deck much sooner, but wanted to wait until United Cardists was back up again. Since it now looks like that isn't going to happen very much, ladies and gentlemen, I now present you with a review of the silver Bicycle Vision deck.

Appearance

Box: The front is stadard, with the Ace of Spades, Bicycle logo, Vision logo (in metallic ink), and an image of the back design faded in the background. One side  states "Air-Cushion Finish" and "Made in the U.S.A." The other side says "Seeing is Just the Beginning". The top of the box says "Silver Edition", and the bottom has all the copyright information along with a QR code. The back of the box has the back design in metallic ink, while the flap has another logo. It also comes with a black seal.

Deck: The back design is nicely remade, with a metallic remix of the previous Vision back design. The back design also has a fading thin border to add to the mystery. The fonts and pips of the deck are also a nice change from your "Standard" decks. They have more curvature to them and are also thinner. The red pips have a darker tint to it, and the court cards have a simpler coloration with no borders. As seen in the pictures on a previous thread, the silver colors on the court cards are in metallic ink.

Handling andthensome
The handling is great, something you'd expect out of a typical deck with an Air-Cushion finish. Then again, that is just out of the box, as I did not break the deck in yet. The thin borders make fans look amazing and unique. I do not believe the deck has a one-way back, so, if you're a magician, take that as you will.
With that being said, there is one weak point I find in the deck, but I have a feeling it only applies to me. I am not overly fond of the metallic theme. It's absolutely not just with this deck, as I wasn't really excited with the release of the silver Split Spades. I'm just assuming grey isn't one of my favorite colors.

In the end, I will have to give this deck a fabulous fours stars because of the amazing effort put into customization, opposed to just the average decks put out nowadays.

If you have any questions, please feel free to post them now below, send me a personal message, or contact the company adviser directly at this email address: shingkai (dot) chia (at) gateway-e (dot) com

[Don Boyer]

So, despite the markings on the box indicating simply "Air Cushion Finish", these are probably Magic Finish since that's been the default for custom decks for a number of months now.  Could you check?  Use the "smell test" - Magic Finish has a distinctly different scent from the standard USPC finish.

[KPopFever605]

You may be correct Don. I sniffed (HAHA) the deck, and found that it smelled different from my Mandolin deck, which says is printed with ACF.

[Don Boyer]

You may be correct Don. I sniffed (HAHA) the deck, and found that it smelled different from my Mandolin deck, which says is printed with ACF.

Yeah, as I thought - Magic Finish!

When it comes to USPC's "standards", even ones like the Mandolin Back, they generally use the standard finish under various brands.  But it's not so cut-and-dried for custom work.  A custom deck can use any finish name the creator wants (and USPC doesn't object to) regardless of what the actual finish is.  In this case, "Air Cushion" wasn't the standard finish, just the name the makers of this deck felt like using, probably for its familiarity.

The original deck was made available to audience members of the live Vision performance in Singapore, so they stuck with keeping many of the elements familiar to non-collectors, non-magicians, non-flourishers, etc. - the "normal folks".  Apparently they kept this up for the other two releases as well.

I find it a little odd that the Vision name, made for a live performance that took place I think two years ago, still has new products being created for it, but I guess it's not that much different than people still making toys and costumes for a science-fiction TV show that aired in the US nearly fifty years ago, lasting only for three seasons...

[alex]

does anyone know when will these decks on sale? does the decks already printed?

[Don Boyer]

does anyone know when will these decks on sale? does the decks already printed?

Well, unless KPop there was sniffing a hallucination, I'd have to say yes, they've been printed... 

The projected release was by month's end.  The month ends tomorrow.  It's possible they're running a little late, or that they're coming out tomorrow.