Battle 20: Bicycle New Fan Back - D&D vs. Zenneth Kok.

[Don Boyer]

This is as simple as a confrontation gets - two IDENTICAL back designs, in different colors.

Zen Kok's Bicycle "Gold Seal" New Fan Backs get the name from the gold sticker seals applied to the tuck box lid.  Black and "white" (inverse black), with a matched set of gaffs - one has a blank facer, the other has a double backer with both colors, both have the "0 of hearts" card for performing certain romantic card routines. The deck uses an AoS design which is roughly a century old, straight from USPC's archives, and identical modern jokers.  5,000 black decks and 1,000 white decks made.  Classic-style box with standard tuck box stock and finish, while the cards are Air Cushion on Bicycle stock.

D&D's Bicycle New Fan Backs have a nearly identical appearance and come in navy blue and vintage red.  Modern AoS, modern jokers, no gaffs and a pair of D&D ad cards (they do have the deck backs on them, so the patient magician could alter them to be a double backer or, with extra cards, a pair of blank facers or any other other face.  For the faces, they did something unusual with the face coloring, specifically the reds: the blue deck has standard "Bicycle Red" while the red one has a darker, "casino" shade of red which matches well with the card back.  Box is matte finish and "vintage-style classic" with some gold-foil accents.  Print run size is unknown, as Dan and Dave rarely reveal this information - best guess would be somewhere in the range of 10,000 to 30,000 per color.  The stock for the cards is probably Bicycle, but you can tell by the smell that the finish is Magic Finish!

Voters who comment on their choice are entered in a random drawing for forum swag - see this topic for the rules.

[Soliloquy]

Ooh, I like the red fan back.

[Utterfool]

This is a difficult one for me as I am not a fan of the fan back.
The D$D decks have the benefit of being readily available, which as a card player is important for my use of cards beyond collecting.
I don't actually own the decks from Zenneth
But for a fan back the black actually looks pretty stylish however I don't feel the same about the white.
Still I guess I will cast my vote for the Zenneth decks as I wouldn't use a fan back for playing. So I will choose one that looks good on the wall.
It also isn't a D$D deck

[Don Boyer]

Ooh, I like the red fan back.

The red is nice, but why on Earth did they make the faces in a different color scheme from the blue deck?  I couldn't use them as a poker pair - my players would revolt.

This is a difficult one for me as I am not a fan of the fan back.
The D$D decks have the benefit of being readily available, which as a card player is important for my use of cards beyond collecting.
I don't actually own the decks from Zenneth
But for a fan back the black actually looks pretty stylish however I don't feel the same about the white.
Still I guess I will cast my vote for the Zenneth decks as I wouldn't use a fan back for playing. So I will choose one that looks good on the wall.
It also isn't a D$D deck

Zen Kok's decks are still available - they're not sold out.  The black typically sells for around $5 a pack, believe it or not, despite having the same rarity as decks like the Gold Arcane, Red Artifice, Black Ghost First Edition, etc.  The white deck's a different story - unless you catch a bundle deal during one of his semi-annual specials, those can sell for the high double-digits or more.  That's one of the most rare decks out there right now, with a print run of only 1,000 - more scarce than the White Centurions.

I like Zen's Ace of Spades better, I like that he includes useful gaff cards, I like that his faces are indeed the same between the two decks.  The D&D decks have a nicer box, but a box in my opinion is one of the least important criteria when choosing a pack of cards to buy and use.  If D&D had done the faces to be the same (preferably using the darker of the two reds), they might have edged out Zen's decks, but since they didn't, I'm for the Gold Seal New Fan Backs in black and white.

EDIT: three comments so far - and only two votes!  Utterfool, you're forgetting to vote in the poll at the top of the page - there's only one vote for the GS New Fan Backs and I just cast it myself.

[Nurul]

I love Zenneth Kok's new fan backs, I'm a sucker for the rarer decks. I don't own a white one, but man oh man, how I want too. I don't have the D&D versions which is manly why I voted for Zenneth Kok. But, personally, I think the tuck box and colour scheme for Zenneth Kok's fan backs stand out more.

[g-low]

That's a tough one. I love the traditional colours but the black and white looks really elegant.

[xela]

On the one hand, Zenneth modified the colors for his deck. On the other hand, D&D have done absolutely nothing.

Zenneth for me.

[KPopFever605]

I've always liked the remixed spin on standard cards, so Zenneth wins it for me.

[Don Boyer]

I love Zenneth Kok's new fan backs, I'm a sucker for the rarer decks. I don't own a white one, but man oh man, how I want too. I don't have the D&D versions which is manly why I voted for Zenneth Kok. But, personally, I think the tuck box and colour scheme for Zenneth Kok's fan backs stand out more.

He does specials for them maybe twice a year - you buy some kind of bundle, usually a black deck, a white deck and a trick or a shirt, and you'll get the white deck for a fraction of the normal cost.  It's all good stuff.  Often the combo is less than the purchase price of just a white deck by itself.

[BastianBJ]

I'm going with the D&D, just because I think it looks really nice in a fan in red. The blue is beautiful as well, but I'm mainly in it for the red.

I like the black and white too though.. the black got this mysterious thing to it, which I really enjoy

[Nurul]

I love Zenneth Kok's new fan backs, I'm a sucker for the rarer decks. I don't own a white one, but man oh man, how I want too. I don't have the D&D versions which is manly why I voted for Zenneth Kok. But, personally, I think the tuck box and colour scheme for Zenneth Kok's fan backs stand out more.

He does specials for them maybe twice a year - you buy some kind of bundle, usually a black deck, a white deck and a trick or a shirt, and you'll get the white deck for a fraction of the normal cost.  It's all good stuff.  Often the combo is less than the purchase price of just a white deck by itself.

Aw cool. I'll look out for that, thanks. I like his stuff, I recently purchased entwined hearts and love it

[Shade]

I'm have to back Zenneth all the way, he has designed some very eligant decks so far, hope he continues to produce these awesome decks. Doesn't hurt that they very limited.

I really like the D&D colors, but I hate they wasted a whole card on an add card.

[Don Boyer]

It's pretty clear who won this one - Zenneth Kok's NFBs by a landslide.

The comment winner is: brownmagician!

PM John about claiming your prize!

New contest in the works...
Bicycle Americana vs. Sultan Republic Treasury Ed.