Gatorback Riders from David Blaine

[Don Boyer]

I don't know if I'd call them numbers.  But I would call them a one-way mark in the design, unless it's repeated in the inverse.  The "50" is the "20" upside down, but the "20" has a tiny gap in the first symbol, making it look more like a "2", while that's missing from the "5" in "50".

Perhaps a detailed shot of the entire back would be in order?

[Rob Wright]

I assume you bought the brick (12 decks) and that the damage is only on a few of those decks? I totally understand wanting what you paid for. As an eBay seller, I also understand the frustration of knowing I took every procaution making sure an item is received by someone in the same condition I sent it. Only to have it damaged, by the shipping service. Where does the blame begin and how do we correct it. Does DB eat the cost for the shipping service or defective items from the manufacture? I feel your agony, but I think DB (store) did what they could. At least you don't have to spend money to buy the black deck, now that you know what they are. Your down a few decks but you save by not having to buy black. You get to review it.

I disagree. It would be easy for any store to have that view, but I take the opposite. If any part of your order reaches you damaged then who you purchased it from 95% of the time are to fault. If it was mishandled by the postal service, damage can still be prevented by quality packaging. It's impossible to prevent absolutely every little bit of damage, but they should have either kept stock aside to fulfil damaged decks or simply refunded him. That's what we would do.

I agree with Paul on this. I get that it's cool to get the black deck before anybody else, but I would be pissed if someone sent me a lesser quality product as a replacement. If it is properly packed, it would not come damaged. I received a package from KWP. The outside box was almost destroyed. I took pictures of the box before opening. I just knew everything would be a mess. I was wrong. Everything in the package was perfect. I guess that is the difference between a company run by a card enthusiast/lover, and someone that ships through Joe the fulfillment company. I've bought a lot of cards, and very few have been damaged. Every time  was due to subpar packaging.

[crazyfandecks]

bump up  :D , so Black Gator will come out at this weekend, not black friday, damn, with T11 bring back the WM, this weekend will not end well with my wallet

[Msp062]

The blacks look good, word is that the stock isn''t as good though. I am gonna buy a brick and find out.

[Card Player]

The blacks look good, word is that the stock isn''t as good though. I am gonna buy a brick and find out.

Oddly, The BLACK will cost slightly more then the green did. 2 decks for $16 & brick (12) for $80. I won't complain.  Blaine has always been fair to us!

[PurpleIce]

Black Gatorbacks for sale now:

http://shop.davidblaine.com/collections/cards

[runIt]

The blacks look good, word is that the stock isn''t as good though. I am gonna buy a brick and find out.

Oddly, The BLACK will cost slightly more then the green did. 2 decks for $16 & brick (12) for $80. I won't complain.  Blaine has always been fair to us!

Could be because of the stock. Saw DB's comment in Instagram that this is Bee stock.

[Don Boyer]

The blacks look good, word is that the stock isn''t as good though. I am gonna buy a brick and find out.

Oddly, The BLACK will cost slightly more then the green did. 2 decks for $16 & brick (12) for $80. I won't complain.  Blaine has always been fair to us!

Could be because of the stock. Saw DB's comment in Instagram that this is Bee stock.

I'm inclined to agree - the green ones didn't use "casino stock"; they're much softer than Bees.

[aldazar]

I actually really like how the greens feel!

So hey, I have a (dumb) question: How many different versions of gatorbacks are there? I know of the green and black... Any others? Red, for example?

[Card Player]

I actually really like how the greens feel!

So hey, I have a (dumb) question: How many different versions of gatorbacks are there? I know of the green and black... Any others? Red, for example?

Nothing official from Blaine other then GREEN & BLACK. Mark Stutzman posted a RED gatorback image but to the best of my knowledge, nothing has been mentioned about actual RED decks.

[Anthony]

I think the Black version and possibly in time, the Red version will be the "Readily" available decks, much like the Blue, Red and Black Label Lions. They seem to be following the same purchase model pricing wise as the others did.

The Greenback's look to be the "Rare" version, although who knows what the numbers are, they were just distributed in an unconventional manner, but as of the release of the Black deck, they are no longer listed on the DB site.

[Card Player]

My brick of Black Gatorback's arrived in the mail today. Be on the lookout!

[BiggerDee]

Mine is scheduled to arrive tomorrow! Very cool! I'd love to see some Stutzman card back designs as screen printed posters, like Jackson did with Federal 52.

[Card Player]

Mine is scheduled to arrive tomorrow! Very cool! I'd love to see some Stutzman card back designs as screen printed posters, like Jackson did with Federal 52.

That would be awesome. I own one of Jackson's prints. I'm going to hang it one day next to the Steven Kaufman and Shepard Fairey I own. I'd love to have a Stutzman back design print signed and numbered. Not much Stutzman signature stuff out there.

[aldazar]

Anyone had a chance to do a side-by-side comparison between the greens and the blacks yet?

[Don Boyer]

Anyone had a chance to do a side-by-side comparison between the greens and the blacks yet?

It's pretty simple, really.  The decks both have David's courts and standard faces and are pretty much identical except for the back color (naturally) and that the black deck has standard, non-metallic inks.

[aldazar]

Interesting... So stock, finish, etc is identical?

The fact that the blacks were a fair bit more expensive than the greens in spite of the lack of metallic inks is merely a function of the market/David Blaine's perception of the market? Or am I missing something here?

[Don Boyer]

Interesting... So stock, finish, etc is identical?

The fact that the blacks were a fair bit more expensive than the greens in spite of the lack of metallic inks is merely a function of the market/David Blaine's perception of the market? Or am I missing something here?

It's a function of "That's what he chose to charge."  Greens were only sold in bulk - I have little idea as to why, just guesses - while blacks were sold individually.  Many companies offer a discount for purchasing in larger amounts - Theory11 and Ellusionist have been doing it for some time now.

[aldazar]

The blacks look good, word is that the stock isn''t as good though. I am gonna buy a brick and find out.

Oddly, The BLACK will cost slightly more then the green did. 2 decks for $16 & brick (12) for $80. I won't complain.  Blaine has always been fair to us!

Could be because of the stock. Saw DB's comment in Instagram that this is Bee stock.

I'm inclined to agree - the green ones didn't use "casino stock"; they're much softer than Bees.

So the above turned out not to be the case then?

[Card Player]

Interesting... So stock, finish, etc is identical?

The fact that the blacks were a fair bit more expensive than the greens in spite of the lack of metallic inks is merely a function of the market/David Blaine's perception of the market? Or am I missing something here?

It's a function of "That's what he chose to charge."  Greens were only sold in bulk - I have little idea as to why, just guesses - while blacks were sold individually.  Many companies offer a discount for purchasing in larger amounts - Theory11 and Ellusionist have been doing it for some time now.

It is what it is... I agree. It's simply what Blaine wants to sell them for. I look at it like this, the price for the green gatorbacks were an early bird reward for all of us. You want the rest of the colors, now you pay the real price. The real price is fair enough.

[aldazar]

To be clear - I'm not complaining about the pricing or even the differential - I'm not one of those whiners - I conpletely respect the perogative of the owners to sell at a price of their choice and the power of the free market to determine if that price is "fair" and/or the success of the sale.

I'm just curious if there are any differences between the two decks other than color, that's all. The price difference indicated to me that there could be a difference, but it turns out I was wrong - oddly, the "superior" deck (ie metallic inked greens) were cheaper than the "inferior" deck (supposedly identical but for color and the lack of metallic ink). I'm not objecting to or complaining about it - Just curious!

[Card Player]

To be clear - I'm not complaining about the pricing or even the differential - I'm not one of those whiners - I conpletely respect the perogative of the owners to sell at a price of their choice and the power of the free market to determine if that price is "fair" and/or the success of the sale.

I'm just curious if there are any differences between the two decks other than color, that's all. The price difference indicated to me that there could be a difference, but it turns out I was wrong - oddly, the "superior" deck (ie metallic inked greens) were cheaper than the "inferior" deck (supposedly identical but for color and the lack of metallic ink). I'm not objecting to or complaining about it - Just curious!

Exactly, I understood where you were coming from. We were all curious. Especially since the decks were only a few weeks apart from each other.

Now that I think about it. The price could have to do with the fact DB used the black to replace damaged green. Some people who got black replacements did not feel they received an equal value. Now that the black sells for more then the green, it does help slightly in that regard. Intentionally done with that in mind, only DB and his team know.

[DJT]

I believe the black gatorbacks are bee stock(?), and the green are not. The description in the black mention high quality casino stock, the green does not.

Green: http://shop.davidblaine.com/products/metallic-green-gatorbacks

Black: http://shop.davidblaine.com/products/black-gatorbacks

Other not sure is there are other differences.

[Don Boyer]

I believe the black gatorbacks are bee stock(?), and the green are not. The description in the black mention high quality casino stock, the green does not.

Green: http://shop.davidblaine.com/products/metallic-green-gatorbacks

Black: http://shop.davidblaine.com/products/black-gatorbacks

Other not sure is there are other differences.

I'm agreed.  So, there are four differences between them.

- Green has metallic inks while black doesn't.
- Green has a lighter stock while black is more like Bee Casino.
- Black could be purchased individually while green could only be bought by the brick.
- The per-deck cost of green was cheaper than black.

[Card Player]

David posted this on his Instagram: "Red"

These will be my favorite of the Gatorbacks.