Deck ONE v3 already???

[crazyfandecks]

v1 dont have place for nail, v2 have Roman No2 (II) so is this could be v3

[vmagic]

I think the answer is staring you in the face, look at the flap, it seems to have a roman numeral III on it.

[Utterfool]

Wouldn't that make this Deck THREE

[bhong]

Would you have any of the other versions to compare? I know V1 had the better tuckbox where the ink faded over time due to wear. V2 just had the box printed with the "wear" already on it. I'm honestly guessing it's something to do with the tuck or maybe they enlarged the box for thinner borders?

[Curt]

I don't have experience with the v2 version of this deck. I do however have the v1 sitting right infront of me. You are correct saying that there is no cut out on the tuck in the v1, no numerals to be found.

[Paul Carpenter]

mine has a "II" on the tuck flap, so clearly they are continuing to print this deck and are subtly marking the runs.

[Ben Taylor]

V3 has been out since at least May of 2013, possibly earlier. Like Paul said, it may just be the third print run with no real differences in the deck from v2.

[Don Boyer]

v1 dont have place for nail, v2 have Roman No2 (II) so is this could be v3

The picture isn't loading on my browser - is it broken?

BTW: that's not a Roman two - it's an 11, as in Theory11...

Ladies and gentlemen - it is NOT a version 3!!

Not long ago, Theory11 got the idea in its collective heads that they could sell more decks to people by putting the exact same deck into a new box that's been gussied up a bit, perhaps with embossing or something, and call it "version two".  It didn't take long for the collector community to get fed up with that bullcrap.  Combine that with their over-the-top hype campaigns and the natives started getting really restless.  It culminated in the release of the original "Monarchs" to a lot of yawns and statements of "B.F.D." after they'd been promoting it as the best deck of cards on Earth and throughout the solar system as well as to infinity and beyond.  It was, and is, a decent deck, but didn't even remotely live up to the hype - because frankly, nothing could.  The swap-out of the gold metallic ink on the backs for white didn't exactly earn them any brownie points, either.  People were pissed, and they made their anger known.

Someone, somewhere within Theory11 had an epiphany and realized that maybe it isn't such a great idea to announce every piddling little upgrade at maximum volume through the horns that took down the walls at Jericho.  They started making quiet re-releases, new printings with minor tweaks in them, starting with either the thinner borders on the Monarchs or the improved finish on the Sentinels - I forget which came first.  Hype campaigns were no longer run with the volume dialed to 11 and were curtailed in length, reducing the tease factor to a more tolerable level.  Many little upgrades have been taking place throughout the product line as old print runs sell out and new ones are ordered - but there's not been one breath of "new, improved version X" anywhere.

And that's exactly what you have here.  An incremental change, nothing more - a new printing, perhaps, but not a new version.

[Anthony]

Very well put Don.

This was, and still is to some extent, one of my biggest pet peeves about the industry, and I know I used to make members crazy on this board with these types of questions.

So for information sake, here are the two "Incarnations" of Deck One. The "Three Dots" was the original printing and the "Roman Numeral 11" was printed after the 1st one ran out, lol.

[crazyfandecks]

so strange because my img disappeared. here is the reloaded

[jwats01]

So based on what Don and Tony are saying, seems like this may just be the 3rd printing of the original, versus the 3rd version with changes. Very interesting, these details.

[Don Boyer]

So based on what Don and Tony are saying, seems like this may just be the 3rd printing of the original, versus the 3rd version with changes. Very interesting, these details.

Actually, there was the first printing, considered "version 1".  Then there was a second printing with notable changes to the box - the thumbnail cutout for lifting the flap, the "II" on the flap, but most noteworthy was that they changed the box's finish.  The originals had an interesting way of wearing, so the shiny faux-metallic box actually looked like it was developing a natural patina with handling, so for this printing, announced as "version 2", they made the boxes "pre-patina'ed", giving them a broken-in look from day one (like most jeans sold today).

What Crazyfandecks was alerting us to was the fact that there appears to have been a new printing - it could be the third, it could be the thirtieth, I don't know - that has some minor changes to the first "version 2" boxes to hit the market.  Theory11 is simply selling them as "version 2" as the changes are really that minor and they've learned what happens when you call a minor packaging tweak a "new version".

Throughout all three versions, the cards are UNCHANGED.  Same lovely, "1984-esque" deck...