The Gnostic deck is here!:
http://eepurl.com/Y-qi1Here's a great review...
Blurb
The new and elaborate Gnostic deck features an elegant motif designed with the mystery performer in mind. The design is both classical and mystical and features many built in secrets.
Featuring one of the most elaborate boxes of all time with an extravagant display of foil throughout the inside of the box, in addition to the creative and eye opening use of metallic inks.
Review
Ok, I’m not really one for using or collecting the newest custom decks that pop up what seems like each week for a few reasons. First, I don’t do a tonne card stuff nowadays; Second, I abuse my decks, so a nice custom deck will get trashed pretty quick; and Third, I’m honestly happy with a deck of Bikes or Aladdins (the common deck here in Singapore) for all of my magic.
All that being said, the Gnostic Deck (designed by my good friend and Hong Kong based Mentalist/Magician, Stuart Palm) has quickly become my deck of choice for practicing, performing, and just wandering about keeping my hands busy with something. I might be a bit biased in this instance as Stuart is a good friend of mine, but I was honestly quite sceptical when he showed me the designs of this deck. I like simple back designs (e.g. Jerry’s, Wynns, or something with intricate but not terribly complicated artwork like Tally’s, Bikes, Arrcos, or Aladdins), so when Stuart showed me the designs on the computer, I was honestly not that interested. It has a lot of illustrations with symbolic images and some other bits and pieces that didn’t pique my interest at the time. The one thing I remembered was the ridiculously thin white border on these things (2mm!). However, my curmudgeonty indifference about this deck changed the minute I saw the finished product. WOW, these things are amazing!
The cards were printed by fellow Hong Kong based magician, Lawrence Sullivan, and the Legends Playing Card Company. Lawrence is a genius when it comes to playing cards. Toying around with how the amount of ink on the card affects the handling (I never knew it did), and creating stunning decks in the process (e.g. the Legends Deck, also available from the CARC). The Gnostics have a buttery smooth feel straight out of the box, and the borders really work with the intricate, Persian carpet-like design. The Red & Gold and the Rose Gold & Black decks have been printed with this amazing coppery coloured (Rose Gold) metallic ink that is like nothing I’ve seen before on a card.
Personally, I am not a big fan of the two gold decks as I feel that the design gets lost, as opposed to the Blue deck which has the artwork printed in white ink. The back design itself is really amazing. Stuart was working on this for a very, very long time and the effort that has been put into the design really shows. The back design is reminiscent of the Tally Ho Fan Back, with circles being connected by straight bars.
The box was the next thing that struck me. This thing is as tough as a tuck case gets. Stuart wanted a tuck case that would hopefully avoid the common problem in Hong Kong of disintegrating in your pocket. So, the Gnostic tuck case is extra thick, and it is lined with gold foil that glimmers *cough* HINT *cough* when exposed to light. The card stock on which they are printed is exclusive to the LPCC. It has been chosen to withstand the heat and humidity of Hong Kong, and they do hold up very well! I recently moved to Singapore from Hong Kong, so I need cards that can hold their own against the warm and moist conditions of outside. The Gnostics actually hold up better in Singapore than the Aladdins , which were printed by the USPCC specifically for Singapore’s climate. The faces are fairly standard as card faces go, with the exception of the court cards (of which there are a couple of custom faces of Stuart and Lawrence) which have the Rose Gold ink printed in place of the more traditional yellow. This gives the court cards in the Gnostic deck a more elegant and subtle look to them than is seen in other decks.
Within the back design and the box of the Gnostics, Stuart has placed a few little hidden images that can be used to great effect during a performance. As this deck has been tailored to the “Mystery Performer”, some of these hidden images may be familiar, and some may be completely new to you. All the details of the cards are pointed out and explained along with a handful of very good routines in The Gnostic Deck Guide, which is available in The Mystery Shop area of
www.StuartPalm.com (the Mystery Shop is password protected). Stuart is also selling Forcing, Invisible, and Tossed Out versions of the Gnostic Deck; with the latter two each coming with an e-book that includes performance/handling tips for the respective deck.
I am going to try and stop waxing lyrical about the Gnostics as much as possible and just say this. The Gnostics are never going to replace my Bikes and Aladdins for every day usage, mainly because I have gaffs that don’t match the Gnostics, and the Gnostics being a little bit too elaborate and/or (for the lack of a better term) “fancy” for my performance style. But they are my go to practice deck, and if I do a show from here on out that is a little bit more refined (e.g. a dinner club or upscale restaurant) I will definitely be using the Gnostics. Also, the price is a little high for me for a normal deck of cards that I would use regularly (i.e. would need to buy many of them), but it is definitely justified given the amount of time, effort, blood, sweat, and tears (well, maybe not the last two) that have gone into making this deck a reality.
In short, if you have a refined, elegant performing style: the Gnostics will suit you. If you are a mystery performer: you’ll love the “hidden elements” to the design. If you are a hardcore card guy with a pet move monkey: you’ll love the feel and finish of these cards. If you like to collect decks of cards like ornamental scarab beetles: you’ll love the design of the cards and the box (you won’t be needing a Lucite case to protect these). If you are a person (like me) who does more spontaneous magic, i.e. street style, the Gnostics might not be the deck for you as a performer, but you should pick up a deck anyway to practice with because they feel awesome and will last for ages! Only 1000 of each colour have been printed, so if any of what I said made you even vaguely interested, I highly suggest you go and pick up a deck before they go.
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