Playing card horror stories.

[MrMollusk]

I left my Whispering Imps deck in my car after a game of poker with my friends. My brother spilled water on it when he was getting a phone charger out, and this is the result. 







What's the worst way you've had a deck ruined, and what's the best deck you've trashed?

[Rob Wright]

Not a big loss, but a Majestic deck from Elite.
So playing poker with the kids(all over 18 by the way) My oldest just bent them all to hell trying to shuffle. Corners all messed up. 25 years old and can't shuffle worth a dam. It's more just him- doesn't care about/respect nothing. Breaks about everything he touches. The proverbial bull in a china shop. Don't even get me started on lawn mowers and weed whackers.

[Don Boyer]

Gave my stepson a Criss Angel magic kit a few days before buying some S&M v6 at aftermarket prices from Tannen's.  He grabs my hand for some silly reason, I go play with the deck, and I discover there's now red marks all over the edges of the cards.  (He grabbed my hand to perform a trick on me involving transferring lipstick to my hand but neglected to mention that it was a trick and failed to finish it, thus, it became a prank.)  I was not a happy collector...

Beyond that, I've been mostly fortunate.  There was that time I got a few damaged Blaine Variety Boxes, but that led to meeting David Blaine so I can't complain too hard about it!

[Fanofyankees13]

A few of my more egregious misdoings would be leaving a deck in the pocket of my jeans while doing laundry (though the clip was fine, the deck was absolutely obliterated), leaving a deck in the glove box of my car during the entire winter, and best yet, dropping a deck into a pot of boiling water as I was playing with cards while preparing dinner one night. Why it wasn't readily evident in the first place that practicing a one handed faro over a pot of boiling water was a bad idea I don't know, but the lesson was surely learned. Good thing it was only a standard bike. The deck eaten by the washing machine was a Tally, I believe, and I think it was a Monarch that froze in the glove box of my car. All things considered, not too terrible.

[52plusjoker]

Used to have a very nice South Shore of Mass. souvenir deck - worth well over $100. Left it on a low table when out for dinner. Our large Kuvasz [dog] had dinner while we were out.-  Oh well it was a nice deck!

[HeartQ]

What a fabulous coversation topic, who doesn't have a horror story?

Many years ago Tom and I were asked to lend a few decks to a group who were producing a film on playing cards. They wanted to photo them at their studio. Being protective of our collection we said a firm no. However with some persuasion we reluctantly agreed but only if they came to our house.

Long story but on the last day they reneged because some of their equipment couldn't be moved.

They begged and we allowed them to take the decks.

When they returned them, a card was missing!
 
An argument followed but they did cover the cost of the cards but those who collect know its not the money but the joy of owning a complete, mint and a very old deck..

A few months later we were contacted by the new head of the studio. She apologised for the mishap and told me that the person who we had dealt with had been fired for incompetence!

Duh!

[Don Boyer]

In this topic, you shall find a tale of woe - a young man living in a rural town in the Philippines watches helplessly as the area is hit by a relentless typhoon, dropping an entire month's worth of rain in a single day.  In addition to the great loss of life and the struggle to get back to some sense of normalcy, he also faced the disappointment of seeing that his entire deck collection, 74 packs in all, was destroyed in the flooding.  Not one deck was spared.

Alongside that tale of woe, however, is a tale of hope, a story of how people from all over the world, an assortment of deck makers and two very different collectors' forums joined forces to brighten the young man's life with the gift of playing cards - lots and lots of playing cards!

http://www.playingcardforum.com/playing-card-plethora/looking-for-help!-i-could-not-imagine-losing-my-collection/

[Slowhand]

I had one of my 'Finds of a Lifetime".. a Mint S-79 Cincinnati Souvenir deck... the seller started to take the deck out of the box to show me... The joker fell out, and instead of just letting it fall safely to the floor, He made a wild grab for it.... well...how do you say "Creased Joker"... A couple tears started to form in my eyes (as well as a few expletives in my head!)... But he knocked the price down to $75 from $100.... I lived with it... lol :-)

[MrMollusk]

There are some really interesting stories here! I got a Mystery Box deck soaked on a rafting trip a few weeks ago, but I didn't think it was a big deal.

[Rob Wright]

In this topic, you shall find a tale of woe - a young man living in a rural town in the Philippines watches helplessly as the area is hit by a relentless typhoon, dropping an entire month's worth of rain in a single day.  In addition to the great loss of life and the struggle to get back to some sense of normalcy, he also faced the disappointment of seeing that his entire deck collection, 74 packs in all, was destroyed in the flooding.  Not one deck was spared.

Alongside that tale of woe, however, is a tale of hope, a story of how people from all over the world, an assortment of deck makers and two very different collectors' forums joined forces to brighten the young man's life with the gift of playing cards - lots and lots of playing cards!

http://www.playingcardforum.com/playing-card-plethora/looking-for-help!-i-could-not-imagine-losing-my-collection/

Holy Cow! What a list of cards that where sent. Unbelievable the support from everybody. Amazed!

[Anthony]

Great and not so great stories...........I haven't had a horror story, yet, I'm sure in time, lol

In this topic, you shall find a tale of woe - a young man living in a rural town in the Philippines watches helplessly as the area is hit by a relentless typhoon, dropping an entire month's worth of rain in a single day.  In addition to the great loss of life and the struggle to get back to some sense of normalcy, he also faced the disappointment of seeing that his entire deck collection, 74 packs in all, was destroyed in the flooding.  Not one deck was spared.

Alongside that tale of woe, however, is a tale of hope, a story of how people from all over the world, an assortment of deck makers and two very different collectors' forums joined forces to brighten the young man's life with the gift of playing cards - lots and lots of playing cards!

http://www.playingcardforum.com/playing-card-plethora/looking-for-help!-i-could-not-imagine-losing-my-collection/

Read the entire thread and I'm speechless, kudos to eveyone who got involved. Amazing how everyone came together to show their support 

[D. Dorn]

The best deck I was glad to see ruined was an Ellusionist Shadow Masters.  I brought a few decks of my "Open to display and play" decks to a camp where I was a counselor for kids in the foster-care system. (troubled kids with crappy life stories)  I knew the decks would be played with, admired, and then given away.  One of the kids I had (out of 2) was a 12-yr old boy who was just getting into card magic tricks.

He flipped out over the Shadow Masters deck, and I quickly told him it was his.  He spent the whole week messing with the deck, and by the end, it was chipping along the edges, sticking together like glue, and the box was demolished.  He enjoyed the heck out of that deck.

I also gave away a Circle City Hornets deck, a Bike Blue Dragon-back, and a set of UNO cards.

I have since bought another deck of the Shadow Masters, and a card clip.  I may have a chance to see the kid again this weekend, and he will have a new deck to "ruin."  Can't wait to see his face.

[Don Boyer]

The best deck I was glad to see ruined was an Ellusionist Shadow Masters.  I brought a few decks of my "Open to display and play" decks to a camp where I was a counselor for kids in the foster-care system. (troubled kids with crappy life stories)  I knew the decks would be played with, admired, and then given away.  One of the kids I had (out of 2) was a 12-yr old boy who was just getting into card magic tricks.

He flipped out over the Shadow Masters deck, and I quickly told him it was his.  He spent the whole week messing with the deck, and by the end, it was chipping along the edges, sticking together like glue, and the box was demolished.  He enjoyed the heck out of that deck.

I also gave away a Circle City Hornets deck, a Bike Blue Dragon-back, and a set of UNO cards.

I have since bought another deck of the Shadow Masters, and a card clip.  I may have a chance to see the kid again this weekend, and he will have a new deck to "ruin."  Can't wait to see his face.

Hey, that's not a horror story...  darn...   

I perform once a month in a hospital, as many here know.  I always bring a bag packed with new, sealed decks, generally about 32 of them, plus my own magic decks and such.  The kids I perform for get a free deck, the one I used to perform for them.  They love it and so do the parents and the hospital staff.

It's fun, isn't it?