btw the card list i have so far is....:Bicycle Poker Size Standard Index Playing Cards, 12 Deck Player's Pack
2)Theory11 Monarch Playing Cards, Silver, 3.5 X 2.5-Inch
3)The Blue Gaff Deck - Over 40 Magic Tricks Can Be Performed with This Deck
4)Bicycle Archangels Playing Cards
5)Bicycle Guardians Playing Cards
6)Theory11 Monarch Playing Cards (Black, 3.5 x 2.5-Inch)
7)Rounders Playing Cards Deck by Daniel Madison and Ellusionist [Black Backs]
White Rounders Playing Cards Deck by Daniel Madison and Ellusionist
all of these are there exact names on amazon if you care to check them out
my questions: are nb 4 and 5 worth it? or can i find better. if so tell me about better cards
is the gaff deck worth it (not a big magician) i just love manipulating card movements
should i get two monarchs?
also what are some nice borderless cards (i want atleast 1 in my collection).
also i am thinking of getting the jaqk theory 11. is it worth it
pls feel free to recommend cards for me to buy.
thanks
Sorry to hear the shipping is so costly.
Well, you read what Anthony said, I hope? Gaff cards are only good if you have a decent knowledge of sleight-of-hand to start with, with only a few rare exceptions. A better deck, if you're interested in starting to learn some magic, would be a "stripper deck", sometimes called a miracle deck or a Wizard deck. It's one of the basic decks all beginner magicians experiment with because it allows you to accomplish feats of magic with ease that would normally require years of skill. There's also many books and DVDs on the topic of using stripper decks. Buy one in the Bicycle deck design - they're easy to find and inexpensive without being inferior quality. A pack will cost about $7, give or take.
You need not include the measurements of your decks. In the US and most of the world, a standard deck, sometimes called a poker deck or a wide deck, is 2.5 inches wide by 3.5 inches tall. It's the most common size. Next most common is called bridge deck, or a narrow deck, is 2.25 inches wide and the same height. The narrow cards make games like bridge easier - you have to hold 13 cards in your hands at once in bridge. Anyone with small hands may prefer bridge decks as well. The overwhelming majority of collectible playing cards are poker decks.
Silver and Black Monarchs are nice cards - a simple design, using standard faces, though recolored and if I'm not mistaken with some metallic inks as well. They're still available at original retail, not being rare or limited edition decks. Theory11 not only makes the Monarchs, they also make the Guardians and the Archangels as well. I personally like the Guardians because they used a really nice color scheme for the faces and the backs are reminiscent of the standard Bicycle deck (often called the Rider Back deck because that's the name of the back design) but are more bold looking. The only caveat I could offer regarding Guardians and Archangels is that they use imagery from Christianity, and I have no idea how well or poorly Christianity is received where you live - so bear that in mind.
There's a number of borderless deck designs you could try, but before you go getting all the exotic decks, try getting some Bee decks in their most basic design, the Diamond Back. It's the most commonly available design of the Bee deck and can be found in ordinary shops like grocery stores and pharmacies - any place that sells a lot of consumer goods has a fair chance of having some in stock. What I personally like about the design is that when you spread the cards in a fan, the cards create an effect that's almost like an optical illusion - you have a harder time knowing where one card ends and another card begins! That, and they're cheaper than custom decks. Some cardists like practicing with them because of the thicker paper stock used, but for actual performances they're not as impressive looking exactly because of that optical illusion effect I mentioned.
A deck you haven't mentioned but might wish to consider is the basic Tally Ho deck. It comes in red and blue, and in two different back designs, the Circle Back and the Fan Back. Many magicians like the Circle Back because they feel the design is more attractive - but another reason might be that there's a hidden one-way mark in the design, making them very useful for certain types of magic. Either design, however, is very good for cardistry - they're the preferred deck of many cardists. The only thing about Tally Ho decks that make them hard to find is that USPC considers it a "regional" deck, meaning they only sell it in a certain part of the country. The region is within the borders of New York City - and that's it! You can also find them at magic shops and retailers that specialize in playing cards, but you won't find them at any other kind of retail store outside of New York, not even in the suburbs of New York. They're reasonably priced - in fact, compared to most collectible decks, they're downright cheap. But the stock and finish combination make them the most popular go-to deck for cardists, and a number of magicians both well-known and unknown are fond of using them as well.
You have to remember one thing about EVERYTHING I just said above. This is strictly my own opinion. There's not a single hard fact about what cards you should and shouldn't buy - anyone who says otherwise is lying to you! You might agree with me completely, or you might think my preferences are ridiculous and you hate what I've chosen or suggested. Odds are, you'll feel somewhere in between the two extremes.
Evaluate cards for yourself. Get opinions, sure, but make some of your own while you're at it.
Oh, and about that brick of Bicycle decks you want (a box of a dozen decks is called a brick in industry terminology)... Depending on where you buy them - what store and what part of the country - they could end up being as little as $1.25 per deck by the dozen, or even $3 or $4 each, or more. (In other words, it will consume much of your budget.) In New York, a single pack of Bicycles in most stores will retail for over $4 a pack and there's no discount for buying a dozen. To get them cheap, go to more rural areas of the country and go to "big box" stores like Wal-Mart, Target, K-Mart, etc. A members-only store like Costco or Sam's Club will also offer a brick of Bicycles at a very discounted price - but you have to purchase a membership before you can go shopping in such stores. See if anyone you're visiting has a membership and perhaps they'll take you shopping.
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