School of Cardistry Deck

[Siegismyname]

Hey all,

I noticed this deck has fallen off the radar. They are brought to you by the same people who brought you the Cardistry of South East Asia (CoSEA) deck(which is sold out). This deck features something that is not commonly seen in the market. You guys can see what it is for yourself.

Text from their Facebook page:

"The School of Cardistry deck is completely hand-drawn by our artist, with inspirations from classic playing card back designs."

""What are those cards?"
We've probably been asked that question over a hundred times now and it's about time we talked. The cards that have been featured in our recent School of Cardistry tutorials, and some Cardistry videos involving Jaspas, is the School of Cardistry deck.
The School of Cardistry deck is our sincere effort in creating a deck 100% dedicated to the Cardistry community. With backs and faces that were designed to complement your performances, this deck is created to give your flourishes that extra edge."

I personally think this is a bold move that would bring the definition of playing cards to another level. They are also "safe" for you to bring to places where playing cards are not allowed, for fear of gambling(which I do not understand the stereotype), to practise all your moves and flourishes.

For now, here is a video of the deck in action by Singapore's Claudia Seow (https://www.youtube.com/user/Chinchillas96):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ni4VdUKqgAg

They are actually not on sale yet, but via the special link below, you can grab some for yourself before the official release. But that is if you can solve the password first
http://thenewdeckorder.com/2014/12/26/dibs/

What are your thoughts?

[Don Boyer]

What are your thoughts?

...that the photography is blurry and incomplete?

Don't ask people to evaluate a deck or its design when there's almost nothing to see!  You might as well put a fruit in a sealed box and ask me to identify it by taste!

[Siegismyname]

The photo are meant to be blurry and incomplete(I suppose) as they are teasers that the New Deck Order(NDO) put out. But he deck can be seen in its full form in the videos I suppose.

[Don Boyer]

The photo are meant to be blurry and incomplete(I suppose) as they are teasers that the New Deck Order(NDO) put out. But he deck can be seen in its full form in the videos I suppose.

Actually, no, you can't see them.  The cards are shot from too far away and move too quickly for even a semi-solid glimpse at them.  Worse, it looks like the faces of all of the cards are identical, devoid of value and suit.  That might be a deck of cards, but they aren't playing cards if that's the case.  At that point, why bother?  Save yourself the cash and buy a box of index cards...

I'm sorry, but at this stage of the game, teasers like these are insipid and irritating to the potential customer.  Either show the goods or stop wasting my time.  Hey, 2010 called - it wants its promotional campaign back!

One could get away with that kind of blurry teaser shot campaign a few years ago, when deck releases were few and far enough between that most of them were something at least a little bit special.  Now, new decks are practically falling from the sky, courtesy of Kickstarter and easy access to graphic arts tools - many will suck, sure, but enough will be of at least passing interest.  This means that playing coy about deck releases with out-of-focus photos that reveal nothing more meaningful than "it's a deck" are more likely to generate a shrug as the customer you just lost moves on to the next ad campaign, the one where they're serious about their deck and actually let you see what the hell it looks like.  This "my cards are too shy to be out in public" crap is so out-of-touch with the current marketplace as to be completely clueless.  If I was selling a deck today and my marketing people suggested this "concept" to me, I'd personally kick their asses to the curb so hard, they'd be tasting shit and shoe polish for weeks.

[HolyJJ]

I must confess that like Don, even I'm not a fan of teasers which show virtually nothing of the deck in question.

The most that can be commented on is the photoshop technique used to blur out the deck in photos, or the angles used in any video trailer which conceals the details of the cards.

I'll reserve my judgement until a proper photo or video is released which shows the details.

[Fess]

I don't mind teasers, but these are worse than normal. I seriously can't see much at all. Can't make heads of tails of the deck so I'll save my opinion for later.

[PurpleIce]

I don't know the guys at NDO personally and i gotta admit their marketing is not the best. I have seen this long ago, and they have been teasing it for quite some time. I just don't post stuff that are not super exciting or without a launch date.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y--mKMSKSoM

However, you can probably see from the video above that this pack of cards does not seem like a normal deck. Probably just a deck for cardistry usage, same function as a deck of banshees for practicing throwing cards. We will only know more when we actually get better photos or a proper launch though.

[Don Boyer]

The most ridiculous part of this whole thing is that the cards do appear to be "out in the wild", whether sold at retail or handed out to a select few.  And yet we have no clear photography - not even digital mockups - of what these cards look like.  Are they hiding something?

People who go through this much trouble to conceal a product until the last moment are often afraid that the product itself just won't cut it.  It's like when upcoming movies get screened in advance for the press to write and publish reviews on opening day - if the studio lacks confidence in the film, they'll often let it open with no advance press screening, in much the same way as we're not seeing any clear images of this deck.

If what they are hiding is that these are identically-faced cards, they'll be of no interest to anyone except hardcore card collectors and cardists.  In other words, something like 0.00002% of the world's population would be interested in them while the remaining 99.99998% of them go through life for the most part blissfully unaware that these things even exists.  Strip away the "playing" from the cards and you've stripped away people's interest.

A deck of playing cards can be used to play literally thousands of games as well as providing other means of distraction, while an all-identical deck can be used for cardistry...as a very expensive note pad...as a costly means by which to mark a trail in the woods...as an object to throw at someone's head to wake them up while not doing too much damage...as a pre-folded version of paper origami swans...as a highly-impractical ear wax remover and toothpick (but not both at the same time with the same card, naturally)...as a lovely wall decoration on a display shelf alongside other, real playing cards, all similarly sealed and kept in a climate-controlled room with no direct sunlight...and perhaps a handful of other uses that less-costly items already do just as well if not better.

[Nurul]

In all fairness, you can see them in the video pretty clearly, you know you have the ability to pause right? :p
here's some screenshots for you taken from the video, no zoom, hasn't been supersized or anything.

[Fess]

Once again, I'm guilty of not watching any videos. So I did just that. I didn't see any courts or number cards. The cardistry done in the videos was fantastic. I enjoyed that very much. This deck won't be for me though, I like to be able to play games with my cards as well as attempt my fail cardistry. The deck did look great.

[Siegismyname]

In all fairness, you can see them in the video pretty clearly, you know you have the ability to pause right? :p
here's some screenshots for you taken from the video, no zoom, hasn't been supersized or anything.

Exactly

Here are some clearer pictures that I found of the faces and the backs.

I also don't understand the angst. When people try to push the boundaries you people criticize. When people use "clip art" style or lazy designing u guys complain as well. Each company also have their own way of teasing and marketing their own product. I was only sharing what I can find from the net.

However, you can probably see from the video above that this pack of cards does not seem like a normal deck. Probably just a deck for cardistry usage, same function as a deck of banshees for practicing throwing cards. We will only know more when we actually get better photos or a proper launch though.

Indeed they are only used for cardistry and not card games.

[Don Boyer]

In all fairness, you can see them in the video pretty clearly, you know you have the ability to pause right? :p
here's some screenshots for you taken from the video, no zoom, hasn't been supersized or anything.

If you call that card back "pretty clear," you're overdue to see an eye doctor...

At least you appear to have confirmed that this ISN'T a deck of playing cards after all.  I'm going to move the topic to the Magical Cardistry Bonanza.  If we later learn that the cards are suited and have values in those suits, I'll move it back.  If we cover this in the Plethora, we might as well cover UNO and Rook...

[Nurul]

In all fairness, you can see them in the video pretty clearly, you know you have the ability to pause right? :p
here's some screenshots for you taken from the video, no zoom, hasn't been supersized or anything.

If you call that card back "pretty clear," you're overdue to see an eye doctor...

At least you appear to have confirmed that this ISN'T a deck of playing cards after all.  I'm going to move the topic to the Magical Cardistry Bonanza.  If we later learn that the cards are suited and have values in those suits, I'll move it back.  If we cover this in the Plethora, we might as well cover UNO and Rook...

Don, it's clear enough to make out the design. Last time I checked, I believe you wore glasses, not me 
And if it's not clear enough for yourself, then surely you can put two and two together and realise that that's the same back design as shown in the original post?
Or, as mentioned before, watch the video and pause if it's that much of a big deal.

[PurpleIce]

Ok guys, let's not argue about who has failing eyesight and check out the deck at their website.

It is confirmed it is for cardistry only.
52 non-standard playing cards, for the purpose of card flourishing only.

https://the-new-deck-order.myshopify.com/collections/all/products/the-school-of-cardistry-deck

[Don Boyer]

Ok guys, let's not argue about who has failing eyesight and check out the deck at their website.

It is confirmed it is for cardistry only.
52 non-standard playing cards, for the purpose of card flourishing only.

https://the-new-deck-order.myshopify.com/collections/all/products/the-school-of-cardistry-deck

Hence, the reason why it's in the Bonanza and not the Plethora.