Greetings from Austin

[ddhburns]

Hello, everyone,

My name is Doug, my stage name is "Doug," and I prefer to be called "Doug," although my wife of 25 years could suggest some much livelier names... We've lived just outside of Austin, Texas for about 20 years, though I've lived a great many other places in the States.

I was given a deck of the Bicycle-branded "Silver Certificate" cards by a friend right when they came off Kickstarter. That was the most expensive present I've ever received, as I'm now hopeless hooked. I'm struggling to set some limits on what to collect, and learning a ton from everyone here. I've collected U.S. coins for, well, about 45 years now (eek!) - cards are so very beautiful and enjoyable to me that I'm considering selling parts of the coin collection to support the burgeoning card collection.

I don't do magic, cardistry, or anything creative with the cards other than marvel at them... I hope to master a few easy card tricks, and I'm starting to work on a few simple flourishes just to display these beautiful works of art. Looking forward to getting to know everyone!

Doug

[Don Boyer]

Hello, everyone,

My name is Doug, my stage name is "Doug," and I prefer to be called "Doug," although my wife of 25 years could suggest some much livelier names... We've lived just outside of Austin, Texas for about 20 years, though I've lived a great many other places in the States.

I was given a deck of the Bicycle-branded "Silver Certificate" cards by a friend right when they came off Kickstarter. That was the most expensive present I've ever received, as I'm now hopeless hooked. I'm struggling to set some limits on what to collect, and learning a ton from everyone here. I've collected U.S. coins for, well, about 45 years now (eek!) - cards are so very beautiful and enjoyable to me that I'm considering selling parts of the coin collection to support the burgeoning card collection.

I don't do magic, cardistry, or anything creative with the cards other than marvel at them... I hope to master a few easy card tricks, and I'm starting to work on a few simple flourishes just to display these beautiful works of art. Looking forward to getting to know everyone!

Doug

Hey, Doug, welcome to the tribe!  Don't be TOO quick to sell off the coin collection (see why below)...

Learn early on to be selective in what you collect.  This really is a luxury hobby and can consume a fair amount of space in your home if you aren't careful.  Most novice collectors, in the rush to get their collections off the ground, are quick to buy whatever they can find, only later realizing that some of the choices weren't really that great in the first place!  And would it surprise you to know that a fairly large percentage of playing card collectors are just like you, in that they aren't magicians or cardists?  Some never even play poker or other card games!  (For more on what a "cardist" is, do a little searching on the term "cardistry" both here and at Google.  The short answer is that cardistry is a magician's card flourishes minus the magic, but that's a gross simplification.)

I'm a novice magician with a lot of experience (if that makes any sense to you).  If you want a little help in getting a start, check out ellusionist.com.  As you may know by now, they sell magic as well as custom decks.  There's a series of DVDs by the company's owner/founder, Brad Christian.  These videos were the basis of my early magic education and cover performance as well as technique.  You can tell that they are a little on the older side, if by no other clue than Brad's use of black eyeliner!  If you look around, you can sometimes find them used at eBay but they are also available in package deals from Ellusionist where you can save a few bucks.

Another good find: Basic Card Technique, by Richard Kaufman.  His video style is a little bizarre and you can tell pretty quickly that it's a tad dated (the DVD was made in 2003 - from a 1997 VHS tape!), but the instruction and image quality are solid and it's something worth rewatching.

Finally, my personal "creme de la creme" and "favorite series I'm still working through" would be Michael Ammar's "Easy-to-Do Card Miracles" series - I think it's eleven volumes in total and he made a similar series on coin magic (see, you might need some of those coins you have!) as well as a few other categories.  Again, these are older DVDs copied from yet-older VHS tapes, but the teaching is VERY solid and image quality is sound.  There's one thing to bear in mind when buying them.  These discs were originally sold in standard "thick" DVD cases; after some years, in order to save weight, space and plastic, they were released in the newer "slimline" cases.  Get the OLDER ones whenever you can!  The thick cases were often packed with a simple prop or a gaffed card needed for one or two of the tricks on the DVD!  For example, I think Volume 1 comes with an "insurance policy" for a trick of the same name.  The props are common enough to find in a local magic shop or online, and in some cases you can create substitutes yourself (like that "insurance policy"), but why bother when you can get them for free?

If you want to pursue coin magic further, there's a fellow named Eric Jones who created a three-DVD series for Ellusionist called "Metal", and the cherry on the coin magic pie would be anything you can find by David Roth.  He's considered the best coin magician alive today and he's the Master in Residence at the Conjuring Arts Research Center (conjuring arts.org) in New York.  I've met the man a number of times and was lucky to attend one of his lectures.  It's hard to go wrong with Mr. Roth when it comes to top-notch coin work!

[ddhburns]

Wow, what a thoughtful response and incredible advice! I've looked at the Ellusionist videos enough to realize that every deck I own is a magical deck - when I attempt a trick or flourish with them, they magically expand to twice their normal size, turn into 104 cards, and defy space and time to instantly end up all over the floor. I'm pretty sure my hands shrink, too... I actually wanted to ask whether Forum members often buy indiscriminately those decks which are simply "rare?" Example: Club 808 is selling a "Perspective" deck which I find hideously ugly, but which I feel compelled to buy simply because it's likely to be hard to find in the future. Your thoughts? (And is there a place on the forum where it's better to ask this? I'm still learning my way around.) Thanks again for the VERY thorough welcome and reply!  - Doug

[Magasaki]

I feel you should only buy decks that you find attractive to you. Lots of decks are 'rare' more than you are likely to ever want to buy. So whilst it is nice to own something that is more limited, it means nothing if you don't like it yourself.

[Don Boyer]

Wow, what a thoughtful response and incredible advice! I've looked at the Ellusionist videos enough to realize that every deck I own is a magical deck - when I attempt a trick or flourish with them, they magically expand to twice their normal size, turn into 104 cards, and defy space and time to instantly end up all over the floor. I'm pretty sure my hands shrink, too... I actually wanted to ask whether Forum members often buy indiscriminately those decks which are simply "rare?" Example: Club 808 is selling a "Perspective" deck which I find hideously ugly, but which I feel compelled to buy simply because it's likely to be hard to find in the future. Your thoughts? (And is there a place on the forum where it's better to ask this? I'm still learning my way around.) Thanks again for the VERY thorough welcome and reply!  - Doug

Friends don't let friends buy ugly cards... 

I know the deck you're talking about.  It was the deciding factor for me to quit renewing my Club 808 membership.

This is something that's been discussed a lot among collectors.  Speculating on cards is not much difference than speculation on sports memorabilia or comic books.  When's the last time you saw someone put their kid though college with their comic book collection?

I make something rare and unique every day in my bathroom - and I don't see it getting any more valuable if I save it...  Yes, it's a coarse example, but it makes the point.

With vintage and antique decks, you're talking about known quantities.  Buy the right decks and perhaps they can put your kid through college (like perhaps a nice two-year college that's part of your local public university system).  But the odds are that if you're buying for "investment purposes," you're better off with the stock or commodities markets.  So even vintage deck buyers tend to lean towards decks that give them pleasure, not simply whatever's the rarest and most valuable.  Value will always change over time, but beauty is still beauty, year after year, century after century.

We have discussions like this on the Playing Card Plethora or a Cellar of Fine Vintages, though the Conversation Parlor's a good place as well - it's a topic that's not specifically about a particular deck but about cards in general, so it's not as easily categorized.