talkmagic.co.uk

I understand the point made by both you and Gunnar, but I have to respectfully disagree.

Hey, that's not a problem and is what TM is based upon - good debate and being able to put forward a different opinion

I personally never use gaffed cards of any sort

I don't think that I mentionned using gaffed cards - just different back designs and colours and whether this alone gave the impression to the lay person that the deck may be gimmicked in some way.

trick decks used to be advertized in the US on television. I am not sure about the rest of the world but when I was a kid I remember seeing adverts for "TV Magic Cards" (a Svengali deck).

I've never in my life seen a trick deck of any sort advertised for sale on a TV advert in the UK but this may account for some suspicion in the US - I don't know...

but can you be certain that they may not attribute the amazing effects to the cards themselves and not the magician's skill?

No. In fact some people are just naturally suspicious of everything, even coins, notes, fruit, rope any ANY other think that you care to do magic with.

Many of the USPCC branded cards are understood by us Europeans to be very familiar to the majority of Americans who can spot a Bike, from A Tally from an Aviator etc. Most Brits don't know one from the other and are perhaps just more trusting. It should be remembered that many lap people wouldn't even consider that a gaffed deck is gaffed and trust that it's normal and that even logically thinking, the magic MUST have happened by sleight and misdirection. That's why they all shoult 'DO IT AGAIN' immediately afterwards so they can try to catch you

I've used a gaff deck or two in my time, such as a Svengali deck and people have asked afterwards "is it a trick deck"? I always reply "NO" and then riffle the cards to show them as all being different faces and people jut say "oh", believe you and scratch their heads and try to think of another explanation. I'm very sure that Mr Lewis who is the expert on the Svengali will have had similar experiences.

My point is that I do agree that you will always get the occasional spec who will be suspicious of everything but in the whole, the majority of specs just aren't suspicious of colour and design any more.

Anyway - back to the Masters deck.

I've been using mine for a couple of weeks and have to agree that they are wearing rather well in comparrison to regular Bikes but I'm sorry to say that other than this the're not much else to write home about.

The bar code on the side of the deck is rahter passe and I doubt that many will use this to good effect. It's more 'street' magic in my opinion and more than anything else, I think using it WOULD put the heat on the cards.

To be honest, not that fussed at all. I would rather have two decks for the same money to work with.

i do quite like them, got some the other day out of curiosity...the barcode thing could be used if you're talking to the spectator about subliminal influencing and things of that nature...

they feel slightly fatter or thicker to me, what's the word im looking for to describe them all...meh....that's it i think...meh...not bad...

I would like to buy the new masters deck as well, but my dad won't let me buy anything (he says I can only save for a ps3!)

GUTTED!

I recently bough a 12 pack poker masters deck and I'm reading here some posts about 'the barcode stuff'... am I losing something?

My decks usually last me about 3-5 days...These have lasted me about a month now with 50+ hours of use (probably a lot more but since I also use my Tallies I won't over-estimate)...They still fan practically like new, the only thing is that they are "thicker" because the cards are slightly bent.

Get these, you will saving tons of money using them.

Also, I use these more than my Tallies and have gone through two packs of them and am on my third, the Master Bikes are still on pack number one. Keep in mind, they have been used more than the Tallies.

~David


Edit:

As far as the bar code goes, take a regular pack of bikes, switch the Aces and then the boxes and you're all set to make them look 100% normal keeping their "Masterness" for only you to know about.

~David

Ordered a brick of these today. Considering ive been using my first deck for a long time, and i still have 2 more from my first order unopened, and the one i got from the Indecent contest, they should last me pretty much all year!

I dont see how these can be mistaken for gimmick cards. They look completely normal! Ive started using these as my regular performing deck as i think they will last longer than just one night performing! Or even if they dont, at least i'll feel good using them for that one night!

i do like them
the box, the spade etc
and i dont think anyone should think that they are anything but normal ( here in the uk anyway)
my only bug, is that on the ellusionist site, they bang on about how this is the deck to beat all others, perfect quality etc....
yet i do seem to have a few of centre printed backs, and ace of spades
to be honest, it doesnt bother me that much, as I'm sure no one else will spot them
i just think if your paying more money for "the finest deck", surely that would be one of the first problems to solve?