Slots Playing Cards
The SLOTS deck is the most recent addition to the Casino Range of marked decks with flip-book animation from Mechanic Industries. A slot machine is a popular staple at many casinos, and in depending on where in the world you live, is also called a fruit machine, poker machine, or one-armed bandit. Typically it has a screen displaying three or more reels that spin when it is activated, and this makes it perfectly suited to flipbook animation.
One fun idea about the tuck box is that you can cut out a slit in the top of the tuck box, and use this for depositing a coin (just like you might do with a slot machine), and incorporate this idea into your magic.
The icons on the tuck box immediately bring to mind the kinds of image you might expect to see on a slot machine, and give somewhat of a preview of what we'll see on the card backs. A clever ambigram of the word SLOTS in the center of the card backs ensures that the animation will work regardless of the orientation of the cards.
Riffling the card backs produces a delightful animation of the icons spinning round. Arrows the move up and down the borders help strengthen the visual effect. Head over to this Slots promo video over on the official Mechanics Industries YouTube channel to see how this looks in action. The changing backs also double up as a marking system that reveals the card values, and full information about how to read the card backs is provided in an instructional online video.
The pips have been slightly stylized for a unique touch. And in keeping with the color scheme of the rest of the deck, the Hearts and Diamonds employ a vibrant yellow instead of the usual red, and the result is rather effective, working well with the black of the Spades and Clubs.
The artwork on all the Aces has been given a boost with some extra lines, and the custom design of the Ace of Spades is particularly well done.
As we're used to by now from Mechanic Industries, the court cards are also of special interest, each having some distinctive touch to fit with the casino theme. As a result we have court characters clutching wads of cash, or tossing coins.
For the rest the card faces have a traditional look, to help keep the deck functional and practical for magic. Printing by USPCC on their crushed premium stock ensures quality looks and handling.
The folks at Mechanic Industries like coming up with unique routines for each of their decks, and most of their decks include creative Jokers that facilitate fun tricks. There are three Jokers with this deck, two of which depict their Grinder coin, and the third being blank except for the indices.
The final card included is an ad card with the link and password needed to access the free tutorial that is provided for owners of the Slots deck. It runs for over an hour, and contains a full explanation of everything you need to know in order to get the most out of this deck. This includes some strong magic tricks, and the "Jackpot" effect you'll learn is relatively easy to perform, but packs quite a punch.
Head over to the product page over at Mechanic Industries to learn more.
Author's note: I first published this review as part of a larger article at PlayingCardDecks.
