talkmagic.co.uk

Hi All,

As part of my 'coming back to magic' - i've kitted myself out with a few packs of blue and red bicycle decks. Firstly, I can't believe how good these cards are, and how good they are to manipulate.

Anyway, I've searched through and couldn't seem to find any discussion on this already, but I apologise if it has already been a thread - but what do you do with that annoying sticker sealing the pack?!

My first deck, I carefully removed it - but now I have a stick card case. The second, I just cut with knife, but the sticky edges catch on the cards!

Any tips?

Thanks!

I cut mine.The annoying edges have their uses, as they can be used to retain a card in the box.
You can get replacement seals by the way, I believe that cards for magic has them, but thay may not advertise the fact.

Remove it carefully and use a bit of diluted washing up liquid to gently remove the remaining glue. Sugical Spirit will remove it as well. The question then arises - what do you do with the stickers? Sadly, I've saved most of mine in case I need to show a 'sealed and unopened' deck!

Cards4magic sell the seals and brand new tuck boxes if you ever need them.

Another way is to insert the blade of a knife btween the flap and the box and cut through the sticker. You will find that a small amount of sticker shows above the half-moon: this is the bit that sticks. Just press it down so that it sticks to the inside of the box.

Mandrake wrote:Cards4magic sell the seals and brand new tuck boxes if you ever need them.

The seals arent the offical USPCC ones, just a copy, called the US card company, something different.


Cyas

Mark

And I thought that it was only me that was particular about this!

Like Alan Jackson, I cut with a sharp knife but I then cut down the middle of the sticky bit of the sticker, cutting towards the box. I then find that this pushes down more easily to stick to the inside of the box and I've never had any problems with cards sticking in the box.

The Last Deck on the Left wrote:My first deck, I carefully removed it - but now I have a stick card case. The second, I just cut with knife, but the sticky edges catch on the cards!

Try putting a bit of talcum power on the sticky surface that will remove the tackyness.

When opening a box, run your fingernail along the edge of the half-moon. That way the sticker sticks to the flap of the box.
Also means you don't need a knife - useful when opening a new box in performance.

Also avoids taking a tin of talc onto stage with you...

I put my thumb over the semi-circle cut from the box and gently rip the sticker from one end. I find that, if you keep your thumb pressed down, the sticker will tear fairly neatly, following the semi-circle and stick to the flap of the box, as saxmad said.

This won't work on stage, but...

I boil my kettle, then press the sticker against it for half a minute or so. The glue becomes runnier then it's really easy to peel it off. That way, you can keep the sticker if needs be, and I find that the box itself isn't sticky either.

How anal are we...

Does nobody do a routine where the sticker is left on the box to 'prove' that the deck is untouched?

saxmad wrote:Also avoids taking a tin of talc onto stage with you...

Who said anything about taking a tin of talc on stage !!!!!!!

A little off the subject, but: I like just opening the bottom of the box, and the bottom of the cellophane with a razor blade. There are a number of ways you can return everything to "normal unoppened appearance". glue works, and so far, nobody ever looks at the bottom of the box. (part of that could also be because we never say: "behold a freshly purchased, and never opened package of cards) Another nice set up is to ask the host at a party if she has a deck of cards. Then either switch 'em, or just secretly arrange for her to hand you the pack to begin with (of course you have to know her well enough to trust her and have copies of her "fat" pictures to blackmail her with just to make sure

Just having them handed to you is more likely to work here in the UK as us magicians tend to use bikes, which are vertually unknown outside of the magical fraternity, so the chances of being able to switch a deck unnoticed are pretty much nil.

Nice idea though, I really wish more people here would start using bikes!

Try to buy surgical blades; various pharmacies have them. You don't need the entire scalpel, just the blade. This cuts cleaner, and this pretty much takes care of the sticky leftover and any loose ends.