talkmagic.co.uk

I didn't really know whether or not to put this in as a review request, but seeing as its not specific to anything, more of a general question, I've shoved it here. Im sure if the all-powerful mods feel its in the wrong place, it won't last long!

Anyways, my question is, what are (in your own opinions obviously) the best cards in terms of quality AND longevity?
I personally prefer Bridge sized decks, but also practice with Poker size so that Im flexible with them. I have some fancy Bycicle decks (Ghost Deck and Karnivale Midnight Deck) that I use whenever I perform a trick for friends or at a party, but my main workhorses are Waddington No. 1's, a nice cheap but fairly good quality bridge sized deck.

Problem is, I put in a lot of practice and generally have a pack on me at all times just as something to do when Im bored, so I get through a pack of Waddies in about five days easily and have to open a fresh pack.

dont worry about it, they're just cards...use the ones you like best and can handle well...they're only a couple of quid, if you wear them out...bin 'em...

plastic coated cards feel and react differently though, so if you try them, have that in mind...

but really...meh...forget about it and buy more cards...its all common sense really, clean hands, a gentle touch and other slightly innunendo sounding phrases...

Haha, it may sounds strange, but dont you think there is strangely sad moment when you bin a pack of cards though? Maybe its just me!

Waddies are pretty inexpensive, and like I said, Im a bridge sized man, so they are a good workhorse deck for me.
I was just generally asking what other people use as a practice / performance card. As I said before, I do like my Karvival Midnight deck for showing off a trick, and the ghost deck will be getting alot of work this Halloween

The longevity of your cards obviously depends on what you're doing with them. Pressure fans and card springs will render them knackered sooner than just doing tricks with a DL.

I find Tallys are more robust, they seem to want to return to their original shape better than Bikes do, but like Iain says they're only a couple of quid. For the price of a packet of cigs you could get a couple of decks of Bikes which puts it into perspective for me.

And i never throw my decks away, i've got them all piled up. This is incase i need to try things like a Torn and Restored. I sometimes even retire decks early and set them up for things like Pearlman's Perfection deck.

Do you not find people think it's a trick deck when you're using special decks like Karnival or Ghost?

I find bicycle cards work best and as we are all aware only cost a couple of quid.

I also use cheap ones you can buy at the corner shop for any long damaging tricks or when I am practicing stuff, there is a shop near me sells em for like 50p so if I light them on fire or freeze them its only 50p gone. ya know.

TLS

Grimshaw wrote:
Do you not find people think it's a trick deck when you're using special decks like Karnival or Ghost?

Ha, yes sometimes people will call me on it saying "They are obviously trick decks!" so I just allow them to inspect them as closely as they like. I acutally use this to my advantage.
I do a trick, something like a simple "This is your card" sort of thing, just an easy card control will do, but make it look shifty. Then I have a nice little window to do a little trickery with their card, not really sure how much I can say on the matter without it being exposure, but lets just say you can do whatever you want whilst they scrutinise a deck. All of a sudden, I have a chance to say "By the way, didn't you find it strange that your cards have vanished whilst you were holding the deck?"

Perfect impromptu misdirection. A suspect looking deck can make them look so hard at the cards they miss what your hands are doing. Who was it that said "The more you look, the less you see?"

I concur. When the black tigers first came out I was well excited about them, they looked cool, they handled great and they were a standard deck, no gimmicks.

I asked my girlfriend to get me a dozen for xmas that year and ordered a silver sharpie to do some signed card effects with them...

.. Then I did some stuff to spectators who absolutely refused to believe such odd looking cards weren't a trick deck. Arrrrggggghhh!

In terms of hard wearing, Tally Ho's seem to be a little thicker and tougher than bicycles but I still use the bikes.... They are THE best cards for card magic on a cost to quality comparison.

If you have/or know someone with a Costco card they sometimes have boxes of a dozen for about £12ish!

Plus, if you are into doing stuff with gaff cards, 99% of them are printed in blue/red bicycle stock.