Addams Family Playing Cards by Pomegranate

 If you're a frequent visitor you know I like collecting playing cards and the Addams Family so when I saw this deck, I picked it up quicker than you could snap. And what better way to celebrate the first Wednesday post of October?

 

It comes in this gorgeous cardboard box. The top section slides off to reveal the cards and the quote "Are you unhappy, darling?" On the other side is the reply "Oh, yes, yes! Completely!"

 

This deck, as you can see, uses the original comic version of the family. Fester is the Joker while Granny is the Lil' Joker.

 

 The artwork on each card is the same for every suit. Cousin Itt is featured on the 4 with one or more Family members on the other numbers. They made some excellent choices with the art selection. I like what they did with the suit icons making them half black and half purple or red. It's hard to see in the photos but the cards have a lighter version of the pattern that is on the box and back of the cards.

 

 Naturally the court cards are the main Family members and they all fit their card so perfectly. Naturally, Lurch is on the 10. Unfortunately, Thing is nowhere to be found in the deck.

 

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Doctor Strange Playing Cards by Fantasma

 Prepare your mind, dear reader, as we venture into the world of magic with Fantasma's Doctor Strange playing cards. But this is no mere deck of cards. Oh no! This deck will allow you to conjure your own feats of magic!

 

It's also not just a deck of cards.

 

 In addition to the deck, you also get a "Book of Secrets", a couple trick assisting cards, and a metal "card guard" to protect your deck. Here's a better pic of the guard (It's black and I'm terrible at lighting). The guard has a trick assist feature where is you know the suit of a chosen card, you can press a finger into the suit icon to "blister" the icon into your finger for a surprise reveal.

 

What makes this deck extra magical is that it's a tapered, or stripper, deck. This makes it super easy to find a card someone takes from it. It's clumsy to explain but here's a good video showing it in action. Even I was able to work it with minimal practice.

 

 In the top row, we have the card back and the Ace of Spades featuring Doc's Eye of Agamotto amulet. The bottom row has a 5 of Hearts with the same image on both sides, a regular Joker with Doc's long time nemesis Baron Mordo, and a trick Joker with the Queen of Diamonds printed on it.

 

 Even the deck box has a couple of trick assists built into it! If you force someone to choose the 7 of Diamonds, you can reveal it by showing them the "barcode".  The number under the barcode ends in 1089 and there's instructions for a little math magic to force someone to come up with that number.

 

 

On top of being a trick deck, this is one of the best Doctor Strange decks I've come across. Every single card has a different image on it. Going through the deck, you'll spot cameos of Clea, Wong, the Hulk, and even the Grim Reaper. How's that for a deep cut? The Queens in the deck all feature the Scarlet Witch. As someone that vibes more with the magic side of Marvel, it's a nice touch.

 Fantasma also makes a Spider-Man and Black Panther deck like this. Even if you're not into card magic, these decks are a great collectible for fans of the character. 

 

Here you'll find out why they call him the Amazing Spider-Man!

Bicycle - Nightmare Before Christmas Playing Cards

 Unintentionally saved the best deck for last. I found this one on the 5th and had the other playing card posts done already.

This is what I'd call a premium deck straight out of the wrapper! The tuckbox is a matte black with silver and purple foil that makes the front really pop.

Even the inside of the box has graphics! Just getting this far in opening it, I was already impressed.

Bicycle - Vintage Halloween Playing Cards

Here's another Halloween deck I picked up this year. The Screams at Midnight one came up in an ad somewhere and when I went to look at it, naturally I had to see if there were more Halloween cards!

 

 

I was expecting a little more Halloween art on the cards but I do like the box art. The card backs are very nice too, giving more what I'd consider retro vibes. But I guess 'vintage' is also a sliding scale depending on how old you are.

These Jokers are amazing. I want a whole deck based on them! The Ace of Spades is a black cat. The face cards replace the traditional blue and yellow with orange and purple to give them a bit more Halloween feel but no fun art on them. They changed up the suit symbols a bit which helps make it a little less standard.

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Bicycle - Monster Playing Cards

 Today. we've got a fun deck of cards themed around monsters.

The card back has a ton of great elements: black widows spiders and webs, skulls, bats, a creepy castle, stake and hammer, and a goblet with an eerie green smoke drifting out.

The court cards have some fantastic monster art. They even worked in a Gill Man type creature on the Jack of Clubs so I have to applaud them for that! The suits are the same as regular deck but they symbols have been stylized.

The Queen of Spades is a selkie, not a monster you see very often. They are mythological creatures that can shapeshift between human and seal form. If you look closely, you can see the seal skin bunched up at her waist. The weird alien on the Jack of Diamonds is crazy with his big brain and multiple tentacles.

Something really fun they did with this is include three King of Spades, each one showing the werewolf in different stages of transformation. The Jokers are monster hunters but I don't think they're ready to take on what lurks in this deck! The guy has what looks like a flint lock pistol with a laser sight which is a little odd.

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Penguin Magic - Screams at Midnight Playing Cards

 Among my playing card collection, this deck is definitely the first of its kind.

It comes with 3D glasses! But it's really only the box art and backs of the cards that pop when you wear them. The court cards have a little something extra but they're not really 3D. It's kind of like that weird 3D when you go through a haunted attraction with 3D glasses on and the "3D" things look a little out of sync? Anyway...

When I read the name and saw the box art on the deck, I was really expecting more B-movie art on the cards than just the Ace of Spades and Jokers. The numerical cards are standard and the court cards are similar to what you'd see in a normal deck but with green and yellow coloring which is what gives them the weird "not quite 3D" look when viewed through the glasses.

But this deck isn't about flash...it's about magic tricks! You can see above, one of the vampire Jokers is holding a two of Clubs which could be a fun way to reveal the card someone chose, if you knew how to make them choose it.

What makes this deck good for magic tricks is that it's a marked deck!

Once you know the trick, you can tell what any card is just by looking at the back of it, in theory anyway. See if you can figure out which card this is. 

"How it's done" spoilers after the pic!

 

 

I'll admit, it takes a keen eye and even knowing the secret, most of the time I can only get the suit right 100% of the time. The border around the card art has hidden text that tells you which card it is.

 

Like I said, it's not an easy thing to see even when holding it up in front of you. I laid the Joker over a card back to focus on the border where the secret lies. Above is the King of Hearts. Can you see it in the top left in green? Imagine the words King of Hearts and then cutting them in half horizontally and leaving only the top half of the words showing. 

Can you figure out what the first card is?

Okay, that's enough of me spoiling magic secrets before a mysterious stranger shows up to take me away. Be sure to visit the other Countdown blogs at the link below!

Star Wars Action Figure Playing Cards

 There was a time, years ago, when I could say I owned every deck of Star Wars playing cards that was put out. Now, they're just cranking them out. I think they're going too niche in the quest for more money. At any rate, my point is that I can't catch em all anymore but will pick one up that strikes me.

 

 And how could anyone that grew up with the original movies, and toys, pass this up? For a lot of fans my age, the Kenner line is just as much a part of our love for Star Wars as the movies themselves. Before you could stream anything, even before VHS was in every house, the toys let you have your own adventures whether you wanted to recreate the movies or make up your own stories.

Disney's Haunted Mansion Playing Cards

 Disney has an odd way of merchandising their product. I don't recall seeing these playing cards when visiting Memento Mori, the Haunted Mansion gift shop. Instead, I found these in a shop in Animal Kingdom. Either way, I was happy to add them to my collection.

I do have to commend them for the packaging. They could have released this in a standard box but went with a cool coffin shaped box. Just like they did with this set I picked up in 2014.

Star Wars Rebels Playing Cards

 Since I showed of the Black Series Zeb figure last week and these were sitting by in a pile of Christmas loot that still needs to be sorted out, enjoy these Rebels playing cards! I also have a Star Wars post planned for next week, so why not keep it rolling until May the 4th? I do observe May the 4th but being a devout Star Wars fanatic, still hold true May 25th as the high holy day.

 

I don't think I have this deck already but it was released in 2017 so I could be wrong. In addition to the standard tuck box, it was also released in a collectible tin. The tins are great but not being standard box size, they can be a pain to store with your other cards.

With a 2017 release, I'd guess these came at the tail end of Season 3 so they had plenty of episodes to pick the subjects that would go in this set. There are no duplicate images among the 55 cards, which is always a bonus in my book. The tibidees (middle Joker) look like they came from the How to Train Your Dragon universe.

The pip cards, or 2-10, have various characters and vehicles from the series. Back when the series debuted, some people didn't like the art style because it was different than Clone Wars but it never bothered me. Especially because they took a lot of inspiration from Ralph McQuarrie's concept art from the original movies.

The cards have a glossy finish and seem like they got an coating of anti-friction something or other because they're pretty slick to the touch.

The court cards, J-A, are a bit different. Every Ace features a different image of the Inquisitor. Jacks are always Ezra. The Kings and Queens are Kanan and Hera (Red) or Zeb and Sabine (Black). Chopper has his own pip card and shares another with Ezra. I guess he wasn't important enough to rank in the face cards. They could have split the Jacks with him and Ezra but I don't mind. Chopper is my least favorite member of the Ghost crew. Direct all hate mail to the comments.

The Mandalorian & The Child Playing Cards

 Are you on the hunt for some new playing cards? Here's a two for one bounty of decks based on The Mandalorian.

 We'll start with Din Djarin himself, The Mandalorian.

I'm guessing this deck was designed before the show even aired. The back of the box states the images are inspired by the new live action show and, brace yourself...there is no Child in sight! 

 

I like what they did with the card templates where black looks like a beskar ingot and red is sand. There are Aurebesh letters on the bottom of red cards which spells rowe. Not sure if that's someone that worked on the cards or what.

The art is great and while a lot of it is "inspired by the show" it all captures the feel of The Mandalorian. My one big disappointment with this deck is that they used the same art for every suit, meaning there are only 14 different images. 15 if you count card backs. Given the show's popularity, I imagine there will be at least one more deck with a variety of images from the show.

Hey, do you love The Child? Are you as obsessed with him as everyone else in the world? Then have I got a deck of playing cards for you!

This one specifically says it uses images from the show, and boy, do they! Since they're drawing from the show, every card has a unique image. Each card has Aurebesh text which says Wanted The Child.

Nearly every card in the deck features an image of the little green guy. I mean, I think we've all been assuming it's male. Who knows?

Oddly, only the 8s (and Jokers) feature The Child with another character. Were they anticipating a lot of people playing Crazy 8s?

Halloween Playing Cards

I can't believe we are less than a week from Halloween! I feel like Charlie Brown in A Charlie Brown Christmas. I know it's the season and I'm supposed to feel a certain way, but it's just not the same this year.

Let's not dwell on my Halloween existential crisis, here's some playing cards.

Labyrinth Playing Cards

I did tell you to tune your crystal ball in to see the next deck of cards and that was sort of a clue as to what it might be.

Labyrinth has been one of my favorite movies since it came out. Both the movie and the soundtrack have gotten a lot of play over the years. Back in the dial-up days of Bulletin Board Systems, I adopted Jareth as my first online handle.

There is so much to love with this deck! First, they used the riddle door guards Ralph (red) and Alph (blue) as the Jokers. What better choice is there?

Second, Hearts/Diamonds are yellow with Spades/Clubs being purple. I really like this because it makes the cards more interesting when you're holding a hand. Not surprisingly, the card images are all stills/promo images from the movie.

The court cards in every suit are the Labyrinth (Ace), Jareth (King, naturally!), Sarah (Queen, of course), and back to Jareth (Jack). He's also on the 10 in every suit.

Another fun thing they did was use Ludo on the 4s and the Fireys on the 3s. Here you can see what I mean about having two different colors of cards.

Whoever you're favorite character might be from the movie, they're probably on at least one card in the deck. Sir Didymus? The Wiseman? The worm? They're all here.

So if you ever accidentally wish away your baby brother and need to play a game of cards to get him back, this is your deck! You can find them at Entertainment Earth.

Dr Strange Playing Cards

Thanks to Entertainment Earth having a BOGO 40% off sale on Aquarius stuff, I got two new decks of cards! Sadly, most of their Star Wars cards are out of stock, including this really cool one, but the ones I got are pretty great.

Doctor Strange is probably my favorite Marvel character. Before I really got into comics as a teen, I had a pair of pocket sized collections of his earliest adventures and that's really where my love for him got it start. I read those things so many times! I even kept a notebook of all the spells/incantations he used. Nerd alert!

I would have picked these up no matter which era of Dr. Strange they focused on but they lean more toward the early 70s stuff. Would I have preferred more classic Ditko art or art that covered the span of Strange's appearances? Sure, but this era is classic for me. I would have done something different for the Jokers, maybe had one of the Eye of Agamotto cards be closed or the Seal of the Vishanti which is the symbol on the large window in his Sanctum Sanctorum.

They use an assortment of comic covers, comic panels, and portraits of Strange. Some panels include his long time foes Baron Mordo or Dormammu. No Nightmare or Mindless Ones though, what up with that?

Okay, who out there is good at math? In this 52 card deck, there are 25 different pieces of art used. How did they manage that, you ask? Not only do they repeat art between suits, they used one image for four cards!

Maybe they only had so much budget for different pieces of art? Who knows, but unless you're a weirdo that collects playing cards, you might not even notice it.

Tune your crystal ball in on Friday to find out what the other deck is.

Star Wars Playing Cards by Theory 11

I discovered this deck of cards purely by accident through an ad in my Instagram feed. See kids? Sometimes advertisements can actually be good! 

There are two decks available, light side and dark side. Both decks have the same cards in them, the only differences are the box art and card backs. The boxes are very nice with foil embossing on both sides. I did my best to try and capture the shine of the foil.

The deck is sealed with an Alliance starbird logo sticker. While these look nice, I am never a fan of these sticker seals because I will either damage the box in some way or if I leave it on, it makes it a little difficult to get the cards out. If you visit Theory 11's site, you'll see stuff about card magic and handling, so it makes sense they'd want to provide a sealed deck.

It's hard to see here, but if you click for a larger view, you'll see the inner flap has a Y-Wing that says "Stay on target." below it.

I hadn't heard of Theory 11 before and sadly, it seems like Carta Mundi no longer has the rights to make Star Wars playing cards. This probably happened awhile back and I never noticed. I think the last movie deck I have from them is Rogue One. They always put out quality stuff and I had fun collecting the decks. Anyway, back on track!

The back of the box has got a lot going on! There are tiny X-Wings on the sides of R2's head. There's even some Aurabesh (the in galaxy language) which says The Force Light Side. But the trick here is that you have to read it top to bottom when you'd think it would go left to right. At first I thought they made a mistake because the right side was printed upside down.

The card back is the same as the back of the box and despite how busy the image is, it still looks very clean. The Jokers are BB-8 and D-O. I really think they should have been one Joker and R2 and 3PO on the other. They aren't even on the cards! Except for R2's head on the backs but being an older fan, I think they deserve a bit more presence.

And this is where my biggest "complaint" is with this deck: the theming.

I love the art style used for the court cards. I really enjoy that they worked a ship into each Ace. I know it's not easy to pack 9 movies into 4 suits but I would have tried to find a way to make each suit a little more cohesive and that's just the fan in me wanting that little bit more. In Hearts, we have the Falcon, Old Ben, General Leia (Last Jedi), and young Han.

Clubs brings Vader's TIE, the Emperor, Mon Mothma (?), and Kylo Ren. I get that you probably want to use a woman for the Queen and there aren't really a lot of women to choose from, much less any dark side females in the movies. I want to give Clubs a pass but Vader is over in Spades while his ship is here.

Diamonds delivers Fett's Slave I, Jedi Master Luke, Rey, and Lando (Return of the Jedi). Why not swap Old Ben here in place of Lando? Then you'd have Lando with the Falcon, Leia, and Han and a trio of Force users.

Lastly, is Spades. The Ace has Yoda raising the X-Wing from the swamp followed by Vader, Padme, and Boba Fett.

Despite my griping about the suit theming, I really do like these cards. They have a nice feel to them, the art is great, and the box is a collectible by itself.