Today I stopped by my favorite magic shop, "Magic Dream" in Paris. The owner, Damien Vapereau (creator of "Splash Bottle", "Pinned Card", "Psi Deck", etc., showed me his latest creation:

"The Ultimate Marked Deck" printed on USPC Bicycle stock, red or blue.

For those who can read French, have a look at the link:

http://www.magicdream.fr/

I was stunned at how well made this deck is. You can identify any card at a glance yet the markings are cleverly concealed.

I am not certain that this is out on the international market yet but be on the look out for it.

BTW: This is not the same marked deck recently released by another well-known French magician.
BTW: I have nothing to with Magic Dream.

Just thought I would share this with fellow cardpeople.

Bonne magie!

José

Isn't it Boris Wild marked deck printed by USPC?
If so, I am interested to buy it. Can someone tell an American or English site where I can find it?

I really wish to perform 'Four of a Kind' effect (by Tamariz) with this deck. It would be far stronger than performing the effect with Memorized Stack.

Hideo Kato

Hideo:

It is not the Boris Wild deck (the other French magician referred to in my initial post), which by the way, I have also seen.

In my humble opinion, the UMD allows a faster identification of the cards.

I am interested in this deck. Can't read French though. Do they take international orders? or is there a dealer somewhere else that is selling this deck?

Why buy a marked deck when they are so easy to do yourself?

The ultimate marked deck is the one that you invent for yourself.

It can be so easy.

Hideosan click on this Boris Wild I have done business with them and they are prompt.

<<<KRaZy4kardz>>>

For those that are curious about the deck but can't read french visit:
google.com/translate

I like the Boris Wild Deck and have been using it, with practice you can read it easily, but I have had a few problems reading it on occasion. So if they USPC is manufacturing another marked deck that's even easier to read and as hard to spot by a spectator, I want one. I made a Lesley deck up myself but found that after using it for a while it the marks were coming off. I like the Lesley Deck is a very easy read, just wish the marks didn't come off. Killer stuff can be done with marked cards.

Sean, why don't you make one up yourself?

Any marking system is good. I'm not sure that any of the marketed ones are irreplacable in the armoury of a magician

What do you think?

Has anyone had trouble with "Juice" loosing its marking ability over time. I have a full bottle that is about 1 year old that seems to have lost its marking ability. The ink no longer seem to 'marks' the cards.

Any comments suggestions?

Dick


Posted: Nov 2, 2005 3:43pm
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The Boris deck is sometimes difficult to read, although clearly marked these "marks" are very small appx'. 1/16 inch, so unless you can make out these tiny numbers it is useless.

I would agree that a home made deck using juice where one can make the marks as large as you like is far superior. If this new deck has marks that can be read very quickly at reasonable distance, 'very quickly' being the key, it could be worth considering. This is a case where a local magic shop would prove to be invaluable. Unfortunately there are no such dealers in my area.

I am not asking the secret of the Ultimate Marked Deck but is the concept new? What makes it better than others? Could you mark your own deck with the method or is it a secret ink?

As I said in my first post, I have nothing to do with Magic Dream. It´s just my neighborhood magic shop, but it´s the best shop in France. I suggest you pose your questions straight to them, they make the deck. On their website http://www.magicdream.fr/ they have an e-mail option which when you click gives you: contact@magicdream.fr . Or better yet, call them. They will certainly reply to you in English.

José

Hey Gluestick, I did make a Leslie deck for myself, and I like it a lot, problem is the marks are starting to come off after a shuffle. So having it made by the USPC is great. I am hoping that this new deck of readers are as easy to read as the Leslie deck. The Wild deck is good, but have had problems getting a read from it at times.

Sean

I clicked on the link featuring the translated website and just below the ad for the Ultimate Marked deck is the book Mind, Myth and Magic by T A Toilets. I guess some translations aren't 100%.

I love those translating tools, they sometimes have better ideas than us... (not in this very case )
Anyway...

I saw the deck yesterday by a friend who bought it from magicdream. It is GREAT. The marks are straightforward (no tricky code or position to remember) and they are very well hidden into the back design patterns. In fact, they are included in the design, and printed at the same time.

In two words: try it!

(I don't have any connections with Magic dream, but now, I think about becoming a customer...)

Jonathan.

Johnathan,

From your description, it sould like the marks are hidden by using traditional block-out or scroll-work, except that the block out's are well hidden. While that is good, I suspect that the markes will still be easily detected by using the gamblers "riffle test" ? Have you tried that test ?

Just riffle the cards and watch "the movies", like old fashioned cartoons.

Even if I don't understand what "block-out or scroll-work" could mean, when introduced to the deck, I used the riflle-method to locate the marks, and I succeeded.

Is "block-out" the fact to fill some blank space in the design?
What is "scroll-work" then?

I am not at all a marked cards specialist, but what I like a lot with this deck (better than any other marked deck I saw) is the clarity AND the discreetness of the marks.
For the detection problem, I bet that noone (a spectator), seeing and even manipulating the cards, will never realize that the cards are marked. Of course, it wouldn't pass the riffle test.

But I don't mind.
J.

If this deck has obtained this good review from the great magician Jose is, I think it should be a great product to try and to do magic with.

I hope to have one of this decks in my hands soon.

All the best magic,

Pablo Tejero

Block out work is when you use ink which is the EXACT same color as the cards to make some of the white areas of the card match the colored print. Conversly, you can use white ink to elimimate some printed areas of the card to make them look white.

The really hard part is to find the correct solution which will NOT ALTER the finish of the card.

Scroll work is similar, except that the marks blend into the scrolling back design patterns....scroll work will usually add an extra scroll or 2 in strategic locations to represent a card.

I hope this helps.....But, as I said, I prefer marked cards which cannot be detected with a riffle test, since knowledgeable people (usually card players) will try that test to make sure cards are not marked.

Anyone have experience of the Fournier marked deck that is marketed?