I think you guys gonna like this, at least I did

My new friend from Essen Germany, Christian Schenk, showed me these antique looking cards which he is producing. These cards LOOK REALLY OLD, the pips, the drawings AND especially the colors don't look bright like the 1800 deck.

He also made a complete range of gaffed cards. I asked him, if he could make Tarot cards look like, if they are very used and old, next day he sent me some pictures of what he made, I can tell you, it was awesome.

He also made a Gypsy Curse set which I got from him some days ago when I visited him. On these I will write a review in a couple of days. This guy can make you any card in any size and color you want.

Can't wait for the Tarot deck which he also going to produce.

I wrote 4 different routines based on Pact, my version of the Gypsy Curse. The latest is "Paradise Lost".

I've also developped several routines to be played in Renaissance fairs situations and other bizarre settings.

Your cards look really interesting, I'd like to know more.

Say hello to Tony, he's a good friend.

Nice!!!

Please do let us know how the tarot turns out.

Ian

Very nice!

I will see him today in Haarlem at the Dutch Convention.

PM'd you.

Ah, where can I score a set?

I'm all over this! Great looking cards, and the gaffs will be superb!

I stopped working with "A Dream of Aces" years ago, but will gladly resurrect it to perform with these old cards.

Also, the Gypsy Curse is a wonderful routine, and I never had appropriate cards to perform it with.

For those of you familiar with Charles Pecor's "How Aleister Crowley picked up girls", these will be very nice!!!

Cheers,
Jerome.

Great job. Good luck.

I said this in the other thread, but these look terrific. Nice work.

This weekend there will be a magic convention in Germany where I will introduce the cards live to a greater audience (the prototypes).

I already informed in another thread (Gaffed and Funky) which cards will be available. No one insisted in other cards so I think I will start the job in the beginning of next week.

Thanks for all your positive response. That helps me a lot in being sure doing the right thing for you.

Too sweet! Very nice work.

THIS is what I mean't when I said that the 1800 Bicycle deck didn't look like a real deck from that period.

In fact, I'd love to find a set just like the ones used on The Illusionist with full bodies on the court cards.

An "antique" deck should look the part in terms of design, not just grunge factor. The very reason I have stayed away from the ones sold by Ellusionist.

What was so special about the illusionist cards? I have seen the movie but I do not remember the playing cards.

The cards from the movie The Illusionist were shown very early on when the young magician caused a court card, a king I think, to rise out of the deck.

I could not help but notice that the court cards had full figures on them and that the number cards didn't have the numbers on them, just the pips.

I have seen decks printed exactly like this from that era. To me, that shows a real attempt at striving for authenticity. It may be just a little touch, but it shows great care on the part of the film's makers to get it right.

As a side note, I do have a book that details the history of the playing card and it shows several wood carvings from various periods in history.

They never say that 1800 are real cards from that time. If you think in terms of steampunk, you'll see some new nice possibilities.

I've got to say that I really appreciate the creativity behind the ellusionist playing cards. I already created 2 very nice routines with their ghost deck... even if there is no real ghost in the deck.

I never tried to imply that the 1800 deck from Ellusionist was really from that time. To me, there is a difference between something trying to look old and trying to look authentic. Antique replicas should look like the cards they're trying to emulate.

As for the other decks from Ellusionist, I do like them a lot. The ghost deck is my personal favorite. If you want "ghosts" with this deck, get the gaff cards for it. Yes, I know they're expensive, but there are some truly unique cards in it. Justin Miller's Army of 52 dvd is an excellent companion to the gaffed cards.

I read a lot about old playing cards from that period. There are several base designs from that period where normal lay people have no chance to recognize the values. This is the best solution between familiar faces and authenticity.

Christian,

I sent you a PM.

Peo

They look great! How much are they?