The Bicycle Balloon Ocean deck is a companion to the delightful Bicycle Balloon Jungle deck from PCD. Balloon Animals are still the theme, but now they're under the water instead of in the jungle.

There are actually three versions:

• Standard with numbered seal (out of 2022)
  
• Standard without seal (300 only)
  
• Stripper version (200 only)

It's definitely a novelty deck, and won't be for everyone, but it's extremely colourful, and the borderless back design is great for fans and cardistry. The court cards are especially charming, but I quite like the number cards and Jokers too. It's really something that is bursting with colour and life, and is fun to carry around and fiddle with throughout the day.

I managed to get an advance copy of the Balloon Ocean deck when I recently picked up the Balloon Jungle deck, and the two decks really pair well together. The Balloon Jungle has fans which emphasize green, with a tinge of blue, while the Balloon Ocean has fans which emphasize orange, with a tinge of purple. They both have blue and red pips but the animals are of course very different - the Balloon Ocean deck has court cards with animals like a shark, ray, jellyfish, crayfish, seahorse, and fish, and the Jokers have starfish and shells. In other words, it's different enough that it doesn't feel like more of the same, and yet it is a great companion alongside the Balloon Jungle deck.

I've shown both decks to friends and family, and they both had immediate appeal all round, and people loved them. The deck is printed by USPCC on their Classic stock. Below are some of the promo pictures.