The "White Whale" Wish List

[sprouts1115]

CBJ - YOu have stirred up the flames...

[vasta41]

I just thought of a White Whale of mine (one of many)- the Bicycle Silver Vision. I have the Black and White but alas...

[badpete69]

I should check how many silver Vision I have Paul.. If I have a few you can have one

[vasta41]

I should check how many silver Vision I have Paul.. If I have a few you can have one

Thanks, Pierre! Who's better than you?

[CBJ]

I think this thread needs a bump

[badpete69]

Wasn't really looking for one but a little birdie told me last week there was one on ebay.. so why not

[CBJ]

Wasn't really looking for one but a little birdie told me last week there was one on ebay.. so why not

(( tweet-tweet ))

[badpete69]

I guess it was inevitable that I would finally buy one

[Justin O.]

I guess it was inevitable that I would finally buy one

I'm not familiar with this one... What am I looking at?

[rousselle]

Is that a White Centurions?

Because, that's my White Whale. I want a deck of White Cents.

[Justin O.]

Oooohhhhh.... I can see the rarity from here... I had completely forgotten about these, I don't know that I have ever seen the tuck. Good get BP

[sinjin7]

That is indeed a White Centurion. I feel this is the deck that caused T11 to sell its soul and steered them down the path of artificial rarity, over-hype, and b.s. holiday promotion shenanigans a la Ellusionist, but in overdrive. With all due respect to those who seek/have White Cents, there is truly nothing special about this deck: they're basically an inverted color change of the regular Centurion deck, 1100 decks were printed, so they're not any rarer than a typical KS deck printed by EPCC/LPCC, and they don't even come with a custom tuck box, only the generic blank casino tuck from USPCC. I got so fed up with T11 at one point that I sold the couple of White Centurions that were in my collection years ago and have zero regrets about it. But hey, to each his own, right?

[Justin O.]

That is indeed a White Centurion. I feel this is the deck that caused T11 to sell its soul and steered them down the path of artificial rarity, over-hype, and b.s. holiday promotion shenanigans a la Ellusionist, but in overdrive. With all due respect to those who seek/have White Cents, there is truly nothing special about this deck: they're basically an inverted color change of the regular Centurion deck, 1100 decks were printed, so they're not any rarer than a typical KS deck printed by EPCC/LPCC, and they don't even come with a custom tuck box, only the generic blank casino tuck from USPCC. I got so fed up with T11 at one point that I sold the couple of White Centurions that were in my collection years ago and have zero regrets about it. But hey, to each his own, right?

While I completely understand your perspective, and agree with you in a lot of ways, I believe that rarity, and value, are dictated by the community of collectors more than the companies that make the decks, despite limited success companies like T11 and E have with artificial rarity promoting actual rarity, the White Centurions are a prized and sought after deck because of the community, not because of T11, and it is independent of their design or quality. It is truly just a rare and sought after deck, and I think it is warranted regardless of anyone's 'own'.

[sinjin7]

I believe that rarity, and value, are dictated by the community of collectors more than the companies that make the decks, despite limited success companies like T11 and E have with artificial rarity promoting actual rarity, the White Centurions are a prized and sought after deck because of the community, not because of T11, and it is independent of their design or quality. It is truly just a rare and sought after deck, and I think it is warranted regardless of anyone's 'own'.

Your statement is for the most part correct, but therein lies the problem. The community of collectors can sometimes be fickle, and what's considered a white whale one year may be just smelly tuna the next year. That's why I feel actual rarity is much more likely to stand the test of time rather than artificial "rarity". And let's be clear, 1100 decks isn't rare. I remember the days where Black Ghosts cost over $300.00 on ebay, now you're lucky to get $80.00. When we look back 5, 10 years from now, I'm inclined to think that the White Cent will follow the trend of a deck like the Black Ghost as opposed to, let's say, a mint sealed Dunes deck.

[badpete69]

Actually I kind of agree with Sinjin a bit here. For the longest time I refused to buy this deck because first of the price people were asking and also i knew it was not anything that amazing. But on the other hand it is kind of the deck that started the craze in a way or at least one of them so you can say it is a little historical in that aspect. 1100 is not rtare but with today run of 2500 or 5000, it is a little rarer. Also I had heard that many decks had been opened at the time and that sealed decks are a little harder to find. I may be wrong though

But in the end, the kicker is the deal i got this week for it.. I could not say no at that price and thus I now have one. I'm happy with it

BTW Sinjin I did pick up a nice sealed Dunes Deck last year another great deck for the collection

[sinjin7]

BTW Sinjin I did pick up a nice sealed Dunes Deck last year another great deck for the collection

Sweet, congrats!

[Bikefanatic]

A good question is which decks will be white whales in the future? When decks are limited to 1000 or less, does that factor into it?

[Gareth]

Your statement is for the most part correct, but therein lies the problem. The community of collectors can sometimes be fickle, and what's considered a white whale one year may be just smelly tuna the next year.

What sinjin7 is referring to is that outside the highly promoted 'rare' decks such as the White Cents, Black Ghost v1, Jerry's, there are a whole range of decks that were considered rare and very collectable a few years ago, that you just never hear of these days. These decks usually aren't from the top line designers (at least these days), and are largely forgotten except by the few old timers who are still around.

A simple example was the original Bicycle Transducer deck from K3 studio - "Aqua Edition". These were quite hard to find back in... erm.. maybe late 2010?... but now I bet most of the newer collectors have no idea they ever existed. (BTW, the quality is pretty average... they really were just rare).

So collecting for rarity becomes difficult or at least disappointing, if some of the 'whales' you seek become forgotten minnows in a few years.

The other side of the issue is when they suddenly aren't so rare anymore - anyone who had treasured 'rare' Ellusionist decks acquired in the last few years probably knows what that's like now. And that's not even including the possibility of the original producer getting another run made of their previously rare deck.

Just hoping to warn some of the newer collectors - hopefully trying not to sound like a 'get off my lawn' comment from an old fogey.

[vasta41]

I actually think there's another element of rarity with these cards. Pierre has the "rarer" one I think where the majority of the T11 logo is showing. I read somewhere (I completely forget but it was some years ago) that the version he has is rarer than the one I have (upper-left corner viewtopic.php?f=45&t=5255&p=53569&hilit=vasta#p54381" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) where you can barely see the logo.

..just to confuse everyone some more [BACON]

[Justin O.]

I gotta say my most prized deck is likely one that most of the community isn't familiar with: The Met's Blue Logan Punk:Chaos to Couture deck, I couldn't even tell you who the printer was, but it was my longest running White Whale for quite a while, I was finally lucky enough to find one, and even though it isn't on collector's lips, it's still valuable to me

[crazyfandecks]

looking for this one: VIPer of Ellusionist with no words on the front, i got the Ultimate and Striking version so want to get this for complete

[intlgrrl]

Since I'm still new to collecting card decks, my White Whale list only contains one deck at the moment: Özlem Ölçer's Mad Deck

[Sparkz]

White Centurions

[MagikFingerz]

White Centurions

My, that sure is a lovely photograph!

[Sparkz]

White Centurions

My, that sure is a lovely photograph!

Isn't it, for a site that hasn't been updated in as long as I can remember i still go to it regularly and poke around. That guy should think about resurrecting that wiki, maybe he'll see this post MagikFingerz

[Justin O.]

Isn't it, for a site that hasn't been updated in as long as I can remember i still go to it regularly and poke around. That guy should think about resurrecting that wiki, maybe he'll see this post

Agreed, I love this site, and used it really extensively when I was starting out and still getting familiar with everything. Would love to see it updated. Would love to update it! but I don't have good photography equipment... *cough*sparkz*cough* I saw that work space on Instagram...

[Justin O.]

Just grabbed a Gold New Era deck off eBay and couldn't be more elated to cross one of my white whales off my list. Now to find a decent set of the Jaqk V1's

White Whale.png (1.59 KiB) Viewed 6050 times

[pstaehlin]

This one is my holy grail of decks to have in my collection.

Federal 52 Unbranded Black Reserve Note

[montecarlojoe]

Just grabbed a Gold New Era deck off eBay and couldn't be more elated to cross one of my white whales off my list. Now to find a decent set of the Jaqk V1's

White Whale.png

Loving the little whale icons. Maybe I could add something to user profiles that would display a little whale if you are searching for something... will give it thought!

[Räpylätassu]

I just got two unopened Icelandair playing card decks. If anyone is looking for one, I am ready to trade.