I began my playing card journey as a child, playing Whist for pennies with my Grandfather, a veteran of the Second World War, and would always look forward to our card games. As a teen I got into magic, performed at clubs and bars and events and can remember vividly David Blaine dropping his first TV special in 1997 and the impact that had on the magic scene. I must have bought literally hundreds of decks of Bikes and Tallys and still have one (just one) blue seal deck of Tallys from those days that I never got around to opening, still sealed and in perfect condition; that deck I will never open.
As an adult I left the magic mostly behind and became a student of Poker, both before, during and after the online boom of c2008, and racked up many hands both live and online, but I always loved live Poker the most.
Nowadays I guess I am just a has-been and a plain old enthusiast, given that my magic, cardistry and Poker skills are now all fairly questionable, but such is life. I currently boast a very modest collection of playing cards which I am always looking to expand, finances allowing, most recently backing the revival Apollo Clover Back deck on KS.
I have always wanted to design my own deck of playing cards (hasn't everyone?) and even started a popular blog in 2010 that was meant to chart my progress from zero to hero, but alas the project demanded too much of me and life got in the way and even though I managed to get a pretty neat Tally-Ho themed tuck design approved by the USPPC legal dept I never got the project past the finish line; looking back now I guess I was just young and lacking the right level of focus.
The past few months I have been feverishly trying to make amends though, and will shortly be launching my first Kickstarter campaign for my first ever (finished) deck of playing cards. The project is called "Imported Playing Cards" and draws inspiration from tax bands and import stamps from the Golden Era of classic playing cards, and all the wonderful traditional decks of playing cards from the 1930s, 40s and 50s that have been lost to the sands of time and never quite got the same multi-generational golden ticket that Rider Backs did. I have attached a mock-up of the tuck for anybody that is interested, and for those of you that are, you are more than welcome to check out my instagram page where you can see more of the project and offer any feedback, thoughts or support (or otherwise) as I put the finishing touches to the artwork: @a.h.playingcards or search A. Haines Playing Cards.
I will of course be posting on the New/Custom Decks page as and when I get everything finalised and get my KS up and running. I am hoping over the next few weeks everything will come together as all the artwork is more-or-less print ready.
Thank you for reading
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