Legal Tender - By Jackson Robinson

[BaconWise]

There is a lot of clout behind the KWP brand so it stands a great chance. It's nice to see Charmers get a nod and Marianne did a fantastic job with Circus. The bird deck is a bit out of left field as I have not seen anything about it until your post on Reddit. Are there other nominees listed or is it just the four?

[hsbc]

52 Plus Joker's "Deck of the Year" Diamond Award.

Where were these announced? Did I miss an email?

[EndersGame]

Are there other nominees listed or is it just the four?

Where were these announced? Did I miss an email?

They were announced a long time ago - around September 2021 I think it was.

The votes are already in (but not revealed), and normally the winners would have been announced at the October 2021 convention, which was planned for Niagara Falls. Due to COVID that got postponed, they were hoping they could do an in-person event in April, but that hasn't been possible either.

So now they are planning a Virtual Weekend for April 23rd & April 24th, 2022, and that will include presentation of the winners, so stay tuned for that. It's a free event open to anyone in the world, so try to participate if you can. More info here:

April 2022 Virtual Weekend

Here's the full list of nominees:

DECK OF THE YEAR:

• Bird Deck by Hilary Pfeifer (USPCC)
• Charmers by Lotrek (Oath Playing Cards) & Kellar O’Neil (Cartamundi)
• Circus Playing Cards by Marianne Larsen (NPCC)
• Holographic Legal Tender Version II by Jackson Robinson (EPCC)
• Onda by Alessandra Gagliano & Anthony Holt (Cartamundi)
• Umbra by Jody Eklund (LPCC)

ARTIST OF THE YEAR:

• Stephen Brandt
• Alexander Chin
• Elettra Deganello
• Alessandra Gagliano & Anthony Holt
• Marianne Larsen
• Giovanni Meroni

I've also covered them somewhat in these articles here:

• Deck Releases and Deck Awards at 52 Plus Joker's Convention
• The 52 Plus Joker Club and Virtual Conventions

[STLBluesNut]

perhaps not the right thread for it but from those lists i would choose Circus and Gio.

[Adamthinks]

I just got the v.3 of the Holographic Legal Tender that they just released. It lists on the bottom that it's printed by Kings Wild Playing Card Co. " in the PRC". So that confirms that "Kings Wild Playing Card Co." as a printer is just the branding name they're now using for the mystery PRC printer they've been using.

[Harvonsgard]

I never knew that was up to debate or needed confirmation. Not trying to paint with a broad brush but when it comes to the company realm some tend to... hmm... what's a nice and not offensive ways to describe liars... word benders? Semantics jugglers?

[kevork]

I just got the v.3 of the Holographic Legal Tender that they just released. It lists on the bottom that it's printed by Kings Wild Playing Card Co. " in the PRC". So that confirms that "Kings Wild Playing Card Co." as a printer is just the branding name they're now using for the mystery PRC printer they've been using.

Did they buy the company? Otherwise they might have some sort of agreement to brand it this way as incentive to maintain exclusivity and a continued partnership with the printer. Otherwise they'd be opening themselves up to a lawsuit. If I took a deck from USPCC and said it was printed by Kevork Playing Card Co. it would be badass for a minute, before I found myself in court.

[Harvonsgard]

Lel. You're overthinking this. As if a company in China cares whatever Jackson writes on his tuck boxes. I mean, Chinese manufacturers are not really the keepers of the Grail when it comes to copyright topics, lol.

[Adamthinks]

I never knew that was up to debate or needed confirmation. Not trying to paint with a broad brush but when it comes to the company realm some tend to... hmm... what's a nice and not offensive ways to describe liars... word benders? Semantics jugglers?

He's been really intentionally vague about it. I figured it was the same PRC printer he has been using recently, but he's not answering questions about it. Before now, it would just say "printed in the PRC" on the tuck when he's used that printer. Now, he's branding it different. The recent Apple Pi deck was designed for cardistry, but he wouldn't specify who the printer was outside of saying it was the Kings Wild Playing Card co. Considering that the PRC printer he's recently been using has not been producing decks that handle well, this is confirmation that the same will likely be true for the Apple Pi deck.

[EndersGame]

There's no way he's bought a Chinese printing company located in China.

This is just about marketing and branding, and doing what he thinks will help sell the most decks. I'm sure it's the same Chinese printer he's always been using.

[laitostarr777]

Whatever Kings Wild Project Playing Card Co is... just wait till Apple Pi Deck reaches to our hands for us to try and handle the cards

[shunterino]

Can anyone with this deck say what the changes are for the v3?

[vasta41]

Can anyone with this deck say what the changes are for the v3?

I think there's a post about this somewhere but this thread is huge. If I'm not mistaken I think the printing was supposed to be better. If you're asking what makes it distinguishable, I think I recall hearing that there's something on the bottom of the tuck that marks the difference.

[EvilDuncan]

Someone on the discord said this new version handles way better than previous versions.

[kevork]

Can anyone with this deck say what the changes are for the v3?

Instead of the year, it says No. 13 on the front of the tuck.

It also says Version III on the bottom of the tuck.

And as others mentioned, stock and/or handling might be different.

[GandalfPC]

Someone on the discord said this new version handles way better than previous versions.

That would be pretty easy - last version I opened was like fanning a stack of frying pans

[Bradius]

That would be pretty easy - last version I opened was like fanning a stack of frying pans

I would assume you are talking about the Legal Tender V1 Holographic that was all holofoil. That was a really tough set of cards. Oddly though I have really grown to like it, but that is not for cardistry for sure.

[GandalfPC]

That’s the one - yup - gorgeous deck, love it - but dang, thats one mean pile of bricks

[Adamthinks]

Someone on the discord said this new version handles way better than previous versions.

That is definitely far from the truth. This is essentially the same deck just with the mystery PRC printer. Personally, it's worse than version 2 in nearly every respect, even the tuck. The inks, colors, holo all pop less and are more muted and the cards handle worse than version 2.

[rockets455]

the discord is full of kwp fanboys who fawn over everything jackson robinson does. if he farted, they would say how it's better than the previous time he farted. if he sold a block of wood, they'd pay $20 for it (oh right they did). their feedback means nothing. so far every deck with this new printer has handled like ass. the stock and finish are terrible. they clearly are using it because their artwork is what matters to them. the handling is the last thing they care about when making playing cards. which is fine. its their priority and their company.

[hsbc]

Yeah, the Discord is useful for keeping on top of KWP releases but it's an echo chamber for sure - people post their collections and blur out all the non-KWP decks

[rousselle]

I've been getting Jackson's decks from the beginning, and I realize we all have different experiences. That said, I just now pulled out the most recent Table Players, and I'll note that while it doesn't fan as perfectly as a USPCC deck right out of the box, they *do* fan just fine right out of the box, and that includes the most recent gilded TP. I don't have Legal Tender v 3 yet, although I do intend to pick one up with my next non-subscription order. But, really, guys, these blanket statements about how everything sucks ever since they've gone to this new facility in China is just a wee bit much.

Yes, this isn't a perfect fan. That's an artifact of me not being a perfect fanner. But, that little bit of unfanned cards on one end isn't the result of clumpy cards; it's just me being less than perfect on my very first attempt at fanning this deck.

[GandalfPC]

Looks like a 9.8 for fanning as far as I’m concerned, and as stated that .2 may just be you - can you faro?

As far as handling in general goes (for all makers) - I think there are only a few who truly understand it, most just benefit from taking the standard fare from a good print house to manage it (rather than really knowing how to tell if they are right)

There should be a testing lab for card handling they send them to - give them grades in a few categories…

Actually I think that exists - its MagicOrthodoxy‘s YouTube

I have actually had dreams of doing testing on decks with some scientific equipment - measure deflection of bend with fixed weight, a friction test, perhaps wear testing with some mechanical device - get some real scientific comparison of the properties beyond thickness. Perhaps one day - I have a chart of about 100 I tested manually to grade fan,faro, breakin etc - my kind of fun to sink into such testing and data…

[Adamthinks]

So, I've gotten (I think) nearly every deck they've done with this new printer so far and have found that the handling varies but isn't "good" on any of them, but some are worse than others. Some handle kinda ok ( like this Table Players, though they still have kind of a cheapish feel to them) and some handle atrociously (Mistborn being a good (bad) example). The ones that handle semi ok still aren't smooth but are at least manageable. That's my biased perspective anyway.

[GandalfPC]

Don’t know if I have anything new of theirs open, but I do have some laying around I’m not against busting open.

I do have a bunch of their older stuff behind me - the USPCC (I think?) stuff - handles like cards should - Peter Dash Flash, Maduro, General Admission and thereabouts


Tested Noel - I would rate it quite good - not perfect

Card stock a touch softer than I might find optimum, but nice and makes for a pleasant spring (makes for a slightly less satisfying dribble perhaps)

Faros fine enough from the top down - could ask for a touch better here (and prefer both ways, which has been achieved many times - or bottom up)

Fan - good enough - for a deck with this much foil on both sides its perfectly fine in my opinion - seems to be breaking in as well

There is a bit of a deck warp - small and the cards are soft, bit of handling seems to take it out (that warp is out of the box) - seen in the pick where I put the deck halves back to back and pressed down on one side

Do I wish the cards faro was better and fan a touch better - stock a bit stiffer - sure I do - would I want to pass up this deck because of any of that? No way - gorgeous deck - looks and feel wise.

I have a call I have to be on, so have to run - a rather rushed review and a more rushed post - hopefully I haven’t mucked it up too bad

[Strag]

Yeah, the Discord is useful for keeping on top of KWP releases but it's an echo chamber for sure - people post their collections and blur out all the non-KWP decks

Yup, and tha'ts exacty what I would expect from a company Discord, it was never meant to be a collector's Discord, there are other servers for that.

[Harvonsgard]

General Admission ...

Isn't USPCC. If I remember the events correctly it was one of the first decks that was effected by the first virus lockdowns in the US so, USPCC couldn't print those and Jackson went to EPCC for them.

[Bradius]

Isn't USPCC. If I remember the events correctly it was one of the first decks that was effected by the first virus lockdowns in the US so, USPCC couldn't print those and Jackson went to EPCC for them.

According to the Kings' WIld list of their playing cards, General Admission was printed by EPCC. The next month's deck, Peter Dash Flash, was printed by USPCC. Also, September 2020 was Don't tread on me that was printed by USPCC. However, they were probably sent to the printer earlier so it got done before they shut down.

[Harvonsgard]

My memory served me well .

I still need an USPCC version of this deck - which won't never happen... super sad panda.

[kevork]

Releasing next Thursday, August 3rd. Holographic gilded Legal Tender III in a laser engraved walnut Legacy case. X/400.