C R Y P T - Mystery deck n.3

[Kurama]

Soon... So very soon.. at last

[Harvonsgard]

Belgium and Germany confirmed. Gotta check my mail box...

[BaconWise]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts, MSimonart! I am anticipating about a month before I will receive mine, considering the delays we are seeing for international shipments. I'm not sure if it will go the same route, but I ordered some cards from Australia that landed in the states close to three weeks ago and they are still awaiting clearance, so I am guessing one month for C R Y P T to fall into my hands. In the meantime, I will live vicariously through the reactions shared on this thread. Cheers!

[juxtaposed]

keep the thought sharing going for people that got the decks, am enjoying so far.

personally nothing is spoilt for me base on whats being told so far. it just makes me salty af knowing mine is "on the way"

its cool seeing people enjoying their unboxing experience.

[Lotrek]

Hi, I got my decks yesterday, and wow opening one of them feels like a luxury experience. I love everything about the packaging. The only problem is, I wasn't able to access the cards, the flap to open the tuck is very thigtly hold in position and the grip is not large enough to actually open it. Anyone has any tips on some utility i could use to get a grip of the flap and open it without damaging it? Lotrek sure likes to keep these a secret, even when you actually have them in your hands :p

I think this is a great example of how Lotrek wants people to share this deck. With expression of words and not pictures.

This post makes me want to get my cards so bad without anyone killing the excitement. So thanks again to @MSimonart for a great review without exposing anything...

Sounds like Lotrek hit this one out of the park again...

----Spoiler: If you prefer not to read any review/opinion on the deck to enjoy the full mystery experience yourself, don't read this comment.-----

Well let me excite you some more. I did like lotrek said and put my fear aside to get a hold of the flap. First thing I think about seeing the edges: are these gilded edges? (I won't tell you if they are). I take out the cards, more gently then how I opened that flap, a first glance, and BAM, I know I'm holding something special right away. I don't have the luck to have opened a lotrek deck yet, so I can't really compare, but this is otherworldly, not even hesitating if it was worth the price, this could have been sold 200 each, you wouldn't find anything to say against it. The fact there is a mystery around the deck makes it that much more enjoyable to open them, and the mystery component would complement any deck opening, but this time, it's not only the opening that is exciting, because even after opening them you feel like the mystery component is still there, within the concept and theme of the deck, of the packaging, of everything. As if checking back on them 2 minutes after opening it is like opening them again for the first time, you're right away plunged back into this mystery theme, from the packaging to the cards themselves. The theme + the cards really make it feel like this is a special product, a piece of art I'd say, the product trancends it's pure material form, it's more than just cards, it's a total concept/idea, to which every part pf the deck contributes to. Though many times reproduced, you don't think about that when you're holding them, it's as if you're the only one who has them, as if they've been made and carefully packaged and inspected just for you.
I don't know if even posting a review does honour to how I feel about this deck. It's the apotheosis of my love for cards. But like I said, this is my first lotrek deck I open, so maybe I missed another otherworldly deck of him before that. But I don't care anymore, I'd gladly trady my whole collection just to have another lotrek deck of this standard, thruthfully.

I have, for the moment, just spread through the cards a little, check the deck as a whole, and inspected the jokers. This is exactly and even better than I was expecting, because I not only recognize the workmanship, but I actually like the design, colours etc, which I could have found not to my taste, but this wasn't the case. So not only is it objectively an exceptional deck, it's subjectively exceptional to me as well.

I'll just take my time(days, weeks) to look at it again and again, until I've looked at every card and then I'll just start over again, knowing the mystery will always be there, waiting for me to grab a hold of it and look at it.

The best review I could hope for...

[Ice_Panda]

omg the HYYYYPE. Just so special. Thanks for giving grown men the feeling of being kids again!

[supernova]

Looking forward to receiving my deck too

[Jykwei]

That long review reminds of speeches made by politicians...

[riutshoxie]

Lotrek did a bold move with his posts about CRYPT on instagram. He wants this to be a game, a social experiment and threw the first stone himself, and I love this so much.

Because of this I tried to give a similar cryptic initial statement yesterday. Once you guys have your decks and checked them out, I am sure you`ll understand atleast parts of what I tried to describe and hint at. I am certain Lotrek does.

The fact that, if this deck would sit in a random corner of an old shop, you wouldnt waste a glance at it, not knowing of its beauty.

[Bikefanatic]

Well I came back into this thread, I couldn't help it. I wouldn't dare search for this deck on ebay to see if someone is selling it already.

[brownsl]

Well I came back into this thread, I couldn't help it. I wouldn't dare search for this deck on ebay to see if someone is selling it already.

With revealing photos??

[Harvonsgard]

I did an eBay search. No results only the classics Fable, Silk, Damask... a lot of Fables.

[Bikefanatic]

Well I came back into this thread, I couldn't help it. I wouldn't dare search for this deck on ebay to see if someone is selling it already.

With revealing photos??

Yea, somebody trying to flip it. It'll work better on this site in members area than on there.

[TheCollector]

Received mine today. Absolutely amazing. The experience is like a metaphorical digging in the dirt (i.e., the initial plain brown tuck/case) to find a mysterious crypt (the actual tuck) which contains a marvelous treasure inside (Lotrek, what on earth did you do to make these cards!?).

Something else that was very unexpected for me is the handling. This is one of the smoothest decks I've handled! The fanning is perfect. This deck is truly luxury in every way.

That's all I'll say. I don't see this pioneering work of art remaining secretive for very long, though, lol.

Amazing job, Lotrek. Worth every cent!

[Eric Lee]

Ah man, reading all this makes me impatient to get mine. Should I be worried that the tracking shows that my deck has been stuck at the Athens sorting center since June 10? normally takes 2 weeks tops to get to my country, so there's still another week or so.

[Harvonsgard]

The world needs to see this beauty! Here's a picture of my Crypt...

AB18BEEA-2DDD-485D-8C5C-07A5D46E1A6D.jpeg (110.07 KiB) Viewed 4899 times

... well, in it's envelope

[fel4iiiik]

I Just received mine and to be honest it really looks special and i Like the colour of the back but I expected it to stun me, what It didn't. I like damask and arabesque better.

[Harvonsgard]

The picture above was taken in my lunch break. I opened it and checked if everything is cool but didn't open the deck.

Now I had the time to open and digest it...
What are my thoughts on that deck? As a warning I'll write that I thought about not writting this post yet, so further reading at your own risk.

You've been warned

Honestly, I would love to be in awe and feel the same excitement/love/appreciation that I felt and still feel for Fable or Silk... I would lie to myself saying it though.
Maybe I'm spoiled or too critical but I'm between underwhelmed and disappointed regarding Crypt.
Don't get me wrong, it's a Lotrék deck, so it's still better than the vast majority of custom playing cards and yes the foiling is superb without any question. But way too many dropped balls for my liking. It's maybe unfair, but I just expect more from Lotrék.
I won't back this claim with details yet; not until the majority had their own experience with the deck.
Does it deserve the no pictures hype? - Nope, sorry. Not at all, if you ask me. My past self is disproven, regarding thinking pictures won't do this deck justice.
Does it deserve the mystery hype? - Kinda. It was fun to be honest.
Would I have bought it if I would have seen it before? - Maybe yes, maybe the price would have killed it for me. Not sure.
Let's leave it on a positive note. The handling is indeed nice; Fable handles better though. Crypt faros well from both sides, nice snap to the cards, springs awesome, fans decently (but that was never an Oath strength )

[brownsl]

The picture above was taken in my lunch break. I opened it and checked if everything is cool but didn't open the deck.

Now I had the time to open and digest it...
What are my thoughts on that deck? As a warning I'll write that I thought about not writting this post yet, so further reading at your own risk.

You've been warned

Honestly, I would love to be in awe and feel the same excitement/love/appreciation that I felt and still feel for Fable or Silk... I would lie to myself saying it though.
Maybe I'm spoiled or too critical but I'm between underwhelmed and disappointed regarding Crypt.
Don't get me wrong, it's a Lotrék deck, so it's still better than the vast majority of custom playing cards and yes the foiling is superb without any question. But way too many dropped balls for my liking. It's maybe unfair, but I just expect more from Lotrék.
I won't back this claim with details yet; not until the majority had their own experience with the deck.
Does it deserve the no pictures hype? - Nope, sorry. Not at all, if you ask me. My past self is disproven, regarding thinking pictures won't do this deck justice.
Does it deserve the mystery hype? - Kinda. It was fun to be honest.
Would I have bought it if I would have seen it before? - Maybe yes, maybe the price would have killed it for me. Not sure.
Let's leave it on a positive note. The handling is indeed nice; Fable handles better though. Crypt faros well from both sides, nice snap to the cards, springs awesome, fans decently (but that was never an Oath strength )

That is what I was afraid of based on the earlier vague posts. There just did not seem to be an overwhelming amount of awe that typical Lotrek decks get. I have not received mine yet so hopefully I will be surprised and not disappointed in the amount I spent on them.

[Harvonsgard]

An important caveat, I might/should ad to my feedback:
to use an analogy - I'm comparing Lamborghinis here and you can be sure that you'll get a beautiful Lamborghini, period.
It's just that my favorite one is e.g. the Countach and I'd expected that to change after getting the Aventador. It didn't change so I'm left kinda...
empty, underwhelmed.
Nonetheless an extraordinary example of artsanship.
I figured how he achieved a certain feature of the deck but thought to myself, "Nah, that would be ridiculous to do it this way. That would be insane!". After texting with Lotrék... he did it that exact way . Absolute mad. Nothing but respect.

[Jykwei]

Looks like mine just went through Athens Air Mail unit 2 days ago. Prepare for a very long dragged out wait...
Keep the spoilers or non-spoilers coming.

[Bradius]

So, let me get this straight. These decks were shipped from Athens to Odin?

[Harvonsgard]

Lol, that's correct. I moved a lot in the last couple of years due to work. So I started to use my son's address (it's his name on the envelope) as my shipping address to avoid having to change it the whole time - especially for decks that you never know when they might be shipped due to delays .

[riutshoxie]

Found the first asshole leaking.

PLEASE DO NOT KLICK THIS LINK AND WATCH OUT ON INSTAGRAM.

https://instagramDOTcom/son0fm4n?igshid=1bsdtxe2ulxgc

[Harvonsgard]

Seriously? He shared as much as Lotrék did and Lotrék himself liked the pictures of the black/grey pixelated deck and the outer plain tuckbox.
Freedom of speech all day, but I would ask myself what's wrong with my life, when I have negative feelings (at least that's what an insult implies) towards a stranger on the internet that shares pictures of a deck of playing cards...

And what exactly is the point of sharing a link with the advice to not click on it !?

[riutshoxie]

Lotrek shared a lot less than him. I am some what okay with the plain tuck beeing shared because he did it himself. Fine I'll give him that.
I just don't get the point where Lotrek asks to not share pictures of the deck and he goes ahead and (even if it is blurred) reveals the colour of the "real"tuckcase. Why ruin that for everybody else?
Especially considering that he even uses Lotreks plea for secrecy in his post. Makes literally no sense.

I saw people asking for bans and other things who would post pictures of the decks. Just head a few pages back.
Maybe a little overkill on my side with the "asshole" but I am not the hypocrite here.

Nothing wrong with me, I didn't get spoiled by the post. Just wanted to let others have the same experience as I did.

[Harvonsgard]

Lotrek shared a lot less than him.

You do you, but it's just not true - @oathpcc January 21st...

[juxtaposed]

abit over reacting?

it's his deck of playing cards, he can do w/e he wants.
i... err... don't think its hard to understand?

i'm not a "photo" person (i don't even have instagram) i just don't take and share photos, so its as easy as lifting a finger for me to just go along with lotrek's experiment.
but a small part of me wanted to do a experiment too. see how pissed some people can get with a "picture of playing cards".
(especially after seeing some weird post here)

simply because.. i just don't understand what's there to be negative about.

[OVSUB]

Dude chill half of us wouldn't even know if you didn't link it or give him attention, it's an account with 94 followers. I have insta and have no idea who this kiddie is, not a big deal.

[Lotrek]

I saw this post from the moment he posted it. Well, unless you believe that the deck is some grey squares, you shouldn’t be upset. Let’s save the wrath for someone who really gives it away...