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3 new decks have debuted on Ellusionist's Secret Menu #001

I received an email from E right after purchase that stated:
There's a secret hidden inside this deck.(Salt & Bone) Can you find it?

vasta41 wrote:I received an email from E right after purchase that stated:
There's a secret hidden inside this deck.(Salt & Bone) Can you find it?

cooooool - let us know if you manage to find it lol

PipChick wrote:

vasta41 wrote:I received an email from E right after purchase that stated:
There's a secret hidden inside this deck.(Salt & Bone) Can you find it?

cooooool - let us know if you manage to find it lol

Sorry, Amy- I'm one of those that do not open decks

vasta41 wrote:

PipChick wrote:

vasta41 wrote:I received an email from E right after purchase that stated:
There's a secret hidden inside this deck.(Salt & Bone) Can you find it?

cooooool - let us know if you manage to find it lol

Sorry, Amy- I'm one of those that do not open decks

is there any hypothetical circumstance at all that would even make you ever consider opening a deck?? just curious

As for myself, I could get a deck explicitly announced to be laced with arthrex, and I'd still have to fight the urge to pop the deck open and get a feel for the cards and admire the artwork - I clearly have very little self-control and absolutely no regard for my own well being

oh well, you know what they say, "curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back"

I used to open every single one of my decks, including ones I regret opening nowadays such as my Bicycle Zippo, T11 Centurions and Propaganda, Fantastique, etc. but once I got to about 200 decks, I asked myself, "haven't you opened enough?" And I haven't opened since. Unless of course I have a duplicate but even then I give it a second thought.

vasta41 wrote:I used to open every single one of my decks, including ones I regret opening nowadays such as my Bicycle Zippo, T11 Centurions and Propaganda, Fantastique, etc. but once I got to about 200 decks, I asked myself, "haven't you opened enough?" And I haven't opened since. Unless of course I have a duplicate but even then I give it a second thought.

I feel ya; there's only very few exceptions of which I might consider keeping a deck sealed, but overall, I guess I still get giddy with excitement opening a fresh new deck and handling the cards for the first time and seeing the artwork with my own eyes lol

I'm sure someone here will open and find the secret. The reason I got that deck is because I loved the first one so much- it was my favorite of all the Prohibition decks. I wish E would do something like that again. I'm a sucker for alcoholic cards (I've said it before and I'll say it again, I wish these came back).

Per E:

#1 Super Bees: The radioactive return of the Killer Bees arch-nemesis. For the first time ever, they feature vibrant white stock and metallic Gold-backs. Meanwhile still heroically helping to save the dwindling bee population.

#2 Cohort Classics: A classic casino deck that's been out of print since... forever. Now back and fully marked. (And not those tiny kittens markings either... these ones you can see from 1974).

#3 Salt & Bone: Yo-ho-ho & a bottle of Rebellion Rum. This deck revisits the classic prohibition series, with all new artwork and a hidden map to Pirate Treasure. Seriously! It can't be hyperbolly... we can't even spell it.

I open my decks (although, yes, I get dupes to keep in the collection, unopened.) Rebellion Rum was a really good deck from that Prohibitionist set that E did. But, Vasta... how is this one of your favorites, if you never open them? Is it a favorite tuckbox? Or, is it the pictures of the cards that convince you its a great deck?

I'll open the new one, too, and maybe, if you're good, I'll tell you the secret.

Maybe.

PS: the secret menu now appears to be "out of stock."

rousselle wrote:I open my decks (although, yes, I get dupes to keep in the collection, unopened.) Rebellion Rum was a really good deck from that Prohibitionist set that E did. But, Vasta... how is this one of your favorites, if you never open them? Is it a favorite tuckbox? Or, is it the pictures of the cards that convince you its a great deck?

A picture is worth 1,000 words I compare the Rum deck to the other 5 based off pictures of what I know is inside and the tuck. Same way I rate all my other unopened decks.

True story:

I don't drink. No particular reason; I just don't.

A friend of mine suggested a couple days ago that I start a YouTube channel with videos of me reviewing wines THAT I DON'T DRINK. I think he may be onto something.

rousselle wrote:True story:

I don't drink. No particular reason; I just don't.

A friend of mine suggested a couple days ago that I start a YouTube channel with videos of me reviewing wines THAT I DON'T DRINK. I think he may be onto something.

sounds like a pour decision but wine not? lol

rousselle wrote:True story:

I don't drink. No particular reason; I just don't.

Damn, bro, I don't know if I can trust you anymore! I have friends that don't drink due to religious reasons, and I can respect that. I have friends that don't drink because they used to be alcoholics, and I completely and totally respect that. But not drinking without any particular reason? I gotta pour me a scotch and think that one over...…

Back to the topic, this whole "secret" menu is just some more tiresome hype from Ellusionist. The rum deck is promising, but overall, I think of what Ellusionist used to be relative to the playing card industry to where they are now, and I just have to shake my head.

alric wrote:

rousselle wrote:True story:

I don't drink. No particular reason; I just don't.

Damn, bro, I don't know if I can trust you anymore! I have friends that don't drink due to religious reasons, and I can respect that. I have friends that don't drink because they used to be alcoholics, and I completely and totally respect that. But not drinking without any particular reason? I gotta pour me a scotch and think that one over...…

Well...

rousselle, you are not alone. I've even tried to make myself drink a couple of times and couldn't do it. Wine tastes like perfectly good grape juice that has spoiled. Since I'm of Irish heritage (insert properly offensive stereotype joke here) I try to have a Guinness every St. Patrick's Day. The first sip is pretty good, the second is awful. Why? I don't know. I never liked the taste and getting drunk never seemed like a fun thing to me. Sucks to the only sober person at a party, huh.

Created a new thread for the alcohol topic here.

The only decks I've ever opened have been red or blue riderbacks.
I think on my deathbed I might surround myself with my collection and open them all...

Super Bees: Great use of metallic ink (gold). Not much other color to speak of (some black, but that's about it). Makes for a very "bright" deck, but it's good. Even though they don't say so, it's printed by USPCC.

Cohort: A very basic magician's deck, meaning it has standard courts (exceedingly standard), a double-backer (with red and blue backs, so clearly a blue deck is anticipated at some point), an extra Queen of Hearts... oh, and the backs are marked. The marking system is not obvious at all if you don't know it's there, but if you do know it's there, it's pretty easy to use. I like this deck a lot. Like Super Bees, it fans perfectly out of the box; this is top grade Cartamundi printing, I believe.

Rebellion Rum Salt & Bone: the only thing this has in common with its Prohibition set namesake is the name and the theme. This is less a deck of playing cards and more a puzzle. I spent some time on the puzzle; I think PipChick will likely break this one before I will, but I have some thoughts on some of the clues. All that said, the indices are clear enough that the deck *is* playable as a standard deck, it's just not got traditional courts, and the backs are attractive enough.

All-in-all, I'm pleased with my purchase. I never did pursue the NPH puzzle, and I suppose I should, at some point (unless it's too late to snag any prize?). Salt & Bone makes it very clear that if you don't solve it soon, there won't be any prize left. The implication that the prize is money, btw, but by "gold," they could just as easily be referring to gold-colored or gold-themed decks, or maybe even just a nice, hefty bag o' loot from their store, so who knows?

Edit: I forgot to mention, but Salt & Bone is also USPCC printed, even though there is no indication printed on the box or deck.

rousselle wrote:Super Bees: Great use of metallic ink (gold). Not much other color to speak of (some black, but that's about it). Makes for a very "bright" deck, but it's good. Even though they don't say so, it's printed by USPCC.

I was wondering about this deck, because I was disappointed in the lack of metallic ink on the Killer Bee deck. Good to know. I might pick a couple up.

Secret menu decks are back in stock. Got my Super Bees.

Super Bees are now being sold on the main website as of today for anyone who was waiting for em (myself included).

Super Bees V2

seeing pipchick's name and avatar at the top mad me kind of sad. not sure of whatever happened to her. i hope she is doing well.

i actually spoke to Pipchick a couple weeks back on insta and she is doing very well if anyone was interested.

STLBluesNut wrote: ↑Fri Jan 12, 2024 4:44 pm i actually spoke to Pipchick a couple weeks back on insta and she is doing very well if anyone was interested.

That's good to hear.