Lurker clocking in

[ryzellon]

Hello all,
Some of you may have seen me skulking about on Kickstarter (“W.”) but I've been lurking the forums for several months. I'm currently in the Pacific Northwest, though I still think of the Mid-Atlantic as "home."

I've always been interested in playing cards and card games. I enjoy the history and the mystique, but I’d paid scant attention until recently. I picked up a few Ellusionist decks in 2007, but I was never particularly enamored with the aesthetic, and I never saw them as art. The cards were pretty much recolored courts and backs, maybe a custom ace and jokers. The decks were a neat alternative during lunchtime card games, but I never considered them “collectible.”

That changed a year ago when I stumbled upon Jackson Robinson’s Federal 52, part two. And it really accelerated after I spoke to a friend who mentioned looking for the source of (what turned out to be) John Littleboy’s Pack of Dogs semi-transformation deck. In my hunt, I came across a wealth of information, several communities of passionate collectors, and plenty of tantalizing decks.

My modus operandi is to collect cards on the more “artistic” end of the spectrum: if I shuffled all the cards in my collection together and pulled a random one out, would I be able to tell what deck it came from without looking at the back? Even on a non-court card?

On the other hand, I really appreciate it when the designer acknowledges the function, history, tropes, and quirks of traditional card design. I liken it to poetry: any hack can write stuff that rhymes. It takes skill, however, to write something that sounds good, makes sense, fits a regular meter, and rhymes.

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Since I collect cards to enjoy the art, I want to enjoy the art. Sure the tuck is nice, but I've never picked up a deck on the strength of the tuck alone--I want to see the cards. I've struggled with balancing (1) not spending too much of my budget on uncut sheets, (2) not taking up too much wall space, (3) showcasing the best art in a deck (to be honest, a lot of decks have rather boring pip cards, and/or the courts are pretty similar across suits), (4) showing the card back, and (5) showing off the tuck.

It’s not a perfect solution, but I am quite pleased with it:

[montecarlojoe]

Very nice!

[dazzleguts]

Hello ryzellon - welcome to UC!

I feel the same way you do about the visuals of the cards, but I don't have a fancy set up like yours for viewing them. Do you rotate decks through that display?

Are you looking at any vintage and international decks? There are some very interesting decks made by artists and illustrators in days past, and a lot of international card forms that are interesting in their difference from what we usually see here in North America.

[Mike Ratledge]

Cool display, and even though I'm supposedly on "Artiphany"'s mailing list, I wasn't aware that they had added the Mermaid deck (I think?) to their collection. I already have the dogs, cats and "Bag of Bones" decks. Welcome to UC!

[ryzellon]

Thank you all for the kind welcome!

I feel the same way you do about the visuals of the cards, but I don't have a fancy set up like yours for viewing them. Do you rotate decks through that display?

I wouldn't call it "fancy." My intent was to come up with something that would not be too hard/expensive to replicate: something simple and made from materials readily available at hardware stores. I'm happy to discuss the design, specs, etc. for the display (though I'm not sure which forum it should go into). My first attempt was made from off-the-shelf sheets of 8" x 10" polycarbonate--no cutting at all, just a bit of drilling:

fed52 500px.jpg (227.8 KiB) Viewed 1019 times

As for rotating decks: I don't actually have space to display anything right now, period. I assembled the displays largely as a proof of concept and to work out design kinks. It's not hard to (dis)assemble, but it's definitely not as easy as putting a tuck into an acrylic case. With a small handful of displays (once I have space), I think I'd be satisfied to keep them in place for months at a time.

Are you looking at any vintage and international decks? There are some very interesting decks made by artists and illustrators in days past, and a lot of international card forms that are interesting in their difference from what we usually see here in North America.

Yes, I have kept an eye out for vintage and international decks, though I haven't found as many that have struck a chord with me. I haven't quite pinned down my aesthetic preference, so I can't articulate what I'd be looking for, but most of them just haven't really tickled my fancy. I do like seeing culture-specific spins on the "traditional" courts, so that is one type of vintage/international (and modern) deck I look for.

Cool display, and even though I'm supposedly on "Artiphany"'s mailing list, I wasn't aware that they had added the Mermaid deck (I think?) to their collection. I already have the dogs, cats and "Bag of Bones" decks. Welcome to UC!

I think all four of the transformations decks were designed and printed around the same time (something like 2008? 2010?), before Inky-Dinky had changed to Artiphany. I was only asked to find the dogs deck, though, so I didn't pay too much attention to the others.

[MagikFingerz]

Welcome!

Very nice displays, the one in your first post is very similar to the way I set up for the photos I took for my failed wiki project (link in signature)

I don't think I would be able to have displays like this though, too many decks to choose from and not nearly enough space.

[LA Karnival]

Hello and welcome to UnitedCardists! That's a nice acrylic display! Is it a D-I-Y product?

[ryzellon]

LA Karnival,
I designed the displays to be DIY-friendly: common materials, minimum cutting, measurements in whole numbers where possible, etc. The smaller display, briefly discussed above, was made with off-the-shelf components with just a bit of drilling necessary. The larger display was actually made by a local plastics fabricator for a number of reasons largely unrelated to the DIY aspect.

[lolo]

Welcome to UC !

Very nice display method !

[nECr0MaNCeD]

Sorry for the belated welcome. Been working too much lately. I love the displays. If it isn't too much to ask could you PM me a material list and measurements? If you are too busy I understand.

PS Where in the Mid-Atlantic? I live in Maryland now but am originally from New Jersey.

[ryzellon]

No problem--I'm happy to make an entire thread, since I have multiple variations and notes on materials. I'm just not quite sure where it might be post appropriate to start that discussion. Either way, I'll assemble the info soon and either PM or post it.

As for "home": Washington, D.C., so I've made plenty of trips into Silver Spring. I believe my father works a wee bit north of there, actually.

[nECr0MaNCeD]

Cool. Thanks. The General section seems the most likely but fear not, one of our intrepid Mods will move it if it ends up in the wrong place.

[MagikFingerz]

There's a display thread in the New and Custom section that would be perfect for that, right here

[ryzellon]

Thanks for the reminder. I've gone through that thread, and while it would be perfect for sharing a photo or two of my displays, a full blown technical discussion seems a bit out of place (and potentially hard to follow). I'll probably end up starting a new thread just to corral the technical data/discussion, and then cross-post some photos and a link in the thread you've mentioned.

Belated edit: got a thread up with my notes and diagrams for the displays.