HOUSE OF BRAGI: THE SPRY OBSERVATIONS- Cards

At the age of 14 my first job, and perhaps the best gig I ever had, was demonstrating magic tricks at Talbots Hobbies in San Mateo, California. Due to my prestidigitation skills and gift for gab, I was hired to perform all manner of card and coin tricks, close-up magic with paddles, ropes, linking rings, magician’s wax, silks, sponge balls, color-changing knives, and other mysterious paraphernalia to customers shopping at the toy, hobby, and bike shop emporium.

One of my greatest simple pleasures was stacking the crisp sealed decks of bridge and poker-sized playing cards in marked, stripped, gimmicked, and untouched form, each with their 52 inhabitants decked out in hearts, clubs, diamonds, and spades. Back then most of the premium packs sold for any number of uses were either Bicycle, Bee, Aviator, or Tally-Ho playing cards.

Nowadays collecting limited edition or special release card decks themed to popular film franchises, TV shows, comic book characters, or recreations of 19th century patterns are all the rage for gamblers, poker players, amateur and professional magicians, collectors, and artists.

To satisfy and feed these addictive urges, a company called theory11 is at the vanguard in producing what’s marketed as the world's finest playing cards, each product showcasing custom artwork, gleaming gold foil card boxes, premium embossing, sharp corners, and the absolute highest quality stock and finishes. Every theory11 deck is expertly printed in America by the U.S. Playing Card Company, the same firm that’s been printing Bicycle brand since 1885. Prices range from $5 to $13 for single packs and more for super fancy box sets of multiple decks.

Theory11 was hatched back in 2007 by CEO Jonathan Bayme and it’s exploded into an extremely relevant international enterprise whose luxury designer playing cards hold licensing agreements with nearly every major pop culture property and franchise you can deal out. A highly abbreviated list of releases include Star Wars, Star Trek, Harry Potter, The Fantastic Four, The Avengers, Stranger Things, Rick and Morty, James Bond, Elvis, Game of Thrones, Dune, Yellowstone, The Mandalorian and The Beatles, in addition to elegant historic designs like Hudson, Citizens, Artisans, and Monarchs that harken back to more civilized bygone eras.

Grab a deck or two online from the fine folks at theory11 and see if you might conjure up some youthful magic of your own handling these gorgeous playing cards. You just might feel 14 again.

Jeff