2020 DOTY Award: Deck Of The Year

2020 DOTY Award Nominee: ‘Deck Of The Year’, 'Best Tuck', 'Best Ace'

In Sanctus, Lotrek continued his byzantine religious theme and used techniques from his Liturgy deck. On the back and faces he used both white opaque ink as well as foil. To create a simple but luxurious look he went with a full bleed back, using two different shades of gold on a metallic bronze stock. For the card coating he came up with a new and improved formula which should improve handling for cardistry. On the Tuck, he went with the same design as the backs wrapping all six sides with a combination of matte and shiny gold foils for the back ground, with black foil for the lettering. The Tucks are also all numbered.

• Extremely intricate Gold & Silver foil on both sides of each card, hot stamped over the printed artwork. This makes registration particularily difficult and it has never been attempted before.
• CMYK + metallic gold inks on both sides of the cards.
• Gold & Silver foil plus Embossing & Debossing for the tuck case, creating a unicue depth variation with an amazing effect in the light.
• Smooth handling despite the quantity of foil, making the deck perfectly playable.

"I C O N S" Imperial edition

It's the first deck ever printed having both Gold and Silver hot stamped foil on the back of the cards.

"IMPERIAL" edition is a strictly limited production: Only 555 decks produced.

THE TUCK:

For such a special edition, Lotrek wanted a special tuck case. He started searching and experimenting with various materials until he decided on velvet: The most obvious and appropriate option, came last as it often happens...

The tuck box is made of velvet and has embossing and gold foil accents.

THE DECK:

The Back design - the gem of the deck- with Gold and Silver hot stamped foil on a purple background, is inspired by Byzantine mosaics. It features the two-headed eagle, the Imperial symbol.

The deck features gold metallic ink on the faces, gold and silver metallic on the back and an intricate tuck case that was amazingly stamped on 2-sided color "metallic" stock, pushing the limits of detailed foiling. 600 numbered decks will become available out of the 700 produced and ICONS “SACRED” will never be reprinted. As it was technically very demanding, and before I go to the press for IMPERIAL edition's final print, I decided to “sacrifice” this deck and use it in order to test my new printer’s efficiency and also to experiment with various production aspects from cutting methods and metallic inks’ behavior to playing card finish.  I used my own varnishing formula which has a feel that I like but appears a bit sensitive to rubbing and should be handled with care. That said, crafted with much love, devotion -and some risk-, ICONS SACRED is an experimental deck, more an art object than a deck for playing games.  But who can actually play games with the Sacred? That would be a sacrilege…

The Deck comes in Mnemonica stack with a duplicate 4 of Spades and a playing card reveal on the King of Hearts. Both jokers are also foil stamped and identical.

One ad card features the foil stamped snake designed by renowned artist Abraham Garcia Sanchez.

The tuck case printed by Clove Street Press, features a mat white cardboard stock with embossing on the leaves and is beautifully wrapped with the iconic 1ST logo. The inside also features a repeated 1ST logo in gold foil.

One of the nicest, and smoothest decks you will ever handle. Available now while quantities last. These will never be reprinted.

Full Deck Scan: https://cardscans.piwigo.com/index?/category/983-1st_v3

Description and gallery photos taken from Theory11 website:

Premium, designer playing cards produced in collaboration with Steve Cohen, "The Millionaires’ Magician,” star of Chamber Magic®, a headline show at the prestigious Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City.

In August 2013, we began a quest to create playing cards fit for display at the legendary Waldorf Astoria, the gathering place for royalty and the ultra-wealthy. For the past 14 years, Cohen has performed Chamber Magic there, in a private Waldorf Towers suite, for sold-out audiences including Warren Buffett, David Rockefeller, and the Queen of Morocco. In 2012, Cohen became the first magician in a half-century to sell out Carnegie Hall.

Available in Crimson Red and Ming Blue, the cards are produced in the USA using FSC-certified papers derived from sustainable forests, vegetable-based inks, and starch-based laminates.

Featuring court cards licensed from Fournier in Villareal de Àlava, Spain, the Jacks, Queens, and Kings have skin tone faces - joined by an elegant, debonair Joker and Ace of Spades.

Premium, designer playing cards produced in collaboration with Steve Cohen, "The Millionaires’ Magician,” star of Chamber Magic®, a headline show at the prestigious Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City.

The legendary Waldorf Astoria, a gathering place for royalty and the ultra-wealthy, demands only the finest for its upscale clientele. Black Edition Tycoons are enclosed within a thick, premium tuck case, shielded in gold foil. Ultra rich black ink gives the card backs an exceptionally crisp visual appeal compared to their red and bluepredecessors.

Featuring court cards licensed from Fournier in Villareal de Álava, Spain, the Jacks, Queens, and Kings have skin tone faces - joined by an elegant, debonair Joker and Ace of Spades.

Description and gallery photos taken from Theory11 website:

Premium, designer playing cards produced in collaboration with Steve Cohen, "The Millionaires’ Magician,” star of Chamber Magic®, a headline show at the prestigious Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City.

The legendary Waldorf Astoria, a gathering place for royalty and the ultra-wealthy, demands only the finest for its upscale clientele. Black Edition Tycoons are enclosed within a thick, premium tuck case, shielded in gold foil. Ultra rich black ink gives the card backs an exceptionally crisp visual appeal compared to their red and blue predecessors.

Featuring court cards licensed from Fournier in Villareal de Álava, Spain, the Jacks, Queens, and Kings have skin tone faces - joined by an elegant, debonair Joker and Ace of Spades.