The playing cards for cardists, collectors, magicians, card players, artists, enthusiasts and everyone in between.

For three years, at Joker and the Thief, we have reviewed and handled hundreds of custom designer playing cards from around the world. We have seen absolute gems and absolute rubbish, innovation and repetition, various design trends, decks that handle spectacularly and decks that handle poorly. What we have observed is a vast plethora of combinations, leading to either quality products or poor ones. We believe that a certain balance needs to be achieved in order to create a great deck of cards. Now we are delighted to introduce to you, a collaborative project with Pedro Oyarbide, 6 months in the making - Joker and the Thief Playing Cards.

A whole year after the first Venexiana deck, the story continues with a travel to the dark heart of 18th century Venice. Venexiana Dark features a series of obscure and marginal characters who complete the picture of this haunting city. Thieves, assassins, prostitutes, wicked noblemen and masters of deception are all on board in this imaginary gondola. Hop in and follow the journey to the unknown through the narrow canals of Venice.

Venexiana Dark is in fact two different decks: The "Masked" and the "Revealed" editions, with the first one featuring the courts wearing masks, while the second has the courts unmasked and their faces revealed!

There was a mixup in production which resulted in the tucks for the decks being mixed (masked card in revealed tuck and vice-versa).  This was only noticed after initial shipments were started and then shipment halted to allow the decks to be re-packaged.  As a result, some decks exist with the wrong cards in the wrong tuck, but the majority are assumed to have been corrected.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/709754364/venexiana-dark-playing-cards

http://www.halfmoonplayingcards.com/

A whole year after the first Venexiana deck, the story continues with a travel to the dark heart of 18th century Venice. Venexiana Dark features a series of obscure and marginal characters who complete the picture of this haunting city. Thieves, assassins, prostitutes, wicked noblemen and masters of deception are all on board in this imaginary gondola. Hop in and follow the journey to the unknown through the narrow canals of Venice.

Venexiana Dark is in fact two different decks: The "Masked" and the "Revealed" editions, with the first one featuring the courts wearing masks, while the second has the courts unmasked and their faces revealed!

There was a mixup in production which resulted in the tucks for the decks being mixed (masked card in revealed tuck and vice-versa).  This was only noticed after initial shipments were started and then shipment halted to allow the decks to be re-packaged.  As a result, some decks exist with the wrong cards in the wrong tuck, but the majority are assumed to have been corrected.

 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/709754364/venexiana-dark-playing-cards

http://www.halfmoonplayingcards.com/​

Journey from the twilight of the nineteenth century to the roaring sixties, meeting along the way shady, ambiguous and mysterious characters: dark ladies, gangsters, mariachis, latin lovers, femmes fatales and young hearted playboys.

Laissez les bon temps rouler! Let the good times roll, y'all! This is a deck inspired by the annual celebration and party that is Mardi Gras.

Illustrated by Dave Edgerly, artist behind Edgy Brothers' Dia de los Muertos playing cards and the Grimoire Series, this deck will have completely custom courts, AoS and Jokers - all based on the celebration and inspired by the krewes of Mardi Gras.

Intricately designed with a classic Southern feel, these cards appeal to my Cajun roots and remind me of how much I enjoy visiting New Orleans, especially during Carnival season!

Funded as a Kickstarter project on May 23, 2014 with $27,421 pledged from 588 backers, this was a two deck set consisting of both a Standard and Limited Edition. Designed by Ade Suryana and produced by Kardify Projects, this deck features the theme of Aquila (Latin for eagle) which was inspired by the Garuda Wisnu Kencana in Bali, Indonesia, that is a large mythical bird with eagle-like features has been featured in many cultural and religious mythologies. This PCDB Entry is for the Standard deck. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kardify/aquila-playing-cards Aquila also tied for winning the Best Pips award from UnitedCardists 2014 Deck of the Year http://unitedcardists.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=6448

For scans of each card

http://www.marytcusack.com/maryc/html/Cards/BicycleCollectors.html

Kickstarter 2014 project by Teach By Magic. Each card is a unique piece of art filled with symbolism and hidden elements. There are over 100 different languages and numeric systems represented in this deck.

Funded as a Kickstarter project on April 8, 2015 with $26,788 pledged from 555 backers, this was the 4th semi-transformation style deck from Emmanuel Jose with a food/beverage theme.  This deck was also available in uncut form and printed by USPCC on Bicycle Stock and Air-Cushion Finish.  It contains 52 custom playing cards, 2 custom jokers, and 1 custom back design with reversible triptych images are formed by the Spade and Heart court cards.  While The Last Supper painting inspired THE CRITIC'S SUPPER formed by the Club and Diamond court cards. A restaurant staff busily prepares dishes for the critic, and the "Judas" figure is the restaurant manager attempting to bribe the critic for a good review.  Leonetto Cappiello's beautiful 1921 pasta ad for Pates Baroni inspired the Delicious Jokers with the first Joker is Pierrot, based on the figure in the original poster and the second Joker is Harlequin, Pierrot's comic foil.

The standard deck came shrinkwrapped without a seal, but for those 72 backers who chose the uncut tier the deck was signed either on the cellophane or directly on the tuck according to their choice.

 

NOTE - the quantity printed came from a direct request to the artist who provided 86 Delicious uncut sheets were ordered. 2,500 Delicious decks were ordered, but the due to 10% over/under 2,779 decks were created.

The Legends 202 decks by Legends Playing Cards were a set of 3 varied color decks of red, blue and black. The tuck case featured 3D embossing and a custom die-cut tuck box with interior foil. The cards designed by Mark Stutzman utilized two tone printing. Symbolism was also referenced for each deck with gold and black for the sun and land, silver and blue for the moon and heavens, and red on white for the double crown encompassing upper and lower Egypt. There are only 3,202 decks printed per color of Legends 202 Egyptian Edition. The decks were also hinted at containing hidden secrets, similar to prior decks. While they did include a marking system for identifying cards from the card back, there were flaws in the clubs suit where the 8 and 9 have the same markings on the back (ribs of the hound). This error then caused the 10 to read as a 9, Jack as 10 and Queen as Jack. While the King of clubs returns to the proper markings, this is a total of 4 cards that provide the wrong information. A secret webpage was also made available with clues to this and other secrets: http://legendsplayingcards.com/pages/a6q6wz Legends #202 - Egyptian Edition 1. The path to enlightenment is dotted with clues 2. Only the penitent man shall pass 3. Paper ribs offer support 4. Infinity waits at heaven\'s gate 5. Golden ratio at white boarders wait 6. See the world in a grain of sand 7. The Pharoh\'s 4th reign shall stay stacked against all odds 8. Behind the pyramids seal of par, lies the color of thoughts. Mask the secret with wet not dry. Only through destruction can a once Sharp eye reveal a treasure in three white flashes.

The Tragic Royalty deck features black and dark red Rider backs with grey borders and faces. They are fluorescent under black light (UV-light). All of the pips have small swirls in the corners, and the court cards have different background colours; one side has a black background with a grey or white pip (grey for normally black pips and white for normally red pips), the other side has a grey background with a black or red pip. All the faces of the court cards are custom, each with a different whimsical and ghoulish face. Comes with 2 Jokers (one of which has a guarantee print) and a custom Ace of Spades. Full deck scan by macstrat @ https://cardscans.piwigo.com/index?/category/168-bicycle_tragic_royality

Play your next hand with the historic Expert Back design originally introduced in 1895.

Show off your Bicycle spirit with these decks, which have a unique weathered look that hearkens back to the turn of the 20th century. The design of the Expert Back was first printed on Bicycle playing cards in 1895.

These decks are made in the USA at The United States Playing Card Company on quality stock with a premium finish.

This version used the "Old Fan" back 1885 version and was corrected with the "Expert" back.

This deck celebrates the culture of Lucha Libre, a type of wrestling with roots in Mexico but popular worldwide. Luchadores is the term for the wrestlers themselves. Colorful masks, high-flying maneuvers and rapid sequences of holds are common characteristics of Mexican wrestling.

This fully-customized deck features 16 different Luchadores, including colorful masks and unique finishing moves. Hand-drawn number cards, court cards, and Jokers.

Bicycle® decks are made in the USA and feature the patented Air-cushion® Bicycle finish, softly beveled edges and sandwich construction for enhanced game play.

The Spare Room and Henson have come together to create a limited edition deck of Fraggle Rock playing cards produced by the US Playing Card Company. Featuring all your favorite Fraggles in fine form, plus recipes and other words of wisdom from The Spare Room.

Full Deck Scan: https://cardscans.piwigo.com/index?/category/634-fraggle_rock_30th_anniversary