Has anybody here bought any of these decks and if so, what are your opinions?
I've read a lot of great stories about them on the dealers web site but obviously those opinions may be a little biased.

I've just bought one of each of these (along with a few others, listed below) as I absolutely love the designs but I'd like to know what people's personal experiences are with them. Are they good quality? Do they perform well? Are they durable?
I realize that there will likely be different answers for each of these decks but I'm happy to hear any review you may have about any of them.
I'm always a little skeptical about longevity when a 'customized/specialty' deck sells for a relatively low price in comparison to some others, as is the case with these.

The decks I've ordered are the following:
Arcane (Both)
Bicycle Ghost
Black Ghost 2nd Edition
Black Tiger (w/Red pips)
Bicycle Masters (Both)
Shadow Masters
Bicycle 1800 Vintage (Both)
Tally Ho Viper (Both)

I've been happy with the performance and durability of all the Ellusionist decks. Bicycle Masters are nice as they match red or blue gaffed bikes. Any of the black edged decks like Shadow Masters or Black Ghosts are going to show white nicks on the edges after a short time though, that's just the nature of the beast. My new favorites are Karnival Ryujins. Court cards are printed with gold replacing yellow.

I've seen those and they look really nice. I'm patiently waiting for my deck of Karnival Dead Eyes to arrive though so I can test the general quality of their products.

Masters are great, slightly different than regular Bikes.

Vintage 1800 is also a good one. Easy to Faro and feels great when you do the fanning, etc.

I love my Vintage 1800's - I made up a wonderful Invisible Deck out of them. The Ghosts are also very lovely and feel great.

I would steer from any of their rising decks - they suck.

I think their real strength is their unique decks. Works of art.

Thanks for the feedback.

I ordered the Arcane Black Rising Deck but I kinda wish I hadn't since I've now found out that the gimmick wears out relatively quickly, which is a pity.
They've cleverly stated that Rising Decks in particular come with no guarantee at all. I wish I'd done a little bit of research before spending the money.

It should arrive some time during the course of today so I'll be sure not to test it more than once before actually using it on somebody else.

I hope the Black Tiger Back with red pips are nice...I ordered 30 of them ! lol

Martinis Magic is a good place to send your decks to...Marty Grams will make your decks a RC and stripper deck. Check out post on gaffed and funky ! (lifetime guarantee, and a nice guy that will work with you !)

-G

Woah, that's awesome to know. Thanks for the heads up.

Finally, my cards all arrived late this afternoon.
I have to say that the 1800's are my favorite. They're breathtakingly gorgeous.

However, I also ordered two trick decks which I'm a little disappointed with.
The Arcane Rising Deck gimmick broke before I managed to get the cards out of the box.
The Arcane Invisible Deck has practically no 'gimmick' applied and in its current state, is entirely unusable.
Pity.

But hey, I have an awesome collection of cards (yay for the 1800's) now so I'll quickly forget about the wasted $33.

On a side note, I also received my Karnival Dead Eyes deck today and it totally blows me away.
I get kinda teary-eyed just thinking about them.

Kheiron:

If you bought them from Ellusionist, contact Ellusionist customer support. They may be able to help you out.

Also, if you want, you can always add more of the "stuff" to the Invisible Deck yourself.

As for the decks, I love the Masters, Ghosts and the Arcanes. I had picked up some 1800s ito make my own Invisible Deck.

Thanks for the tip, RO.

I plan to find more "stuff" and make the deck usable.

As for contacting support, I did so but I know their terms and conditions already say they don't accept returns on trick decks.

Yes I tried to warn you - the Ellusionist rising decks use a very poor (loose) gimmick. Buy your next rising deck from Martini - best available, tightly made.

For the Invisible deck go buy some Krylon 1311 spray at any hardware store or Michaels or Joann's. Lightly spray backs - your in business. Don't spray heavy - stay light - maybe two coats.

Fantastic tips, SS.
I'm so glad to finally have people to talk to who have decent and relevant advice to offer.
The magic scene in South Africa is a little bleak at best.

As a matter of interest, the 'loose' gimmick is still in place but the sticky bit broke off entirely. I'm tempted to try using some glue but I'll first wait to see what customer support has to say about possibly replacing it.
I asked nicely. Hopefully it's something they're aware of and they'd be willing to help a guy out.

If you guys are doing any tear and or restore...Sam's Club has a 12 box set of red/Blue poker size Bicycle for $14.98.
Don't want to use your good cards!

-G

Thanks for the headsup.

As a matter of interest, I think you'll be happy with the Black Tiger decks you ordered. The deep rich of the red is stunning and, of course, they handle beautifully.

I was thinking of using around a black light if possible to make the colors "Pop"!

The black light will certainly have an amazing effect on the backs.

On an unrelated note, you should change your signature to:
"If you watch Godzilla backwards, it's about a giant lizard who helps rebuild a half burnt-down city then moonwalks back into the ocean."

Every time I see that pic, I laugh.

[quote]On 2011-04-23 19:52, Kheiron2711 wrote:
On an unrelated note, you should change your signature to:
"If you watch Godzilla backwards, it's about a giant lizard who helps rebuild a half burnt-down city then moonwalks back into the ocean."



LOL

As a matter of interest, I just thought I'd let you all know that Ellusionist Customer Support were more than happy to replace the faulty trick decks.
It certainly seems that, when they can, they try to help as much as possible.