Anyone else getting intrigued by the hype on t11's social feeds around this "Mystery Box"/codex?

http://instagram.com/p/kixLHusogP/

Not sure what this will be but I guess we'll find out on 2.28...

Its probably another True Astonishments sort of deal

Who cares about the box- did you SEE that lock?!?!?
Seriously, though- it's probably just a nice looking mixed bag like every other stores mystery box. That just happens to look pretty awesome.

So they teamed up with JJ Abrams and his Bad Robot company to create a new deck of cards.

pretty cool... but for their amount of hype and build up, I was expecting more than just a new deck....

https://store.theory11.com/products/mysterybox

Yeah I got the same notice. So far, I'm not that impressed. Probably more for collector's, I suppose.

Wow. You gotta' be kidding me! I was honestly expecting something more too.. Like a True Astonishments type deal.

Probably something to do with that book JJ has out.. its kind of the same idea.

The cards look sweet as well as the packaging they come in, just a marketing stunt.

I will most likely jump on this bandwagon.. based on the fact that the cards do look pretty bad ass.

Abrhams is fond of telling a childhood story about an unopened magic kit, something like that

Why does Theory11 insist on not putting a clear shot of the back design instead of having to freeze frame on the videos? Boggles my mind.

Really good TED talk for anyone interested, probably Ooo ne of my favs:

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vpjVgF5JDq8

Honestly though it was a cheap old crap box from Tannens, not a super 100 year old aged steel braised box or whatever... and that was what made it beautiful. Kind of don't get their point about this, which is ironic seeing the message of the TED talk itself

The craftwork looks fine. If you can afford to set something that cost 150 aside to have it and treat the object as a source of emotional impulse control, enjoy.

Think of it as a conversation piece to leave where guests can get a glimpse.

IT'S MORE THAN A HUNDRED BUCKS?!?!?!?
I mean, yeah, we all knew it'd be overpriced- this is T11 after all- but $150 for a nice looking cigar box and a deck of cards is just insane! I mean, if the box DID something or could actually be made useful in a way other than "Yeah, it's a box from J.J. Abrams. Cool, right?" then $150 could be at least begrudgingly accepted. However, paying more than it costs to buy a nice set of Cups and Balls on a box that has a nifty lock and looks nice is completely inconceivable.
Theory11 has stooped to a new low.

Agreed. I bought in to hype but I'll have to pass on this one. Thought there would be more to it. But I guess it's a nice collectors piece with the whole JJ Abrams collaboration..and it's going to a good cause.

But, I just purchased the AIP bottle with signed black rounders at ellusionist so that's going to have to do it for me on magic collectables for a while!

I really liked their Artisians Wooden box, very well made. It makes a great centre piece for a magic shelf, people find it fascinating, more than I thought they would. I think people like magic, but don't realise that their is a whole collecting side to it. That intrigues them.

I reviewed this box in one of my videos. I'll wait to see more of this new box before I splash out, $150 is a bit much. the Artisian one was $50 and a steal at that price.

Is there actually any mystery to what's inside? From what I recall, that was part of why Abrams did not open his box.

The box holds a brick of the playing cards inside, 1 brick came out to about $120 in my cart. So technically the box is $30.

Maybe I'm just grumpy, but...
This seems to me like one of those times where an artistic gesture gets its foot caught in the gears of business. We know it's supposed to be a mystery box, but in order for them to sell it as a product, they had to tell us what was inside.

...so now they're saying the "mystery" is the back design. Either they're stupid or they think we are. I can't tell if the metaphor of a mystery box flew over their heads, or if they're just pathetically grasping at straws and closing their fist around nothing...then trying to convince us that they managed to catch a small piece of the artist's original vision AND still be a business.

You opened the box. You blew it. There's nothing in your hand and we know it. Let it go and show us the back design.

I can't tell if they're lying to themselves, pretending like they didn't just totally mess up the ENTIRE point of their "biggest project ever". It's either that or they're patronizing us by trying to convince us that not seeing the back design is the equivalent of not opening the box.

Anyone able to think of a third alternative?

That's disappointing. What would have made this interesting would be to have it truly be unknown to the buyer what was inside. That would potentially give the buyer the experience that Abrams was trying to tell us about. Putting his name on a product with no actual mystery makes no sense.

I'm going to amend my post after reading more about the box. I do not know to what degree, but Johnathan Bayme and Andrei Jikh have talked about several "mysteries" built into the box itself. The box is said to be hand-made, and the design overseen by JJ Abrams himself.

These are things they mentioned on their forums and I felt it would be unfair not to mention them here.

The hype that surrounds a new design of cards these days is just ridiculous.

Personally, I think its brilliant! This isn't just a deck of cards in a box. This is a piece of art and a form of artistic expression which is intended to create a sense of wonder and intrigue. It is highly priced because of the work and time that's gone into it. When the charming Mr Jamie D Grant takes that deck and puts it into that glass bottle. We know that it is just a cheap deck of cards and a cheap glass bottle. But His vision, skills, time goes into it to create a beautiful expression of art and wonder. The mystery in this project may not be just about you as the owner, but rather, what impact it could have on the people around you. Id love to have a deck of these on the shelf in my room. No doubt id have countless people asking what is inside. I think its a shame for people to view this by its monetary value and not by the artistic and emotional value it could have.

This is a kind of modern day time capsule. Id love to be able to hand this down to my son and his son and so on. They would have no ideas what inside and it is there choice whether to check in it.

i think this is a great concept and personally, id love to see more things like this now a days. Escapism, artistic vision, collaboration and mystery. What more could you ask for! ;-)

Jamie Daws

No, it's just 12 decks of cards in a box.

;-)