How much are people spending on decks?
Almost all new announcements have to do with decks.

Are they just sitting in boxes and cases and go unused?
What's the point?

My personal motto: Buy what you use and use what you buy!!!


Is what I'm saying insane? Or should we stop the insanity?

I have seen decks of cards reaching and topping prices of what a brick of cards would normally be. It has all a bit crazy, unless you are a genuine card collector perhaps? Cards are there to be used....

As mentioned above -Buy what you use.. great advice, I normally get a block of cards or 2 and does me fine for corporate gigs
I use a new deck of cards at every event that is paying good money for entertainment etc.
Some of the newer cards seem a bit on the expensive side but Ill never use or buy them..but I'm not a collector etc

Some collect plates, some collect cards. I've been watching & certain decks obtain crazy resale prices!

It’s a collecting thing. First it was hockey and baseball cards, then Pokémon and Magic the Gathering, and now playing cards. When I first opened my magic shop a few years ago, I carried a selection of red and blue bicycle cards, and maybe some black bikes (wow, cool man!) Soon after I learned that there were a gazillion card decks out there that magicians and especially collectors were gangbusters for. So now I carry a gazillion card decks and most of the sales I do are card decks! But what makes me happiest (in a non-monetary way) is when someone buys a book. I guess I’m a bit of an old magic fogey.

That's part of what I'm wondering about.
New magicians are spending money on decks instead of books. I doubt most long-time pros are buying 'decks'.

I think we focus too much on our props (to the point of worshiping them).

It depends on what your interest is with custom playing cards. You're asking the wrong people this question if you're asking magicians.

Magicians and collectors are two different animals, and buy playing cards for very different reasons. There is some overlap, obviously. But serious collectors enjoy getting decks because they appreciate the artwork and designs, not because they intend to use them all.

Buy what you use and use what you buy is a motto that will work for a magician, but not for a collector.

This subject really interests me, and I've written more about it in a couple of articles here:
- 11 Reasons Why So Many Custom Decks Are Being Produced
- Are There Too Many Decks of Custom Playing Cards?