I just posted a full review of the Zine Playing Cards deck by Shy Brains; it ran as a Kickstarter campaign earlier this year and already landed in my mailbox so I'm super impressed with the manufacturing speed with it (printed by WJPC).

The tuck is black and white (no color) with a matte finish. No sticker or seal, so you don't have to worry about messing up the aesthetic of it just by opening it.

The cards have a linen finish, printed on "300gsm black core" stock -- whatever that means. The only thing I know is, the deck handles quite nicely right out of the box. It felt a little more broken in than a standard Bicycle deck, and I've been using mine for about 2 days straight and is still holding up well (though, it's no longer in "new" condition =P).

The vibe and inspiration of the deck is a throwback to the zines from the 80s & 90s, and the artwork is referred to as "Xerox art". What's really, really interesting (at least, to me) is that Photoshop wasn't used to create the deck's design -- it was all done by hand, cutting paper, taping stuff, actual printer work, etc. Analog art in such a digital age!

It's a 56 card deck too with 2 non-identical Jokers, and 2 gaff cards. We're not talking about the normal "blank face" and "double backer", oh no. This deck actually went out and made real gaff cards! There's a 13 of Clubs, and then there's a card that's split diagonally -- one half is the King of Diamonds, the other is the Queen of Hearts. Gaff cards that I can actually use, hot dang!

If you're reading this before August 1st (2023), I'm also giving away an unopened deck of Zine Playing Cards (details on the YouTube review below).



If you're interested in more info or a close-up view of the deck, check out my review on YouTube!