It's not often that I plug an entire company, maybe a product now and
then, but seldom the whole shebang.

I bought a few Black Tiger decks way back when they wholesaled them to
magic dealers, but didn't actually buy directly from Ellusionist until
recently.

This company sells such a unique line of products for the card
mechanic that I can't say I blame them for only selling through their
own website.

I sampled a few decks of everything, but hands down the deck I fell in
love with is the 1800 VINTAGE BICYCLE DECKS. The deck (and case,
including the seal) are printed to look like you've had them for 50
years. The cards look like holy hell; beat up, gritty, faded in
spots, and downright nasty. The VINTAGE 1800 DECK screams back alley
card hustler. There have definately been guns drawn by the man who
carries this deck-- as a matter of fact blood and bullet holes would
compliment this deck nicely.

And the great thing about using the VINTAGE 1800 DECK is that the
older and more dog-eared it becomes the better it looks. This may
very well be the deck I'm taking with me to the grave.

Ellusionist sells several other unbelievable decks and accessories
that have to be seen to be appreciated. The card clips and the most
beautiful I've ever seen; laser etched in three different styles.
They look like the exterior of card boxes, front and back.

And as an added bonus these metal card clips can be used as shiners or
to hold open a booklet while you study the illstrations-- like those
little Marlo card books, just clip it over the center top or bottom.

I can only hope Ellusionist continues to come up with more unique deck
designs. I'd like to see something done with Jokers. Since 1989 I've
been looking for Joker cards that look like the ones from the first
Batman movie (with Jack Nicholson).

This company needs to expand, based on their super fast deliveries I'd
definately do more magic business with them if they carried more
products.

And before I go you guys need to be aware of the best metal bending
book I've ever read: Sean Fields EXPLICIT CONTENT ($40.oo). Don't
expect a nice hardbound book, it's a little paperback booklet that has
the real secrets of the art. I bring it up in this post because damn
near everybody else was sold out. This kid is onto some incredible
ideas.

-Leary-