With a strikingly different look, Ellusionist.com’s gorgeous new Ghost Deck offers a black & white Bicycle-style deck that makes spectators sit up and notice. If you want cards with a different look that can lend to your atmosphere and effects, you won’t go wrong with the high quality Ghost Deck.
The Ghost Deck is manufactured by the U.S. Playing Card Company and features the familiar two-circle Bicycle back, but here, everything but the red pips is white, black or gray. The aptly named deck indeed offers a markedly different look.
The deck offers some intriguing details. For example, the Latin text on the Joker reads: “The World Invites Deception,” and one Joker steps on an Ace of Clubs while the other does not. And if you look carefully at the Ace of Spades, you’ll notice snake heads emanating from the pip’s base while a hand stretches from the top.
The exquisite cards are manufactured from high grade card stock and have a silky smooth UV-500 finish. And the decks are reasonably priced at $4.95 each ($3.99 when you purchase 36 decks).
Because the Ghost Deck is a Bicycle deck, I found that it handled much the same as my red and blue Bicycles. I could immediately perform my usual fans, pharaoh shuffles and other flourishes, as well as execute my normal sleight of hand card moves.
A concern of many magicians is that the Ghost Deck will cause spectators to think that the deck is gimmicked when it’s not. While this is a valid concern, in use, I feel that it’s not a problem. Simply handling the cards in a casual manner and giving spectators the opportunity to hold and shuffle them should alleviate most concerns.
For the near future, Ellusionist plans to offer versions in the following styles: Invisible, Rising Card, Forcing, Exchange, Svengali, Stripper, Belly Hindu, Mini and Hover. And you can also expect the company to market a shell.
A strong follow-up to the Black Tiger Deck, Ellusionist again offers a strikingly different deck that captures the interest of spectators and can lend a different mood to your spooky card effects. Too good to be true? The high quality Ghost Deck is no apparition. It’s real.
-Wayne N. Kawamoto
