The Water Tiger Cards are a very beautiful and artistic collectors deck but don't reach USPCC deck
standards for magic or cardistry. (NOTE: I did not buy these outright; I received these as an extra
with an order from Penguin.)
THE GOOD NEWS:
The tiger theme of the deck is in honor of
2022 which is the Year of the Tiger. The artwork by Panji Putra Prima Aji is really quite
incredible. The card backs show a striking, somewhat angry tiger surrounded by ocean waves. There
is a standard, white border around the tigers.
The faces of the cards are also unique.
Rather than black and red, the cards are blue and red. Indices are standard, but smaller than
Bicycle card standard. The number cards feature highly stylized pips. The hearts and diamonds
feature a scalloped pattern within the pips and the clubs and diamonds a more circular/target like
pattern. Pips are slightly smaller and more widely spaced than you might be used to but are in
usual formations.
The royals are all unique and kings, queens, and jacks are now all
stylized tigers. (Tiger kings?) The royal cards are in full color with the hearts and diamonds clad
in red and the spades and clubs in blue. Apparently, tigers have no more of a sense of self
preservation--the king of hearts is still the suicide king. Aces all have an intricately decorated,
enlarged central pip. All feature renderings of tigers. The jokers are completely different and
both are blue. One features the word 'JOKER' in large caps and below this a tiger running towards
the viewer. The other has standard 'JOKER' indices and a tiger in mirror image, similar to what you
see on the royal cards but just in blue.
Extras include a single double backer and a single
blank card. There are no ad cards. Also included was a beautiful sticker featuring a red tiger on a
white background. The seal for each deck is unique and will give you the exact number of your
pack--only 2500 will be made.
The box is premium quality and made of a stiffer cardboard
than standard. The box is blue and the details are in white foil which gives it a really nice look.
The front of the box features a tiger that is staring you down and the back are two tigers in a
circle chasing each other. The box has a scalloped pattern on the outside and even on the inside.
The box flaps were also emblazoned with tigers.
THE BAD NEWS--CARD HANDLING
On opening
the cards, I noted a very acrid, chemical smell. I have only noticed this on cards from Home Run
Games (HRG), such as the Magnificent deck (short review: Magnificent is not magnificent). These
cards are made in China and were very similar to the present deck in using a 'European card stock'
which had a round feeling to the edge and a similar odor when opening. If Penguin did use this
company, however, they did help them improve their coating and handling. Sadly, this isn't quite up
to the usual standard.
The bad news is that these cards do not handle like USPCC cards or
Copag 310s. They do have a linen-type finish (Ultralux with AquaFlow Coating) but the cards tend to
clump rather than flow.
The added friction is not all that bad. You should be able to do
most major sleight, but waterfalls--and any move that requires the cards to flow one over the
other--will be much harder as the cards tend to clump.
The cards are traditionally cut but
are harder to faro than USPCC or Copag 310s. The edges of the cards feel somewhat rounded compared
to other brands, which you would think might facilitate the faro but, sadly, it does not. Sure, you
can faro these with a little practice. However, first you are going to have to work the cards in a
bit and get the knack of it. Still, standard Bikes are much easier. In spite of working the cards,
though, I still have trouble with a one handed shuffle.
The cards are stiffer than Bicycle
standard cards, but not excessively so. They do spring quite well but will take a little more
effort than you are used to. They also get back their shape well.
CONCLUSION:
This is
a really nice, designer deck if you are a collector. If you are heavy into cardistry, I don't think
this would make the cut. As to magic, different magicians like different kinds of cards. It's
possible that these would suffice, depending on the kind of magic that you do.
However, I
was and I think most magicians will be disappointed in how these handle. As noted above, you will
find a better pack of cards for magic--Bicycle Standard--for under $5 at your local drug store.
When a confused Dr. McCoy asked Mr.Spock why he didn't like tribbles--after all tribbles are
soft, furry, and make a pleasant sound. Spock quipped, "So would an ermine violin, doctor, but I
see no advantage in having one." These cards concentrate on the ermine rather than the violin. We
need cards that are both pretty and practical.
I am confused as to why Penguin would go
with this card manufacturer. The cards are great for collectors--and I'm sure plenty collectors shop
here. That said, most of us who who shop at Penguin are interested in cards for magic purposes.
There's no reason, though, why you can't have your cake and eat it to.
I've owned every UltraLux deck and have been using them quite a bit in rotation with my USPCC decks. An important thing to note for the handling is that while it is not always perfect right out of the box, they are great after a mild break-in period.
Whereas USPCC decks are very slick when brand-new (almost TOO slippery sometimes), the UltraLux decks are smooth but not slippery. I actually prefer this.
I've found that once the decks break in (just a matter of a handful of fans, shuffles, etc) they handle just as well as anything else out there, and the longevity is really good.
A lot of card handling is subjective - some people like thin cards while others like thick. Some like firm while others like soft. To each their own. But in my experience, even if the first couple of minutes with an UltraLux deck might make them seem slightly inferior to other printers, actually putting them through the paces and using them for more than a few minutes has them ranking highly for me.
I'd love to hear your thoughts after a week of regular use with the same deck.
First and foremost, thank you for the very thoughtful and kind comments.
I have been using the Water Tiger deck off and on since writing the review and do find that the cards are quite resilient and handle now as they handled when I received them.
I totally agree that preferences in the types of cards you prefer are subjective and that even a single user might prefer different decks for different sleights and styles of magic.
I do find them useful when I need a little more friction and--because of this--they are somewhat easier to handle for certain sleights especially when you have dry hands. Things like bottom deals are easier for me with the Tiger deck, as the extra friction allows makes it easier to pull back the bottom card.
The problem I still have, though, is that I feel that the added friction makes it more difficult to perform even basic sleights, including side steals, multiple shifts, and a number of card changes because the cards can get caught up on each other. Some of this--but not all of it--can be mitigated by using a lighter tough (and I could definitely use a lighter touch when handling the cards). Pretty much anything that requires to slide one on the other is more difficult for me.
I can faro these, but it still takes extra effort for a perfect faro and it is often difficult for me to implement false shuffles that require a strip out with these cards as the cards are more prone to get caught up on one another.
I do agree that USPCC cards, just out of the box, may be a little too slick, but they break in quickly, hold up pretty nicely, are less expensive, and for everyday card magic even your run-of-the mill Bikes work quite well.
Beautiful cards that don't handle so well
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