In this episode I take a look at the latest release from Theory 11.
I’ll also be giving away a deck of these cards.
Plus I announce the winner of the Notorious Gambling Frog Deck Giveaway.
All that coming up.
Remember for the best in playing cards content like, subscribe and ring that notification
bell.
Over the years I’ve procured and reviewed quite a few decks from Theory 11–in that
time Theory 11 has gone from a well established company that sold premium cards and magic
tricks on the web, to a playing cards giant with distribution arms reaching deep into
the Targets and Walmarts everywhere in the country and beyond and some massively successful
property licenses in their stable.
Some things have remained absolutely consistent in that time, despite the impressive growth;
Theory 11 makes some really outstanding tuck cases, the cards can be a bit hit or miss
and they almost always work with top quality designers.
Over the years I’ve fawned over the works of Dan Gretta, Simon Frouws, Joe White and
most recently Russ Gray–all of which have created outstanding decks for Theory 11.
One of my favorite Theory 11 alumni is of course Kevin Cantrell, my partner on my currently
ongoing Kickstarter Campaign, The Successor.
On the subject of that campaign, before we get to the review, I want to remind everyone
that you can still become a backer of the Successor playing cards.
We’ve raised an astonishing 271K in funding with a bit of time to go.
The Successor represents a two year effort to create the most luxurious playing cards
ever produced and we’ve spared no expense to make that claim true.
Featuring Tuck Boxes with 5 foil layers, sculptural embossing and outer tuck sleeves affixed with
metal sculptures to cards with luminous cold foil and gilded edges, plus the most elegant
deluxe box set money can buy, the Successor Sarcophagus.
The campaign is live through June 24th at 2pm eastern so click on the link in the description
below to become a backer today!
Okay, on to the review!
These are the DUNE playing cards, based on the Warner Bros. 2021 Film starring Timothee
Chalamet.
The deck comes packaged in a handsome foil embossed tuck case printed on premium paper.
Across the front, in raised gold foil and mimicking the design on the film’s poster,
is the brilliant typographic treatment of the title which rotates a horseshoe shape
to face each of the cardinal directions and but for the middle line on the E is also an
ambigram.
Behind the type the box features panels and lines that harken to the battle armor donned
by the main characters.
Interestingly there are splotches and lines of distress on the edges, like chipped paint,
rendered in what looks gray ink…
What I think Theory 11 actually did is use gray tuck paper, and the black on the tuck
surface is actually printed on, with the foil passes happening over top.
It’s a cool effect.
The sides of the tuck reiterate the deck name and the killer almost-ambigram.
The bottom features the traditional ad copy.
The back of the box has a close representation of the back design on the cards, although
not entirely 1:1 as we’ll soon see and discuss.
It features some iconography that will be familiar to fans of the movie.
Symbols representing House Atreides, House Harkonnen, The Bene Gesserit and the Fremons
can be found.
The tuck flap is held in place by a circular gold foil seal with the symbol of House Atreides
in the middle.
It’s a nice tuck case, but certainly not my favorite of Theory 11’s–they have such
a tremendous catalog of outstanding boxes.
I do commend them for utilizing both gold and black foil as well as ink printing.
Opening the tuck box reveals an inner tuck pattern of black foil and all but confirms
my theory of an underlying gray premium paper stock.
The cards within, well, these too are not my favorite.
The card backs feature some iconography that will be familiar to fans of the movie.
The house symbols found on the back of the tuck are absent here although the central
circular design remains.
There’s a hawk in each corner of the design, the mascot animal of House Atreides.
The spoked wheel in the center, although seemingly mechanical in nature, may in fact represent
the mouth of the infamous sandworm with its crystalline teeth.
The back design feels a bit muted.
The gold lines are a bit too thin and can make the design look a bit muddy.
These are completely custom cards with unique pips and indices although the layout of the
pips is traditional.
The pips include a faint thin line tracing the contours of each pip.
The aces include larger pips with some included iconography over top of them; the hawk symbol
of the House Atreides on the ace of hearts, the insignia of the Fremons on the ace of
diamonds, and the House Harkonnen symbol on the ace of clubs.
The ace of spades, the power ace, seems to forgo the device instead depicting what looks
like a spice harvester within the large spade pip.
If each suit did in fact represent a warring faction within the story the aces would be
a bit cooler.
Instead, once you see the way the court cards are handled, they come across as merely loosely
tethered, in some cases a bit random.
The court cards include depictions of the Dune cast of characters with likenesses based
on the actors who portray them including Oscar Isaac’s Duke Atreides, Rebecca Ferguson’s
Lady Jessica and Timothee Chalamet’s Paul Atreides, representing the hearts.
Also of house Atreides, representing the King of Spades is Josh Brolin’s Gurney, and the
Jack of Diamonds is Duncan Idaho as portrayed by Jason Momoa.
Representing the fremons are Javier Bardem’s King of Diamonds, Stilgar, and Zendaya’s
Chani as the Queen of Diamonds.
Also of the Fremons is Liet Kines as the Queen of Spades, played by Sharon Duncan-Brewster.
The clubs are reserved for the more malevolent forces in the Dune mythos, the Queen of Clubs
is Gaius Helen Mohiam of the Bene Gesserit, played in the film by Charlotte Rampling.
The jack of clubs is the ominous Harkonnen henchman ‘Beast’ Rabban as embodied by
David Bautista.
And finally the nightmarish portrayal of Baron Harkonen by Stellan Skarsgard is given his
due as the King of Clubs.
Rounding out the deck are two jokers, one features the gargantuan Sandworm with its
giant circular maw of spoke-like crystal teeth as it crests above the dunes of Arakkis.
The second is an image of the famous ornithopter with its dragon-fly silhouette flying above
the sands.
There are two additional cards as well, one a Theory 11 ad card, and a second one devoted
to the Dune franchise.
The decks, as all Theory 11 decks tend to be, are printed by the United States Playing
Card Company and handle as you would expect.
Flourishes are easy enough even though the muted tones of the deck aren't really well
suited to cardistry.
I couldn’t find the name of the actual designer of this deck anywhere in my online search–and
Theory 11 has developed a recent tendency to keep this info on the downlow.
It’s certainly not some of the other aforementioned big names–this seems to be the work of someone
slightly less established by the looks of it.
The courts are a bit more simplistic than the more recent licensed film property decks
Theory 11’s been putting out.
That could of course be a more deliberate choice–but I prefer the style we saw on
the Harry Potter decks much more.
The card backs are a bit muddled and generally the cards feel a bit less inspired.
Still a nice deck for fans of the movie and book for that matter.
They are available on Theory11.com for the customary price of $9.95.
It’s astonishing how Theory 11 can keep that price point in the face of the rising
costs of production, global shipping and inflation.
A testament of the volume of sales they must enjoy, in no small part to distribution deals
with Target and Walmart no doubt.
Congrats to Tom Knox Jr. on winning my Notorious Gambling Frog Deck giveaway.
Contact me on Instagram to claim your prize Tom.
For a chance to win a Dune deck, directly from me, here’s what you have to do.
1.)
Like this video.
2.)
Be a subscriber to this channel.
And 3.)
Let me know in a comment below what film or tv franchise would make a great subject for
an awesome playing cards deck?
To check out another Theory 11 review click on the video that will appear right here!
Don’t forget to head on over to the Successor Kickstarter Page and back the campaign!
I’ve been the Gentleman Wake, thanks for watching!
See you again next time!