Yo! What up guys, it's Chris Ramsay! Welcome back to the channel.
I am pumped! Super excited!
You guys finally have my 1st Playing Cards in your hands.
And I can't wait to see them. We're gonna take a look at some reviews.
Some of them might be cringe-worthy.
Cringe-worthy.
The first video we're gonna check out is from the Gentleman Wake. Fancy!
Well. let's see what it's all about!
I’ve always respected Magician and Youtuber Chris Ramsay.
He’s got incredible zeal for what he does, and a terrific willingness to make sure his
content looks good.
I can definitely relate, although our styles are radically different, in the end we’re
just two guys trying to do the same thing; create a outlet for our creativity and build
an audience who enjoys it.
I’ve got 500 subscribers and he’s got 900… thousand.
So Chris, if you’re watching this, I hope you liked my impression enough to stick around
to watch the rest of this and, you know, a shoutout wouldn’t be the worst thing either.
THIS is Chris Ramsay’s first completely independent foray as a purveyor of playing
cards, the appropriately named; 1st Playing Cards and I’m about to take you on a tour
of this deck.
Quickly, before we get into it I’m giving away a sealed copy of this out of print deck
so make sure to stick around all the way to the end of the video for details.
Let’s do this.
The 1st Playing Cards were initially offered during a 15 day preorder window on Chris-Ramsay.com--meaning
Ramsay would print only as many decks as were ordered during the sale period with no reprints
or copies to be made available through retailers.
The deck was printed by the United States Playing Card Co. and the cards have earned
their namesake, being the first deck offered by the USPCC to be printed with gold foil
highlights bleeding all the way to the edge of the cards, more on that in a bit.
The tuck box was printed by San Diego Printer, Clove Street Press and features a high quality
matte white cardstock with a gold foil band and the embossed ‘1st’ lettering also
in white.
The design is the epitome of minimalistic with no additional copy or design elements
anywhere else but on the bottom of the box which only features the name of the deck and
it’s creator.
The tuck case flap features Chris Ramsay’s logo comprised of his initials with the R
made to look like a coiled snake.
Inside the box is a gold foil pattern of repeating ‘1st’ logos.
It’s the exact same small foil detail that can be found on the card backs themselves.
The tuck is certainly simple but in an elegant way.
Despite the inch thick gold band the deck manages to avoid feeling gaudy or pretentious.
I am, however, curious to see how future decks from Chris Ramsay will look.
Will they feature the same ‘1st’ logo or graduate to a ‘2nd’?
The deck was designed by Ramsay’s friend and collaborator Abraham Garcia Sanchez.
The two-way cardback’s feature another repeating pattern made up of a field of alternately
oriented CR monogram logos.
The pattern is encased inside two thin boundaries.
One grey and the other goldish yellow all within a poker style border.
It’s an understated aesthetic that allows itself one fancy detail; the gold foil ‘1st’
logos that bleed to the card edges.
Not only does the foil catch the light nicely but the design makes for really fantastic
fans and spreads, with the element creating a gold ribbon across the cards when they are
all spread out.
In his vlogs, Chris Ramsay has said that the deck was really designed with magic performance
in mind, specifically his own routines and the cards have been tailored made for tricks
he regularly uses.
In fact, Chris Ramsay has promised to distribute a secret trick contained within the deck via
email to those who purchased the cards--but as of the filming of this video the message
has yet to go out.
Inside the box you a get two duplicate jokers, both featuring the Chris Ramsay monogram logo.
There’s a blank face card and a duplicate 4 of spades which, according to Ramsay, is
his favorite card in the deck.
The blank card and the duplicate are also two important ingredients in another trick
engineered by Ramsay called Voodoo.
Link in the description.
Additionally the cards come in a partial stack, with only a single cut to the nine of diamonds
before the cards are in full mnemonica stack.
This means little to gamers or cardists, but for magicians familiar with the work of Juan
Tamariz it’s highly useful for mentalism routines involving opening a sealed box in
front of spectators.
The card faces are all standard; pips, indices, and suit colors making them great for gameplay
and magic of course.
I did notice one odd idiosyncrasy of the deck, the printing on some cards is not completely
centered.
I don’t know if this is by design or simply a quirky misstep of the USPCC printing process
(as they are sometimes wont to make).
I’m definitely leaning towards the latter.
It’s especially noticeable on the duplicate 4 of spades.
If it is consistent from deck to deck, I only opened the one, I suppose it could be used
as a one-way feature trick.
The court cards are bicycle standard with one exception; they’ve been slightly recolored
in the feint gray and gold tones seen on the backs.
I understand the impetus behind the choice but it does give the cards a sun-faded look
that doesn’t mesh as well with the modern feel of the rest of the deck.
Still it’s a small gripe.
In fact, if I do have one complaint it would be that, outside of the tiny gold foil detail,
the deck isn’t the most eye catching when it comes to cardistry which is a shame because
the premium crushed bicycle stock feels fantastic.
Springs are effortless.
The cards faro and flourish like a dream--even with my limited skillset.
But the low contrast backs can get lost a bit.
All in all, this is a great all around high quality deck definitely worthy of the Chris
Ramsay brand and of inclusion in any collection.
May they definitely be the first of many.
As I mentioned, the 1st playing cards are no longer available from Chris-Ramsay.com
which means eBay may be the only place if you’re looking to score a deck.
But be prepared for some serious mark ups.
There is one other way… you could instead try to win a free brand new copy from me!
Here’s what you need to do.
1) Like this video.
2) Make sure to be subscribed to this channel.
And the third and final step?
I want you to help me get Chris Ramsay’s attention--I’d love for him to see this
video.
Click on the share button down there and click on the twitter logo but before you tweet it
out add @ChrisRamsay52 and @gentlemanwake to it so that we’ll both see it.
Do those three things and I’ll automatically enter you in a drawing to win the 1st playing
cards directly from me.
Before I go, I want to announce the winners of my David Blaine Stoics decks giveaway.
Congrats to Michael Bourgeois, 3xtraction, Norman Estaris.
Make sure to PM me guys so I can send you your prize.
Also special thanks to redditor Carpetcarp for allowing me to get my 1st Playing Cards
decks for this review.
I’ve been the Gentleman Wake, see you next time.
I’m the Gentleman Wake, presented by Kardify.com, and this is a one minute deck spotlight of
the 1st Playing Cards from Chris Ramsay.
Initially offered during a 15 day preorder window on Ramsay’s site, the 1st Playing
Cards were printed by the USPCC and, appropo of their name, feature a never before seen
feature of USPCC cards, gold foil printing to the card edge.
The tuck case is the epitome of minimalistic.
High quality matte white cardstock with a gold foil band featuring the embossed ‘1st’
logo.
The inside of the box is covered in a golden repeating pattern of tinier logos.
Inside the box you a get two duplicate jokers, both featuring the Chris Ramsay monogram logo.
There’s a blank face card and a duplicate 4 of spades.
Additionally the cards come in a partial Mnemonica stack.
The card backs feature a repeating pattern of Ramsay’s monogram logo.
The card faces are all standard; pips, indices, and suit colors.
The courts are bicycle standards too, with only modified coloration to set them apart.
What does set this deck apart is the amazing handling.
The deck faros and springs wonderfully.
With fans and ribbons spreads taking maximum advantage of the gold foil detail on the card
backs.
To learn more and for a chance to win a copy of this out of print deck visit Kardify.com
and watch the full review.
For more reviews follow me on instagram @theGentlemanWake.
See you next time.