Royal Fantasy Assembly ...got a pack of cards to match?

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Jonathan Townsend
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Royal Fantasy Assembly ...got a pack of cards to match?

Postby Jonathan Townsend » September 21st, 2017, 8:41 pm

Hi folks,

First a nod to Lubor Fieldler for the base trick he did using Jumbo cards - video of product ... https://www.martinsmagic.com/allmagic/c ... r-fiedler/

That's a nifty card change trick ... that sparked an interest in the classic Hofzinser card assembly plot ( Power of Faith, McDonalds...)

Is there a pack of cards to match these?

Thanks,

Jon
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Brad Jeffers
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Re: Royal Fantasy Assembly ...got a pack of cards to match?

Postby Brad Jeffers » September 22nd, 2017, 2:34 am

You can find a pack to match the Royal Fantasy cards HERE.

Why you would want to do so is beyond me, as the back design on these cards is without a doubt the ugliest I have ever seen!

I suggest you find a deck of THESE and make your own gaffed court card.

That's what I did.

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Re: Royal Fantasy Assembly ...got a pack of cards to match?

Postby Jonathan Townsend » September 22nd, 2017, 12:11 pm

Brad Jeffers wrote:...
I suggest you find a deck of THESE and make your own gaffed court card.


Thanks. Guess it's back to looking for cards. :)
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Re: Royal Fantasy Assembly ...got a pack of cards to match?

Postby Jonathan Townsend » September 25th, 2017, 1:52 pm

Hi Folks,
Back on track - I like the Fiedler card change. The procedure looks like a natural setup for a glide-like action to table the court cards... for an assembly routine. You deal the spot cards from the top of the packet. A nice old card trick done using nice old cards...

Any suggestions for the cards?
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Re: Royal Fantasy Assembly ...got a pack of cards to match?

Postby Brad Jeffers » September 25th, 2017, 4:52 pm

Jon,

Must I do all the legwork for you!? :)

The url of the picture of the cards that I suggested, should have led you to HERE. From there you translate the page to English and then click on Paitnik playing cards
(unless you are fluent in German - then you skip the translation and go directly to Paitnik Spielkarten) which will take you HERE, where you can purchase a pack for 4.49 euros.

As of noon today, that will be $5.32 American.

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Re: Royal Fantasy Assembly ...got a pack of cards to match?

Postby Jonathan Townsend » September 25th, 2017, 10:49 pm

Thanks Brad :) I went and misinterpreted your image as if the cards were out of print .. went to ebay. Enjoy the laugh. :)

Next stop on this ... three packs... or given the shipping costs maybe a half dozen. Guess I'll find out how large a wallet I need shortly...) Any chance for cards with white borders too? (French style huh, learn something new every day)
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Re: Royal Fantasy Assembly ...got a pack of cards to match?

Postby Jonathan Townsend » September 29th, 2017, 6:34 pm

Okay, I sent them a note - will see what happens next:
Hello,
A friend recommend your cards for a project. I'd like to buy a few packs.
Where may I find a US retailer for the packs of cards: "Französisches Karo SF PIATNIK deck 32 playing cards 1811"
Thanks,
Jon Townsend
Piatnik of America, Inc.
6000 Fairview Road
Suite 1200
Charlotte, NC 28210
(800) 962-3468 Toll Free
(417) 883-9575 Direct
(877) 303-1684 Toll Free Fax
Sales@Piatnik.us
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Re: Royal Fantasy Assembly ...got a pack of cards to match?

Postby Brad Jeffers » October 2nd, 2017, 4:29 pm


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Re: Royal Fantasy Assembly ...got a pack of cards to match?

Postby Jonathan Townsend » October 2nd, 2017, 7:32 pm

Thanks Brad - looking at those now - Also just a moment ago via email Piatnik US:
Jon
I am sorry, these cards are not sold in the US. From time to time you will find them on ebay/amazon from individuals that have brought them back from Europe.

Wishing you success on your project

Kind Regards,

**** **** (blanking name for courtesy -jt)
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Re: Royal Fantasy Assembly ...got a pack of cards to match?

Postby Jonathan Townsend » February 12th, 2018, 8:45 pm

Hi Folks, has anyone here made the window gaff described in Hamman's Wild All the Way? I'm getting tripped by USPC court card indices being smaller than the spot cards. Ideas?

Once upon a time one of the younger card guys was exploring a routine using a (different kind of card gaff) ... to date - that's the most efficient and workable approach for the trick I've seen. I still want the window gaff but in the mean time if he ever publishes his progressive assembly - it works.

Okay back to looking for practical windows ( Pitanik cards are a little more difficult to palm too ;) )
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Re: Royal Fantasy Assembly ...got a pack of cards to match?

Postby Brad Jeffers » April 6th, 2018, 4:49 pm

Jon,
Mahdi Gilbert's playing cards should be exactly what you've been looking for.

Poker size, no indices, white borders.

Case closed!

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Re: Royal Fantasy Assembly ...got a pack of cards to match?

Postby EndersGame » April 13th, 2018, 4:28 am

Jonathan Townsend wrote:Hi Folks, has anyone here made the window gaff described in Hamman's Wild All the Way? I'm getting tripped by USPC court card indices being smaller than the spot cards. Ideas?

There's an enormous amount of decks of custom playing cards available these days, and I'm familiar with quite a few of them. I have to think that there is something out there which meets the criteria you are looking for, and which is readily available and easily modified to suit your purposes.

Is the gaff you need a double ended Queen with windows? Any other criteria that are important?
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Re: Royal Fantasy Assembly ...got a pack of cards to match?

Postby EndersGame » April 13th, 2018, 11:30 am

Brad Jeffers wrote: Mahdi Gilbert's playing cards should be exactly what you've been looking for.

Poker size, no indices, white borders.

Case closed!

Mahdi's deck?

Unfortunately I don't think Mahdi's Hidden Leaves deck will quite work to make the needed gaff.

As you can see from the image below showing cards from this deck, the spot cards from Mahdi's deck have one-way pips. Given the nature of the gaff, aside from the diamonds (which are reversible by default), these cards won't do the job, because only half the illusion will succeed, while the other half will be incorrectly reversed.

Image

Standard Bicycle deck?

Yet cards from a standard Bicycle deck also won't easily work, as Jonathan Townsend has already pointed out. The large pips used for the court cards on a standard deck are smaller than the pips used on the spot cards (see size comparison below, with the difference in size shown with black lines) , and that this makes those cards unsuitable for making the gaff as well.

Image

Chu Magic version of Fantabulous ("Find The Queens")

You can buy the gaffs for Royal Fantasy under a different name. Lubor Fiedler's "Royal Fantasy" is based on a Brother John Hamman effect called "Fantabulous", which uses the same gaffs. Fantabulous was one phase of a larger routine entitled "Wild All the Way", which can be found in The Secrets of Brother John Hamman (1989). "Wild All The Way" consisted of a phase called Ace-Sational, which was then followed by Fantabulous.

An inexpensive version of Fantabulous was produced by Chu's Magic under the name "Find the Queens", and can be found fairly cheaply online (e.g. here and here), as shown below, although be aware that the cards are not likely to be very high quality. Search for "Find the Queens" and "Chu" to find other places online that have it.

Image

Image

Repro Magic version of Fantabulous

I have seen a vintage set of Fantabulous cards produced by Repro Magic.

Image

Here's how it describes the effect:

Image

There's a couple of interesting things about the gaff (which I've reproduced roughly below on the right, with a standard Queen of Diamonds on the left for comparison):

1. It has the large pip on the right hand side of the card rather than on the left hand side (besides the index), and the flower has been eliminated. This ensures there's lots of space for the larger pips on the spot cards without anything looking out of the ordinary. (I don't know if you could achieve the same with a standard Queen of Diamonds, however, due to the top/bottom borders potentially clashing with the location of the pips on the spot cards.)

2. The dual card used is a Queen of Diamonds / Queen of Clubs, and it retains the original smaller indices. How does one deal with the fact that the small indices specify a particular red or black suit, or does that go unnoticed by spectators? (e.g. the diamond index when showing the Queen of Hearts, or the club index when showing the Queen of Spades). Or is it better to have a gaff with the small index windowed too?

Image

Performance videos

For reference, I'll include some links to some related video clips, showing performances of this routine:

a) Performance of Royal Fantasy, with European style cards:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSXwedzW_OQ

b) Performance of Royal Fantasy, with over-sized Bicycle style cards minus indices:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLuoQ4RcbYg

c) Performance of Bro John Hammon's "Wild All the Way", with the Fantabulous phase beginning around 1 minute in:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozHlgjvpYYQ
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Re: Royal Fantasy Assembly ...got a pack of cards to match?

Postby Jonathan Townsend » May 3rd, 2018, 11:50 am

Thank you, that's a great post! Also the details on that reverse image gaff. The video of Hamman doing his routine seems to show regular position pips and indices on his cards.

Following up from BradJ's first suggestion I sent out to Australia for three packs of the Piatnik cards with blue backs and borders. I will offer some details after I find how well (or not) the trick goes with the Piatnik cards.

Lubor Fiedler's trick is startling. And Andy Galloway's video comments on using the glide/slide got me thinking about context... and the old Hofzinser trick as plot to put what Lubor's item does into context. Add a little bit of wishful thinking, an extra card as "magic card" and ... that's getting ahead of what's proved reliable in practice. More news as soon as I have the cards.

Again thanks!
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Re: Royal Fantasy Assembly ...got a pack of cards to match?

Postby Jonathan Townsend » May 27th, 2018, 10:43 pm

EndersGame wrote:
Jonathan Townsend wrote:... there is something out there which meets the criteria you are looking for, and which is readily available and easily modified to suit your purposes. [-] Is the gaff you need a double ended Queen with windows? Any other criteria that are important?

Yes, the window gaff to test a glide based trick. Let's start with decent construction, uniform cut, finished corners, pip size-position, no indices would be nice*, and a somewhat cleanable finish. With three packs of Piatnik 1850 in hand - the differences between their cards and USPC are noticeable.

*and a hard boiled egg?
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Re: Royal Fantasy Assembly ...got a pack of cards to match?

Postby Jonathan Townsend » January 31st, 2020, 1:19 pm

Anyone have the recent bicycle faro deck? Suitable for this project? https://playingcarddecks.com/products/f ... ying-cards
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