Finding Blank Jumbo Bikes

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Brad A._dup1
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Finding Blank Jumbo Bikes

Postby Brad A._dup1 » January 4th, 2003, 11:30 pm

Does anyone know of a place I can find jumbo Bicycle cards...with blank faces?

I looked at Haines and Cards by Martin with no luck. Any other ideas?

-Brad
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Leonard Hevia
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Favorite Magician: Dai Vernon, Frank Garcia, Slydini, Houdini,
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Re: Finding Blank Jumbo Bikes

Postby Leonard Hevia » January 7th, 2003, 7:19 pm

Hi Brad--Have you tried Stevens Magic Emporium? I recall seeing all manner of Jumbo Decks advertised in one of their older catalogs. :)

Brad A._dup1
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Re: Finding Blank Jumbo Bikes

Postby Brad A._dup1 » January 7th, 2003, 7:22 pm

I contacted Cards by Martin and they say they have a few cards laying around.... I think that I only need a few.

What if I just painted a few jumbo cards white?....or covered them with paper? This is a stage effect anyway.

-Brad
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sleightly
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Re: Finding Blank Jumbo Bikes

Postby sleightly » January 7th, 2003, 8:18 pm

Scan the back of a playing card at 1200dpi. Blow it up to 8-1/2 x 11. Save as a TIF file. Take to local printer (or Kinko's whatever). Have them print color on good paper, then laminate onto chipboard. Laminate blank sheet on front of chipboard. Round the corners... Voila, instant jumbo blank card (same process can be used to make a full jumbo deck any size you want)...

Can be a bit pricey, but you get what you need...

Ahhh.. the amazing stuff technology allows for...

Brad A._dup1
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Re: Finding Blank Jumbo Bikes

Postby Brad A._dup1 » January 7th, 2003, 8:35 pm

I think it would eventually equal the cost of buying a deck (or a gaff).

Then again, if you need a special gaff you could scan in the face of the card and make the edit in Photoshop, and go over to Kinko's...like you say.

I wonder if there is any type of printer paper that could duplicate the texture of a playing card--I don't think a normal printer could handle the paper though. Hmmm.

A neat idea.
-Brad
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Guest

Re: Finding Blank Jumbo Bikes

Postby Guest » January 8th, 2003, 8:07 am

Hi Brad,
I suppose you CAN go through all that trouble if you want to. Or you can get some steel wool (000 grade), and rub it on the face of a card to remove all the printing. Try that instead! :D

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Pete Biro
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Re: Finding Blank Jumbo Bikes

Postby Pete Biro » January 8th, 2003, 11:22 am

You can get pretty heavy paper and run through most computer printers (you open a door at the back so it runs through without curling up).

Scan the back and print 'em.

For stage, tho, maybe you could just use some semi gloss white spray paint on the faces.
Stay tooned.

Pete McCabe
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Re: Finding Blank Jumbo Bikes

Postby Pete McCabe » January 8th, 2003, 3:01 pm

A standard pencil eraser will completely remove the printing from the face (and probably the back, although I haven't tried it) of a bicycle brand playing card. It is much easier if you clamp the pencil in the bit of an electric drill.

However the erased section will not have the same texture as the rest of the card, so sadly this is a very limited method. Perhaps for stage work it wouldn't be so bad.

However I would think by far the easiest way is to print whatever you need on a piece of paper and glue it over the face of the card. You might need a thick piece of paper to keep the card image from bleeding through; alternately paint the entire card red or black. On stage I would think this would be entirely adequate.

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Michael Kamen
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Re: Finding Blank Jumbo Bikes

Postby Michael Kamen » January 8th, 2003, 5:02 pm

I have not done this for a long time, but a new razor blade used to be able to cleanly scrape the spots and number off. Choose an ace of diamonds to work on so you have less to do.
Michael Kamen

Brad A._dup1
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Re: Finding Blank Jumbo Bikes

Postby Brad A._dup1 » January 8th, 2003, 8:31 pm

as I said...I've found the Jumbos. Many thanks for all the interesting comments.

I've come into another problem:
The effect I'm creating involves I write a "prediction" like statement on one card. You see, the spectator picks one of four...they put it back...I pick one...they tell me what it is...then I pull out this card that has a prediction on it (from earlier on in the routine)

The thing is, the prediction will be changing every show (something from a newspaper clipping)....What is a good way for me to have writing on the card change?

I thought of laminating the cards. I'm only going to have one with the writing, stuck to the back of one of the other four. I could just double lift the jumbo...but I'd rather show them one by one...

-Brad
Former Vonnegut Character


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