Magic Review: Penguin Magic Marked deck vs the Marksman deck

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Penguin Magic Marked deck
Rick Lax
Luke Jermay
Marksman Deck

#magicorthodoxy #markedcards #deckreview

[magicorthodoxy]

Have you picked up either one of these? Tell the world what you think of

[Migabyte]

when you say everyone in the world recognizes this deck, that everyone grew up playing with this cards, I think you are only talking about the USA. in my country I never saw the bicycle deck on any store shelf...

[danopticon]

Once I knew to look for them, I could see the markings… but I can see how, onstage or somehow in the spotlight (in a crowd gathered on the street with all eyes on them, for ex.), with a magician talking at them and putting things in their hands and directing their attention this way and that, during a five-minute long trick, a volunteer would never notice the markings — not in a million years! 🙂 I wouldn’t use these to play poker with seasoned pros, though…!! 😮

[leonardsmith]

I just picked up the Marksman Deck and I'm simply blown away at all the stuff that you can do with it. Luke Jermay deserves a lot of credit for releasing this gem. The instructional video is very enlightening and I was working with the deck a day-and-a-half after I got it. Highly recommended.

[MrEsMysteriesMagicks]

The Penguin Maiden Back marked deck now comes in the blue back. I have two of them. Furthermore, the deck comes with matched jokers and two gaff cards: a blank card and a doubled blue back card. Easy to read marks. If you have seen the review this guy does on the 10 marked decks that he likes, you know that he separates marked decks into "coded" and "reader" style marks. The Maiden Back is a reader style deck.

[HafzaProductions]

A new marked deck came out recently is the Bicycle Pure Mark from TCC.

[samuelfoo]

Would you be so kind to list your top 10 tricks of 2016/2017? Would be appreciated!!

[theorushinjr]

Although I have never owned a Marksman deck, I agree that the Penguin Magic marked deck is the best. I’ve tried many other marked decks. All the others have failed me in respect of cost and readability. I always buy the Penguin Magic decks. Thank you 😊

[jnelly]

I have the new marked penguin deck just because I wanted one. I use a self-made marked deck of Gold Standards as my "walkin around" deck and I might eventually switch it out for the penguin deck. The marksman deck looks really good but I haven't gotten around to learning the entirety of mnemonica yet(up to 24 though :/)

[filipbaader]

The red keepers gotta be may favourite marked cards.

[everydaymagic]

Love your reviews. I bought the marksman deck after watching your review on it. In this review you give a quick look at the back of the marksman, but not the other. Is it possible to get a peek? I love a good marked/reader back. Use them all the time as a back-up as you suggest here. Often I preform with a marked deck, then do a switch out for a regular deck and hand it to them for inspection after and say they can keep it. Cheers and thanks again. Just wanted a quick peek at the back.

[HafzaProductions]

The marked Maiden back is so obvious, is that I can instantly see the marks. 3:38 that card on the top is the Ace of Hearts.

[grgryl]

Do either deck require any memory work to learn the markings?

[misterliquidcity]

I have the code deck which is really good. Definitely going to get a brick of the marked decks from penguin asap are the marks easy to read etc?

[SatchelSwede]

Got a brick of maiden back ! Phenomenal and soft

[misterliquidcity]

Great review like usual. Funny when i seen you say 2 best marked decks on the planet. I was going to ask you to review the mark deck from penguin. I have no doubt marksman deck is amazing. But for less then the cost of 2 marksman decks you get 12 marked decks from penguin. Only reason why i havent got it yet i was worried the quality was going to be subpar. So im glad you did this review tyvm!!

[cardninja]

The marking on the maiden one popped out at me right away. Do spectators actually not see this?

[DJDarkGift]

I will certainly be looking for those online myself. Do you have the Bicycle Blue Inspire Marked Deck by The Blue Crown? I picked up like a brick of these back when they were on sale on Amazon, 2 Decks for $9.95, which are hands down the cheapest marked deck I've ever come across. I just checked and they are currently unavailable on Amazon, but I'm sure that someone out there must have them. They aren't the Traditional Bicycle Back Design, but coming out of the Bicycle Box with the ever-reliable USPCC Printing, Duplicate Jokers, and Double Backer, these are worth seeking out, in my opinion at least. On a Blue Background with a double border, there are two Bicycles with the wording "Follow Your Dreams" Atop and inverted at the bottom of the card in White, and if you can tell time, you can easily make out this hard to see marking system, let's just say I'll leave it at that.

[joshuang]

Actually, the most affordable option out there is David Blaine's Black Lions Seconds, at 5.00 USD per piece and 55 USD per brick, plus it comes with a few gimmicks in the faces of the cards. However, Blaine never advertised his Lions as marked decks nor it came with instructions, so only a handful of people knows how to read the Lions' mark (both the suit and value; I've seen some people says it's half marked). With the Marked Cards it is easier to do all the mentalism routines in my opinion.

But I shall also add if one already has a handful mem-deck routines, a stack is more useful than the mark; the mark is there if one messes up.

[darrenhadden]

Great review David 👍 I agree I love marked decks also. They are your best friend in magic ✨