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Hello, everyone! A number of you probably know me by now, but for those who don't, hi, my name is Stephen, and I'm a card addict! Lol. In all seriousness, I started collecting playing cards on May 15, 2019; however, prior to playing cards, I've collected (and gotten out of collecting) sports cards, comics, CDs/records, Magic: The Gathering cards, and much more.

In fact, the moment I fell head over heels with collecting playing cards, I decided to liquidate a lot of otherwise valuable items that I simply don't care about anymore, like an Alpha Starter Deck of Magic: The Gathering. In essence, this is part of one's collection funding another, new collection!

With that said, I have an Instagram account where I currently post daily! I also plan to do some fun Instagram live events, such as the one I'm going to do this Wednesday, 6/12/2019 at 7:30 PM EST, where I'll be opening brand new, sealed decks of Arabesque Silver (Collector's Edition, not Player's Edition), Damask Red, and Damask Blue! So if that sounds like fun to you, join me and come along for the ride. =)

Along with that and my Portfolio52 profile, I'll be posting pictures of my collection here, along with some other long-form information/stories to accompany certain decks, etc.! The synergy between all these places will ultimately serve as the chronicling and archival of my journey. I'm really looking forward to meeting and interacting with everyone here in the community, as well as sharing in the joy of collecting this wonderful medium of artistic expression and technical achievements!

With 5 days left to mark my first full month of collecting, here is a teaser pic of my collection as it currently stands. I have something like 40 more decks on the way, though, so more specific and detailed pictures are soon to follow! In the meantime, see what all you can pick out from this picture. There are some real doozies in here...

(Click here to view an extra large version of the photo!)

That's an insane collection!

So much Lotrek hidden away in a box....

hsbc wrote:So much Lotrek hidden away in a box....

It won't be hidden for long! My wife and I are moving in a couple of weeks, so everything is in boxes for now, lol. I've been thinking of all sorts of ideas for displays, etc. Can't wait to get moved so I can get started with that! The LAST place I want to see my Lotrek and Branle Tesoro decks is in a box! Lol.

TheCollector wrote:ideas for displays, etc.

Maybe you've seen it but don't miss this person's post on reddit

What are those decks with Super Mario on them?

shiroo56 wrote:What are those decks with Super Mario on them?

They're listed on eBay as Super Mario Retro Art Playing Cards.

So. Many. Sexy. Decks.

hsbc wrote:

TheCollector wrote:ideas for displays, etc.

Maybe you've seen it but don't miss this person's post on reddit

Good grief, that's an awesome setup and collection! I saw their post that they made for the Bocopo decks display, but not that one showcasing their full collection. Awesome!

shiroo56 wrote:What are those decks with Super Mario on them?

Merlebird got to it before I could. =) There are a ton of these types of decks floating around on eBay! As a long-time gamer as well, I'm definitely going to be nabbing a bunch of them over time. =)

So, I cracked open a set of Damask red and blue decks tonight and...WOW, the blue deck in particular is unbelievably stunning. The ace of spades, specifically, deserves to be framed and made to be the centerpiece of a display. Amazing...

I applaud your willingness to open and experience those amazing decks. Damask and Arabesque decks will be white whales for some time but at least I can experience them vicariously through your posts. Beautiful cards and thanks for sharing your deck babies!

BaconWise wrote:I applaud your willingness to open and experience those amazing decks. Damask and Arabesque decks will be white whales for some time but at least I can experience them vicariously through your posts. Beautiful cards and thanks for sharing your deck babies!

Hey, thanks! Yeah, I'm going to be getting extremely active with things once my wife and I get moved. I'm buying a nice lightbox with camera equipment and I'm going to really make some stunning video/images of decks/cards/etc. from my collection. =) As for opening decks, it's why I'm basically buying two of everything! That's gotten pricy, of course, but that's where all the stuff I've been selling comes into play (thankfully, lol).

But, for the moment, the blue variant of Damask is my absolute favorite deck of cards. There's no question. In fact, I just purchased a third one, lol...oof. But totally worth it for a display I'm planning on doing!

Aside from that, I've got some really amazing stuff coming up here soon...!

Mail day was really something else today! Lots of good storytelling surrounding the KWP stuff, too. Here are some descriptions and pics! Don't miss the stuff I write about the Pi copper plate. =) I'll be spreading these out over the next few posts since I can only have 4 attachments per post.

KINGS WILD PROJECT

1x Pi Copper Plate: When I won the Crimson Labyrinth 1/8 auction (deck pictured in the next post down), the winning bid amount on my behalf was $650! Once finalized, Jackson turned around, grabbed this copper plate that he used to stamp his Pi deck tuck boxes with, and said he was going to give this to me as well since I bid so much!!! He also threw in a signed one of these. It was an absolutely epic night and my adrenaline was spiking while I was battling it out with the bids, lol. But the copper plate...man, talk about one of a kind!
Click here to see a high-resolution image of the plate. You can even see fingerprint information captured in the copper! Very, very cool item.

1x Verum Videre Xmas Edition: I believe Jackson said he did about 36 of these versions for friends and family. He auctioned a few on Instagram Live during his moving sale, this being the one I won.

KINGS WILD PROJECT continued...

2x Crimson Labyrinth: Jackson only created 8 of these decks! They're gilded red as well. I also won both of these during two separate Instagram Live auctions: 1 of 8, and 4 of 8! Note the typo on the Crimson Labyrinth labels. They say LAYbrinth instead! I love it! That kind of stuff adds value for me, personally, as the type of collector that I am. =)

LOTREK

4x Grotesk Macabre Test Decks: See pics! Only 50 of each deck was sold. Many of you around here probably know full well when these were sold, but since I've only been into this hobby for about a month, I totally missed it, so this is the first set of these I've seen or heard anything about! If any of you reading this happen to have any other Lotrek test/prototype/demo/error decks, please let me know, because I'm on the lookout!

That damask ace of spades is a wonderful picture....

caniveski wrote:That damask ace of spades is a wonderful picture....

I know I have a long journey ahead of me still, but it's seriously the most stunning card I've seen in person!

Welp, now that it's officially been over a year since my last post, lol, I figured I'd resurrect my thread here and start chronicling my decks! I'd taken to Instagram for that for awhile, but I nixed that account for the time being (too many annoying messages from people who seem to think I owe them Lotrek decks just because they want them).

To kick things off, here's the complete set of Grotesk, including the 4 test decks I posted earlier in the thread:





Next up, these are the most coveted items I'll probably ever have of anything I ever come across where playing cards are concerned. Before I get to the pictures, here's what you're about to see below:

1. A Carat X3 containing (from left to right) a Silk Red, Silk Blue-Silver Prototype, and Silk Blue.
2. A whole slew of photos of the Silk Blue-Silver Prototype deck (since it's the only one floating around out there outside of master Lotrek's quarters).
3. An uncut sheet of Silk Blue-Silver court cards.
4. A prototype Silk printing plate.
5. A Silk Blue printing plate.
6. An uncut Silk Red tuck.
7. An uncut Silk Blue tuck.

Silk Blue-Silver Prototype: Yes, I acquired this from Lotrek himself and that's all I'll say about that. =) As for the deck itself, I think it's truly incredible! As someone who loves to see prototypes and work-in-progress bodies of work, it's everything I could have asked for where something like this is concerned. The back of every card is silver; however, only the aces, courts, and jokers are printed in silver. The number cards are a hybrid: backs are all silver, but fronts are the same as the Silk Blue release! Pepper in some minor imperfections here and there and what you have is a full-fledged prototype deck. Even better, since Lotrek has stated that demo/trial/prototype deck releases are more or less a thing of the past now that he has ironed out his processes, that makes this deck that much more special to me.

Last of note, since Silk won deck of the year for 2019, that's a big cherry on top of being the lucky owner of this particular collection of Silk goodies.

Now with that out of the way, onto the pictures!

Those test decks you photographed were one of the first I ordered from Lotrek as the Inverted Inferno I think was my first Lotrek Kickstarter. As you noted, there were only a few. Actually, there were five to be sent, but when it came to ship, there were only 4 he could send. Oh well. Here is a link to the Kickstarter campaign update on the test decks just for kicks.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ch ... ts/1880926

You have to keep in mind that because of what Lotrek does, testing is a part of what he does. Sometimes he sells them, and I am sure a lot of times, he just trashes them. There were a number of test runs for the Liturgy (4) test runs, but not near as rare as the above. There were 60 Golden Oath Prototype decks made. There was a test or prototype of the Icons. Arabesque error. The Craft Fable was essentially a test/error deck. I didn't even know there was a Silk prototype, so congrats on securing that one. I also have no idea of how you managed to secure those printing plates. Don't tell me though. My bank account can't handle any more hits!

I am sure I am missing some. It is just a part of his effort to make sure what he prints is awesome.

I love the Crimson Laybrinth deck as well. I have 6/8. I kept mine with the "Crimson Laybrinth" also.

Beauty in progress...
Super awesome that you decided to share these again.

The plates! How do I get Lotrek printing plates??

hsbc wrote: ↑Wed Sep 09, 2020 3:37 pm The plates! How do I get Lotrek printing plates??

Have you ever seen any of the Ocean's or Mission: Impossible movies?

Awesome update Stephen!

Yeah, I was kind of imagining something like a Mission Impossible scene....or just funding a nice vacation for Lotrek and his wife...maybe a vacation home. I wish it was just a case of Trappist beer, but I think it will take a lot more than that.

Now where is that bottle of felix felisis?

I'll also be listing decks like this -- this being the latest one I've acquired. I'm sure not too many people will care, but, hey, we like what we like, right? Lol.

Beautiful! all of it, Love the plates as well!

I love that AU racing deck haha. That's fantastic and I've never seen it before. I particularly like the Aces and the Jokers are just brilliantly done. This is good pulp, very good. The Oath stuff is always incredible. I wouldn't mind reading the novella about the acquisition process. I hope there are hammer head sharks involved somehow and a really big bag of gummi's.
(All good legends should include gummi's)

Thinking about Silk brought memories of an early post I made before Silk came out.



Seeing your Silk collection made me revise it a bit in honor of an astounding collection.

LOL! Well, I can't blame you there. I suppose us Lotrek collectors are all quite an insane lot, huh? =) And on that note, I have a second Grotesk Silver-Bronze Experimental arriving at some point! I was able to trade my way into that one, though, thankfully. Such a beautiful deck, that one...