– Intro / Brief Overview
What’s up everybody and welcome to Magic For Beginners, my name is Keith and in today’s video we’re going to be looking at the Official UK Ambassador deck from Bicycle Playing Cards which is a officially licensed deck from bicycle and it was the first ever UK limited edition deck to have printed edition numbers which went from number one to two thousand five hundred. This deck was specifically produced for the Blackpool Magic Convention 2024. Out of the two thousand five hundred that were printed, only two thousand of these were released for sale.
If you missed my latest video, I talk about becoming a official UK ambassador for Bicycle Playing Cards and I was sent this deck as part of a welcome bundle and I managed to get deck number two thousand three hundred and eight five.
Buy a deck here: https://magicbox.uk.com/products/uk-ambassador-bicycle-playing-cards
– How Much Are They?
So how much are these? As I said I was gifted these and they were for sale exclusively at Blackpool this year, however there’s places like Magicbox which are selling some decks of these for £13 each, so if you wanted to purchase a rare deck that has limited numbers available and couldn’t make Blackpool, then head over to Magicbox and grab one of these. Tell them I sent you too!
– Tuck Case
Let’s talk about the tuck case. On the front there’s a large Bicycle logo which has the branding and the slogan of trusted since 1885 and then under that there’s a red sky and blue silhouette of the London skyline along with the Union Jack flag too.
On the sides of the tuck box, there’s the USPCC branding on one side and on the other it has Air Cushion finish and made in USA branding. The top is hidden by the Union Jack numbered seal but says UK Ambassador and the bottom has the usual USPCC ad copy. The tuck flap also features the USPCC ad copy too.
On the back it has the playing card back design, but with a slight border around this from the sides/front red and blue design which makes the white card pop out from the back. It’s a cardboard tuck case, but it feels nice in the hands.
– Backs Of Cards
Let’s talk about the backs of these cards. At first glance, you may think these are just your standard blue ride back design, but when you compare a standard blue playing card to these, you can see that these are a much darker blue than the standard which looks really nice I think. It’s the same standard bordered design as usual so there’s nothing too different there in terms of looks other than the colour change.
– Additional Cards?
With regards to extra cards, you get your two jokers still which aren’t identical, one is black and white and one has colour to it which you could potentially use for colour changes and the joker riding the bike has a rather fetching red top on to match the red of the tuck case, along with subtle blues to match it too such as his trousers. You also get two blank cards included in the deck too which is fantastic, as there’s so many different things you can do with a blank card for magic tricks and mentalism, so the two blanks are very much welcomed.
Before we look through the deck, I just want to jump in and let you know about the channel membership section of this channel, if you want support the channel and get early access to videos, behind the scenes photos and videos and other rewards including custom emojis to use on the channel, then please check the description to see how to become a member of the channel. Let’s get back into the video.
– Looking Through The Deck
As we look through the deck, with the court cards and the standard cards, you’ll see some visual differences. There’s the Ace of Spades Bicycle 808 card which has the USPCC advert stuff on there as usual, but the blacks of the cards have a more subtle dark blue on the pips and numbers which replicates the tuck box design and the reds have a slightly darker than usual red colour to match the overall theme too.
Then there’s the court cards which have the same red and blue treatment as the rest of the deck and the jokers and they’re featured with red and blue accents and design which makes them stand out from standard court cards. I think the Jack of Diamonds could do with a bit more blue on him as there seems to be a lot of red featured on that card, but I can get away with it I think and that’s just personal preference.
– How Do They Handle?
Let’s talk about handling of these cards. They’re a classic air cushion finish and made in the USA at the Kentucky factory. As per usual with bicycle cards and USPCC they’re on Bicycle stock so really nice to handle, shuffle and faro etc right after opening the deck. Give them a quick rub down your leg to get rid of any roughness and you’re good to go.
– Conclusions
As we begin to reach the deep end as Colin and Samir likes to refer to it as, what’s the overall thoughts on the deck? If you’re after a special edition rare deck which you can add to your collection and love Bicycle decks, then this is perfect for you. As it’s limited to 2,500 decks then if you manage to grab one, it could potentially go up in value over the years, or if you just wanted a sort of UK themed deck then this would be perfect.
Limited numbers, modified court cards and also two blank cards for effects, this could be a new walk around deck for magicians in the UK too, especially for corporate gigs if you wanted something a bit more impressive than the standard bicycle deck.
If you want to see what other Bicycle cards I have coming up for review on this channel soon, check out my Bicycle Ambassador unboxing video which should be linked up on the screen now and also found in the description and until next time, see ya!
