Product description : Marked deck have been around for a very long time, I’ve never really used them but this has changed since I got the Ultimate Marked Deck by Magic Dream ! This review will be about both the deck and the book which is available online. With this deck, you will be able to do a lot of tricks, so you will fool both laymen and magician ! Let’s go !
Price and where to buy it : The deck is sold at $29.95 and the book is sold at $21 and you can find it in nearly every Murphy's magic « partner » shop !
What you get : There is not a lot of packaging on this one because it’s just a deck or a book. The deck is built in a rider back design which is very cool because it’s the brand I use the most (I only use Rider back except from a trick which require a double decker deck from Cardshark). So the quality of the deck is amazing, those are real bicycle cards so there is no problem about the whole thing. The marking system is one of the simplest I’ve seen, there is no memory work of any kind, you can read the identity of the card straight from its back. For the book, it’s really well written and feels great, the routine on it are awesome and the impact is very strong of people (since not a lot of people are aware of marked deck). I really think the book is a useful and necessary addition to the deck so you will learn some routine to start with your new toy !
Teaser : There is not a real trailer for this, you should find some video about it on the internet.
The pros and the cons : Here is the core of my review, let's begin with the cons, as I will usually be doing, I prefer to keep the good things for the end.
THE CONS :
[if !supportLists]– [endif]This will have the same lifetime as a regular deck so you may consider buying several because you will be using it a lot !
THE PROS :
[if !supportLists]– [endif]It’s one of the only (if not the only) marked deck which is made out of regular bicycle rider back design ! You can’t modify the rider back design anymore so it’s an amazing feature, the deck matches completely my regular deck in use.
[if !supportLists]– [endif]The marking is really well made, there is nothing to think about except the fact that you have to read, it’s as simple as that.
[if !supportLists]– [endif]One of my problem with a marked deck was the routine I would do with it ! Hopefully, the book helps you a lot, by giving you very cool way of using your deck.
[if !supportLists]– [endif]Talking about the book, I like the fact that not all the routine on it are “take a card, it’s the 5 of clubs”, they’re very well thought of !
[if !supportLists]– [endif]It’s not that expensive when you think about it, especially the book, but the decks will last a long time with proper care. I take more care of the UMD than my regular decks. I would advise you to buy a little plastic box in order to protect it a little bit more.
[if !supportLists]– [endif]If you use the UMD along with a stack, you will be able to do miracle with it !
Overall rating : I do believe it’s one of the most amazing marked deck out there, if you want one in bicycle rider back, you definitely won’t be disappointed, also, the book is very useful when it comes to learning routine with it, 4/4 hearts.
As for the difficulty level, the routines taught in the book are quite simple to do, they require minimal sleights, the reading of the marking is also very easy, I would say 2/5 stars.
Similar products : There are a lot of marked deck out there, I do love The Code by Andy Nyman, it’s a clever mix between a marked deck and a stack ! But the Ultimate Marked Deck is something I would have on me at all time.