Holographic Memento Mori
The name of the deck is Holographic Memento Mori, though I also see the words "Limited Edition" in just about every title across the world wide web so maybe that's actually part of it too.
This deck, not just the backs, not just a little edge trim here and there, not just foil-pressing on tuck, but the entire deck was produced via holography -- everything is amazingly shiny! The fronts. The backs, even the tuck can be seen to reflect light in waves of color. I've never seen anything like it in a deck of cards before.
Coincidentally, I've not only seen the exact deck of cards before but I have it -- the standard Memento Mori playing cards (also by Murphy's Magic). While the predecessor was commissioned by none other than Chris Ramsay, I have a strong feeling that these came from Murphy's Magic directly. They're missing the two ad cards, but other than that the faces are identical. Albeit, holographic.
The tuck design does differ slightly too though. While yes, it's fully holographic the embossing is actually the exact opposite. On the original tuck, the lines throughout the skull's design were flat whereas the filling between them was raised. On this Holographic Memento Mori tuck, the lines themselves are raised and the rest is flat. The design still carries across the front, side, and back which would allow three of these decks to display a full pattern though, so that's cool.
In my opinion, this is somewhere between a collector's deck and a novelty deck. Yes, it could be "both", but given the price tag on it I would err more towards the collector's side. I've had the deck out of the box for maybe 20 minutes now and with basic handling (and exposure to air), the cards are already getting a decent bow to them. They actually handle really well, if I'm being completely honest. I'm not going to attempt a faro with them because that's just crazy, but springs and dribbles and even riffle fans work without flaw.
They're already starting to pick up spots on them from my finger prints, and though they wipe off really easily I think that I'll be putting this one back in it's tuck and in a nice display somewhere. I hope I can find a good use for them because I would hate to just have this deck sit on the shelf without any love. We'll see =]
The deck consists of 54 cards:
- 52 playing cards
- Two identical jokers
Where to buy?
Last I checked, you should be able to pick up Holographic Memento Mori at Vanishing Inc. The last price tag I saw for this deck was set at $39.95.