Another year, another batch of sweet, sweet Mystery Decks from Art of Play!
I filmed everything and put together what's currently my longest video to-date. If you want to unbox with me, watch it here before scrolling down to see the goodies:
About the Mystery Decks
This year, there were 25 possible decks to receive (at random) when you purchased a Mystery Deck. For the full list, check out my post here: Art of Play's 2022 Mystery Deck List.
I placed an order for 16 decks. It's a nice and even number, higher odds to get more unique decks, and best of all, free shipping! Unfortunately, I had a 10%-off discount code that I remembered after I placed the order, so that stings just a little.
I already owned 11 of the 25 possible decks, so the potential of receiving a duplicate is a little higher. Not only is it possible to get a duplicate in the Mystery Decks themselves (i.e., unwrapping more than one of the same decks), but given I own slightly less than half of the potential decks, it's also possible I unwrap one I already own. For me, that's perfectly fine. I really like the decks from Art of Play and truth be told, buying them at the Mystery Deck price of $12 each is a sale (given most are $18+).
Wrapping the Wrapped Decks
For the intro to my unboxing video on YouTube, I wanted to make something unique and fun. So, I created a little packaging:
It was quick and easy to make, and I thought it made the presentation a little extra special. It also gave me a way to use the sticker that they sent. The amount of time and effort Art of Play put in to making the custom wrapping paper for the decks, and manually wrapping every deck, I thought that this extra presentation-wrapping was worth it.
Anyways, enough about that, let's get straight to it!
Unboxing the Decks
If you haven't already, I encourage you to watch my unboxing video on YouTube. I not only unbox each deck, but I also open a few of them and give the cards a peek!
Every deck came wrapped in a really nice "gift wrap" type of paper wrapper. The outside was adorned with Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, and Spades while the inside was like a puzzle board.
Also paired with each deck was a little sticker, all related somehow to games and puzzles. The stickers were also included with last year's decks.
After unwrapping each deck, here's the full list of decks I received:
- 1x Jungle, Multi-Colored Edition
- 1x DKNG Red Wheels
- 1x Balance, Black Edition
- 2x Eames "Starburst" Black Edition
- 2x Messymod, v2
- 1x Vertigo
- 1x Lady Moon
- 1x James Coffee - Green Edition
- 1x Just Type, Edition 2
- 1x Dreyfus
- 1x Grimmlore Tartan
- 1x Ramen Heads
- 1x Cybernetic
- 1x Tempo
The decks that are bold above are the Mystery Deck exclusives! Out of everything, I received 14 unique decks. Of the 16, I already owned 7, so that's 9 brand new decks added to my collection -- super happy!
The top deck I was after was the Ramen Heads deck because, well, it's ramen! I like food themed decks, but more importantly, good artwork -- and that deck has it all. After that, I was really hoping to get the Smokey Bear (Mustard) deck, or another copy of the IAOCPv2 deck since I opened my others, but it's all in the luck of the draw I guess.
Like I mentioned above, duplicates were possible. I received 2 of the Eames and Messymod decks, and I already had 3 of the Eames decks as it were. The benefit of having multiple of the same decks is that duplicate work is possible, and creating more gaffs or gimmicks is a possibility.
I pulled the new Vertigo deck and when I opened the wrapping, I was surprised. I had completely forgotten that this was a deck that was available. I don't know a lot about the deck yet; I haven't even taken it from its cellophane yet, but I will soon. It might be one of the next decks I review... maybe =P
I pulled some really colorful and "artsy" decks, and a few that I consider to be fantastic everyday decks too.
Overall, I am quite happy with the decks I received. A big shout-out to Art of Play for putting on yet another awesome Mystery Deck event and sending so many my way. I'm already looking forward to next year's batch =]
They're likely to end the sale soon, but if you have a chance, grab your own Mystery Deck from Art of Play too!