Complete Guide to Butterfly Playing Cards (Part 5)

This fifth part of our Complete Guide to Butterfly Playing Cards discusses the most recent release (September 2023). We share all the details about the Butterfly Playing Cards Workers Edition decks. Which editions were printed, what are their differences, and how do they all handle and feel in the hands? You will find all the answers to these questions below.

Introduction

The Butterflies have always been known for their borderless design. However, many magicians prefer cards with a classic white border. It opens the doors to Sandwich and Triumph effects and makes Double Lift easier to hide.

That’s why we created the Butterfly Workers, the first Butterfly decks featuring a white border. Ondrej adjusted the marking system to work with the bordered design. The Workers are marked in all four corners, making them easy to read from any direction. There is also a one-way indicator hidden in the back design. Riffling through the deck lets you locate your spectator’s card if reversed end-for-end.

As the markings changed, a new tutorial was needed. Every deck of (marked) Butterfly Workers includes a link to a tutorial where Ondrej explains all the secrets of these cards. He also provides ideas on tricks using one-way marks and marked cards in general. As a bonus, Ondrej also explained a trick with a Stripper deck.

We added more features magicians appreciate in everyday carry decks. The box now displays the cards’ back design. This is useful in countless magic tricks. Each Workers deck includes a double-backer, one of the most used gimmicked cards.

The Red and Blue Butterfly Workers

Several editions were printed, with Red and Blue being the core ones. These were made with magicians in mind, so we created a Gaff Deck to work with them.

Kickstarter Exclusive Butterfly Workers

Three colored versions of Butterfly Workers were produced as “Backers” decks - Black, Purple, and Green. Only backers of our 2022 Kickstarter campaign could get a hold of these. After all, our lovely backers picked the colors of these three decks.

These three editions of Workers carry custom faces. Their color scheme matches their back design. Who’s behind all the color versions, you ask? Our talented designer, Tereza Kovandová.

Butterfly Workers printed by the USPC

But wait, there's more! Cartamundi printed all of the decks above on their Slimline stock. We wanted to do something different, so we printed the Pink and Orange Butterfly Workers with the United States Playing Card Company using their crushed Premium stock.

Holographic Butterfly Playing Cards 

And that’s not the end. The community loves holographic playing cards, so we created the Butterfly Holo Edition. These have a black background on the backs and the faces. All the design features are done with a holographic foil. This special edition of Butterflies was printed with WJPCC on a 330gsm stock. The Holo Butterflies are not marked since they are intended mainly for collectors.

The first print of Holo Workers didn’t end up as we expected. The hot foiling affected the design details, and they got blurred. We made some design changes and ended up with two editions.

The End

This is the last part of the Complete Guide to Butterfly Playing Cards (at least for now). We have produced a lot of decks during the past six years. We're excited about where the future will take us.

Where would you like to see the Butterfly series go? What ideas, genres, themes, and styles should we explore? Let us know!