CardMaker Monte Cristo Deck

• Only a limited number has been made
• Original Bicycle Riderback (poker 808)
• Either blue backed or red backed
• The actual force card of series 1 is: 3 of Spades (sold out)
• The actual force cards of series 2 are: 3 of Diamonds (sold out) and 2 of Clubs (sold out)
• The force card of series 3 is: 2 of Diamonds (red back only)
  

What is this CardMaker Monte Cristo Deck?

• A deck of cards: all 52 and the 2 Jokers
• Show that deck: fanned or tablespreaded. The best is, to show the deck in it's factory order
• And sure; this deck has to be shuffled: either you shuffle it or the spectator can do that!
• Finally as with lots of card tricks: a spectator has to choose a card...

Well, ahem?

• Wouldn't it be great if you knew the spectator's card - long before he selected a card?
• What if no sort of any force at all is needed?
• What if you could show this freely chosen card in a very natural and fair manner?
• What if this would be the most fairest way to involve probability of 1 out of 52?

And what are the tricks? Some ideas:

• Long before a card is selected, you have a written prediction - it will always be the correct one!
• The chosen card is returned to the deck. The deck is shuffled but you will always find the card with ease. Always!
• What about an ACAAN effect? After the card is returned to the deck which is then shuffled by the spectator, someone may name a number between 1 and 52. Deal the cards face down on the table; the spectator's card will be at that number! No force, just straight the effect! 
• and lots more....

Now you might see that this CardMaker Monte Cristo Deck is not only one more trickdeck among others on the market, which would be good just for one trick only. By far not!
This deck is a very powerful tool for any ambitious card magician!
I do not pretend to be the inventor of this deck, nor did Mr. Monte Cristo. The principles used for this deck are old. But I am one of the guys who actually manufactures these decks; so I call it the CardMaker Monte Cristo Deck.
Please remember that this deck has not been printed by the USPCC on uncut sheets of cards; instead genuine Bicycle cards (blank faced) ran single and one by one through a special printer which is in quality very, very, very close to the original. Man, these were many cards ...

For your information:
Series 3 was made by the USPCC - original factory print!

Some more historical information:

Monte Cristo Pack or ("Peerless Monte-Cristo Cards") is a Forcing Deck developed by Henry Hardin, produced by Theodore DeLand and put on the market in December 1908. As advertised in 1909, "One of the card hits of the century, the nearest approach to the supernatural yet discovered, a spectator looks at any card in the deck and suite name, etc., is found written on a piece of paper in a sealed envelope in another spectator's possession." A later development of the deck was the Telomatic Deck and was an early version of the Tossed Out Deck.

References:
• Edwards Monthly, Vol. 1. No. 1, Feb 1909
• 202 Methods of Forcing by Theodore Annemann (1933)
• Conjurers' Magazine, Vol 1, No. 1 , Feb, 1945
[Source: http://geniimagazine.com/wiki/index.php/Monte_Cristo_Pack]

Facts & Highlights:

• Only 1 full deck used: 52 different cards + 2 Jokers
• Original Bicycle Riderback 808
• No rough&smooth
• No short cards; even no narrow cards
• No thick or locator cards
• No cornershorts, not stripped at all
• No doublefaced cards
• No markings 
• No sticky stuff applied
• No force at all necessary - it's done with "magic" , automatic
• The chosen card can be shown relatively free
• Series 3 was made in the USA by the US Playing Card Company
• Series 3 has 2 extra gaff cards and a little extra ;-)
• Series 3 comes with the old and beautiful tuck case: sealed & cello-wrapped
• Comes with fully illustrated booklet (12 pages) in english

€ 32.50
(Series 1 and 2 did cost € 38,00 and were sold very quickly)

Dealer enquiries welcome!

Free Downloads:
Possible future updates or addendums [right-click and choose save as...]
Current version is version 2 from January 2011.
PDF-file with 12 pages; lots of colour photos; routines, extra tips & tricks.
This document contains magic trick exposure and therefore a password is required.
If you buy a new CardMaker Monte Cristo Deck (CMD2D-R, series 3), you will find the necessary password on the packaging. Otherwise you can request it here.
Sure you can use this information for similar decks you didn't buy here - but how can I check? I will make it up on future orders, I hope! 

Demo #1
Demo #2 (live, see below)
Demo #3 (a bit smaller than #2)