My name is Todd, but I go by Happyakrz, as it's a play on my last name (Merrifield).
During my professional career, I spent a decade as a graphic designer/marketing director, a decade as an IT specialist/solutions-developer, and a decade as a fashion/beauty photographer. I absolutely loved each of these professions, and I continue to enjoy employing those skills into my current projects and hobbies.
I currently am working on writing/editing my first novel, working with an editor in Vancouver to get everything just right before querying lit agents worldwide, and I own/run a creative LEGO program for my local school district's after school program. I don't consider myself a Master Builder, per se, but I greatly enjoy designing and resourcing parts for all kinds of kits for the district and my customers.
I've always loved playing cards. I love playing card games. I am mesmerized by cardists and magicians. And only recently (about two months ago) I decided to start purchasing the decks that stood out the most to my personal tastes. My "collection" has started small, and continues to grow week by week -- I'm currently at around 65 decks. As a designer, I greatly enjoy the more creative side of royal court, back, and tuck case designs, but also appreciate when a designer takes the standards and makes them unique with slight adjustments to shape or color. I've also been watching a lot of tutorials on basic cardistry lately, and I've worked up some decent muscle-memory on a few flourishes, cuts, and sybil-like-presentations -- this is particularly helpful when I'm stuck on a section of my book and I need something to do with my hands while my brain tackles the next passages needing to be written.
I'll post a couple of shots of my current collection to the appropriate forum topic, but thought I'd share three things with you today that might be of interest to other collectors:
Display/Storage
I'm planning some kind of grand display scenario for my cards for the future (once I finish building my office), but in the time being, I found a couple of fantastic options for storage/display at my local Home Goods. They're large "fake" book decoration boxes, just the perfect size for playing cards. They're heavy and well constructed, they're appealing to the eye (in a rustic, antique-y way), and can hold about 36 poker-sized decks each.
On-Desk Display
I've wanted something on my desk that hold the cards that I'm currently reviewing/researching/enjoying, and I'm really frustrated by the lack of solid, well-built, wooden racks available at a "reasonable price". What's been really killing me are the racks made of pressed board, assembled by the user, that look like something you'd construct from a high-end happy meal. No offense to the manufacturers, or those buying these items, but I don't personally care for the cobbled, slot-and-peg outcome -- I like things a little neater .. cleaner. So I took my love for LEGO and designed something that would hold a handful of decks for about $35 USD. This is the outcome, and I'm very pleased with how little space it takes up on my desk. I'm thinking about buying more parts in other colors to showcase multiple groupings of separate brands/designers.
And finally ...
Collection Software
For any collection I start, I immediately begin building a software solution to manage the collection, its growing (hopefully) value, and options for storage/statistics on all of the parameters. I use Filemaker Pro for this as it's a relatively simple piece of software, and I've been using it for close to 20 years. It's basically a glorified database/spreadsheet system, but allows the developer the freedom of building a graphical interface that is more pleasing to the eye. In this case, I have been able to add all of the decks in my collection so far, with snapshots taken with my iphone for reference, as well as links to online vendors and pricing/value references. I have no idea how many of you out there might be interested in trying out a copy of the software for your own collections, but I can produce "standalone" solutions for Mac or PC into which you can add your own decks. The system is pretty bare-bones right now .. I'll be customizing the look and feel of the interface, but it gives deck data, all of the images are clickable for close-up pop-up windows, and the report gives a nice rundown of everything the collection by data type (sorting/display/etc.). As I continue to develop, I'll post new images, and if folks are interested, I can see about making it permanently available to my fellow collectors.
For now, let me know what you think, and if it might be of use to you.
That's all for now! Thanks for all of the fantastic info and insights that you all offer! I'm going to enjoy being a part of this group!
P.S. If anyone can help with the updating of my account to allow me to display the images I'm linking from my server, please give me a shout -- I'd like the images to show, rather than the links to them.
Also, I'll generate a quick standalone of my software and package it to send your way so you can play around with it.
