I've discovered a fun hobby to add my my lengthy list of obsessions--collecting Magician Playing Card Decks.  This is the perfect blending of two hobbies: collecting magic memorabilia and collecting decks of cards.  In this specialized quest, you try to find decks of playing cards that have a magic theme printed on the back.

I'm not talking about trick decks here.  I'm talking about collecting the decks of playing cards that Magicians have printed for advertising purposes.  Sometimes these decks feature pictures, other times art.  Some decks are fabulous--other decks are boring.  It's fun to see the variety of promotional card decks, a unique snapshot of Magician's advertising.

Here's some of the decks I've acquired in eBay auctions, with prices and sources:

Harry Anderson Fanning Deck purchased Dec. 1, 2004, for $7.99 plus $4.50 shipping from eBay seller bestbuymagic; the deck comes in two-piece cardboard case, surrounded by a paper slip-cover

David Ben "The Conjuror's Suite" deck purchased Oct. 24, 2004, for $5.00 plus $4.85 shipping from eBay seller magicdude2; deck comes in a color one-piece cardboard case

David Blaine "Split Spades" deck purchased May 2, 2006, for $14.11 plus $2.20 shipping from eBay seller slight-of-hand; deck comes in a black printed one-piece cardboard case

Houdini deck, in chains & cuffs, purchased Sep. 27, 2005, for $27.02 plus $4.30 shipping from eBay seller greatthingsnm; deck comes in a gold one-piece cardboard slip-cover

Houdini Club of Wisconsin decks purchased Nov. 4, 2005, two different decks for $14.99 plus $2.75 shipping from eBay seller 1houdini; both decks come packaged in a double slotted, one-piece folding cardboard case

Ricky Jay "On The Stem" 2nd stage deck purchased Jan. 2, 2005, for $46.00 plus $2.95 shipping from eBay seller pokerstud52; deck comes in a one-piece cardboard slipcover with a window revealing part of the back of the deck

Le Grand David: purchased Dec. 9, 2006, for $9.99 plus $5.00 shipping for three identical decks from eBay seller magicanaforcollectors; the deck comes in a one-piece cardboard cover with window showing the design

Siegfried & Roy Mirage deck, with white tiger at card table, purchased Jan. 24, 2005, for $31.50 plus $3.99 shipping from eBay seller big_white_tiger69; deck comes in a plastic case with a $3.00 original price tag

Siegfried & Roy Mirage deck, with white tiger, purchased Nov. 22, 2004 for $14.99 plus $2.75 shipping from eBay seller ddyrseth; deck comes in a plastic case with a $5.00 original price tag

Here's some other Magician decks that I've seen for sale on the internet, that may be offered on eBay as well: Criss Angel, Harry Blackstone Jr., W.C. Fields, Kaminskas Magic Deck, The Magic Castle, Jeff McBride "McBride Magic", Jeff McBride "The Many Faces Of Magic", Tom Mullica "Tom Foolery", Norm Nielsen Palming Cards and Penn & Teller "A Perfectly Ordinary Deck of Cards".

If you have any updates, let me know.  I'll try to keep adding to this Guide for all to use.  Please take a moment to leave feedback.  It would make me happy!  Thanks for reading and have a great day.