Are Tally-Ho Better Than Bicycle?
Marty Karnegie
Are Tally-Ho cards better than Bicycle Cards? Is there any differece other
than the Ace of Spades and the Jokers.I've always heard they were the
magicians choice of cards, but they are very hard to find and very
expensive. Or, were they just the popular card in the black and white days
like bicycle is today. Just wondering.
--Marty
Bart Bosco
Both decks are manufactured by the US Playing Card Company and they are exactly
the same other than printing design. The are popular with magicians simply
because they were used by many of the icons of card magic. When they appeared
pictured in books such as Stars of Magic, and used by Vernon, as well as
others, magicians jumped at the chance to use them. Also, it is an extremely
attractive back design. It was for years a regional back design sold mostly in
the Northeastern part of the US. There have, through the years, been several
regional designs. For instance, Bulldog Squeezers were sold for years in the
Cajun part of the South. Conversely, Bicycle and Bee designs have always been
sold everywhere. Tally Ho decks are difficult to find because there is little
demand for them, hence distributors don't carry them often. They will pop up
now and then all over the country.
Bart Bosco
Chuck Woo
In article <19980128163...@ladder02.news.aol.com>,
Bart Bosco <bart...@aol.com> wrote:
>Both decks are manufactured by the US Playing Card Company and they are exactly
>the same other than printing design. The are popular with magicians simply
>because they were used by many of the icons of card magic. When they appeared
At $4 a deck and only available at the magic store, I've only had limited
experience with Tally-Ho's. However, they seem to be much more slippery
than Bikes. Maybe I'm just imagining things; anyone else think the same?
- Chuck
ps: I read here that one of the back designs is subtly asymmetrical. Is
it the "fan" back or "circle" back that is this way?
Bart Bosco
You are not imagining things when you say the Tally Ho is more slippery. The
card company calls that the "Slip Factor" incidentally. The US Playing Card
company prints in three different locations. Moreover, for several years now
the quality of USPC has been on a roller coaster. The company was on strike
for several years and had various owners. Hence, you could never be assured of
having the same quality as a result of different runs, different locations, and
different people doing the work. USPC handled all this by putting quality
control in the hands of the consumer. If you bought a bad deck of cards, and
there were many, all that was required was to return it where you purchased it
and a new deck would be provided, no questions asked. I don't know if this is
still the policy, especially with the discount chain stores selling them so
cheap. Also, I doubt that many consumers ever bothered to return a deck of
cards anyway. Personally, I returned about four dozen which were exchanged
immediately with no hassel.
Getting back to slip factor, yes, you will find Tally Ho's that work better.
However, you may also find Bikes that work better than certain Tally Ho decks.
It all depends on the things mentioned above. Died in the wool card men loyal
to Tally Ho decks will tell me I'm all wet on this. The same can be said for
died in the wool Aristocrate users, or for that matter Bulldog Squeezers. It
all depends on what you like and feel comfortable using.
Now, not all USPC cards are the same quality. The Aviator design is not of the
quality of Bikes, Tally Ho, Aristocrates, or Squeezers.
It is less expensive and less quality. It's also sold under many names, most
common being Aviator or Mohawk. There are others that don't come to mind at
the moment.
Bart Bosco
Marty Karnegie
Thanks for the info.
I think the slipperiest deck out there are Aviator but they are junk cards.
I've never used them, but friends buy them because there cheep. I have
gotten a hold of some bad Bicycle decks. I heard they produced a bunch of
two ply cards to sell to the discount stores. I've only purchased one deck
like that a couple of years ago. You could tell right away when you got a
bad deck how thin the cards were. I've got a few that were printed off
center. I've never returned any though. Will those problems warrant return
of these decks? I don't know if the USPC Company would consider that a
defect. I haven't seen any bad decks lately though. Hoyle cards weren't bad
about fifteen years ago. Now a days you can't even fan Hoyle cards right
out of the pack.
Thanks again
--Marty
MagicTrk
if u have a wal-mart near u, go there and if u cant find cards ask, they should
have tally-ho for about 1.97
JMcdade257
For those of you who are hunting for Tally-Ho, or anything else hard to find in
your area, you might try looking up Gambler's Warehouse in Las Vegas. They
carry every kind of card, though what is in stock varies from time to time.
Cheap, too.
722nd Greatest Magician In The World
Marty Karnegie <MAR...@INTNET.NET> wrote in article
<6ao7io$c6k$1...@gte2.gte.net>...
> Thanks for the info.
...
> bad deck how thin the cards were. I've got a few that were printed off
> center. I've never returned any though...
If you're talking about the backs being off center, some of those make very
nice "one way" decks.
Chuck Woo
In article <19980128190...@ladder02.news.aol.com>,
Bart Bosco <bart...@aol.com> wrote:
>You are not imagining things when you say the Tally Ho is more slippery. The
Cool, I can stop visiting that damn shrink now :)
>the quality of USPC has been on a roller coaster. The company was on strike
>for several years and had various owners. Hence, you could never be assured of
>having the same quality as a result of different runs, different locations, and
>different people doing the work. USPC handled all this by putting quality
>control in the hands of the consumer. If you bought a bad deck of cards, and
When I went to Vegas last x-mas, I bought a deck where all the edges of all
the cards were rough and not aligned with each other. The deck was unusable
for shuffling. On top of that, the dry Vegas air made that deck and all the
others I brought with me buckle severely. I just used it to practice manip-
ulating.
>Getting back to slip factor, yes, you will find Tally Ho's that work better.
>However, you may also find Bikes that work better than certain Tally Ho decks.
Let's take a poll: What is everyone's favorite cards? I think at this point
I still prefer Bikes; the Tally-Ho's are a bit too slippery for me!
- Chuck
BKMagic1
>Let's take a poll: What is everyone's favorite cards? I think at this point
>I still prefer Bikes; the Tally-Ho's are a bit too slippery for me!
I think it was Dai Vernon who said "the best cards to use are the type that are
the most commonly used in the area you perform in". If 90% of the people you
perform for use Bicycle Rider backs, then anything else is unfamilar to them.
So my suggestion is to figure out what's most common in your area and if
they're too slippery or too stiff- practice and get used to them.
RCass54651
For set performances I use Bicycles for effects requiring sleights or finesse.
For effect in which I destroy cards or have them thrown through windows or all
over the floor I use Hoyles.
The BEST cards to use in a private setting, though, are the cards you are able
to borrow. Failing that, the deck should be given away after the performance.
Best Regards-
Bob Cassidy
PS- There is only one card routine in my act but I still manage to go through
21 decks a week!! Why? There is something very powerful in using a brand new
deck which is given away after the performance.
For those who believe, no explanation is necessary.
For those who don't, I couldn't care less.
Visit "The Master Mindreader" at
Eric Tung
RCass54651 (rcass...@aol.com) wrote:
: For set performances I use Bicycles for effects requiring sleights or finesse.
: PS- There is only one card routine in my act but I still manage to go through
: 21 decks a week!! Why? There is something very powerful in using a brand new
Ouch! I go through about 1.2 decks a week right now, and that's a lot
for me. I guess I don't give out my deck of cards, because my friends
don't pay me to see my routines =) ...
Later,
Eric T.
thefisherman
>
> RCass54651 (rcass...@aol.com) wrote:
> : For set performances I use Bicycles for effects requiring sleights or finesse.
> : PS- There is only one card routine in my act but I still manage to go through
> : 21 decks a week!! Why? There is something very powerful in using a brand new
>
even in the middle if required. Ofcourse, someone like me can't do
that, so I have my performance deck which lasts a week or so.
Jason
Scott Wiesman
Pick a Card! Any Card!
Don't tell me what it is!
I will now randomly place it in the deck!
Here's your card!
Now for my next trick.
Pick a Card! Any Card!
etc... etc...
God this is exciting!!!!
plonk and ploink!
Chuck Woo
In article <01bd2f35$eb9aba00$860c...@piobair.bright.net>,
Scott Wiesman <pio...@bright.net> wrote:
>Pick a Card! Any Card!
>Don't tell me what it is!
>I will now randomly place it in the deck!
>Here's your card!
Sounds like you need to start reading better books there! How's this:
(1) Pick a card, any card. Look, it magically turns over in the deck! I'll
do it again, but the hard way, mixing half the deck face-up and half face-
down. There it is again!
(2) Here's your card, same one. Look, I stick it in the middle of the deck
and it comes to the top! It really likes you, because it does it again and
again!
(3) I think your card's got some mega-strength there, too. Look, I'll stick
my finger right through the deck and OUCH! a single card has stopped it!
It's your galldarn card!
(4) You know what I think of your card? The same one picked in #1?!? I'll
stab it to death with my pen, over and over again! ARGH, it won't die!!!
One card, four completely different plots! (And don't worry, I can't do any
of these tricks! :)
- Chuck