Pretty sure "yet" doesn't appear in that message of mine...
The 144x Pre-Release decks were released into the wild several years ago, and will not ever be available again here.
// L
Variations of Monarchs?
- Thread starter scottmcb
- Start date
Pretty sure "yet" doesn't appear in that message of mine...
The 144x Pre-Release decks were released into the wild several years ago, and will not ever be available again here.
// L
I was referring to the Eleven Madison Park silver monarchs. I now realize I quoted the wrong message. Sorry and thanks for the info!
Ah. Sadly those were printed several years back for a menu offered by EMP that has long since been discontinued. I doubt they will ever be reprinted, and there are NONE available for purchase here 0r at EMP. To get them you will have to try the collector's market. Like me. Sigh.
// L
I just love how so many people love the Monarchs and now we have at least two threads about them
Hello to all. I'm fairly new around here, and I have found the Monarchs threads to be fascinating. Can anyone tell me what this variant is? I don't want to make assumptions. I'm familiar with the 4 leaves, but I haven't seen any without some type of red seal before.
Hello Aquaknight. I appreciate the reply. I don't see any photos at all on the thread you sent me to. It looks like some may have been there before, but if they were, they are not accessible now. From what I've read, I don't think this is a "standard" blue deck. Putting the lack of a red seal aside for now, the top right/bottom left branches only have 4 leaves. I'm pretty sure that makes these at least a V1, and I don't think those are standard.
Early printing, that is the best that can be said. 4 leaves indicates that it is within the first couple printings. No seal simply means that the machine failed to apply the seal as it was packaged. No versions were ever intentionally released without a seal.
// L
Thank you Lyle. I appreciate the info. A couple of questions, if I may (I hope you don't mind - I just find the Monarchs story to be very interesting). I will soon be in possession of four of these decks, all without the seal. Would these have passed a QA inspection? Is there any chance that they are prototypes? I don't know how that end of things works. Also, in a separate post you stated this -
"Original Monarchs, later printings (#2 or 3 onward, I think?): First design revision. The orientation of the design work on the top flap of the tuck case was reversed. The branch on the upper right hand corner went from 4 leaves to 5 to help with symmetry. The seal changed around this time to have a postage stamp style edge."
The way I read that post is that the orientation flip and the change in the leaves came at the same time, however the decks I have only show the orientation change.
Any info is appreciated. Thanks again for your time.
We print thousands of decks at a time, so weirder things have made it through QC than this.
Absolutely guaranteed that this was not a prototype. We don't package any of our prototype decks in the final tuck case. Only final (release-ready) decks make it into the final tuck case and get cello wrapped.
Not sure that these were at the exact same time, however they would have happened in very close proximity to each other. Either these changes happened on the same printing, or on consecutive printings.
// L
Hello again. I am still on my quest. I believe I now own four different variants of the blue Monarchs, and I am attaching a couple of photos. The first deck from the left has the four leaves in the upper right and lower left part of the back of the case, and the skull on the top is facing upwards. The second one also has the four leaves in the corners, but the skull is facing down (and there is no seal, but an earlier post said that this could have been a production mistake). The third one has five leaves in each corner of the back, and the skull is facing downwards. The fourth one has a completely different bottom flap than the first three. Is it safe to call these V1, V2, V3, and V4? Thanks.
No. V2 would indicate a major change. These are small changes between earlier printings. We would not say that Monarchs have a V2.
If you want to number, you would be better off using something like V1.0, V1.1, V1.2, etc.
Red Monarchs had a major change - we completely changed the primary color of the tuck case. That would be a major change, or a V2.
All that said, looks like you are missing just one variant. There are Monarch decks with three different bottom flap designs - the old t11 circle logo, the newer TXI logo, and the barcode-free tuck with the newer script logo. You are missing the middle one.
// L
Hi Lyle!
I was thinking about the Monarchs and I wondered... Is it possible for theory11 to disclose the number of units per print run? (ex: silver, white monarchs v1/v2, silver uncut sheets...)
Completely understandable if the company prefers to keep these numbers to itself.
A great weekend!
I was thinking about the Monarchs and I wondered... Is it possible for theory11 to disclose the number of units per print run? (ex: silver, white monarchs v1/v2, silver uncut sheets...)
Completely understandable if the company prefers to keep these numbers to itself.
A great weekend!
Hey Playingcardsphotographer,
Good question. We don't disclose print number of any of our decks. We haven't for a long time, since WAY back with the White Centurion deck years ago. Sorry!
// L