Playing Card Clips seem to be popular with the kids and look cool, but what about functionality?
I've purchased the Ellusionist Card Clip and found it completely unsatisflying, flimsy and engraved in such a manner that it was rough to touch and impossible to buff clean. The clip itself didn't "squeeze" the deck much at all, much less evenly.
Being a long time advocate of the use of a Card Press I wanted a clip that would act like a card press and not just protect the card box and "look cool" but one that would actually firm up the deck, flatten out the cards and freshen them up! I love card fans, two handed fans, split fans, reverse fans... I also love popping cards out of the deck. For me, these stunts and manipulations work better and with more consistent results when the cards are crisp, flat and fresh. Additionally, it's a common problem that carrying a deck of cards in your pocket all day and all night causes wear and tear on the card box. Some of you may have gimmicked or cut card boxes that you may want to keep protected because they are a pain to re-build...

Then I stumbled upon a eBay store that offers a Stainless Steel Playing Card Clip that is utterly fantastic. It squeezes the deck so firmly and evenly, that when I remove the cards from the clip and then from the box, a simple thumb fan looks perfect. The cards are evenly flattened and firm and respond like a new deck. I now own 2 of them.

The secret to this card clip is simple, the manufacturer puts what they call a "spring design" into the spine of the clip and this causes the clip to apply pressure evenly all across the surface of the deck, not just along the outside edge of the clip.

---Side View---

The clips are made from Stainless Steel, which means they are silver and shiny (I like that!) and heavy. So heavy, in fact, you could kill someone with this thing if you threw it at their head - I don't recommend that. They come with 3 different optional silk screened designs on one side: Bicycle 808 Ace of Spaces, Bicycle 808 Queen of Hearts or Bicycle 808 Back Design. They also come plain for less cost.
Just get the plain one and see what I mean. You will like them so much; you will want one for every deck you carry or store. Personally I carry 4 decks with me, 2 working decks in clips and 2 gimmicked decks that are switched in - 1 for my color changing deck finale, 1 for a stacked deck. You would not want to carry 4 of these clips with you - they weigh too much, but two is within reason.

So if you ever had a desire to have an indestructible stainless steel clip around your deck that not only looks professional, but improves the quality and life of your cards, visit this ebay store and check out the Stainless Steel Playing Card clips at StephSportsStore (not a magic dealer):
http://stores.ebay.com/StephSportsStore_Playing-Card-Clips_W0QQcolZ4QQdirZ1QQfsubZ13473675QQftidZ2QQtZkm
Current Price: $17.95 for the plain clip or $24.95 with a Bicycle design

By the way, they offer aluminium Glossy Playing Card clips in a red, blue, black and gold also - I didn't care for these as much as the stainless steel clip - I have 3 of them and use them to store special decks (color coded!) but they don't seem to have the "squeeze" like the steel clips do.
I have no association with the seller of these playing card clips and I have no financial gain in advocating this product.

Don Decae

Don,

Thanks for the review on the Card Clips; I have never seen one before. Another shiny item I most look into.

Thanks,
Bruce

Don,
I had the same issue with card clips and discraded them as more than a fashion statement but i will have to look into these, thanks for the head's up.

Bri

I guess I'm real old-school. I still use a small book press (at home) to freshen up a deck or up to four (same brand, same count) of them. I don't need more clutter and weight in my jacket pockets. Mostly I take packet tricks with me in a JOL packet wallet  and one full deck (usually gaffed in some way).


dsalley13

The best I have ever seen were the ones made by the late Randall Whitworth. Randall was a confidante of Roger Klause and a bunch of those other fellows. His card clips were made of stainless steel, with no design, just a plain clip.

They never wore out.

However, unfortunately, Randall wore out.

He was a really nice fellow. I miss him.

These clips Donnie is describing may harken back to what Randall was selling.