Pure Cardistry Black Training Playing Cards 7 packets

I bought these about 7 weeks ago. I use them for probably a total 1-4 hours a day, just practicing watching TV or listening to podcasts, or books. They have helped me a gain a lot of confidence, and the dexterity to be better at handling a deck of cards.After 2 weeks, I noticed slight mars and scratches on them, and after today at 7 weeks and 3 days, they stick together pretty bad. I'm guessing the tiny scratches on each trainer create a vaccuum or something when held loosely, and even worse when held tightly. It's very difficult to split them apart with one hand now, compared to when I received them.I think adding baby powder or oil might help, but it could also just scratch them up even more.I think a great upgrade to these would be some sort of permanent paper surface, or something that's more like the texture of a playing card. I'm not a scientist, so they could be sticking for other reasons.

The only reason this got a 4 star and not a 5 star is because there is 7 cards making it impossible to cut this deck in half. When training your hands for magic, there are a handful of movements/slights/cuts/etc that require a half deck cut and getting the feel of that for a standard deck thickness is important.What I do love about these:- They came with the protectant sheet still on both sides, so literally zero scratches upon arrival.- They look beautiful.- They feel nice in the hand.- Many of these training packs come with 5 packets. I find 7 to be more realistic, versatile, and easier to manipulate. (Except that I can't cut the damn packets in half. Would prefer 8, but 7 is still way better than 5.)

There's not a whole lot to say, they're thick plastic sheets cut into the shape of playing cards that mimic the size of a deck of cards. The protective film peeled off easily for me and they work great for practicing cardistry moves where mistakes lead to drops. In my case this came in handy because I'm a total klutz and learning even simple moves like the basic one handed cuts (e.g. scissor cut, revolution cut) led to packets of cards ending up on the floor, so these trainers cut down a lot of effort picking up loose cards.These trainers have gotten scratched and banged up a bit, but they still work fine for me, no complaints.

I took a risk on these when there was only one review with one star. These were certainly were new in box, and shipped fine. My major complaint was these were not usable upon arrival. The description fails to mention that they come shipped with a paper adhesive on both sides of the packs that require you wet them down to remove. There also was no insert with the box to instruct how to remove the paper. I over did it, and soaked them in my sink which made removing the paper EXTREMELY difficult as it would just come off in small pieces. Trick is to get them just a little damp so the paper would peel off in one piece. But it took me like a half hour to 45 mins to get these usable. Then it seemed like the edges were a little higher building up along the side of where the paper was removed (like slightly concave). I sanded those down (probably another half hour) and they came out pretty nice for $14 bucks. But it would have been nice to know it's an art project before purchasing.Now I'm not very good at the cardistry, but it does seem like because of the glossy nature of these, packs can seem to stay stuck together from suction.

I’m trying out cardistry as something new so I figured the best way to learn was by learning hand moves on the packet trainers before moving to cards. No one really explains how to remove the adhesive. I have not much of a nail to speak of but I tried to get a small rip at the corner of each cut to lift the adhesive. As I lifted it up...if it began to tear I would lift around the tear to smoothly lift it completely off. This isn’t a bandaid process but I was able to carefully remove without any issue. Gave 4 stars because adhesive wasn’t an issue and I am just an amateur so it seems like it should work as it is made to do so.

They were exactly what I expected. My son is teaching himself cardiatry as part of a special high school project. He asked for these for Christmas to exercise his hands and practice forming packets. They seem, so far, to be well-suited for that, but he is a novice and an expert may have a different opinion on these.We did not experience any real issue with peeling the protective coating from them. We didn’t wet them or even dampen them. I merely rubbed at the edge of one corner a bit and then used the edge of a fingernail to gradually lift that corner. Once I had a reasonable tab-like piece I very slowly and carefully peeled from the corner and then down -very slowly so as not to tear it, because if you tear it it will become more difficult to remove. It took maybe five minutes total to remove all coverings.

First, they are exactly what they say they are, so no problem there. The adhesive comes off easily--I used the edge of one "card" to scrape up a corner, and then it peels off fine.My problem is that the fact that they are smooth plastic is a problem, as it is hard to separate them when trying to practice moves. So unless you're practicing something where the cut is simple, or unless you're starting with the "cards" all separated, it's hard to separate them.The edges are also pretty sharp. I don't mean that they'll cut you, but some moves that require stretching can be uncomfortable--not from the stretch, which is to be expected, but from the edges digging into the sides of your fingers.Again, there is nothing in the description that is misleading or anything like that. And the adhesive really isn't a problem at all. But I'm going to try to find another set of trainers that don't stick together so stubbornly.

So I read the comments beforehand and left the paper film on one side of each. Definitely recommend at least doing that. They do the job but I can't help but think if they were made of a different material and were maybe a bit flexible they'd be a little better. I'd still recommend them for the price.