Playing Cards Stockholm17 Odd Fellows 'The Dude' and Underwater Vibes DH-8041

From Stockholm17:

The selection of a penguin for the character was a straightforward and unambiguous decision. This peculiar penguin will present the deck alongside his tailor-made concoction (once again created by Scott Mathew), following the tradition of the other Odd Fellows characters. The choice of “The Dude” made from a collection of four proposed options: a mentally distressed penguin in love with electroshock therapy, known as “Jolt”; a crazy clown with a straitjacket; a punk; and a laid-back individual with round sunglasses as “The Dude.”

It’s worth clarifying that The Dude, although sharing a name with the character from “The Big Lebowski” movie, is a distinct creation. However, it is partially inspired by that character. Some influence was also drawn from the animated film “Surf’s Up” (2007), celebrated for its thoughtfully crafted portrayal of penguins.

The Kickstarter campaign launched in May 2024 and initially offered two variants: a regular deck titled “The Dude” and a limited edition known as “The Dude – Golden Snowflake Edition.” The deck features gilded edges in a metallic light blue hue and foil application on both the faces and the back. The tuckbox design maintains consistency with the previous Odd Fellows releases, though with some modifications to the variable elements. In the regular version, the cutouts on the back side allow the warm sunset depicted on the extra card to be visible. This provides a striking contrast between the cold color scheme on the exterior and the warm colors inside.

I am Lorenzo Gaggiotti, the designer behind Stockholm17. Based in Stockholm, Sweden, I design playing cards and often I win prizes.

It all started with my curiosity for playing cards since I was a kid. I am Italian and in my childhood I basically used only 2 kinds of decks: the standard 54 cards deck especially for a family game called – in Italian – Scala40, and a 40-card regional deck called Le Piacentine.  

I’ve always been fascinated by those illustrations and those symbols.In 2012 I decided to make my very first deck of custom-designed poker size playing cards and run a crowdfunding campaign to see how the public would respond. Fortunately I found a very active community of card collectors connected to magicians and card-jugglers (aka cardistry).

It is odd, because I am not a card player or a gambler, and I am a disaster at handling cards for card tricks, but I love to design this timeless item; each deck is a small world that tells a story through 54 cards. 

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