The difficulty with these cards is that they're advertised and priced as a collector's item more than as a deck of cards. I'd say they feel like middle-of-the-road cards - which is more or less what I think of when I hear Bicycle. We can quibble about whether they're a little worse or better than a stock Bicycle deck, but the point is, you could buy multiple decks of top-notch playing cards for the price. The cost reflects the limited print run. So there are two main reasons you'd order them:1) You are a collector who is willing to pay collector's prices for things2) You're REALLY into Vikings and just have to have a deck with this themeFull disclosure... I'm not a collector (of cards or anything else), and while I like the Viking theme, I honestly wouldn't have paid full price for these. As noted by the "Vine" badge, I received this deck for free for review purposes.Knowing nothing about the market for collecting playing cards, I can only evaluate them as a functional deck of cards. In that regard - like I said, they feel like a run-of-the-mill deck to me - nothing that shocked my expectations of a Bicycle deck. The artwork looks cool, BUT the stylized suit symbols could be a problem for those with poor eyesight. (I found the spade and diamond symbols to be troublingly similar; obviously if you can distinguish red from black, this is no problem, but my colorblindness makes red hard to see...)Honestly I'm not being as hard on these cards as I have been on a lot of game components when I feel they don't take low vision into account. I'm giving them something of a break because they're designed for their art, and it would seem like a low blow to be overly critical that maybe they put aesthetics above functionality in this case - especially given that there are low-vision-friendly alternatives (even from the same manufacturer). But if I were hosting a game night - especially if I didn't know everyone who might attend - I would not let this be the only deck on hand.The last issue with considering this as a functional deck is - cards in use don't last forever. In this sense, the limited edition / high cost nature of the deck could itself be an impediment to using them to actually play cards. I was hesitant to even open the package, and probably wouldn't have if I didn't feel obligated to know enough about them to write a review.In short: Maybe you really like the Viking theming and are willing to throw some money around for a deck to break out just on special occasions when the pillaging crew (all of whom you know have good vision) is gathering for a game. Maybe you're hosting a high-end Viking-themed poker tournament. Or maybe, unlike me, you're a collector. There are reasons to buy this deck, and it's not like we're talking huge money here. If you buy it for one of those reasons, I think you'll be happy with it. But if I were just looing for another daily-use deck to wear down with constant shuffling and handling, this wouldn't be my choice.
