The nights are closing in, and you don’t have anything planned for the evening. That can be a good thing but it can also be lonely, so you ring round a few mates and invite them over. The guys and gals arrive before long, not too quietly either, and burst into your small abode bearing gifts of jungle juice as well as food and nibbles enough to keep an army going for a month (you reckon), and pretty soon the music has been turned on and you think…what happened, only an hour ago you had no idea what to do with your evening, and now this mob has transformed a cold dreary evening into a lively festival of fun and socialising.
As the chatter begins to calm, your friend whips out this compact little poker set. It becomes apparent that after watching the new Bond movie, Skyfall, your friend went out and bought the set that you see before you now. She just happens to be a movie buff as well, she tells you about the movie… that it is the twenty-third in the Bond series and being the fiftieth anniversary since the first James Bond movie, this latest one is breaking all sorts of records.
For instance, Skyfall took £20.1 million at the box office in the UK on its opening weekend (26 October 2012) and went on to set the record for the highest UK grossing film ever, and taking a whisker under US$800-million globally making it the highest-grossing film in the James Bond series. This was Daniel Craig’s third Bond movie and by all accounts it had received excellent reviews around the world from the media and public alike. Inspired by the poker scene in the movie in which Bond finds a poker chip in his adversary’s apartment intended as payment for an assassination, this leads him to the Macau casino where he…, well you will have to go and watch the movie if you want to know more.
“Come on, get on with it,” comes one comment, and soon everyone has joined in the chorus and your friend comes back to earth with a bump. The compact poker set with its cards and chips (150 chips), which comes packed in a natty zipped container, is modelled on the same items seen in the movie, and so you can transport yourself into the movie… right there in your own home.
The quality poker set is made by the Belgian playing card manufacturer Cartamundi (established 1970), and is available from all good toy retailers at £34.99 (RRP), while the limited edition 50th Anniversary Luxury Poker Set with 500 chips will cost you £149.99 (RRP). Individual packs of Skyfall playing cards, all featuring iconic images taken from different Bond movies, will cost you just £3.99 (RRP). All of the above would make an ideal Christmas gift, so don’t gamble by leaving it too late and get your set in good time before stocks run out.
