Another aspect that entered the Kardtects Card Building collection is the inclusion of special Rare and Ultra-Rare cards. These are designed so builders can really put an exclusive feel into their structures.
Some of the rare cards are specific architectural aspects to be used to help define a card house more. Others are more curious, as they may look like familiar Common and Uncommon building cards, but in fact hold intentional subtle differences. In some cases, adding a lost relic or mysterious treasure.
One of them, for example, is a crystal skull, only found in the Kardtects Forbidden Jungle set.
Crystal Skulls gained notoriety in the latter part of the 20th century. The most famous of which was the Mitchell-Hedges (formerly Burney) quartz skull. Yet, so passionate was the world on the subject of Crystal Skulls, purportedly found at various temple complexes in South America, even noted museums started to buy them to add to their collections, including the British Museum.
A curious fact is, not all museums did. In fact, the British Museum crystal skull first appeared in a small shop in Paris, owned by Eugène Boban, in 1881, who later traveled to Mexico City and presented it as a 1885 Aztec skull. Unfortunately, the curator of the Mexican museum strongly denounced it as being a fake, which caused Eugène to move his business where he successfully sold the skull at an auction through Tiffany & Co.in 1886. This same skull was bought by the British Museum in 1898.
For several decades, like that of the Mitchell-Hedges skull, the skulls seemed to be authentic, with no test successfully challenging the opinion that they were genuinely hand carved during the early cultural history of South America.
Unfortunately technology has moved on, and now with electron microscope testing, all the crystal skulls of the Smithsonian and British Museum have revealed markings that could only have been made with carving implements that date to the latter half of the 19th century.
Many believe, that Mitchell-Hedges skull, although of a more superior quality of carving, is just another late 19th century creation, especially considering the story behind its discovery.
Even so, these crystal skulls still captivate and inspire, and their compelling appeal certainly make them treasures.
Watch the Video below of a Jungle Ruin being built with the rare Crystal Skull building card being featured in center of the lost ruin temple.