UnitedCardists.com - The forum for Cardistry, Magic, Custom Decks and All Things Playing Cards.

RS go to this link and you will see many pics of the cards

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/di ... -top-artis

Atypical stuff today: "Roodles" deck by Flinch PCC (Michigan) from the pre-WWII days. Obviously, the "lucky swastika" isn't considered so lucky after the Germans used it as the symbol for the Third Reich, but the suits are Swastikas, Wishbones, Shamrocks and Horseshoes - so there's definitely a pattern that no longer fits our present-day mindset (and the back of the cards has the "lucky" swastika as the theme, so modern day collectors tend to overlook or shun it).
I'm always amazed by how both my camera and my PC display things right-side-up, but when I upload them the darn things are sideways or upside-down...

Mike Ratledge wrote:Atypical stuff today: "Roodles" deck by Flinch PCC (Michigan) from the pre-WWII days. Obviously, the "lucky swastika" isn't considered so lucky after the Germans used it as the symbol for the Third Reich, but the suites are Swastikas, Wishbones, Shamrocks and Horseshoes - so there's definitely a pattern that no longer fits our present-day mindset (and the back of the cards has the "lucky" swastika as the theme, so modern day collectors tend to overlook it.

Yes, the Swastika was a symbol of good fortune in many cultures, for centuries, before the Third Reich co-opted it as their symbol. It can be jarring for us, given our now associating the symbol with great evil, to see swastikas woven into Navaho blankets, or wrought into the iron railings on a fence outside a Hindu place of worship.

(I even saw a photo once of an ancient Jewish synagogue with ornate swastikas carved into its ceiling!)

Gamblers are always looking for good luck, so "lucky" swastikas can be found worked into the back designs of many decks of American playing cards printed around 1900. Many of these used to show up on eBay back in the 1990s, mistakenly (or dishonestly) described as "Nazi playing cards", until eBay enacted a rule forbidding the sale of any Nazi memorabilia on their site.

I once found a Roodles deck for sale in an antique store for $50, but gave it a pass. Now I wish that I'd picked it up, as the deck is an interesting historical oddity to modern sensibilities!

badpete69 wrote:RS go to this link and you will see many pics of the cards

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/di ... -top-artis

Thanks, Pete!

It's a shame how things get mis-appropriated like that and forever 'stick' in our collective mindset. The "Roodles" game is more-or-less a 14-card per suit Rummy (Gin Rummy, I suppose?), with cards numbered from 1 to 14 in each of the four suits, so 56 cards total instead of 52 used in the game as played by the directions inclosed that I show above. I don't often go for things that are outside the realm of our normal Poker cards, but these are poker-sized cards, as are almost all of the early decks, 'bridge' or whist-sized cards only being introduced about the same time as "Squeezers" or cards with some indices (or shortly thereafter). Of course you go to metric sizes in Europe and Asia and there are a wide variety of 'standards'.

RSLancastr wrote:

Mike Ratledge wrote:Atypical stuff today: "Roodles" deck by Flinch PCC (Michigan) from the pre-WWII days. Obviously, the "lucky swastika" isn't considered so lucky after the Germans used it as the symbol for the Third Reich, but the suites are Swastikas, Wishbones, Shamrocks and Horseshoes - so there's definitely a pattern that no longer fits our present-day mindset (and the back of the cards has the "lucky" swastika as the theme, so modern day collectors tend to overlook it.

Yes, the Swastika was a symbol of good fortune in many cultures, for centuries, before the Third Reich co-opted it as their symbol. It can be jarring for us, given our now associating the symbol with great evil, to see swastikas woven into Navaho blankets, or wrought into the iron railings on a fence outside a Hindu place of worship.

(I even saw a photo once of an ancient Jewish synagogue with ornate swastikas carved into its ceiling!)

Gamblers are always looking for good luck, so "lucky" swastikas can be found worked into the back designs of many decks of American playing cards printed around 1900. Many of these used to show up on eBay back in the 1990s, mistakenly (or dishonestly) described as "Nazi playing cards", until eBay enacted a rule forbidding the sale of any Nazi memorabilia on their site.

I once found a Roodles deck for sale in an antique store for $50, but gave it a pass. Now I wish that I'd picked it up, as the deck is an interesting historical oddity to modern sensibilities!

badpete69 wrote:RS go to this link and you will see many pics of the cards

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/di ... -top-artis

Thanks, Pete!

It reminds me of this video from Cracked:

Ahh Cracked. Read that like my daily newspaper.

Eoghann wrote:Ahh Cracked. Read that like my daily newspaper.

That would explain so very much, Eoghann.

I will take that as a compliment, Robert!

My haul over the past few weeks:

And some more (sorry, I didn't see how to attach 2 images to 1 post).

Edited: Ah, it was slightly over 1 meg, so it didn't post. Resized and attached.

RSLancastr wrote:I once found a Roodles deck for sale in an antique store for $50, but gave it a pass. Now I wish that I'd picked it up, as the deck is an interesting historical oddity to modern sensibilities!

Would you believe I got it on ebay for $20?

(and a couple more images that didn't upload for me, either)

Mike Ratledge wrote:

RSLancastr wrote:I once found a Roodles deck for sale in an antique store for $50, but gave it a pass. Now I wish that I'd picked it up, as the deck is an interesting historical oddity to modern sensibilities!

Would you believe I got it on ebay for $20?

(and a couple more images that didn't upload for me, either)

What an interesting deck! Mike, you're so good at finding awesome deals on eBay.

I've been doing that since 1998, so I kind of know what to look for on ebay. The thing is that with playing card and the "Buy it Now" listings a lot of times if you look at newly listed items you will find something where the seller has no earthly idea of what they have. I haven't posted them yet, but along with the Roodles deck came a pair of Red & Blue 1928 British "No Revoke" decks from Arpak (with tucks, albeit in poor condition - though the cards are just fine). Paid under $65 for both of them, and now I see a single one listed for $165? hmmm...

They look like they could be the predecessor of some of our modern black decks, since the faces are all black and the "No Revoke" part is for bridge: each suit is a different color to avoid you accidentally playing a diamond where a heart should be or club for a spade, (and vice-versa). Clubs look like shamrocks, they're green, diamonds are yellow (as I recall). I'll pick them up and post a pix or by Tuesday when I recover from this work week. Sundays are a holiday for me since I work four 10's always on Wednesdays through Saturdays. I can feel Monday being a "honey-do" day already: spring has sprung here in the lowcountry.

Mike Ratledge wrote:I've been doing that since 1998, so I kind of know what to look for on ebay. The thing is that with playing card and the "Buy it Now" listings a lot of times if you look at newly listed items you will find something where the seller has no earthly idea of what they have.

Ain't it the truth?

I bought that aluminum "Cocktails" deck that way on eBay back in the 1990s (I've been bidding there since 1996 or 1997, when it was still known as "Auction Web"!). There was no "Buy it Now" option back then, so if you found an underpriced treasure, you had to bid and then hope against hope that nobody else would spot it before the auction ended...

The seller of that aluminum Cocktails deck had NO IDEA what a unique deck it was, and so, neither did any of the buyers (including me!) It wasn't until:

1. I won the auction,
2. I sent the check (no PayPal back then either),
3. The check cleared,
4. The seller mailed the deck and
5. I received it

...that I realized that the deck was not only aluminum, not only had non-standard courts, but was also a patience-sized (miniature) deck, which had NOT been mentioned in the listing's description of the deck!

After I put an "exhibit" of the deck on my old web site, mentioning that it was patience-sized, I was told (through a mutual friend) that Judy Dawson, after reading that "exhibit" about the deck on my site, had said that, had she known the deck was patience-sized, she would probably have outbid me on the item.

The deck is one of my favorites in my collection, so I am glad that the seller did not know to mention the deck's size in the listing!

Yep, "HeartQ" likes those non standard sizes. I remember Tom talking about them having "all 5 sizes", pretty certain. I don't ever remember hearing about a Bicycle "Junior" size he mentioned before. Likely antique as in 100+ years.

This discussion is getting me really interested in vintage decks. I collect modern decks, but reading about all the interesting features and history of vintage decks is fascinating.

Sher143 wrote:This discussion is getting me really interested in vintage decks. I collect modern decks, but reading about all the interesting features and history of vintage decks is fascinating.

One of us! One of us!

Gooble-gobble, one of us!!

RSLancastr wrote:

Sher143 wrote:This discussion is getting me really interested in vintage decks. I collect modern decks, but reading about all the interesting features and history of vintage decks is fascinating.

One of us! One of us!

Gooble-gobble, one of us!!

Indeed! Here are some No Revoke pix: (if someone hadn't used the box as a coaster one night: it would be OB-1, but I'm going with OB-2, always conservative)

That's the red deck, I forgot to snap the back of one card. The blue box is so bad I'm going to create my own category and go with "NoB". It might as well be.

Breaking my own rule and posting without modifying the previous one, here's a good find and a curiosity: I found and bought a deck of "Russell Monogram" off ebay and it's got an "W" year code on the AoS. That's one of the few that's only possible to be three years: 1916 (unlikely), 1936 (most likely) and 1956. I'm going to say that's not likely either, because I can't find a thing about the "Metropolis Club" in NYC founded in 1879, even using the purposeful "Clvb" spelling.

Oddly enough, I can't find a thing about this particular deck in Hochman's either. No mention of it nor in the "Addendum and pricing guide" released in 2004. Has anyone seen this one before? I suppose Tom D is the best person to hit up with this one, he's been visiting so maybe he'll find us here now that I have started adding more vintage and antique decks as opposed to being all new and mostly kickstarter decks posted here.

The other one I was going to post is the "Dennmar" deck I got in a lot of 20 decks from an estate sale of odds and ends, only because I saw one deck worth the $30 they wanted for the entire lot, but I'll have to modify after posting with my phone because the picture won't beam over to the laptop. It's a company I've never heard of and can't find a thing about online. That's pretty unusual. Nothing special, mind you - just curious about the maker.

I'll try to make use the shot from the listing this time instead of doing ten little ones:

I have an Arpak No-Revoke deck out in the "vault" somewhere.

I don't know if it was the first deck with black face, but it was one of the first, I'm pretty sure.

My Black books arrives, plus a pair of Magic Castle decks and Silver Monarchs

Got my Playing Arts kickstarter deck on Saturday. Was surprised to find that the cards were plastic, but the printing is quite nice and artwork is cool. Not usually my cup o' tea, but am pleased with this one.

@Encarded, indeed, i found the plastic cards to be of really good quality. They faro well front to back, just like paper cards. The project mentioned Piatnik as the printer, but this is my first experience with a plastic Piatnik, any one else has had contact with another ?

volantangel wrote:@Encarded, indeed, i found the plastic cards to be of really good quality. They faro well front to back, just like paper cards. The project mentioned Piatnik as the printer, but this is my first experience with a plastic Piatnik, any one else has had contact with another ?

Piatnik has historically created both wonderful quality and beautiful - no gorgeous - printing. I'm not feeling well this morning, but I'll find the lot that came in Friday and post a couple of pix. I don't think anyone can argue about their quality, it has always been "spot on" as far as I am aware.

Mike Ratledge wrote:

volantangel wrote:@Encarded, indeed, i found the plastic cards to be of really good quality. They faro well front to back, just like paper cards. The project mentioned Piatnik as the printer, but this is my first experience with a plastic Piatnik, any one else has had contact with another ?

Piatnik has historically created both wonderful quality and beautiful - no gorgeous - printing. I'm not feeling well this morning, but I'll find the lot that came in Friday and post a couple of pix. I don't think anyone can argue about their quality, it has always been "spot on" as far as I am aware.

Haha mike i was asking about their plastic decks, i know they have been doing paper for the longest time =) I just want to try and find out if all their plastic decks are like this. One gripe about the deck is that it is slightly too thick for my liking

yes, it is a very thick deck and the cards are quite a bit more bendy then paper decks, but I like it. I kind of forgot I backed it and was puzzled when a small box from Latvia showed up.

Encarded wrote:yes, it is a very thick deck and the cards are quite a bit more bendy then paper decks, but I like it. I kind of forgot I backed it and was puzzled when a small box from Latvia showed up.

I recently bought a deck on eBay, and was surprised whe it came that it had been mailed in Latvia.

Encarded wrote:Got my Playing Arts kickstarter deck on Saturday. Was surprised to find that the cards were plastic, but the printing is quite nice and artwork is cool. Not usually my cup o' tea, but am pleased with this one.

Nice! Look forward to greeting these. I pledged the tier for these and their previous deck.

Volant - plastic decks tend to be heavier and thicker, some feel like a lead weight if you hold a standard deck in one hand and the plastic one in another. For sure the deck I showed back in December that is "PVC" feels like twice as heavy, would not be surprised if it were more.

Made it down to the post office o pick up a package from Hong Kong.