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dazzleguts wrote:@Chach
Is that an old European deck under glass beneath the other decks?

@Dazzleguts:

Sure looks European, what with the skinny-armed clubs and that Bube (Jack) and Dame (Queen)

Evidently German, or from a Germanic country.

I was actually more curious about whether that was a framed deck, or a table top, of actual cards.

It's my coffee table top. The top is recessed w/ a piece of glass over it so I can display a variety of things underneath. I'll switch decks or put a small poster under the glass every couple of weeks. The current deck is an old Piatnik deck from Austria, if you check back a page or two I posted a pic of the Heart Court cards.

Oh, the smelly deck?

A deck from my collection scanned in today:

========== Past-L-Eze ]==========


========== About the Deck ]==========

Published c. 1935 by Fan-C-Pack Co, Inc. of New York, USA, this deck uses a pastel-colored, geometric shapes-based Art Deco court design which the publisher named "Past-L-Eze", referring, I assume, to the Pastel colors used in the design, and their purportedly being easier on the eyes than those of a standard deck.

An insert card which comes with the deck (not shown here) reads:

"Past-l-eze is our exclusive brand name applied to playing cards. Instead of glaring white, you are faced with a soft, pleasing pastel color, green or cream. Easy and non-glaring on your eyes.

“And on Past-l-eze playing cards Kings, and Queens, and Jacks are no longer stodgy and conventional but pleasingly reflect suspicion, flirtation and worry. (Design patents applied for)

“The designs on the back vary. This pack pictures a scene from the immortal Dickens – The Old Curiosity Shop. This is our exclusive design. The quaint scene of the old colorful shop and its environment is pleasingly reminiscent of Dickens’ delightful story.”

So apparently, at least some of what appears to be age discoloration on the face of my copy of the deck is due to the cards originally having a "cream-colored" face.

Photos of a mint-condition set of the cards selling on Rubylane.com show the faces without the age discoloration (see "Related Links" section below)

========== The Cards on Display ]==========

========== Heart ]==========

The Queen of Hearts, in the Pastel colors used in all three of the court cards for this suit.
The same geometric design is used for all four Queens in the deck, with only the colors varying by suit.

========== Club ]==========

The King of Clubs, in the Pastel colors used in all three of the court cards for this suit.
The same geometric design is used for all four Kings in the deck, with only the colors varying by suit.

========== Diamond ]==========

The Jack of Diamonds, in the Pastel colors used in all three of the court cards for this suit.
The same geometric design is used for all four Jacks in the deck, with only the colors varying by suit.

========== Spade ]==========

The Ace of Spades, in a whole spectrum of pastel colors.

Text on the card reads:

PAST-L-EZE
TRADE MARK
FAN-C-PACK CO, INC
NEW YORK, U.S.A. MADE IN U.S.A.

A stylized "fcp" - evidently the logo for the publisher - is on the card's central pip.

========== Joker ]==========

A soldier, in his own pastel colors.

========== Back ]==========

As described on the deck's Insert card (not shown):

This pack pictures a scene from the immortal Dickens – The Old Curiosity Shop. This is our exclusive design. The quaint scene of the old colorful shop and its environment is pleasingly reminiscent of Dickens’ delightful story.”

========== Title ]==========

None - My copy of the deck is missing the Insert card mentioned above.

========== Box ]==========

None - My copy of the deck came in a small zip-lock bag.

========== Related Links ]==========

http://www.rubylane.com/item/404269-T00 ... ild-Past-L - A page on Rublane.com (a seller of collectibles of all types) where a mint-condition, double-deck set of this deck is currently for sale.

RSLancastr wrote:Oh, the smelly deck?

Yep, that's the one. Gave it a chance to air out, not so bad now.

chach wrote:Yep, that's the one. Gave it a chance to air out, not so bad now.

Glad to hear it!

I just can't identify with the problem, though.

I don't recall whether I have mentioned it on UC before (since it has little to do with playing cards), but I am a congenital anosmic (meaning I was born without a sense of smell), and so have never smelled anything - good or bad - in all of my life.

And, before anyone asks: Yes, I do taste food and drink, although their flavor is severely blunted to me. This means that I cannot enjoy those foods and drinks which require a sense of smell to truly experience (such as coffees and wines). All coffee just tastes bitter to me, and almost all wine, no matter how expensive, tastes like vinegar to me.

Back on topic, though:

Although I can understand, intellectually, that cards from the home of a heavy smoker might be unpleasant to others (especially to a non-smoker, I would think), I can't and don't have the gut-level reaction to your complaint that someone with a working sense of smell might.

What? Nobody asked me?

Sorry to natter on about it.

Back on topic again:

I remember a fellow collector at a convention once remarking that the coating used on a specific brand of deck had a chemical odor that she could not stand, and so she never bought any decks of that brand any more. So sad.

RSLancastr wrote:

chach wrote:Yep, that's the one. Gave it a chance to air out, not so bad now.

Glad to hear it!

I just can't identify with the problem, though.

I don't recall whether I have mentioned it on UC before (since it has little to do with playing cards), but I am a congenital anosmic (meaning I was born without a sense of smell), and so have never smelled anything - good or bad - in all of my life.

And, before anyone asks: Yes, I do taste food and drink, although their flavor is severely blunted to me. This means that I cannot enjoy those foods and drinks which require a sense of smell to truly experience (such as coffees and wines). All coffee just tastes bitter to me, and almost all wine, no matter how expensive, tastes like vinegar to me.

Back on topic, though:

Although I can understand, intellectually, that cards from the home of a heavy smoker might be unpleasant to others (especially to a non-smoker, I would think), I can't and don't have the gut-level reaction to your complaint that someone with a working sense of smell might.

What? Nobody asked me?

Sorry to natter on about it.

Back on topic again:

I remember a fellow collector at a convention once remarking that the coating used on a specific brand of deck had a chemical odor that she could not stand, and so she never bought any decks of that brand any more. So sad.

Man, that sucks, one of the best things IMO is the smell of a brand new deck of cards once you open the tuck box. Like new car smell or something.

As for collectivity, I know that in the world of comics, items that came from a smoker's home can have a much lower value than those that didn't. Be it the lingering smell or alteration of color or something else altogether, values can be significantly affected. So in other words, if you collect stuff and smoke, either don't smoke indoors or keep your stuff sealed up tight.

Once again, I understand that intellectually.

But unless the smoking was so heavy that there is discoloration of the cards, I would never notice it. and even then I might assume that it was due simply to age, not having the olfactory evidence which would connect it to smoking.

Same with the concept of "new car smell" or "new deck smell". To me, a deck straight from the manufacturer smells just the same (meaning not at all) as a hundred-year-old deck, or a deck which has been stored in the home of several chain-smokers.

I received Mafia Playing Cards yesterday. It's the only mafia deck endorsed by the inventor of the game.

I have a deck called "Chicago Cribbage" which has gangster courts, but they are more graphic and painterly, less illustrational. I like the illustration on your deck but was not spending on cards when they came out. Money was too tight. In Chicago it's a regular playing card deck but with some extra cards for altering crib rules, and all the courts and aces are diff.

I did a little photoshoot with some UC Decks on my basement bar over the weekend.

thanks, Randy

Three more UC Deck Pics.

dazzleguts wrote:I have a deck called "Chicago Cribbage" which has gangster courts, but they are more graphic and painterly, less illustrational. I like the illustration on your deck but was not spending on cards when they came out. Money was too tight. In Chicago it's a regular playing card deck but with some extra cards for altering crib rules, and all the courts and aces are diff.

I got the Mafia deck from fab.com http://fab.com/sale/22645/product/14628 ... owse&pos=0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Fab has a promo for a number of decks, and the promo ends tomorrow evening around 6 or 7 pm EST: http://fab.com/sale/22645/?ref=sb-b1-sq ... 0flip%20ov" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thanks Emmanuel!

Yes, thanks for the heads-up, Emmanuel!

You're welcome!

Now if you could just give a heads-up as to where I could get some money (legally) to spend at fab.com, I'd be all set!

(of course, some would go to bmpokerworld.com too!)

Another recent set of scans from a deck which has been in my collection for some time now:

==========[ IrishPlayingCards ]=========


==========[ About The Deck ]=========

From the deck's Title Card:

THESE UNIQUE
IRISH PLAYING
CARDS HAVE
DESIGNS BASED
ON MOTIFS FROM
EARLY IRISH
MANUSCRIPTS &
METALWORK.
CREATED & DESIGNED
BY PHILIP MURPHY &
CATHERINE TREACY
REVERSE DESIGN BY
ROSALINE MURPHY

Produced exclusively
for Dechtire Design
Copyright pending

==========[ The Cards on Display ]=========

==========[ Heart ]=========

The Queen of Hearts

==========[ Club ]=========

The King of Clubs

==========[ Diamond ]=========

The Jack of Diamonds

==========[ Spade ]=========

The Ace of Spades

==========[ Joker ]=========

The Joker - A tall, lanky leprachaun?

==========[ Back ]=========

The Card Back, referred to in the "About the Deck" section above as the "Reverse Design".

==========[ Title ]=========

The Title Card - quoted in the "About the Deck" section above.

Note that the "Dechtire" in "Dechtire Design" is pronounced "DECK-tir-ra", and is the name of a Legendary Irish woman/fairy.

==========[ Box ]=========

The front of the deck's tuck box, with the deck's "Reverse Design".

==========[ Related Links ]=========

None at present

Yet another recent set of scans from a deck which has been in my collection for some time now:

==========[ CanastaSpeelkaarten ]=========


==========[ About The Deck ]=========

==========[ The Cards on Display ]=========

All I know is that it is a deck made for the Dutch market, with Scenic Aces and Dutch indices.

==========[ Heart ]=========

The V (Queen) of Hearts

==========[ Club ]=========

The H (King) of Clubs

==========[ Diamond ]=========

The B (Jack) of Diamonds

==========[ Spade ]=========

The 1 (Ace) of Spades - the captions for the two scenes on this Scenic Ace read:
"Maasbruggen L_Rotterdam" and
"Delftsche Poort Rotterdam"


==========[ Joker ]=========

None - No joker came with this deck (not unusual for a Bridge deck).

==========[ Back ]=========

The Card Back

==========[ Title ]=========

None - no additional cards came with the deck.

==========[ Box ]=========

The front of the deck's tuck box. The text read:

"CANASTA SPEELKAARTEN"
(CANASTA PLAYING CARDS)
"TWEE LEEUWKENS"

.

==========[ Related Links ]=========

None at present

Got my Fraggle Rock decks in today. They're pretty darn awesome. Cards themselves feel great IMO, have custom courts for each of the suits and I really like the scaled down pips, makes it very easy on the eyes. Also the tuck is amazing nicely done matte finish w/ gold foil as well. Very nice and nostalgic, brings back lots of memories of sitting in front of the TV doing nothing.

Nice, chach!

Brings back good times watching that show with my kids, which always makes me think of car trips with us all singing

The Song That Never Ends

This is The Song That Never Ends,
It just goes on and on my friends

Some people started singing it not knowing what it was,
And now they will be singing it forever just because

This is The Song That Never Ends,
It just goes on and on my friends...

(repeat ad infinitum)

Ooooohhh, just added a custom deck from the best card forum out there!





DAT GREEN FOIL!

"Grid 2.0" is "the best card forum out there"?

Dondorf Playing Cards - Playing cards made by B. Dondorf Spielkarten of Frankfurt, Germany - are considered by many collectors to be among the most beautiful and collectible playing cards ever made.

Here are four Dondorf decks from my collection, from each of which I recently scanned a few cards:

==========[ Dondorf_No.190_Whist-Karten ]==========


==========[ About The Deck ]==========

==========[ The Cards/Images on Display ]==========

==========[ Heart ]==========

The Queen of Hearts -

==========[ Club ]==========

The King of Clubs -

==========[ Diamond ]==========

The Jack of Diamonds -

==========[ Spade ]==========

The Ace of Spades -

==========[ Joker ]==========

-

==========[ Back ]==========

-

==========[ Title ]==========

-

==========[ Box ]==========

-



==========[ Dondorf_No.163_Patience-Karten ]==========


==========[ About The Deck ]==========

==========[ The Cards/Images on Display ]==========

==========[ Heart ]==========

The Queen of Hearts -

==========[ Club ]==========

The King of Clubs -

==========[ Diamond ]==========

The Jack of Diamonds -

==========[ Spade ]==========

The Ace of Spades -

==========[ Joker ]==========

-

==========[ Back ]==========

-

==========[ Title ]==========

-

==========[ Box ]==========

-


==========[ Dondorf_No.158_Whist ]==========


==========[ About The Deck ]==========

From the "World of Playing Cards" web site:

A lovely antique set of Dondorf's “Rokoko” No.158 playing cards, with beautiful court cards and floral backs. The designs have clear outlines which stand out against a tinted background. The two black Jacks carry halberds; the Jack of Clubs reads “B. Dondorf” and “Frankfort a/m”. The other two Jacks are a falconer and an archer. Although the court figures are not an accurate reflection of any historical period, this deck has been nicknamed “Rococo”. The cards are slightly small by contemporary standards, measuring 85x58mm. This pattern was published between 1889-1933, at first with no Joker, which was added in 1906 along with small indices in German or English.

==========[ The Cards/Images on Display ]==========

==========[ Heart ]==========

The Queen of Hearts -

==========[ Club ]==========

The King of Clubs -

==========[ Diamond ]==========

The Jack of Diamonds -

==========[ Spade ]==========

The Ace of Spades -

==========[ Joker ]==========

-

==========[ Back ]==========

-

==========[ Title ]==========

-

==========[ Box ]==========

-



==========[ Dondorf_No.025_Kinder-Spielkarten ]==========


==========[ About The Deck ]==========

==========[ The Cards/Images on Display ]==========

==========[ Heart ]==========

The King of Hearts -

==========[ Club ]==========

The Queen of Clubs -

==========[ Diamond ]==========

The Jack of Diamonds -

==========[ Spade ]==========

The Ace of Spades -

==========[ Joker ]==========

-

==========[ Back ]==========

-

==========[ Title ]==========

-

==========[ Box ]==========

-

Been a while, some of my latest receipts;

Nice haul, Strag!

I think I only have ONE of those!

Another deck from my collection:

==========[ GoldenDeluxe_Piquet ]====1982======


=====[ About the Deck ]=====

Printed by a Russian manufacturer in 1982 (I think so, anyway. "OCT. 29.25-82" is printed on the front of the tuck box) This Piquet deck (36 cards: 6,7,8,9,10,J,Q,K,A in each of the four suits, no jokers) is also an example of what is sometimes referred to as a Russian Hunting Deck (the hunting motif being evident on the Aces and some of the court cards).
The deck has been reissued more than once by Western publishers (Piatnik of Austria issued a 55-card version of it (52 cards plus three jokers) titled "Russian Golden DeLuxe Playing Cards"

I do not read Cyryllic, so I do not know if the Russian characters on my copy's box translate to "Golden DeLuxe Playing Cards" (They look something like "KAPTbI HrPAAbHbIE CyBEHHPHbIE"), but I have chosen to name it "GoldenDeluxe_Piquet" in my collection's database.

=====[ The Cards on Display ]=====

=====[ Heart ]=====

The Queen of Hearts

=====[ Club ]=====

The King of Clubs

=====[ Diamond ]=====

The Jack of Diamonds - note the small hunting falcon

=====[ Spade ]=====

The Ace of Spades - note the hunting gear

=====[ Joker ]=====

None - The Piquet version of the deck has no jokers

=====[ Back ]=====

I'm not sure what this ornate design represents

=====[ Title ]=====

None - the deck has no "additional cards"

=====[ Box ]=====

The front of the deck's very plain tuck box. - The sticker in the upper right is the price tag from when I purchased the deck. It reads "MEMORY LANES ANTIQUE MALL - SPACE NO. 1024 - $2.00"
Memory Lanes is located in Southern California. I would estimate that I purchased this deck in around 1999

my 1st artifice deck, my 3rd madison deck

Technically my first decks:

I picked up a pair of 'Lion Bible Cards' whilst on a school trip to Israel 22 years ago. The faces are pretty standard, but the courts depict prominent figures from the Old Testament, and their names in English and Hebrew.

The backs feature a Menorah, and the 12 signs of the zodiac

montecarlojoe wrote:Technically my first decks:

I picked up a pair of 'Lion Bible Cards' whilst on a school trip to Israel 22 years ago. The faces are pretty standard, but the courts depict prominent figures from the Old Testament, and their names in English and Hebrew.

The backs feature a Menorah, and the 12 signs of the zodiac

P1010629.jpg

I love that deck, and have a few copies.

A few points:

They are "Jacob's Bible Cards", published by Lion.

There are two versions of them (each comes in two different back colors):

- The original design (the one you have, which is my favorite, designed by famed Israeli artist Ze'ev Raban)

- a more recent version, with courts done in a more colorful, modern style.

The back design is NOT the twelve signs of the Zodiac, although that is what it looks like at first glance.

When I first got the deck, I thought "What the heck do the signs of the Zodiac have to do with an Old Testament/Israel theme?"

Many years later I figured out that they were actually the symbols of the twelve tribes of Israel (Ruben, Simeon, Levi, Naphtali, Isaacar, Asher, Dan, Zebulun, Gad, Benjamin, Judah and Joseph). Made a lot more sense, given the deck's theme.

The Raban deck (the one you have) is actually based on an older deck, "Palestine Play-cards", designed by Raban circa 1920. I lucked into a copy of it around 1999, and it is the most valuable deck in my entire collection. It has single-ended versions of the same courts, and has unusual, Israel-themed suits: (Menorahs, Stars of David, Leaves and Pomegranates).

A lovely pair of decks you have there - thanks for sharing images of them with us!

Here are both versions, on eBay:

The Original (Raban) version:
CLICK TO VIEW LISTING

More modern, colorful version:


CLICK TO VIEW LISTING