Unexpected Blue Seal Purchase...1996?

[MrSlaybury]

Hello.  I recently purchased my first few decks of Ohio made Rider Backs.  I opened one deck, and I'm shocked to see a printing code starting with "B".  All the dating charts I can find list 1996 as the most recent year USPCC used that letter.  Is this an absolute guarantee that thisbdeck was printed in 1996?  I'm wondering if I'm missing something here.  There's a card advertising a travel discount that says it expires in 2011.

Being new to collecting, and especially new to any older decks, I'm fascinated with this.  If this deck really was printed in 1996, that's just awesome! Lol. I was 12, and could've been playing a game with my family using cards from this same run.  Plus...the quality!  The feel of this deck is unlike anything else I own.  I have 5 more red decks and one black deck.  I'm trying to find some Tallys printed in Ohio but no such luck...yet.  Thanks!

[Don Boyer]

Actually, it would help to see an image of the Ace of Spades and the ad card in question.

In addition to using the AoS code, there's a code that appears on the ad card in latter print runs from the past few decades or so.  It's a simple four-digit number - the month and year that the ad was created, and the ads are created at the same time as the rest of the deck, so it gives a good gauge as to when a deck was made!

It would seem extremely odd that a deck with a 1996 date of manufacturer would have an ad for a travel discount that doesn't expire until fifteen years later.  Not impossible, just really odd.

Decks made after the move to the new plant in Erlanger (August of 2009) have copyright info printed on the bottom of the box.  Does this deck have that?  It would list a copyright year matching the year it was printed.

Another useful image would be of the guarantee joker.  It would give an address for where to send defective cards - if the address is at 300 Gap Way in Erlanger, KY, then it was printed at the new plant, 2009 or later.  If the address is in Cincinnati, OH, it was printed before the move.  Bear in mind as well that deck boxes don't always match with the deck inside, in the sense that there were some "transition period" decks - decks in Cincinnati, OH-made boxes but that were printed in Erlanger, KY after the move.  In most such cases, the deck seal is a black sticker (black is the new default sticker, used on their mainstay base-model decks since the new plant opened).  Decks in Cincinnati boxes with blue or red sticker seals were probably printed in Cincinnati as well.

[MrSlaybury]

Wow, interesting fact about the ad card!  This ad card is a "Play by the rules" and on the bottom left is printed 138-0400-P.  So, it looks like it's at least from 2000, right?  I found it weird I can't find a Print Code Dating Table that indicates the "B" letter was used after 1996.  Did USPCC use random print codes here and there without big runs?  At any rate, the cards handle gorgeously.  definitely worth the $8 lol.

But, I've stumbled upon a mystery that I've spent countless time trying to figure out.  I have one Red blue seal deck that has a tuck box unlike any other blue seal I own, which arent many, but it's still odd.  The colors are different, and the UPC is on the left side of the bottom when looking at the tuck from the front.  The font is differen, the cellophane is super loose, and the outer part of the blue seal is more faded then the others.  The "spade" logo on the front is different overall, but most noticeably the stars are smaller.  At first I thought it could be a long flap, but I found a post on the site that said long flap tucks have glued seams on both sides, which this one does not.  I'm also thinking it could be a knock off, which still I wouldn't be too upset with as it would be cool to have that in my collection. 

A friend I chat with through Discord took pictures of all his Blue Seals, and nothing compares to his either - long flap or otherwise.  I'm close to just opening the darn thing out of the burning frustration I've run into! Lol.  I'm from Long Island NY, and spending a couple weeks in the summer there, so I was even planning to take the deck to some magic shops along the way hoping for more info, like Tannens or something.  Here's a couple pics, and maybe you have some insight Don?  I'd really appreciate it.  I've exhausted my research capabilities.  In all photos the deck in question will be on the right, with a comparison Blue seal on the left.  The deck on the left is identical to the deck I originally asked about in the post, and every other deck I've found thus far.  Thank you so much, Don.
Edit: I'm on my iPad and took 5 photos but the images exceed 1000mb.  I'm going to have to take pictures another way and I'll upload immediately in another response

[MrSlaybury]

Photos.  The one pic of the two decks' barcodes the oddball deck in question is on the top.  The only way I could upload a photo was by taking a screenshot of the photos I sent my friend in Discord, and I only had these.  I don't know how to take photos less than 100kb

[Don Boyer]

Almost any simple photo editing software will allow you to reduce the size of an image so the file size goes below 1,000 Kb.

As far as the barcodes being on opposing sides of the bottom of the tuck box - well, I really don't know what to tell you.  Barcodes started being used in the 1980s or thereabouts and they added copyright information when they moved to Erlanger in 2009, so you have a timespan of less than two decades within which the decks were made.  Beyond that, I can't tell you much more about the deck, other than it looks like it's a garden-variety pack of Bicycle Rider Backs from that era.  I know later decks of that time period had their barcodes on the left side of the bottom, so perhaps the one with the barcode on the right is an older deck - but that's only a guess, so don't quote me on that.