Fake KEM cards?

[Deadparrot19]

Hi guys, so I'm brand new to this forum, came across it while trying to identify this deck online.

I randomly came across this two deck set in tk maxx on Xmas eve then completely forgot about them until a few weeks ago.

The cards seem to be really high quality and are the heaviest plastic decks I've ever handled but I don't believe they are KEM cards.

First up the box states Made in England..... I can't find any information on KEM cards ever being made in England.

The KEM logo definitely isn't the current one and a google image search found no matches.

The back design....my limited collection is mostly bicycle and HOPC (and bordered) but from what I can tell the back design is Bee...I also can't find any borderless KEM cards anywhere.

There is also a seemingly genuine KEM holographic seal on the tuck boxes....which combined with all of the above confuses me.

Whether these are real or not, they are really nice cards with a good weight and not too flexible which is what I like, but I'd really like to know what they actually are so any input is appreciated. Cheers guys.

#2: Back design.....had to crop image due to file size

#3: Ace of spades

#4: Court cards, again had to crop the image

[Don Boyer]

First, Deadparrot19, welcome to the Discourse.  Glad to have you here.

Second, notice that I combined your four posts into a single post.  A post can have up to five attachments of 5,000KB each.  No need to make multiple posts in a row like that.

Third, instead of cropping next time, you can reduce the image quality or increase the compression.  You don't need super-high res images on the web, they only slow down load times.

Fourth, these are DEFINITELY bogus Kem cards.  Older Kem decks were made in New York State (I forgot which city) while newer ones (after the takeover by USPC) are made in the greater Cincinnati area (either Cincinnati, OH or one of its suburbs, Erlanger, KY).  It's possible a Kem deck might have been made in Spain, as USPC also purchased Heraclio Fournier of Vitoria, Spain, and they did have their Bicycle Prestige decks made there.  But never were they made in England, and to the best of my knowledge, never with a Bee back, either.  The Ace of Spades is also the incorrect AoS for Kem decks.

USPC has been having trouble with some Chinese companies counterfeiting their Bee decks.  I wouldn't put it past the counterfeiters to make these and pass them off as British goods to a middle-sized chain store (you did mean "TJ Maxx," right?) in time for the holidays.  The store, unwittingly or otherwise, sells them out quickly (either at full price or in post-season clearances) and pockets the premium price a set of Kem decks would usually fetch.  The work doesn't even have to be of inferior quality, either - but which would the average bloke want to buy, a major name brand made locally or some no-name brand out of China?  More importantly, which would they pay top dollar for?

[MrMollusk]

Whoa, that's a weird design choice. An edited version of the Bicycle AoS and the Bee diamond backs?





It's almost like the makers were absolutely incapable of making their own deck. This reminds me of Frankenstein.

[The Quadfather]

We're these the same price as kem cards? Can't imagine tk maxx trying to sell a couple decks of cards in their stores for the same price. I once bought a pair of diesel jeans in there for £10 instead of the tag price of about £100!

[Don Boyer]

Whoa, that's a weird design choice. An edited version of the Bicycle AoS and the Bee diamond backs?

It's almost like the makers were absolutely incapable of making their own deck. This reminds me of Frankenstein.

It also looks like the AoS from the Phoenix decks as well.  But what it really is, is the Bicycle AoS without the statue in the center, just a few extra stars to cover the absence.

We're these the same price as kem cards? Can't imagine tk maxx trying to sell a couple decks of cards in their stores for the same price. I once bought a pair of diesel jeans in there for £10 instead of the tag price of about £100!

Nice - it really is called TK Maxx?  In the US we have a chain called TJ Maxx that sounds nearly identical - perhaps they actually are the same company?

Kem decks in the US sell for about $25 for a two-deck set.  Imported to the UK, it probably costs close to double that - am I right, UK collectors?  Do you remember, Deadparrot, what the decks were selling for at the holidays?

[The Quadfather]

They range from £13-22 on this website.

http://www.kemplayingcards.co.uk/

Literally the only place I've looked though, as I don't collect plastic cards.

Yeah I think it's the same company. They sell out of season clothes for a fraction of the price, as well as other stuff like kitchen equipment and kids toys. That's why I was asking the price. They'd probably be the most expensive thing in the store if they were priced like the genuine things!

[Don Boyer]

I figured as much.  A shop like that could have been duped into selling the bogus decks - or could have colluded "unwittingly" but intentionally with the distributors of the bogus decks.

A pair of poker-width decks on that site is a little more than $33 - so it's noticeably more expensive, but not a bank breaker.

(I still remember in the '80s when the GB pound sterling was trading more like US$2.00 each...  I was into British-import vinyl records.  Even got a pen-pal letter posted in an early issue of Kerrang!)

[Deadparrot19]

Many thanks for the speedy responses, sorry I didn't reply, I've been away on holiday.

I apologise for my poor posting skills but I did it all on my brand new iPhone and as I'm an apple noob I don't know how to do all the image stuff yet. And for some reason my connection kept timing out when I tried to do all the images in a single post.

I believe the 2 deck set cost me £6.99, and I think they were marked up as being reduced from £25.

I'm not at all surprised they are fake but I didn't realise quite how much of a mash up of designs they are. Can't believe I missed the bike AoS rip off.

I don't like plastic decks either but for the occasional drunken poker game you can't beat them, and I can't wait to take these for a spin! Only issue is that like most plastic decks they fan like a stack of roofing tiles, but that's not what I'll be using them for.

Thanks again guys for helping me out on this.

[Don Boyer]

Many thanks for the speedy responses, sorry I didn't reply, I've been away on holiday.

I apologise for my poor posting skills but I did it all on my brand new iPhone and as I'm an apple noob I don't know how to do all the image stuff yet. And for some reason my connection kept timing out when I tried to do all the images in a single post.

I believe the 2 deck set cost me £6.99, and I think they were marked up as being reduced from £25.

I'm not at all surprised they are fake but I didn't realise quite how much of a mash up of designs they are. Can't believe I missed the bike AoS rip off.

I don't like plastic decks either but for the occasional drunken poker game you can't beat them, and I can't wait to take these for a spin! Only issue is that like most plastic decks they fan like a stack of roofing tiles, but that's not what I'll be using them for.

Thanks again guys for helping me out on this.

On an iPhone, you can send a photo from the Photo Album using the Send feature.

Regarding the connection timing out, it could have something to do with the file size of the images.  There's a maximum limit for the size of a photo attached to a post.  It used to be a piddling 1,000 Kb, but now it's five times that much per image, maximum of five images.