Where Do You Look When You Need to Know?

[Don Boyer]

Ladies and Gentlemen...

I'm creating an article for future publication in CARD CULTURE.  I want to provide our readers/members with a list of resources they can use to further their hobby.  Do you have favorite places to go for buying cards - vintage or modern, auction or retail?  I also want people to give me their favorite research pages, news sites, etc.  Whatever little rock you overturn in some distant corner of the Internet to find out about playing cards, I want to know about it!  Share your toys with the rest of us! 

If you have such information, please - post it here!

[Chuqii]

One of my favorite sites for research is http://fultonhistory.com/fulton.html
It is great for looking finding playing card advertisements in old newspapers.
Google books is also good.

[ecNate]

Based on some past posts here and elsewhere, I would say brushing up on proper Google-Fu is well worth the time and effort.  So many times I hear somebody asking for information and that they searched and found nothing, but with a few properly formed search queries or using a reverse image search I can usually find some information.  Taking those findings and then revising the query can often find even more results.  From there it can lead into some favorite websites and books. 

http://www.endebrock.de/pc-taxes.html
http://a.trionfi.eu/WWPCM/
http://www.wopc.co.uk/
http://beinecke.library.yale.edu/research/library-catalogs-databases/guide-cary-collection-playing-cards
http://www.dawson-on-playingcards.info/Collect/collecting.htm
http://www.plainbacks.com/

While I'm sure most of you know and use Collector's Weekly, it's one of those sites that helps me so much I almost hesitate to let others in on it.   

For books the "Hochman Price Guide and Encyclopedia" are very valuable and a bargain in ePub format, and as a transformation card collector Fields' "Transformation Playing Cards" has been a huge help as well.

[Eddie Hughlett]

The Gamblers Warehouse retail store located at 2001 E. Randol Mill Rd. Ste 109A Arlington, TX. 76011 US M-F 9AM - 6PM Saturday & Sunday 9AM - 3PM Phone: (817) 683-3971 is an absolute heaven for contemporary playing cards. Prices are reasonable and the service is first class. I was pleasantly surprised at the number of decks they have on the shelf.  Compared to the on-line world we've gotten used to it is so very nice to dig around thousands of decks, pile up your personal wish list, and walk out the door with them. For me it's somewhat local, but for those within a days drive it is, without a doubt, worth making the trip.

[Magic_Orthodoxy]

The best places are:

1. General Merchandise stores

2. ebay

3. Graphic Designer / Magic Houses

4. Periodically check kickstarter

I have a bunch of great tips and link in my video: WHERE TO BUY CARDS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAKrTIyZqVQ

[Dufus]

For books the "Hochman Price Guide and Encyclopedia" are very valuable and a bargain in ePub format, and as a transformation card collector Fields' "Transformation Playing Cards" has been a huge help as well.

I have the copyright 2000 version of The Hochman Encyclopedia along with the copyright 2000 and copyright 2004 Price Guides.   Is there an updated version of the encyclopedia and price guides?   The link doesn't take me there. 

[Worst Bower]

Use this link: https://store.conjuringarts.org/product/both-the-hochman-encyclopedia-and-2015-price-guide-in-epub-format/

[Dufus]

Use this link: https://store.conjuringarts.org/product/both-the-hochman-encyclopedia-and-2015-price-guide-in-epub-format/

Thank you!  Looks like it has been updated.   

[Don Boyer]

Use this link: https://store.conjuringarts.org/product/both-the-hochman-encyclopedia-and-2015-price-guide-in-epub-format/

Thank you!  Looks like it has been updated.

The digital version is the most up-to-date one, and even it isn't complete, though it's the most comprehensive reference out there today for decks from the early days of American printing through to 1950.

[Dufus]

Thank you, good to know.  I'm hoping cataloging letters/numbers have remained the same.

[EndersGame]

List of articles about playing cards:

https://playingcarddecks.com/pages/playing-card-articles

Disclaimer: I've written most of these.

[Don Boyer]

Thank you, good to know.  I'm hoping cataloging letters/numbers have remained the same.

To my knowledge, the only changes have to do with instances where there was new information - like if a deck was discovered to have a newly-discovered version that was previously unknown.

Those reference numbers are almost like numbers for lines and chapters in the Bible, or lines of text in "The Expert at the Card Table."  People rely on them to remain the same from version to version because they're popular identifiers and frequently quoted (at least in the card collecting community, vintage and antique category).  So no changes were made to known decks, as far as I know, and newly-discovered decks are simply added with whatever new numbers/letters are needed to properly index them in relation to other similar decks.