Anybody recognize this deck?

[QueenofHearts]

So I received this deck 8 or so years ago. I ended up losing 15 cards over the years and would like to repurchase it. The deck is plastic or some other type of flexible material I believe and is slightly textured.

[Don Boyer]

Wow - that's a totally new one on me.  I don't recognize it at all.  Do you have the packaging it came with?

[QueenofHearts]

Sadly I don't. I think it came in a box covered in the same pattern as the backing. For some reason I keep thinking it's connected to cigarettes? I don't smoke so I don't know if those companies come out with cards you can purchase from a catalog or something.

[Don Boyer]

Sadly I don't. I think it came in a box covered in the same pattern as the backing. For some reason I keep thinking it's connected to cigarettes? I don't smoke so I don't know if those companies come out with cards you can purchase from a catalog or something.

It's unlikely that this was made as an advertising deck for a cigarette company.  First of all, the company name/logo would appear somewhere - and frequently!  Second, the cost of printing the cards on plastic would make them prohibitively expensive to simply give away as a premium.  Custom deck designs like this rarely get printed on plastic today, and it would have been an order of magnitude more rare back when you first acquired this deck.

Would you perhaps know the country of origin?  That would help as well.  Some countries have very few card manufacturers in the first place, so you'd at least be able to narrow down the list of possible makers quickly.  Even in a country as large as the US, most of the card manufacturing that takes place here comes from just one company, the United States Playing Card Company (USPC).  I'm told there are few manufacturers in the UK and Australia as well, usually with a single company dominating the marketplace.

[QueenofHearts]

Sadly I don't. I think it came in a box covered in the same pattern as the backing. For some reason I keep thinking it's connected to cigarettes? I don't smoke so I don't know if those companies come out with cards you can purchase from a catalog or something.

It's unlikely that this was made as an advertising deck for a cigarette company.  First of all, the company name/logo would appear somewhere - and frequently!  Second, the cost of printing the cards on plastic would make them prohibitively expensive to simply give away as a premium.  Custom deck designs like this rarely get printed on plastic today, and it would have been an order of magnitude more rare back when you first acquired this deck.

Would you perhaps know the country of origin?  That would help as well.  Some countries have very few card manufacturers in the first place, so you'd at least be able to narrow down the list of possible makers quickly.  Even in a country as large as the US, most of the card manufacturing that takes place here comes from just one company, the United States Playing Card Company (USPC).  I'm told there are few manufacturers in the UK and Australia as well, usually with a single company dominating the marketplace.

I got this deck in 9th grade off some kid for $5.00 He said he could always get more so I assumed that they were that expensive to make lol No idea of the country of origin.
I just looked at a set of Molla Cards which look very similar in texture but those are made out of pvc and now I'm wondered if these are too. I just assumed plastic. Not sure if that would narrow down a list of companies.

[Don Boyer]

I got this deck in 9th grade off some kid for $5.00 He said he could always get more so I assumed that they were that expensive to make lol No idea of the country of origin.
I just looked at a set of Molla Cards which look very similar in texture but those are made out of pvc and now I'm wondered if these are too. I just assumed plastic. Not sure if that would narrow down a list of companies.

PVC is the most common material used to make plastic playing cards, if I'm not mistaken.  Better-quality cards will have a thicker layer of the plastic that's been textured (probably during molding) to give it a feel closer to that of an embossed paper playing cards (and also its glide characteristics).  I believe that Fournier uses something different (exactly what, I'm not certain), and I know that KEM uses cellulose acetate (both companies are subsidiaries of USPC).  Guessing that they're PVC only helps to eliminate USPC as the manufacturer - there's too many other companies using it to narrow it further.

[HankMan]

I know maybe I sound stupid asking this, but do you remember who you bought it from?
At least his ethnic group? Since he said he could always get more, maybe he bought it from some speciality shops? I mean if he is Chinese for example, he could had bought that off chinese store which mean it could be made in China.

Its a long shot I know, but maybe knowing its origin could help.

[QueenofHearts]

I know maybe I sound stupid asking this, but do you remember who you bought it from?
At least his ethnic group? Since he said he could always get more, maybe he bought it from some speciality shops? I mean if he is Chinese for example, he could had bought that off chinese store which mean it could be made in China.

Its a long shot I know, but maybe knowing its origin could help.

He was black as am I. Our area is pretty diverse tho.

[HankMan]

He was black as am I. Our area is pretty diverse tho.

Now we back to Square 1 
Do you have the joker cards?

[Don Boyer]

I know maybe I sound stupid asking this, but do you remember who you bought it from?
At least his ethnic group? Since he said he could always get more, maybe he bought it from some speciality shops? I mean if he is Chinese for example, he could had bought that off chinese store which mean it could be made in China.

Its a long shot I know, but maybe knowing its origin could help.

It's worse than a long shot.  You'd have a hard time finding someone more Caucasian than me, yet I have some Asian-origin decks that are considered pretty rare in Asia, not to mention the rest of the world!  On top of that, I live in New York - a city where if it didn't come from here, it probably had to come through here for approval first!  (In other words, there are few things that are unattainable in New York, except perhaps cheap housing...)

I don't think that one's ethnic group has much to do with what decks they have access to, especially considering how global the economy is these days.  One doesn't need to be Chinese to have rare Chinese decks - one could be Filipino, Japanese, Caucasian, European, African, whatever.

You were on the right track with your NEXT question, though - jokers, ad cards, the Ace of Spades.  Do you have any of the more unique cards of the design, the ones that tend to reveal brand, manufacturer, etc.  Perhaps there's a tax stamp - I think it's the Ace of Hearts for Argentinian-sold decks and the Four of Clubs for Spanish-sold decks that have a tax mark or a maker's mark on them, much like the Ace of Spades in most International Standard decks.

[QueenofHearts]

I do not have the Ace of Spades but it seems like all the Ace cards might have had a special design on them based on the Ace of hearts. The attachments have all of the specialty designed Suits in them.

[bamabenz]

The art sort of reminds me of Golgo 13.

/bama

[Don Boyer]

I do not have the Ace of Spades but it seems like all the Ace cards might have had a special design on them based on the Ace of hearts. The attachments have all of the specialty designed Suits in them.

This is in no way definitive, but those clubs are much closer to the Parisian standard than the Anglo-Rouen standard (which later evolved into what we more commonly call the International Standard).  It would indicate that the cards prossibly came from a European country.  With the text on the Ace of Hearts being in English, it's possibly a British design.

Parisian-style pips aren't in common use at all in the US - Americans are pretty fussy about their cards, preferring the International Standard, so it's a real long shot they were American-made.  Canada (or at least the province of Quebec) is a possibility, but I'd consider the odds against it - the cards would probably have been printed in both French and English, were that the case.

Do any of the other cards bear any other writing in any given language?

[ecNate]

I quite like these cards, would be cool to find out what they are.

My first thought when seeing them was that they looked like characters from Grand Theft Auto series.  Obviously it's not, but they do appear to look like Triad, Yakuza, Mexican Mafia or other organized crime figures.  Mostly due to the poses and attire, but I do get an asian or latin vibe from some of the clothes and hairstyles.  Hard to tell from some of the photos though.  That style reminds me of some of the art deco and art nouveau posters from years ago.  Does the deck seem old or new?

[QueenofHearts]

No other cards with writing. I'm like tearing my room apart to see if I missed any cards because I found two in a drawer lol. I also got the mafia vibe from the style clothes. I got the deck in 2007-2008 and it was brand new then

[Don Boyer]

No other cards with writing. I'm like tearing my room apart to see if I missed any cards because I found two in a drawer lol. I also got the mafia vibe from the style clothes. I got the deck in 2007-2008 and it was brand new then

Mafia?  No, no, no, no, no...

This looks a lot like a promo deck for some fragrance or something like that - something for a person that's more fashion-conscious.  I remember there was a body spray called "Blade" or something like that - they had a promo set with an interesting-looking deck made by USPC.  Against the onslaught of "Axe," however, it doesn't appear to still be on the market.