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Messages - Don Boyer

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1
Introduce Yourself / Re: Rubenith's Introduction
« on: October 31, 2023, 02:58:21 AM »
Greetings everyone, I am Rubenith! I come from Australia

I like to perform cardistry and magic, albeit unskillfully, alongside playing general card games (Like Blackjack and Poker!)

I hope I can get to meet some of you around the forum, you might see me around the "Deck Review" areas!

よろしくお願いします! (Nice to meet you)


Hey, welcome to the forum.  Give me a shout if you need anything.

2
Playing Card Plethora / Re: KICKSTARTER: Sir Lancelot & Sir Galahad
« on: October 31, 2023, 02:56:44 AM »
Hi!


Project looks good.  A little heavy on the extras, though.  Gotta be careful that your project doesn't start looking like a bazaar, or worse, a yard sale.


You should upload images instead of linking them - your link is broken.

4
What happened to the project? Canceled?

6
Introduce Yourself / Re: Hello!
« on: October 31, 2023, 02:11:03 AM »
Hello, My name is Jeff Scanlan. I just recently joined. I am a former professional magician of 30 years, who was mentored by one of the greatest magicians- Eugene Burger. Currently, I am a professional speaker, author, and artist of both Impossible Bottles and 3-D cut decks of playing cards.

Both my bottles & 3-D decks can be seen here - https://BottleMagic.com

I collect all kinds of decks of playing cards with an emphasis on Bicycle decks of cards. I'm looking forward to being a part of this group and learning more about the club members.


Welcome to the boards!  Nice to have you here.

7
Introduce Yourself / Re: Hello!
« on: September 11, 2023, 06:49:08 PM »
Hi all! My name is Justin and I am from Texas. I love to play poker and have always collected cards. I recently designed and had my own setups created. Looking forward to seeing what you all have in your collections.


Welcome aboard, Justin.  Pull up a chair at the table and we'll deal you in!


Our club's convention is about a month away now - go to https://52plusjoker.org for more information.  Some of it will be presented live via Zoom; it's worth checking out.

8
The Conversation Parlor / Re: USPCC CODE 1898"A"
« on: September 11, 2023, 06:47:08 PM »
I think there are enough examples out there now to show that letter code dating began before 1904.  I use Joseph Pierson?s updated chart found here:  https://bicyclecards.org/uspcc-dating-code/


hi,Chuqii

Thanks for agreeing with me.
Thank you very much.


Gentlemen, I'm simply "the devil's advocate" here.  It's entirely possible that your information is correct and that the date codes extend back as far as 1898.  But it's also possible that the people I've heard from, long-time and heavily experienced collectors, that the date codes don't go that far back and are not always 100% accurate as to year of manufacture.  Considering the years of experience accumulated between Lee and Tom, I'd be leaning in their direction, short of hard physical proof.  Doesn't mean I'm calling you out as absolutely wrong - just that the odds aren't in your favor, though you could still be right.  I'm not immune to new ideas and concepts that refute what I've known before, but I do try to consider the sources of both old and new ideas and concepts to determine which of them would be more likely to be correct.


So, truce, fellows?  :))

9
Playing Card Plethora / Re: SNEAK PEAK of the First Project from Room One
« on: September 05, 2023, 02:47:43 AM »
https://www.instagram.com/roomonecards/


I'm looking at the designs in Instagram.


In my opinion, the faux aging isn't doing your deck any favors.  If you want it to look like newspapers, then make it look like newspapers - color it to match the color of new newspaper stock of the era, which was probably a grayish white.  Faux aging has been very overused at this point by other designs over the past several years.


On the Joker index, the text is hard to read.  Perhaps printing it at a ninety-degree angle in a single line instead of one letter on top of the next would give a cleaner, easier-to-read look to it.


What the hell is up with that scribble on the deck back design?  It takes what looked like a promising design and makes it kind of ugly.  I'd suggest doing something - almost anything - to replace this with some kind of symmetrical image.  Perhaps the gauge of a Geiger counter?  Then you can also render those numbers around the circle in the center in a way that doesn't turn the deck's back into a one-way design.  There are a lot of people who are dead set against buying one-way backs.


I'd also avoid having face designs that extend past the bleed line, like that airplane on the two of hearts.  Believe it or not, you can spot that line work from the edge of the deck in a stack of cards, meaning anyone could cut straight to that two of hearts on demand, if they know what to look for.  Whenever you want to print into the bleed, you really should do it not just for a few cards, but for every card in the deck, in a uniform, radially-symmetrical manner, so you can't identify a card from the deck's edge.  But honestly, you're best off not even doing that, because if your printer doesn't have perfect registration when cutting the cards out of the deck sheet, you'll wind up with a one-way design that's nearly as easy to use as a stripper deck.


The overall concept is pretty good.  I'd tweak those pips a bit - they look a little on the crude, hand-drawn side.  You may also consider removing the frames from the indices to make them easier to read - just have some blank space around them to separate them from the background art.  Lighten the newspapers a bit and make the pips darker, so they stand out more - if people have a hard time seeing the pips, they have a hard time using the deck to play cards with as well.  I suspect you really like your newsprint, but it's dominating the design when it's supposed to be in the background.


And on the topic of those newspaper images...  If this is the "Oppenheimer" deck, why are we seeing images of all sorts of events from World War II, many of which have nothing directly to do with Oppenheimer?  Maybe instead of having newspaper front pages, you should look into getting a hold of technical drawings of the Manhattan Project's "A-bomb" or some of the other government files about Oppenheimer.  Many of those documents will have been typed on a manual typewriter, so they'll have a look that's more in line with your indices and other select elements you've chosen.  It would not be hard to find enough images of such documents to fill out a deck of 52 cards, and if they're redacted, all the better - it would look kind of cool, I think.  Instead of hand-drawn images of elements like a bomb, a fighter plane or a skull with what looks like worms coming out of it, leave them out and go with just the technical docs printed light and your pips printed dark - not too big on the pips, but not so small that they get lost in the background image.


That's my two cents.  :))

10
The Conversation Parlor / Re: USPCC CODE 1898"A"
« on: September 05, 2023, 02:29:03 AM »
You might find this story I did about Fireside helpful.   https://pcconnections.weebly.com/mr-wilson-and-fireside-games.html


This link is dead, due to your update of the article.


https://pcconnections.weebly.com/mr-wilson-and-fireside-games---updated-aug-2022.html


Touya, I'm not entirely convinced about the use of the letter codes on the jokers.  I was told by none other than Tom Dawson himself that there were numerical and alphanumerical codes in place on the joker for many decks, but that no strict correspondence could be established between those codes and the date of manufacture - sometimes even the code on the Ace of Spades wasn't created in accordance with the established pattern.


Lee Asher has stated on his website, in his article on dating USPC decks, that the letter codes on Aces of Spades didn't come into existence until 1904 - and other articles I've read corroborate this.


https://www.leeasher.com/blog/how-to-date-a-deck-of-playing-cards.php


As far as the continued use of the letter codes - the new numerical system makes dating a deck more of a science than an art, allowing you to know the exact week of production, but with the codes only being used on decks produced by USPC rather than produced by a third party and printed by USPC, it's of limited usefulness - though many if not most late-model decks do also bear copyright information, often found on the bottom of the tuck box.

11
A Cellar of Fine Vintages / Re: Unlisted Congress back?
« on: September 05, 2023, 02:05:21 AM »
That's an excellent find, really.  Good job!

12
Hochman Updates / Re: Chapter 24 - Exposition and World's Fair Cards
« on: September 05, 2023, 02:02:43 AM »
SX12 - Los Leones Naipes #71 USPC - Hochman lists this as a 40 card deck for playing hombre, but I have a 48 card deck c1897, so maybe 48 card deck was added later.


It's also very possible that the "40" was a typo and should have been "48".  I've heard of short decks before (fewer than the International Standard of 52), but for Spanish decks, I recall there's usually 48.  I could be mistaken, but it's what I recall.

13
Hochman Updates / Re: Chapter 24 - Exposition and World's Fair Cards
« on: September 05, 2023, 02:00:02 AM »
SX36 - New York World's Fair, 1939-40

This was actually a Kem Card Sales Corp deck, and not Kem Playing Cards.  Here are the red and green decks in color, along with the special case for the 1939 New York World's Fair.  Deck backs show the Trylon and Perisphere.


It's a sharp-looking pair.  It's a shame that Kem doesn't make boxes like those anymore - they're pretty sweet.  They don't even use plastic now - it's just a plain cardboard box with a lid, sitting in a slipcover.  The slipcover helps keep the lid from falling off in transport.  Nothing at all like those elegant cases.

14
A Cellar of Fine Vintages / Re: Ask the Experts at 52 Plus Joker
« on: September 05, 2023, 01:52:00 AM »
Here's another puzzler, and I'm wondering if anyone has ever seen either of these decks, or if they were ever produced.  I've got what looks to be a printing samples or proofs for a tuck box for a 525 Aristocrat Multi-Color deck and a No. 06 Square Deal, both from Russell Playing Card Co.  Anybody ever seen one of these or have a deck?


Can't say that I have, but they do look pretty cool, particularly the Aristocrats.  That would have been a cool idea - multi-color card backs...  I'm drooling just thinking about it...

15
Ladies and gentlemen,


I spoke with Lee Asher about the error we made regarding the LotR Vol 2 deck, and Lee agreed to let me reach out to the voters who chose that deck and allow them to recast their DOTY vote.  Meanwhile, the deck has been removed from the ballot.


I want to extend sincere apologies to Jackson Robinson and the rest of the membership.  I regret not having caught the error earlier and want to thank EndersGame for bringing the error to my attention.


I also want everyone to be aware that Jackson is still very much eligible for the Artist of the Year nomination.  It's a rare artist that is both as excellent and as prolific as Jackson is - there is no shortage of examples of his work that he released during the eligibility period.

16
This topic has been moved to The Conversation Parlor

Please reserve the Playing Card Plethora board for topics about International Standard playing cards.  All others go to the Conversation Parlor.

https://www.playingcardforum.com/index.php?topic=13938.0

17
For a deck to be eligible for a Diamond Award, it has to be released and in people's hands between July 2022 and June 2023.

The Kickstarter for Jackson's Two Towers deck (which is the one listed on the voting ballot) finished in April 2023, but these decks didn't come out before July 2023.  My understanding is that people don't even have them yet, and people are only just starting to get notifications that they are being shipped, as you can tell from comments on the Kickstarter.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kingswildproject/the-lord-of-the-rings-playing-cards-vol-2

They're also not available for purchase yet on this page over on Jackson's own site

So I don't even think this deck was even eligible to nominated for the 2023 Deck of the Year Award, and yet it made the list.  Did the nomination committee just blunder here, or am I missing something?


Exactly - we blundered.  Many committee members nominated it, clearly from online images or Jackson's rep.  I can say that it looks like Vol. 1 may be eligible...


It's not always easy to research exactly when a deck went (or will go) on sale or became available to the public.  We used to keep a post thread that had all the releases in it, but the number of releases got too hard for any one person to track.


I spoke with Lee - he said to simply leave it for now.

18
Playing Card Plethora / Re: The Whole Story of Walgreens STUD
« on: August 12, 2023, 08:46:27 AM »
Hey Don,

I think all of the newspaper advertising beginning from the 1930s conclusively establishes that Studs were a thing back in the 1930s.  Also, the 10 cent tax stamp is only from the 1930s. The large courts were only in use until 1954 at USPCC.  No zip codes on the deck as I showed all sides of the tuck.


OK, I'm convinced - my old data is wrong.

19
Playing Card Plethora / Re: The Whole Story of Walgreens STUD
« on: August 10, 2023, 06:10:31 PM »
And here are the Spade courts, Ace and Joker.  See above post for all sides of tuck for 1936 Stud Playing Cards.


Hey, Chuqii, are you sure that those are from 1936?


Every source I've found listing a history of Stud Playing Cards says that Walgreens didn't start making them until 1980.


http://playingcards.wikidot.com/other-uspcc:stud
https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/playing-cards/stud-playing-cards/#:~:text=In%201980%2C%20Walgreens%20began%20producing,cards%20with%20a%20complete%20makeover.
https://www.collectorplayingcards.com/2019/10/16/stud-playing-cards/
https://blackmarketdecks.com/products/stud?variant=31561835773986

I have an idea - are there any ZIP codes printed on the tuck box?  If so, it's definitively not from that long ago, as ZIP codes weren't developed until the early 1960s and weren't in widespread use until the early 1970s.

hi,don


The content posted on the wiki is just a volunteer compilation of preliminary information at the time, including rumors that were circulating in the industry. Why do you continue to worship the wiki's old information so much and deny the latest research? I don't understand.

When I was looking through American newspaper advertisements, I found traces of Lee Asher. I admired his dedication to research. I would love to hear his opinion.


My guess is that the STUD deck that Chuqii posted was acquired from a famous collector, not from the general marketplace such as ebay. A 1936 STUD should be as rare as a Radium Deck.


It's not a matter of worship - it's simply that this information is in contradiction to all other information I'd obtained to this point.  That doesn't mean my sources are right - just different.

20
Here are the images of his actual Vol 2 deck, The Two Towers.  It's a fine-looking deck, to be sure...


I STRONGLY ENCOURAGE ALL VOTERS TO CHECK OUT HIS WEB SITE.  He has made so many decks, my smattering of images doesn't do them justice, and if you don't already own them, I imagine you'll wish you did.

CLICK ON THESE IMAGES - the larger size is much better-looking.

21
The deck pictured above (Fellowship of the Ring) is volume 1.  If volume 2 is indeed the nominee, it is the Two Towers deck.


Thanks for the correction, old friend!  My knowledge of cards is far less encyclopedic these days than it used to be, with so many new decks coming out.


And I have here a corrected link for the page on the Two Towers deck at Jackson's site:
https://kingswildproject.com/products/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-two-towers-luxury-playing-cards


Thanks to Jackson for pointing this out to me!  I never take it personally when corrected - I'd rather know what's true than insist on being wrong.

22

A filmmaker producing something about playing cards is looking for some hi-res scans of playing cards from the 14th-16th centuries.

Does anyone have any suggestions about where to look, or any contacts you can suggest him reaching out to?

You'd probably get the strongest response by taking out an ad in one or both of the 52 Plus Joker club magazines.

Clear the Decks is your best shot as it focuses more on antique cards than modern, but it's a print magazine that only comes out quarterly.

Card Culture comes out monthly and is all-digital, but some of the older members (i.e. the ones more likely to have really old antiques cards in their collection) don't read it because it's digital.  I've even heard of a few who print it out - back when I was the editor, it's why we kept the page format to roughly correspond to 8.5x11"!

Failing that, you can try some of the universities that have large collections.  I know Columbia in upper Manhattan has the Field Collection - the club organized a visit there a while back, perhaps about 7 years ago.

There's also cards in the collection owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art - a few years back they displayed the oldest known example of a complete deck of playing cards at the Cloisters in Fort Tryon Park.


Good luck to you.

23
How do you RESEAL a deck of playing cards?

Easy - just buy replacement tuck seals

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/epDbu4ETZq8


That's great for sealing the lid shut - but what about the cellophane?


It depends on how carefully you removed it in the first place...  :)

24
Playing Card Plethora / Re: The Whole Story of Walgreens STUD
« on: August 09, 2023, 03:08:13 AM »
And here are the Spade courts, Ace and Joker.  See above post for all sides of tuck for 1936 Stud Playing Cards.


Hey, Chuqii, are you sure that those are from 1936?


Every source I've found listing a history of Stud Playing Cards says that Walgreens didn't start making them until 1980.


http://playingcards.wikidot.com/other-uspcc:stud
https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/playing-cards/stud-playing-cards/#:~:text=In%201980%2C%20Walgreens%20began%20producing,cards%20with%20a%20complete%20makeover.
https://www.collectorplayingcards.com/2019/10/16/stud-playing-cards/
https://blackmarketdecks.com/products/stud?variant=31561835773986

I have an idea - are there any ZIP codes printed on the tuck box?  If so, it's definitively not from that long ago, as ZIP codes weren't developed until the early 1960s and weren't in widespread use until the early 1970s.

25
2023 Diamond Awards - Nominee Topics / ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FOR VOTERS
« on: August 03, 2023, 09:32:42 PM »
2023 DIAMOND AWARDS - SEVENTH ANNUAL

WHAT TO CONSIDER WHEN YOU JUDGE A NOMINEE

ARTIST OF THE YEAR (AOTY)
AOTY is judged on the entire portfolio of International Standard decks released by the artist within the eligibility period, and only within that period, not before or after.  Tarot decks, divination decks and other decks not conforming to the International Standard for playing cards (52-card deck plus optional jokers/gaffs/ad cards/other extras) are not eligible for consideration in the artist's portfolio.  A list of eligible releases for each AOTY candidate is listed in their PCF topic in the link on their ballot entry - if you happen to spot an error or an omission, please leave a comment in the forum topic.  For this category, you are judging the artist's works during the release window using the same criteria as in the DOTY judging.

DECK OR THE YEAR (DOTY)
DOTY nominees are judged solely on a single International Standard deck release/project, though a single release/project may comprise more than one variant, edition, back coloration, etc., such as two of the same deck design with differently-colored backs and/or two differently-sized decks and/or standard/deluxe/limited edition(s), etc.  DOTY nominees should be judged based on "the full package" - the design, artistry, manufacturing quality, features, packaging, etc., as seen in all of the decks in that release.

MORE INFORMATION ON NOMINEES - THE FORUM TOPICS
To find more information on a nominee, click on the TinyURL link at the end of the nominee's ballot entry.  That link will take you to a topic on PlayingCardForum.com (PCF), the official online forum of 52 Plus Joker, with info about the nominee, including photos and links to other pages online.  In any cases where an Artist of the Year nominee also created a Deck of the Year nominee, there is a single, combined topic to cover both nominations.  Nominated artists and creators of nominated decks have been invited to comment on their topics, so please feel free to present any questions about their work you may have to them if they make their presence on the forum known!

By the way, I suggest that you try clicking on the images in the topic posts.  In most cases, you'll see an enlarged version of the images, and in some cases, you may even see a GIF animation!

WRITE-IN VOTING ELIGIBILITY
For each category, you may opt to create a write-in vote for the candidate of your choice, subject to eligibility.  To be eligible for consideration for either/both award(s) in the current award cycle, an artist must have released at least one International Standard playing card deck/project during the eligibility window of July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023 inclusive.

DEFINITION OF "RELEASED" FOR ALL NOMINEES AND WRITE-IN CANDIDATES
"Released" is defined as made available for retail sale, offered as part of a subscription (if the subscription service is open to all members of the public), given away to the public for free, distributed to crowdfunding backers or made available as a free, limited promotional item, with the final determination of eligibility to be made by the Diamond Awards Committee and the Board of Directors of 52 Plus Joker.  Private releases not made publicly available are not eligible.  Prototype decks, even if they are publicly released, sold, given away, etc., are considered an unfinished version of a work and are not eligible for award consideration, regardless of the number of prototype decks created and distributed.  The defining parameters of a prototype are 1) any deck labeled by the artist as a prototype, and/or 2) any deck judged by the DAC and/or the 52+J Board to be a prototype - key criteria for the DAC/Board to consider would be how finished the project appears, whether a later or future release of the same deck in larger distribution was/is planned, and how many copies of the deck were released (with lower amounts being more suspect than larger ones).

THE AWARDS CEREMONY
Winners of the Diamond Awards will be announced at the Seventh Annual Diamond Awards Ceremony, scheduled to be held during the Gala Dinner ending the Annual 52 Plus Joker Convention, on the evening of Saturday, October 14, 2023 at the Best Western Plus Hotel at 15471 Royalton Road, Strongsville (Cleveland), Ohio, United States - details will be provided to all 52+J members when the full schedule becomes available.  In the event of a health-related, climate/weather or other emergency, the ceremony schedule and/or venue may be subject to change or may be presented via videoconference.

FINALLY...
If you have questions, if you suspect some of the information we have is incorrect, please - contact me, Don Boyer, by emailing me at donboyermagic@gmail.com.

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