Could this be the "Holy Grail" of playing card sets?

[CBJ]

I would have to say that this is most likely a one of a kind set...  and at a  starting bid of $6400, it had better be.

Still sealed!  Amazing!

What do you guys think

(CLICK FOR LARGER PICS)

CBJ

[digipunk]

Actually I talked about these decks with many collectors. They are worth it I think. And I know some have prepared to get these decks for a period of time.

[xZEROx]

how much do you guys think this set could go for? i read on some site ealier that this guy who has one of the decks estimates $1200 for a deck, but clearly the starting bid has already began at $1600/per.

[digipunk]

I can not imagine how much they will go for, now even $10,000+ is supposed to be reasonable

[jmrock]

The bidding starts at $1,600 for the set... (or) $400 per deck... They are absolutely fantastic and if things were different then they would be a consideration... However, the sky's the limit with these decks and $1,600 as a starting point is far too rich for my blood...


In fact many things in the 52+Joker auction are great and are decks that I've been seeking for quite some time... However, the starting bids seem too high... It would be different if this were a classic auction with a reserve, but it is not... What it seems to me, is the decks are starting at what the seller is willing to accept, and everything else is just gravy... There's a few exceptions, but the decks in my opinion are starting out far overpriced... There are many, many serious card buyers bidding on these decks... Why not let the market decide... I'm sure the decks would rise on their own, but to tell me that a starting bid for the Circus deck (one of my dream decks) is $800 seems a bit out of line... I am trying to weigh carefully if I am looking at this situation realistically, or I'm thinking this because  for me these decks are unattainable... I guess if I had 3.5M in the bank and loved collecting cards, my thoughts might be a little different...  Anyways , it's nice to see a place where such cards exist and know that they are attainable - not to me at the moment - but one never knows what the future holds...  I'm sure whoever ends up with these decks will respect and cherish them...

Edit: $1,600 for the set

[Evan]

Thats incredible! Still sealed 
Im bidding $7500 now. 
I'm not a big vintage collector so these don't interest me much but they're still awesome.

[xlacs]

I can never imagine spending that much on cards.

[Evan]

Is the bid online? If so, can we have a link please?

[digipunk]

Is the bid online? If so, can we have a link please?

It is mail auction, members only.
http://www.52plusjoker.org/dnn/

[xZEROx]

The bidding starts at $1,600 for this deck... (or) $400 per deck...

it's $1600 per deck, $6400 for the set.

[dmbaggs]

That's insane! I'm sure they are worth that much at least! With all the history and how few of these are out there, not to mention the condition these are in! I could never afford these, but somebody is going to have one amazing set

[xZEROx]

Some of you may be mislead, like I was in the first place. The tuckbox is opened, and the "cellophane" (we interpret the cellophane as the plastic wrapper outside of the tuckbox, but here, they intend to indicate the paper wrapper around the cards) are opened.
 
Nevertheless, the value of the set probably wouldn't decrease by much for their rarity.

[jmrock]

I'm not hating on the deck at all... I love the deck.  However, calling this a sealed deck is not accurate.  The tax stamps are broken... True the wax paper seal has not been broken, so the cards are brand new and untouched, but this is not a sealed deck... Again, as previously stated, it shouldn't have much of an influence on the price of the deck... & you know, as I stated before, it's all relative... The guy who painted the wall of graffiti for Facebook chose stock options rather than being paid in cash - when Facebook goes public, it is said his stock is going to be worth around $200,000,000 - Yes - he just painted a wall of graffiti... He probably wouldn't have any problem dropping 5 or 10K on the decks...

[xZEROx]

I'm not hating on the deck at all... I love the deck.  However, calling this a sealed deck is not accurate.  The tax stamps are broken... True the wax paper seal has not been broken, so the cards are brand new and untouched, but this is not a sealed deck... Again, as previously stated, it shouldn't have much of an influence on the price of the deck... & you know, as I stated before, it's all relative... The guy who painted the wall of graffiti for Facebook chose stock options rather than being paid in cash - when Facebook goes public, it is said his stock is going to be worth around $200,000,000 - Yes - he just painted a wall of graffiti... He probably wouldn't have any problem dropping 5 or 10K on the decks...

I don't think anyone here ever mentioned that the decks are sealed. And we all know that the tax stamp is broken, it's pretty obvious from the picture.

[Don Boyer]

I'm not hating on the deck at all... I love the deck.  However, calling this a sealed deck is not accurate.  The tax stamps are broken... True the wax paper seal has not been broken, so the cards are brand new and untouched, but this is not a sealed deck... Again, as previously stated, it shouldn't have much of an influence on the price of the deck... & you know, as I stated before, it's all relative... The guy who painted the wall of graffiti for Facebook chose stock options rather than being paid in cash - when Facebook goes public, it is said his stock is going to be worth around $200,000,000 - Yes - he just painted a wall of graffiti... He probably wouldn't have any problem dropping 5 or 10K on the decks...

I don't think anyone here ever mentioned that the decks are sealed. And we all know that the tax stamp is broken, it's pretty obvious from the picture.

CBJ stated they were sealed, but the text in the auction offering image states they're in their original packaging, including cellophane wrapper around the cards (as was the custom of the time), but that they are indeed opened - bot the box (obvious in the photo) and the cellophane (not really obvious in the photo).

@jmrock: I think your feelings about the deck's value have a LOT to do with them being so fantastically unattainable.  But the fact remains that very few samples of this deck exist at all, and fewer still that are completely intact.  They released the deck to support the troops in WWI back in 1918, but by November the Armistice was signed and the war ended.  USPC stopped production right then and there, so it's a 94-year-old deck that was made for less than a year.  Most of the ones made were probably "consumed" by people playing games over the kitchen table - cards were still simply disposable commodities in most people's eyes.

It's practically a set of museum pieces.  Would you bemoan the cost of owning a DaVinci, simply because you couldn't afford one?  For four pieces of ephemera in so close to pristine condition after nearly a century, pieces of which few examples exist worldwide (we're talking count-them-on-two-hands-with-leftover-fingers few, not limited-print-run-of-five-hundred-or-a-thousand few), if anything, they're undervalued - something which the auction will certainly correct when we see the final bid.

[VortexHead]

The more I see these vintage decks the more I like them, needless to say I wont be bidding on these though  

[Don Boyer]

The more I see these vintage decks the more I like them, needless to say I wont be bidding on these though

The "Big Gun" deck is available as a reprint, and supposedly the other three are forthcoming - though USPC's history of following through with series is pretty hit-or-miss.  It was a limited run of 2,500 sets (red and blue deck sold together), and I initially saw it going for $50.  Now, Wingra Direct has it for $15.  I think most people balked at the obscenely high price, factoring in that it came out when more customized decks were in demand (this has a unique back and box, that's it).

http://www.shopbicyclecards.com/Bicycle-Historical-Big-Gun-Military-Decks-P69C40.aspx

[VortexHead]

The more I see these vintage decks the more I like them, needless to say I wont be bidding on these though

The "Big Gun" deck is available as a reprint, and supposedly the other three are forthcoming - though USPC's history of following through with series is pretty hit-or-miss.  It was a limited run of 2,500 sets (red and blue deck sold together), and I initially saw it going for $50.  Now, Wingra Direct has it for $15.  I think most people balked at the obscenely high price, factoring in that it came out when more customized decks were in demand (this has a unique back and box, that's it).

http://www.shopbicyclecards.com/Bicycle-Historical-Big-Gun-Military-Decks-P69C40.aspx

Excellent, thanks for the info, I'll be adding these on my list of decks to get :-D