question about a vintage deck

[jack the clown]

hey here is a question about a deck of cards that i picked up i can't find any info on it an i thought that you guys might know something...all i know is that it is a two pack pinochle deck with the pictures on back as shown below ...it was made by the arrco playing card co. ...and the box says mayfair and tower on it ...can anyone help me out on when these were made and a price for collectors sake

[Evan]

Could you post a clear pic of the ace of spades? Thanks

[jack the clown]

here u go sorry the pic is a lil blurry but so is the card cause it is plastic coated

[NathanCanadas]

One the spade, what is written in white? It is kinda hard to see but might be helpful.

[Evan]

What you have there is a Duratone Plastic Coated deck. It looks like its made by Arrco because it says that on the Ace of Spades. Google it up and see how much it's worth.

[Don Boyer]

As far as I know, the Duratone finish was Arrco's response to USPC's Cel-U-Tone finish used on the Congress decks.  If I had to guess, they're from some period between 1950 and 1980, but that's strictly a guess.  Trade value isn't as high for Pinochle decks as compared to Poker and Bridge decks.

Do a keyword search on eBay for "vintage pinochle" and see what comes up.  It'll give you a rough ballpark of what those might be worth.  But I don't think anyone here's going to have more info than that.  Most of our vintage collectors stick to USPC decks like Bikes, Bees and the assorted special issues like the WW2-era Uncle Sam deck, etc.  You'd need to find a more vintage-focused forum.

[jack the clown]

thank you so much for the info i appreciate it ..... i have checked ebay and google they don't have any of these decks up there at all .....

[Don Boyer]

thank you so much for the info i appreciate it ..... i have checked ebay and google they don't have any of these decks up there at all .....

You didn't look very hard, did you?

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=vintage+pinochle&_sacat=See-All-Categories

Here's a Duratone deck set very similar to your own.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Duratone-Pinochle-Playing-Cards-featuring-Prince-on-Horse-/120886076830?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c255f259e

And here's another.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Two-2-Decks-of-Vintage-Duratone-Pinochle-Playing-Cards-In-Original-Box-/190627342892?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c62466a2c

If you seriously want to know more about these cards, do the research rather than expecting someone here to spoon-feed it to you.  You're just jerking our chains - AGAIN.

Go waste someone else's time.  Bye.

[jack the clown]

i know about the decks you speak of but i didn't find that particular deck because i want a name to the deck

[xZEROx]

@Don,
I think you've overdone it here. Regardless of what you think of jack the clown, and his designs, he's asking a question and seeking for help. You've gotten a bad impression on him and responded with a rude attitude, not something we should have while helping out fellow collectors.

Step away from his designs and help him out as a regular member of the forum.

[Don Boyer]

@Don,
I think you've overdone it here. Regardless of what you think of jack the clown, and his designs, he's asking a question and seeking for help. You've gotten a bad impression on him and responded with a rude attitude, not something we should have while helping out fellow collectors.

Step away from his designs and help him out as a regular member of the forum.

OK.  I apologize for that, Jason - it was a little too brusque.

i know about the decks you speak of but i didn't find that particular deck because i want a name to the deck

If you're seeking the specific name of that deck, well, good luck.  Many of those types of decks had little more than model numbers to them.  They got cranked out in whatever designs were though to appeal to the market that season, not unlike designer clothing.

You'd REALLY need a forum that specifically deals with vintage decks of this type.  I certainly don't know enough to help you there.  If one of our vintage guys knows more, I'm sure they'll chime in soon enough.

[vmagic]

Apparently these decks aren't worth too much from the looks of those ebay searches. Just because it's old doesn't make it valuable unfortunately.

[digipunk]

Apparently these decks aren't worth too much from the looks of those ebay searches. Just because it's old doesn't make it valuable unfortunately.

I agree. When seeing "Pinochle" in the first pic, I lose interest in it

[Don Boyer]

Apparently these decks aren't worth too much from the looks of those ebay searches. Just because it's old doesn't make it valuable unfortunately.

I agree. When seeing "Pinochle" in the first pic, I lose interest in it

Even a bridge deck (or deck set) has to be something special to catch any real bidding action.  Kem sets will get the eye of Kem-specific collectors, while brand name vintage (Bicycle, Bee, etc.) might catch the eye of people specializing in those categories.  But none of them would get the action of a vintage deck, like one of the more scarce Bicycle backs, that's equally as old and in the same condition.