Hey guys - I have heard a lot of buzz about Walgreen's Stud cards from magicians and cardists, and how they love the feel and vintage look. I found an old Walgreen's in a small town that had a shelf full of them, and after seeing what they're going for on Ebay, I bought the whole lot. Most of them are Jumbo Index unfortunately, but I think the demand would still be in excess of the $2.50 a deck I paid. Anyway, I was wondering if anyone could provide a little history of these. I know Dan and Dave reproduced them for a while, so is it true that all original Studs manufactured for Walgreen's are Ohio made? What year did they discontinue them?
Actually, Dan and Dave never reproduced them. They were selling some of the stock from Walgreens. They don't make every single deck they offer on their sites.
Part of the "vintage look" is the old Arrco faces. Those faces are still in use, and less expensive for a custom deck than USPC standard faces. The Crown decks have them, as does USPC's Streamlines.
ORIGINAL Studs, going back to the brand launch, are actually Chicago-made, where Arrco was headquartered. USPC bought the company and production eventually shifted to Cincinnati, then maybe a year and a half or two years ago, Walgreens decided that they wanted to go cheaper and the "Play-Right" decks were brought in as replacements. It was considered a foolish move at the time - the designers made the standard index deck in one back color and the jumbo index deck in the opposed color, meaning you'd never be able to make a matched pair for a round of poker. But it's their budget brand - I guess they figured it's good enough for most, and poker players can always upgrade and buy Bicycles or Bees. I'm sure it made their print order from USPC less expensive as well - only two deck varieties instead of four.
There's also the two versions - the earliest versions of the deck were done with bright red and bright blue backs. A handful of years ago, those were replaced with a new, more modern tuck box design and a much darker shade of red and blue. I'm a fan of the darker shade, but many like the lighter ones better.
You'd find some interest in them beyond the $2.50 a pack you paid, for certain, but if they're the darker, more recent decks, that interest will be a bit limited, especially for the jumbo index faces. If you put them at auction starting at $2.50 on eBay, you might end up with $5-10.
For future reference, please try to find the existing topic on various brand name decks, especially the older ones. We like putting all the Plethora information for a deck in one place whenever possible. Additionally, you might find the answers to at least some of your questions are already there!
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