Movie Souvenir Playing Cards and "Pawn Stars"

[Don Boyer]

I was watching what was most likely a repeat episode of "Pawn Stars" earlier tonight when I spotted someone bringing this (see image below, go to http://www.wopc.co.uk/usa/movie-souvenir.html for more info) into Rick Harrison's pawn shop: a pack of Movie Souvenir Playing Cards.

Knowing the Starling article (http://www.wopc.co.uk/usa/tales-from-the-stage.html) was originally in Clear the Decks, I'm guessing a good number of 52+J members are at least passingly familiar with it.  The example being sold to the shop owner appeared to be in excellent to mint condition with gilded edges and a slipcover cloth-wrapped box that was intact with no wear and tear but some visible aging, considering the cards are probably close to a century old.

I'm curious about what such a deck would even be worth in the current marketplace - for example, if you were selling this at the convention, what would you want for it?  Rick's seller asked for $200 for the pack but eventually settled for $100.  Having a vague idea of how the show works, and by deduction, the shop, I'd wager he'd sell it for $150-$250, depending on the buyer and how long it took to sell.  The longer it would remain in the shop, the more they'd want to sell it and the lower they'd be willing to accept.

I didn't spot a tax stamp on the pack, and I don't know the precise year it was printed other than "It wasn't recently!"  Mr. Harrison knew of only a small number of the actors on the cards.

[52plusjoker]

This is a great post and there is lots to be learned here. First let me quote from that excellent source of information on American playing cards - the Hochman Encylopedia!

"SE7 MOVIE SOUVENIR PLAYING CARDS, M.J. Moriarty, 1916. This deck features the ‘53 Most Prominent Stars in Filmdom’. The fact is that there were many different stars shown on different decks leading one to believe that there were many more than 53 prominent stars! The deck was published for several years and an alternative theory is that fame was quite fleeting in early days of ‘Filmdom’. The backs feature a painting of a chariot race and the Joker in every deck is Charlie Chaplin. An interesting piece of trivia is that Mr. Moriarty was the purchasing agent for USPC who printed the cards for sale and distribution by Moriarty."

The value of this deck ranges from $40 to $80 for Excellent to Mint.

It appears that the seller beat the expert at the Pawn Shop! The main reason, of course, that it is not as valuable as it appears it should be, is the large number of them around. Most vintage collectors who want one, have one.

Now visit the 52 Plus Joker auction which is currently in progress http://www.52plusjoker.org/dnn/Auction/tabid/76/Default.aspx  View lot #68 on page 10 where you will find a very good condition Moriarty deck, with slipcase, at a minimum bid of $20.

Finally, there were a number of early decks with stage stars - USPC had three different ones - the first saw the light of day in 1896 and the last in 1908. In addition, Craddock Soap had an advertising deck made by USPC in 1895 which featured 53 different stars of stage at the time. One of the Stage decks is also in the Club auction [Lot #28], as is the Craddock deck [Lot #9]. Have fun and get your bids in!

[Pip Nosher]

I cannot add much information to Tom's excellent post, except to say that the original USPCC 65x Stage decks came in three different color sets (red, blue & yellow) with gold edges and liberal use of gold ink. Each of these three colors had two back design variants for a total of six different versions. I was easily able to collect all six, most in excellent or mint condition with the original boxes and jokers. This suggests that, like the Movie Souvenir decks, the 65x Stage decks were made in sufficient quantities to keep collectors happy. And, yes, even seemingly single-minded vintage Bicycle card collectors can't resist occasionally going on tangents...