Bicycle Rider Back - Cincinnati Blue Seal?

[kiltedcamel]

Hi everyone, I'm trying to find out what I have!

Ok so a bit of background, I bought my first deck of Bicycle standard playing cards a few weeks ago to use for Poker.
Previous to this I've only ever had unbranded low quality playing cards that do not last, so wanted to try a brand.
I could instantly tell how much better they were (obviously)!

Then yesterday I spotted a pack of 12 Bicycle cards in a charity shop window for much less (per deck) than what I paid for my single deck, so bought them.
When I got home I realised they did not say 'standard' on them, but said 'Rider Back', so I did some Googling.
After reading a few different things I stumbled across the following post from this forum:
https://www.playingcardforum.com/index.php?topic=12398.0

So from what I gather, I have 12 Blue sealed packs of Rider Backs that were made in the Cincinatti factory. It seems that some people regard these decks as better than the more modern ones.
Mine are all still sealed and come in the outer 12pk box but I couldn't find any info on the box to date it.
I have attached some pics.
Should I use and enjoy these cards or sell them? I already have some more brands in my Ebay watchlist, think I may start a small collection!

[Don Boyer]

To ballpark it from just a casual look, I'd estimate that these cards are from the mid-90s to the early-00s.  They're not exceptionally valuable, not any more or less so than any other late-model Cincinnati-made deck.  They're worth a small premium over a "Standard" deck at most.  Some people will pay a heavier premium for Cincinnati-made cards, but the ones from this era weren't all that exceptional in quality, and only marginally better than what's made now.  You might notice they're a little tougher to shuffle than modern Bicycles - the stock was very slightly heavier and they weren't traditionally cut, as the factory has returned to doing these days.

Clues for me as to the age would be the brick packaging, the barcodes on the bottom, the tear strip and the sticker-type seal.

It's not a bad find at all, really, but not a king's ransom of playing cards, either.  I'd say crack open a deck or two and enjoy them!

[kiltedcamel]

Thanks for the reply, very informative!
I'll most likely keep half of them to use then, should last a while. The others will go on eBay!
Then I can buy some more for the collection!