Inconsistencies between Tally-Ho tuckboxes?

[Lushbob]

I just bought a friend a few Tally-Ho decks from theory11. They arrived in the mail this morning, so I opened them and took a look at the boxes, just to make sure everything was in good condition. But I spotted something odd that I hadn't seen before on the Tally-Ho boxes.
I've attached a couple of pictures, to help explain what I'm talking about.
Basically, there are a couple of weird differences between the Tally-Ho Circle back and Fan back tuckboxes. On the bottom of the Fan back, the box just says 'Tally-Ho POKER 9'. Yet, on the bottom of the Circle back box, there's a whole bunch of copyright information. And on the sides of the boxes, the Circle back box says 'The U.S. Playing Card Co.', but the Fan back box also says 'Cincinatti, Ohio 45212'.
I know it doesn't really matter much, but I'm just curious as to why the boxes would differ from each other, when it seems that they were both printed at the same time. Does anyone know? Any help would be great!
(The Circle back is on top, and the Fan back is on the bottom in both photos)

[AceGambit]

What color are the seals on the boxes?

[Siegismyname]

there might be a chance that the poker 9 ones are from cincinnati even though they have a black seal as i have one of those with a black seal but the guarantee card is from ohio.

[Don Boyer]

Easy question!


The bottom box is a Cincinnati tuck box, the top is an Erlanger box.


If the bottom box has a black deck seal, it's a "transition" deck - it could be either Erlanger or Cincinnati made.  Non-transition Cincinnati Tally Ho decks have either red or blue seals.

You did notice they have the same exact UPC code, right?

[Lushbob]

Oh, I see. Yeah, both decks have black seals.
Firstly, how come they are still using transition boxes? The changeover was quite a few years ago now.
Also, why are the transition boxes only used for the Fan back decks, and not the Circle back decks? Or is it a simple matter of just happening to have more Fan back boxes left over?

[Don Boyer]

Oh, I see. Yeah, both decks have black seals.
Firstly, how come they are still using transition boxes? The changeover was quite a few years ago now.
Also, why are the transition boxes only used for the Fan back decks, and not the Circle back decks? Or is it a simple matter of just happening to have more Fan back boxes left over?

Actually, the changeover was in 2009 - not that long ago.  Since playing cards don't have an expiration date, your transition pack was probably packed in '09 and sat around in a series of warehouses before reaching you.


Circle Backs came in transition boxes as well - but Circle Backs seem to be the more popular of the two designs, so their transition boxes are more likely to be in private hands by now.  In fact, in the 2011 and 2012 USPC catalogs you can buy Tally Ho decks in two types of bricks: a mixed red/blue Circle/Fan brick, and a mixed red/blue all-Circle brick.  If Fan Backs were as popular as Circle Backs, they'd probably carry all Fan Back bricks as well...

[Lushbob]

Actually, the changeover was in 2009 - not that long ago.  Since playing cards don't have an expiration date, your transition pack was probably packed in '09 and sat around in a series of warehouses before reaching you.

Circle Backs came in transition boxes as well - but Circle Backs seem to be the more popular of the two designs, so their transition boxes are more likely to be in private hands by now.  In fact, in the 2011 and 2012 USPC catalogs you can buy Tally Ho decks in two types of bricks: a mixed red/blue Circle/Fan brick, and a mixed red/blue all-Circle brick.  If Fan Backs were as popular as Circle Backs, they'd probably carry all Fan Back bricks as well...

Was it only 2009? Golly. It seems a lot further back than that. But it's pretty interesting, to think that my deck has probably been sitting around for 3 years, waiting to be bought.
Are Circle Backs really the more popular? Huh. While I love both designs, I'd pick Fan Back over Circle Back any day.
Thanks for the explanation. Are these transition decks pretty common? Obviously they're sort of a one-off thing - I doubt any more will be printed/packaged, but are they at all uncommon/rare?

[Don Boyer]

Actually, the changeover was in 2009 - not that long ago.  Since playing cards don't have an expiration date, your transition pack was probably packed in '09 and sat around in a series of warehouses before reaching you.

Circle Backs came in transition boxes as well - but Circle Backs seem to be the more popular of the two designs, so their transition boxes are more likely to be in private hands by now.  In fact, in the 2011 and 2012 USPC catalogs you can buy Tally Ho decks in two types of bricks: a mixed red/blue Circle/Fan brick, and a mixed red/blue all-Circle brick.  If Fan Backs were as popular as Circle Backs, they'd probably carry all Fan Back bricks as well...

Was it only 2009? Golly. It seems a lot further back than that. But it's pretty interesting, to think that my deck has probably been sitting around for 3 years, waiting to be bought.
Are Circle Backs really the more popular? Huh. While I love both designs, I'd pick Fan Back over Circle Back any day.
Thanks for the explanation. Are these transition decks pretty common? Obviously they're sort of a one-off thing - I doubt any more will be printed/packaged, but are they at all uncommon/rare?

Transition decks aren't rare, and aren't terribly desirable, either.  While the boxes say Cincinnati, there's a chance they were actually made in Erlanger - and if you recall, the first year-plus worth of print runs from Erlanger were considered by most to be sub-par.  The kinks didn't get worked out until sometime in late '10, by which time the transition boxes were pretty much done, except for the odd exception; today's decks are actually considered superior to the last handful of years of print runs that came from the old plant.


BTW: fun fact - we talk about the Ohio and Kentucky plants like they're a million miles apart from each other.  Look at a map of Cincinnati - Erlanger is a suburb on the other side of the Ohio river!  It's literally commuting distance from the old place.