vintage Gemaco Casino-Pro - Gem Back

[Dazzleguts]

I am not interested in casino cards myself, but I recently purchased a bunch of Gemaco Gem back Casino-Pro decks, with early cellophane and George C. Matteson Co. seals intact. They have jumbo index faces and there is no casino logo on box or card backs (I opened one up to see). No barcode, so pre-80s, and the bottom of the box says Armor Finish. Gemaco is a brand I have not followed, is anyone familiar with these?.

[Aaron]

How many did you buy? and I would buy a couble depending on price.

[loldudex2]

This belongs in the "Sales, Teades, and ISOs" board.

[dancards]

Any pictures ?


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[Dazzleguts]

I should have been clearer here, but I wrote the post in a hurry and apologize if it was misleading. I was looking for information since I could not find these cards on ebay and was not actually tendering them for sale yet. A moderator moved the thread here to the sales section, but I would like to know more about the cards before I sell them so I can include that info in a sales thread. I apologize again for the misunderstanding and will post them for sale next weekend (probably Sunday) when I can do it up properly, following all the rules. There will be pictures.

[Curt]

No worries mate, I will move it back to the playing card plethora board for you. 

[digipunk]

I am not interested in casino cards myself, but I recently purchased a bunch of Gemaco Gem back Casino-Pro decks, with early cellophane and George C. Matteson Co. seals intact. They have jumbo index faces and there is no casino logo on box or card backs (I opened one up to see). No barcode, so pre-80s, and the bottom of the box says Armor Finish. Would these be of interest to collectors?

This one? http://asupa.exblog.jp/9913739/

--EDIT--
Sorry, it's standard index 

[Dazzleguts]

Yes, except these are jumbo index faces. The surface pattern is so slight that at first I thought they were an "ivory" type finish. Digipunk can you give me an idea what it says on that site about the Armor Finish Gemacos? Are they selling them?


This is what the boxes look like:
http://ramblerkudos.wordpress.com/tag/armor-finish/

[digipunk]

@Dazzleguts, don't expect too much, most reviewers would say "I still like USPC cards more" in their conclusions, and he is one of them. Gemaco decks have 2 series: traditional (old) and alpha (new, since 1999), and this deck belonged to the traidtional series. He thought the cards are cheap ($2-3), stiff, easy to spread and faro, but the back design is not good for magic and flourish, can only be used in casinos or for gambling demo (but he preferred using Bee in this application ).

[DeckOfCards]

I got those gemaco alpha series, where the back says sun cruz casino or hotel. Got 42 of them for 17 bucks.

[Don Boyer]

I got those gemaco alpha series, where the back says sun cruz casino or hotel. Got 42 of them for 17 bucks.

I bought a gross and a half for under $100 with shipping!  Probably from the same seller!

Sun Cruz Casinos was a "cruise-to-nowhere" company based in Port Canaveral, FL.  There was a huge scandal behind the outfit - the founding owner was forced by the Feds to sell, but he secretly had the new owners write him a promissory note that was never meant to be paid in full, insuring he still got a cut of the profits.  In the end, he was found murdered by gangsters and the cruise line went into bankruptcy.  Check it out on Wikipedia.

I got six bricks each of green smooth, gold textured and orange textured.  The green and orange have a spot pattern similar to Bee Diamond Backs (Gem Backs), while the gold have an odd-looking crosshatch pattern.

Since I got them cheap, I give them out at the hospital where I perform to the kids in the pediatric unit.  I'm down to my last six bricks.  Overall, not my first choice for a deck to play with or perform with, but depending on how you use them, you can make do.  I personally prefer Streamlines over the Gemacos.

[Kanped]

 George C. Matteson Co?  So, it should be pronounced like 'Jeh-mah-co'?

[Don Boyer]

George C. Matteson Co?  So, it should be pronounced like 'Jeh-mah-co'?

The Gemaco name is printed on the deck boxes with a bar over the "a", indicating a long "a" sound, more like "je-MAY-co", similar to Jamaica.

[Dazzleguts]

These are old style, with yellowing cellophane heat sealed at the top in a corrugated ridge, and a tear strip that runs down the pack rather than across it. The backs have no logo, except for the one blank card that is double ended with "Casino-Pro/Gemaco Gemback/Jumbo Index Faces". I have looked around and the Alphas are common enough, but these are not showing up for sale anywhere (except in Taiwan?) so I would think they are more of a deck for the collection rather than for use? I understand they are not high-end so I am not looking to make big bucks. They will be reasonably priced.

[Don Boyer]

These are old style, with yellowing cellophane heat sealed at the top in a corrugated ridge, and a tear strip that runs down the pack rather than across it. The backs have no logo, except for the one blank card that is double ended with "Casino-Pro/Gemaco Gemback/Jumbo Index Faces". I have looked around and the Alphas are common enough, but these are not showing up for sale anywhere (except in Taiwan?) so I would think they are more of a deck for the collection rather than for use? I understand they are not high-end so I am not looking to make big bucks. They will be reasonably priced.

They do sound pretty unique.  By "jumbo index faces", do you mean ordinary ones like on Bikes, Bees, etc., or Tech-Art ones like on most casino decks?  The usual telltale is that the cards valued 9 or lower have indices moved down from the corner, and the aces have that PLUS an extra two indices in the right corners at the normal height.

[Dazzleguts]

The indexes are the same for all the cards, with borders around the small central pips. Unlike my Walgreen Stud Jumbos which have no border on the pip cards. Other than the Death Heads, and these, I have never deliberately bought jumbos so my experience with them is limited.

[Don Boyer]

The indexes are the same for all the cards, with borders around the small central pips. Unlike my Walgreen Stud Jumbos which have no border on the pip cards. Other than the Death Heads, and these, I have never deliberately bought jumbos so my experience with them is limited.

Then those are just standard jumbo cards.  If you were ever curious to see the jumbo Tech Art faces, just look for photos or videos of the Brown Wynn logo deck - it's probably one of the more popular decks with those faces on it.  Most casinos use them because when playing blackjack, it lets the dealer know if he has a 10-value card or an ace facing down without having to peek through the use of a special slit-sized mirror built into the table that can see only the top edge of the cards.  If the dealer has blackjack, he'll know before betting begins.  The other most popular casino card game is poker, and these days most casinos are using bridge-sized plastic decks.

[Dazzleguts]

These are up in the sales section now. I have included some Gemaco history in the listing, but there were no other vintage cards like these that I could find online.

[Don Boyer]

I spotted the sale.  I'm tempted but will probably hold off - money's a little tight now for luxuries.

As far as the age...

Since they're Traditional and not Alpha, they're at least as old as 1999.  While it's true that barcodes didn't start appearing on decks of playing cards until the early-mid 1970s, it's also true that even today some decks are produced with no barcode at all - I have a number of Bicycle decks, all current or close enough to it, that have no barcode on the bottom, and they're not all commissioned custom job.

But assuming that Gemaco did as USPC and issued barcodes at about the same time, I'd say that these cards were made between 1965 (because they don't have a tax stamp sealing the deck shut) and about 1975 or 1976.

However...

Sticker-type deck seals, at least from USPC, weren't being used until sometime in the early 1980s, if my memory is correct.  This deck has a sticker seal, not a stamp seal.  This would put your decks at being somewhere between 13 and about 30 years old.  But this does assume again that Gemaco was operating on the same time table as the USPC with the introduction of sticker seals.

Do your open decks mention a copyright date anywhere?

@Dazzleguts, don't expect too much, most reviewers would say "I still like USPC cards more" in their conclusions, and he is one of them. Gemaco decks have 2 series: traditional (old) and alpha (new, since 1999), and this deck belonged to the traidtional series. He thought the cards are cheap ($2-3), stiff, easy to spread and faro, but the back design is not good for magic and flourish, can only be used in casinos or for gambling demo (but he preferred using Bee in this application ).

Back then, Gemacos would have been of better quality than they are today.  And as of just a few years ago, Gemaco is yet-another subsidiary of USPC, itself a subsidiary of Jarden.  Whether or not quality has improved as a result remains to be seen, since I haven't yet seen a Gemaco deck made under USPC supervision (which took place in 2000, just after the introduction of the Alpha decks).