[ CBJ ] - UC Featured Collector for May/June 2014

[CBJ]

Here are more decks I get asked about a lot...


The decks from the "Games" sets










These are a bit odd. USPC only had tucks for these 2 deck sets for one year. 1995
On the back of the boxes at the bottom, it has the year printed. If it doesn't say 1995, the cards will be wrapped in cello with no tucks.
Here is what the packaging boxes look like...












And here are all the decks...





There are 5 sets in total, with 2 decks in each set. The Canasta and the Pinochle have the exact same deck twice, the other 3 sets have a red backed deck and a black backed deck.

Remember.. if it doesn't say 1995 on it, you will not get these tucks


Jay

[vasta41]

Just wanted to chime in here and say amazing collection, Jay! Like you, most of my decks are "new" so I can personally appreciate your collection. Look forward to seeing more pics!

Love the display cases, too

[CBJ]

Just wanted to chime in here and say amazing collection, Jay! Like you, most of my decks are "new" so I can personally appreciate your collection. Look forward to seeing more pics!

Love the display cases, too

I knew you'd like the display cases, haha

[vasta41]

Just wanted to chime in here and say amazing collection, Jay! Like you, most of my decks are "new" so I can personally appreciate your collection. Look forward to seeing more pics!

Love the display cases, too

I knew you'd like the display cases, haha

My lazy-ass Dad hasn't yet drafted up a blueprint for me out of my scribbles from a few years ago.. but once he does, I'll be in search of a good cabinet maker to mass produce them and hopefully start a KS campaign.

But your collection looks way better in yours than mine! I have a few modern-day rarities but not as many as you do... I know you don't open many (if any) of your decks but is there one you've opened in the past that you now regret opening?

[MagikFingerz]

I know you don't open many (if any) of your decks but is there one you've opened in the past that you now regret opening?

Or one that you really want to but can't get yourself to open?

[vasta41]

I know you don't open many (if any) of your decks but is there one you've opened in the past that you now regret opening?

Or one that you really want to but can't get yourself to open?

Ooo! Even better question! Not to hijack Jay's thread but mine would be the Gold Arcane. I bet those would look AMAZING in person but I just can't bring myself to break the seal

[SBurk49]

All... that.... cellophane... makes me.... itchy... I want to find out where you live and open them all. ALL OF THEM!!!

On a more serious note, I am so envious of your collection. I'm a pretty hardcore Bike fan myself.

Some of those I have never seen before and my eyes lit up when I saw them. Apollo series? Never heard of it, looks sexy.

[Kdklown]

Jay, do you have any guess/knowledge as to how many Grand Opening decks are out there?

[CBJ]

I know you don't open many (if any) of your decks but is there one you've opened in the past that you now regret opening?

The first 70-80 decks I bought I opened. I do regret it now, because I sometimes get the urge to replace those ones because the rest of my collection is sealed.
I don't really have one deck that I regret opening more than another.

And if you're curious, the first deck I didn't open was the White Centurion.

Or one that you really want to but can't get yourself to open?

Hmmmm, if I didn't have the uncut sheet, I would have said the gold arcane. I guess I'd have to say all of the Federal 52 series because of how customized it is. I've only opened the Bicycle Federal 52.

Jay, do you have any guess/knowledge as to how many Grand Opening decks are out there?

I have no idea. I would say a very low run (less than 1000)... but I'd just be speculating.



Feel free to ask more questions!




,

[CBJ]

Here we go... Box #2


































































































CBJ




.

[Mike Ratledge]

Damn... You go, Jay! Sweet stuff, always something I've never seen.

[Eoghann]

Damn. That's a lot in that box I had never seen before.

[CBJ]

Damn. That's a lot in that box I had never seen before.

and still another 13 boxes to go!!!




New playing card storage???

Also, I thought I'd share this. A friend was getting rid of this chest, so I decided to grab it to use as a coffee table in the man-cave. A friend is going to strip it, do some minor repairs, and re-stain it darker.

I think it will hold a TON of cards in the main section, and extra card-related storage in the drawer.



















I'll post some photos when it's finished!


Jay

[nECr0MaNCeD]

Damn. That's a lot in that box I had never seen before.

and still another 13 boxes to go!!!


New playing card storage???

Also, I thought I'd share this. A friend was getting rid of this chest, so I decided to grab it to use as a coffee table in the man-cave. A friend is going to strip it, do some minor repairs, and re-stain it darker.

I think it will hold a TON of cards in the main section, and extra card-related storage in the drawer.


I'll post some photos when it's finished!

Jay

Very nice. Looks like I will have to hit some thrift stores.

When I saw the pic of the 1st edition Black Ghosts (before I saw the back) I said to myself "please tell me he didn't open these". Whew!

A question if you don't mind. I saw your Dragon Backs. I just need the Gold myself. I saw Green and Yellow Dragon backs somewhere. Never saw them before. Do you know if they are legit?

[CBJ]

I saw Green and Yellow Dragon backs somewhere. Never saw them before. Do you know if they are legit?

I don't mind at all!
100% legit. They are being produced by Gambler's Warehouse, and are available for pre-order now.


Jay


and I have 3-4 additional Black Ghost 1st editions if anyone is interested



.

[nECr0MaNCeD]

I saw Green and Yellow Dragon backs somewhere. Never saw them before. Do you know if they are legit?

I don't mind at all!
100% legit. They are being produced by Gambler's Warehouse, and are available for pre-order now.


Jay


and I have 3-4 additional Black Ghost 1st editions if anyone is interested



.

Thanks for the reply and taking the time to share your collection. Could you PM me about those 1st editions?

[SBurk49]

Jay...

Stop please...

I cant take it anymore... they're too beautiful!

What are those ones with the Coffins on the backs?

[volantangel]

Jay...

Stop please...

I cant take it anymore... they're too beautiful!

What are those ones with the Coffins on the backs?

Its called bicycle coffin fodder, you should find a thread for it if you use the search function

[dazzleguts]

All... that.... cellophane... makes me.... itchy... I want to find out where you live and open them all. ALL OF THEM!!!

...

I love that! I get the same itch to open all those decks SBurk.

Just imagine opening all those cards at once. Our dream and CBJ's nightmare.

Seriously though Jay, I love that treasure chest. Have you considered having some kind of image burned into, or varnished onto, the lid of it? And you have got to have a secret compartment in there somewhere!

[Afrank8]

Are there any bicycle decks that you thought were too terrible a concept to get or looked horrendous enough for you not to buy it?

[CBJ]

Seriously though Jay, I love that treasure chest. Have you considered having some kind of image burned into, or varnished onto, the lid of it? And you have got to have a secret compartment in there somewhere!

No, but that's an amazing idea!! Not too sure about the secret compartment, there really isn't anywhere for it.

The chest is going to be stained pretty dark to match my entertainment unit, I wonder how I could do it. Hmmmmmm

Are there any bicycle decks that you thought were too terrible a concept to get or looked horrendous enough for you not to buy it?

I have purchased some real stinkers. As a collector this sometimes happens, but I need to buy it to complete the collection (which will never end)
The Merz decks are some of the worst.



.

[CBJ]

Here we go... Box #3







This is another set that I get asked about a lot. The Bicycle Games decks.













These are pretty hard to find, and even harder to find sealed. I have been lucky enough to find 2 sets ( I sold the extra set earlier this year ).
The reason these are so hard to find is because they are part of 2 different board games.


Pyramid Pokeno, and Criss Cross Pokeno












As with most vintage games, normally a lot of the pieces are missing and in this case... the cards are normally missing, or destroyed because of use.



































































.

[CBJ]

And a few more of the rarer decks out of Box #3


Bicycle Five Hundred has 63 or 64 cards in the deck & an instruction booklet/flyer. THis is a thick tuckbox!!
you can see the additional cards in the pictures.



















Bicycle Cage Garden set













Bicycle Five Star Whiskey was attached to 5 Star Whiskey bottles by the Crown Royal Distilling Company back in 2010
















The Berry Cupid Test Deck (the one on the left) - I won this on Ebay a long time ago.


















That's it for this box. I hope you guys are enjoying this


Jay


.

[MagikFingerz]

Yes we are! Hope this process isn't too impractical for you, Jay. I ended up hating taking pictures for the wiki after a while (and look how that went...).

[dazzleguts]

Jay have you seen the old Po-ke-no sets with the "uncut" sheets of cards? I think they combine poker with bingo. The old courts on the cards are fancier than the usual USPCC, but the a of s has "by the makers of Bee and Bicycle" on it. They are very attractive courts. Would you collect something like that which is not really a deck of cards but has a specific deck pictured in the game?

[volantangel]

Well that curious, I have a bike gaff deck (the one with the reflected box) and it didn't come with any seal at all, are there different versions of this ?

[Sher]

What's the story behind the Cage Garden set? Why are they so expensive? I find hardly any mention of them anywhere...

[volantangel]

What's the story behind the Cage Garden set? Why are they so expensive? I find hardly any mention of them anywhere...

They were only released in China, so only the people with some sort of contact were able to get one, hence the high price for bike collectors. They were notorious for their bad handling.

[CBJ]

Hope this process isn't too impractical for you, Jay.

It's more work than I thought it would be, but it gives me a chance to organize my collection!

Jay have you seen the old Po-ke-no sets with the "uncut" sheets of cards? I think they combine poker with bingo. The old courts on the cards are fancier than the usual USPCC, but the a of s has "by the makers of Bee and Bicycle" on it. They are very attractive courts. Would you collect something like that which is not really a deck of cards but has a specific deck pictured in the game?

I haven't seen them, do you have a pic??

Well that curious, I have a bike gaff deck (the one with the reflected box) and it didn't come with any seal at all, are there different versions of this ?

I'm not sure if there are different versions. I'm pretty sure I got both of these from Ellusionist.


____________________________________________________________________________________________


So, here are the actual first 2 decks I bought!! (I talk about it in the first post)
They're still in pretty good shape.







I'll post box 4 tomorrow



Jay



.

[dazzleguts]

...

Jay have you seen the old Po-ke-no sets with the "uncut" sheets of cards? I think they combine poker with bingo. The old courts on the cards are fancier than the usual USPCC, but the a of s has "by the makers of Bee and Bicycle" on it. They are very attractive courts. Would you collect something like that which is not really a deck of cards but has a specific deck pictured in the game?

I haven't seen them, do you have a pic??

Haven't looked at these in a while and it turns out I have 2 versions, one older than the other. I've never posted them here since they aren't really a deck of cards. Here is the more recent one first and it has the ace I talked about above. Turns out the courts are from the "Little Duke" deck USPCC used to make:

Po-Ke-No box.jpg (141.26 KiB) Viewed 3533 times

This second version is older and has the "Little Duke" ace. The courts are the same only more detailed and with more subtle colours:

Po-Ke-No Little Duke box.jpg (137.58 KiB) Viewed 3533 times

The card sheets are 7 1/4" x 9 3/4", or 18.4 x 24.8 cm. So each card is 1 1/4" x 1 3/4", or 3.2 x 4.4 cm. There are 12 card sheets in each set.