Angel 52 Secrets

Published April 11, 2025 Updated April 11, 2025

Vintage “52 Secret” art deco-inspired playing cards from Japan.

1970 JapanArt DecoFashion & CostumeAngel

Narrow sized lifestyle themed playing cards manufactured by Angel Playing Cards Co Ltd, Japan, featuring court cards adorned with fashion-inspired illustrations. Each court card is reversible to show a different design (the same art deco-inspired designs were also used in “Roaring Twenties” playing cards by Angel Playing Cards which were supposed to evoke the spirit of that era). In this version the indices and suit symbols have been given a different typographic treatment. The back designs are of cherries on a branch, one with a gold background and the other with a silver background. The artist involved is not credited.

“52 Secret” playing cards made by Angel Playing Cards, Japan, 1970s “52 Secret” playing cards made by Angel Playing Cards, Japan, 1970s
“52 Secret” playing cards made by Angel Playing Cards, Japan, 1970s

Above: “52 Secret” playing cards made by Angel Playing Cards, Japan, 1970s. Double pack with matching backs in box. The cards measure 90mm x 40mm.

The pip cards are all split between two different shades. These vintage cards have now become very collectable.

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By Jon Randall

Australia • Member since May 28, 2020 • Contact

From 6 or 7 years of age I enjoyed playing cards with my family, and still enjoy a variety of games today with various groups and individuals. I contribute my competitive nature to enjoying games … it’s not that I like to win, I dislike losing! I was barely 10 years old when my great Uncle left me a small collection of playing cards and that was the starting point of my collecting. The competitive streak in me helped develop me into a competitive swimmer that sent me to various places around the world, including a 6 year stint in the US, where for much of that time I was at university. I’ve always enjoyed car boots flea markets, yard sales, charity shops etc., and my eye would never miss a pack of playing cards. Even after my swimming career finished I coached at a high level for many years and continued enjoying the discovery of some great finds around the world. For decades my collection continued to grow, despite selling a portion of it via eBay over the years. It wasn’t until post 2010 that I realised, mostly due to correspondence with Australian friends, that there were so many single playing card collectors. This intrigued me. I had so many packs of cards at home that I made the bold decision to share a good number with singles collectors, and subsequently listed around 7000 for sale on eBay. That did make a dent in my collection, but there’s still around 30,000 packs taking up quite a bit of space at home. Crazy? Yes, but I’ve seen bigger hoards a few times! There’s so many I surprise myself finding packs I forgot I had when I look in a box I’d not seen in a while.

My eBay IDs if you’d like to look are “worldwide_playing_cards” & “playing_cards_world

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