Banjo Cards
Images of the peg heads from 4-string banjos from Akira Tsumura’s renowned collection.
These Banjo playing cards were published by Tsumura Juntendo Inc. in Tokyo around 1978. They feature a different image on each card of the peg head, or headstock with maker's name or badge, from 4-string banjos from Akira Tsumura's renowned collection, which was considered one of the finest and most comprehensive banjo collections in the world. The deck includes 52 suited cards, a Joker, and an extra card with a list of banjos.





Above: Banjocards published by Tsumura Juntendo Inc. in Tokyo around 1978. 52 cards, a Joker, and an extra card with a list of banjos.

By Jon Randall
Member since May 28, 2020
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 cards 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 single 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 ID’s if you’d like to look are “worldwide_playing_cards” & “playing_cards_world”►
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