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454 Articles

Roddy Somerville

Member since May 31, 2022

Roddy started collecting stamps on his 8th birthday. In 1977 he joined the newly formed playing-card department at Stanley Gibbons in London before setting up his own business in Edinburgh four years later. His collecting interests include playing cards, postcards, stamps (especially playing cards on stamps) and sugar wrappers. He is a Past President of the Scottish Philatelic Society, a former Chairman of the IPCS, a Past Master of the Worshipful Company of Makers of Playing Cards and Curator of the WCMPC’s collection of playing cards. He lives near Toulouse in France.

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2004 Not the Iraqi Most Wanted playing cards

Not the Iraqi Most Wanted playing cards

Fifty-five Irish heroes and villains, some ancient but mostly modern.

1972 Feh Schnapskarten

Feh Schnapskarten

Colourful promotional pack for Feh household and toilet papers.

1993 Hansaplast<sup>®</sup>

Hansaplast®

Advertising pack for Hansaplast, with comic courts sporting sticking plasters.

1988 Lorilleux International

Lorilleux International

Promotional pack for Lorilleux International’s Lotus inks, with designs by James Hodges.

2021 Les Tontons du Rock

Les Tontons du Rock

Caricatures of rock and pop stars in black and white by Charles Da Costa.

1986 B. Braun-Dexon<sup>®</sup>

B. Braun-Dexon®

Publicity pack promoting B. Braun-Dexon’s atraumatic needles, with non-standard courts and pips.

1977 Bibaraja

Bibaraja

Amusing designs of boys as circus performers by Alberto Muñiz Sánchez.

1986 Peintres Latino Americains

Peintres Latino Americains

Original artwork by 18 different Latin American artists.

1991 54 Affiches Retro

54 Affiches Retro

54 different old French advertising posters, mainly for travel and health products.

1989 Il Vostro Destino

Il Vostro Destino

Italian fortune-telling pack produced by Viassone and later by Masenghini.

1985 Paco Lobo

Paco Lobo

Highly original and striking designs by Paco Lobo for the fashion house of the same name.

1970 Loewe: Moda Europea Siglo XVII

Loewe: Moda Europea Siglo XVII

Luxury pack for the Spanish fashion house Loewe, with 17th century costume designs by Margot Hamilton Hill.

1988 Toros: De El Cordobés a Espartaco

Toros: De El Cordobés a Espartaco

Publicity pack for the Spanish newspaper Ya with caricatures of famous bullfighters by Fernando Vinyes.

1994 Baraja de Alava

Baraja de Alava

55 different paintings by Emilio Lope depicting the history and culture of Vitoria and the province of Álava.

1989 Jeu du Bicentenaire de la Révolution Française

Jeu du Bicentenaire de la Révolution Française

Pack created by Yannick Pennanguer commemorating the bicentenary of the French Revolution and the centenary of L’Est Républicain.

2000 Sweden playing cards

Sweden playing cards

Named characters from Swedish history.

2000 Romania playing cards

Romania playing cards

Romanian voivodes and their wives from the 15th and 16th centuries.

1999 Dutch Court playing cards

Dutch Court playing cards

Games & Print Services’ version of the Dutch pattern.

Le jeu des 7 Familles ’Utuafare

Colourful Happy Families game from Tahiti depicting costumes from different archipelagoes.

1992 Norfin® Trolls

Norfin® Trolls

Troll dolls with gaudy hairstyles in a multitude of different costumes.

2002 Impressionist Art Cards

Impressionist Art Cards

Details of 13 paintings by 8 different Impressionist artists on elongated cards.

1965 ČZ playing cards

ČZ playing cards

Advertising pack for the Czechoslovak motorcycle factory Česká Zbrojovka.

1975 Bourbon Bridge

Bourbon Bridge

Attractive, woodcut-style courts adapted for modern play.

1987 Bischofszell

Bischofszell

Advertising pack for the food producer Bischofszell, designed by Heinz Looser-Brenner, with non-standard suits.

1975 Scheffmacher

Scheffmacher

Advertising pack for Scheffmacher, master painters in Schaffhausen, with comic designs by Fritz Bünzli.

1962 Jeu Boléro

Jeu Boléro

Sweeping, semi-abstract designs by J.L. Jolin in red and black only.

2003 The Lovers playing cards

The Lovers playing cards

Reproductions of old postcards with romantic messages for Valentine’s Day.

1985 I Gatti Originali di Evelyne Nicod

I Gatti Originali di Evelyne Nicod

Etchings of cats on a set of major arcana created by Evelyne Nicod.

1968 Knoll International

Knoll International

Geometric designs by the French artist Jean Garçon for Knoll International, the furniture company.

1978 Carte Osteologiche

Carte Osteologiche

Skulls and bones of all descriptions have become the suits and pips in this 40-card pack from Italy.

1973 Marcello Morandini

Marcello Morandini

Modern designs by Italian artist Marcello Morandini using the simplest of forms and colours.

1960 Cartes à Jouer Fluorescentes

Cartes à Jouer Fluorescentes

Standard French cards but printed with fluorescent inks on a black background.

1980 SEMP playing cards

SEMP playing cards

Modified Anglo-American courts advertising a French medical publishing company.

1984 Tarot de Madrid

Tarot de Madrid

Black-and-white photographs of models whose faces are made up using elements found on the major arcana.

2002 Portrait de Fribourg

Portrait de Fribourg

Fine reproduction of a Fribourg pattern pack, originally by Jean-Jacques Burdel.

1997 Claude Weisbuch

Claude Weisbuch

Free reinterpretation of the traditional Paris pattern courts by the artist Claude Weisbuch.

1989 Orientierungslauf Skat

Orientierungslauf Skat

Humorous designs by Helmut Härtelt on the subject of orienteering.

1990 Borna Skat

Borna Skat

Publicity pack for the Saxon town of Borna, with designs by Andreas Wachter.

1987 Postgeschichte

Postgeschichte

A celebration of different postal systems in Germany from 1630 to 1850, with designs by Volker Hartmann.

2005 EPOC playing cards

EPOC playing cards

Modern designs by Brazilian artist Maria Leonor Décourt inspired by standard English pattern courts.

2017 Campari playing cards

Campari playing cards

Publicity pack for Campari, designed for the Portuguese or Brazilian market.

1992 Batman® playing cards

Batman® playing cards

Characters from Batman: The Animated Series on a pack issued in 1992.

1987 Sylvanian Families mini playing cards

Sylvanian Families mini playing cards

Miniature cards in sheet form with Sylvanian Families characters on the courts and Jokers.

1985 Hôtels-Grils Campanile

Hôtels-Grils Campanile

Publicity pack for the Campanile hotel and restaurant chain featuring French provincial costumes, with designs by James Hodges.

1970 Ripley’s Believe It or Not! playing cards

Ripley’s Believe It or Not! playing cards

Strange facts from Robert Ripley’s ‘Believe It or Not’ books, in the form of cartoons.

1985 Tavaglione playing cards

Tavaglione playing cards

Well-designed pack by Giorgio Tavaglione, with courts in medieval costume.

2000 Belgian/Genoese pattern from Turkey

Belgian/Genoese pattern from Turkey

All-plastic cards of the Belgian/Genoese type, made in Turkey.

1980 MISSCŒUR

MISSCŒUR

Elongated cards from France with a fourth court card, a Miss.

1965 Jeu des Copains

Jeu des Copains

French popular singing stars of the 1960s.

2023 Wren 300 playing cards

Wren 300 playing cards

Papercuts by Chloe Campbell of the 52 Wren churches in the City of London.

2023 Marlow playing cards

Marlow playing cards

Visitor attractions and businesses to be found in Marlow, Buckinghamshire.