Roddy Somerville
Member since May 31, 2022Roddy 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.
Laser Clay playing cards
Pack promoting the Laser Clay Shooting System created by Nintendo in 1973.
Industrial Bank of Japan
Advertising pack designed by Yukio Hohri for The Industrial Bank of Japan.
Onward playing cards
Advertising pack for Japanese fashion and lifestyle business featuring different national and regional costumes.
Fujitsu playing cards
Colourful advertising pack for Fujitsu Limited, reminiscent of the flower power/psychedelic era.
Back to Country
Advertising playing cards for a Japanese fashion house, with reversed colours.
H.P. Doebele
Artist-designed playing cards produced to demonstrate the quality of a printing technique.
I Trionfi d’Amore
Tarot trumps designed by Juan Ballesta and inspired by 1970s pop culture, promoting Baci chocolates.
Venetian Tarot
Scenes from the history of Venice on a set of the major arcana.
Tweety & Friends playing cards
Tweety and other Looney Tunes characters featured on every card.
Pumuckl quartet game
Quartet game featuring the kobold Pumuckl, creation of the German author Ellis Kaut.
Pictures of Riga
Playing cards with colour photos of buildings and monuments in and around Riga.
Riga Souvenir playing cards
54 different photographs of Riga, Latvia’s capital.
Disney playing cards (Waddingtons)
Four of the stock Disney characters on a pack from Waddingtons.
Il Quinto Seme
An Italian pack with a fifth suit of “amici” (“friends”).
Bofinger’s Reise-Skat
Advertising pack for a travel company with humorous illustrations of all sorts of travellers.
9-11-89 passé
Caricatures of East German politicians following the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Münz-Spiel GmbH
Advertising playing cards for a data bureau depicting German politicians.
Bau-Skat playing cards
Comic illustrations of people working in the building trade.
Tarabish
A special pack of playing cards for an unusual game played almost exclusively in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.
Ginette Robitaille
Stylish designs from the mid-1980s by a Canadian artist.
Three Stooges playing cards
54 different photos of the famous American vaudeville and comedy team.
Hulk playing cards
Issued to coincide with the release in 2003 of the American superhero film, The Hulk.
Charlie Brown Plays Baseball card game
Peanuts comic strip characters on cards for regular play or a special game based on baseball.
Mummy Playing Cards
Die-cut cards in the shape of an Egyptian sarcophagus.
Le Café
Four of the great coffee-producing countries represented in a commemorative pack of playing cards.
Playboy playing cards
52 different magazine covers from the first 50 years of Playboy.
Foragers playing cards
Playing cards to help to identify the edible and inedible gifts of nature.
Four Roses Bourbon Whiskey
Promotional playing cards for a brand of Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey.
Wild West playing cards
Famous lawmen, gamblers, outlaws and others from the American Wild West.
Politisk Tarot
Swedish politicians caricatured by Dan Glimne in a set of Tarot trumps.
Baraja Historica de Madrid
“Baraja Historica de Madrid 1992” playing cards designed by Alberto Pérez and published by Asescoin for 1994 Convention.
Das Peanuts Kartenspiel
Cartoon characters from the famous comic strip devised by Charles M. Schultz.
Le Golf de Mose
Humorous cartoons of golfers in action on playing cards by the artist Mose.
Iron Horses of the West
Steam and diesel locomotives from the famous Atchison, Topeka and Sante Fe Railway Company.
Alternative Happy Families
An updated, 1980s-style “Alternative Happy Families” game.
Le Jeu des Chats (Dubout)
Cartoon-style illustrations of cats on playing cards created by the French artist Albert Dubout.
Molière par Dubout
Characters and scenes from plays by Molière as drawn by the cartoonist Albert Dubout.
Soroptimist International Scotland South Region
Celebrating 100 years of Soroptimist International, 1921-2021.
Scouting playing cards
Cartoon-style illustrations promoting a Belgian organisation for scouts and guides.
Carte Giganti Siciliane
Gigantic souvenir pack combining traditional Sicilian pattern cards with photographic views.
Sicilia in Acquerello
Souvenir playing cards from Sicily using watercolours rather than photographs.
BEB playing cards
Multicoloured publicity pack for a gas production and transport company.
55 Mucha Paintings on Playing Cards
Fully illustrated pack featuring a large selection of Mucha’s works.
Gustav Klimt playing cards
Gustav Klimt playing cards featuring familiar elements of Klimt’s work.
Rosina Wachtmeister playing cards
Cats, cats and more cats in Wachtmeister’s inimitable style.
American Drummer
American Drummer Playing Cards celebrating famous Americans involved in the fight for American independence.
Happy Halloween
Spooky designs such as black cats, pumpkins, bats, spiders and ghosts for Halloween.
Bicycle Tragic Royalty
Modified courts rendered tragic and somewhat scary.
Art Quilt playing cards
A pack showcasing the work of 54 of America’s finest quilt artists.
Trappola cards from Prague
15 Trappola playing cards possibly made by Johann Ziser of Prague, c1760.
The Lord of the Rings Tarot Deck & Card Game
The Lord of the Rings Tarot Pack by Terry Donaldson and artist Peter Pracownik. Published 1997 by U.S. Games Systems.