Roddy Somerville
- France • 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.
Paris pattern by Leclaire of Paris
Standard designs from a little-known Parisian maker.
Smash Hits playing cards
Pack of playing cards with pop stars offered free with the Smash Hits magazine.
Paris pattern variant from Lyon, c1900
Updated courts retaining elements of a standard French pack by C. Gerentes, Lyon.
Tarock Schafkopf zum Wahlkampf 1990
Playing cards issued to mark the German federal elections held on 2 December 1990.
Golden Boys
Players from the 1998 Czech Olympic ice hockey team with photography by Jiří Koliš.
52 Transformierte Spielkarten
Modern transformation pack including some saucy images created by Siegfried Heilmeier.
Seaboard Air Line Railway souvenir playing cards
Seaboard Air Line Railway souvenir playing cards made by USPC Co., USA, c1910.
Romania Souvenir playing cards
High-quality souvenir pack with 53 different views of Romania.
The Cartoonists' Pack
Semi-transformation pack created by four famous British cartoonists.
Amistar playing cards
Publicity pack for product which controls fungal diseases in a range of crops, printed by Trefl, Kraków, Poland, c2005.
Sternenmädchens Wahrsagespiel Tarot
A colourful 1970s take on the major arcana designed by Peter Geitner, with titles in German.
Prophet Fortune Telling Cards
Prophet Fortune Telling Cards copyright and made by Thomas de la Rue & Co., 1933.
Guinness World Records Cards
52 Guinness World Records Cards published by if, Pickering, UK, 2011.
Rois de France
Figures from French history restyled for a younger audience published by Quelle Histoire, 2015.
Fishing for Compliments
‘Fishing for Compliments’ playing cards created by Pixel Initiative, illustrated by Stacey Jay Kelly.
Papst Quartett
A quartet game featuring a selection of popes up to Benedict XVI.
Rika playing cards
Playing cards depicting famous Austrian skiers of the 1970s.
Salzburg Souvenir
A souvenir pack with just one view – on the back!
Views of Luxembourg
53 different scenic views of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
Jazz Legends playing cards
52 different photographs of famous jazz musicians.
Football playing cards
52 different legends from the world of football.
Sanmartí Catalan pattern
Standard Catalan designs of the late 19th century by Sucesores de Viuda Sanmartí e Hijo, Barcelona.
Fan DACK Playing CARD
Unusual cards in the shape of skittles, intended for fanning.
Braşov County, Romania
Souvenir pack featuring fortresses, museums, traditions, folk costumes, flora and fauna of Braşov County.
Compagnie Industrielle des Téléphones
Publicity pack featuring various historical figures “on the ‘phone”.
Paris pattern for WWII troops
Wartime edition of standard designs with fewer colours, a special back design and an overprint.
Jeu de Cartes Éclats
A kaleidoscope of form and colour encapsulated in a contemporary pack of playing cards.
Green Cards
Recycled playing cards with striking, non-standard courts.
Country Definitive Playing Cards
Modern British regional postage stamps on a set of playing cards.
Guarro y Cia Catalan pattern
Catalan pattern (‘Escudo de Barcelona’) with youthful courts and attractive colouring.
Alejo Gabarró Catalan pattern
Alejo Gabarró “El Cuervo” Catalan pattern playing cards, Igualada, Spain, c.1904.
English pattern from Nigeria
A standard pack from the most populous country in Africa.
A Barribal variant for Christmas
Christmas gift with a difference, made by Waddington’s, Leeds, 1931.
Nintendo deck with Medieval theme
Courts in medieval costume holding both French and Italian/Spanish suit-signs.
Unimol playing cards
Advertising pack for a pharmaceutical company, with brightly coloured courts.
Torys Western Cards
Promotional pack for a brand of Japanese whisky, featuring comic Wild West characters.
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.