Far East

Published October 09, 2017 • Updated September 22, 2022

Far East playing cards with designs by Isabel Ibáñez de Sendadiano, c.1980.

“Far East” playing cards with designs by Isabel Ibáñez de Sendadiano depicting Far Eastern costumes, each figure commensurate to the rank of the card, manufactured by Heraclio Fournier S.A., c.1980. See the extra card►. The four aces have complimentary designs reflecting the cultures of these countries.

Far East playing cards with designs by Isabel Ibáñez de Sendadiano, c.1980

Above: “Far East” playing cards with designs by Isabel Ibáñez de Sendadiano manufactured by Heraclio Fournier S.A., c.1980. Decks contain 52 cards + 2 jokers + 2 title cards in box. The card faces and backs have a metallic gold illumination. Sets are often distributed by Congress cards in the USA.

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By Rex Pitts (1940-2021)

United Kingdom • Member since January 30, 2009

Rex's main interest was in card games, because, he said, they were cheap and easy to get hold of in his early days of collecting. He is well known for his extensive knowledge of Pepys games and his book is on the bookshelves of many. His other interest was non-standard playing cards. He also had collections of sheet music, music CDs, models of London buses, London Transport timetables and maps and other objects that intrigued him.

Rex had a chequered career at school. He was expelled twice, on one occasion for smoking! Despite this he trained as a radio engineer and worked for the BBC in the World Service. Later he moved into sales and worked for a firm that made all kinds of packaging, a job he enjoyed until his retirement. He became an expert on boxes and would always investigate those that held his cards. He could always recognize a box made for Pepys, which were the same as those of Alf Cooke’s Universal Playing Card Company, who printed the card games. This interest changed into an ability to make and mend boxes, which he did with great dexterity. He loved this kind of handicraft work.

His dexterity of hand and eye soon led to his making card games of his own design. He spent hours and hours carefully cutting them out and colouring them by hand.