Bicycle Elves & Orcs
Bicycle ‘Elves & Orcs’ playing cards illustrated by Nathanael Iwata, USA, 2013.
This pack was funded through Kickstarter, and printed by the United States Playing Card Company in 2013. It was designed by experienced video game artist and author/illustrator Nathanael Iwata. As its name suggests, it features elves and orcs – beings which figure prominently in Tolkien’s novels The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. See the box►
In Tolkien’s fantasy world, elves are known for their quiet gravitas, bravery, and deep and abiding wisdom. Orcs, in contrast, appear as a brutish, aggressive, ugly, and malevolent race of monsters. The court cards reflect these distinct qualities – elves depicted against a red background on the red suits, and orcs against a murky green background on the black. The pips are custom designed – the black suits spikey and weapon-like, the red suits smooth and attractive. There are two jokers (one elf and one orc), a gaff card and an extra card advertising The Steampunk alphabet, another work by the author.
Above: Bicycle ‘Elves & Orcs’ playing cards illustrated by Nathanael H. Iwata, printed by the United States Playing Card Company, USA, 2013.
By Peter Burnett
United Kingdom • Member since July 27, 2022 • Contact
I graduated in Russian and East European Studies from Birmingham University in 1969. It was as an undergraduate in Moscow in 1968 that I stumbled upon my first 3 packs of “unusual” playing cards which fired my curiosity and thence my life-long interest. I began researching and collecting cards in the early 1970s, since when I’ve acquired over 3,330 packs of non-standard cards, mainly from North America, UK and Western Europe, and of course from Russia and the former communist countries.
Following my retirement from the Bodleian Library in Dec. 2007 I took up a new role as Head of Library Development at the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP) to support library development in low-income countries. This work necessitated regular training visits to many sub-Saharan African countries and also further afield, to Vietnam, Nepal and Bangladesh – all of which provided rich opportunities to further expand my playing card collection.
Since 2019 I’ve been working part-time in the Bodleian Library where I’ve been cataloguing the bequest of the late Donald Welsh, founder of the English Playing Card Society.
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