Kings Wild Tigers is Jackson Robinson’s 27th successful playing card Kickstarter campaign. A luxury collectable deck inspired by vintage matchboxes.
Kings Wild Tigers is Jackson Robinson’s 27th successful playing card Kickstarter campaign. A luxury collectable deck inspired by vintage matchboxes.
The Kings Wild Tigers Kickstarter campaign was successfully funded in just two hours, and was selected as a Kickstarter Staff Pick. The campaign raised a total of $59,235 from 931 backers in August, 2018.
Kings Wild Tigers has had three editions, The First Edition, The Matchbox Edition, and the Second Edition (reviewed here), each with uniquely designed boxes, and also various gilded, gold, and silver editions along the way. The Matchbox Edition’s is a matchbook-style box rather than an ordinary tuck box.
Above: Matchboxes that depicted wild creatures and had a colourful design influenced Robinson's work.
Additionally, Robinson drew inspiration from a second source: the “Tigers No.101” playing cards manufactured by Russell & Morgan Co., c.1881.
Rod Starling points out that the Tigers brand was a series which included Sportsman, Army, Navy and Congress, all of which were “purely American names which departed from the traditional English names”. Starling explains: “Tigers No. 101 was their first brand. It was the least expensive. Initially it was issued with a generic Russell & Morgan Ace of Spades without a brand name or tiger motif, even on the box.” However the brand became popular and well known for its distinct motif of a snarling tiger's head inside a design of circles and suit symbols.
Above: A selection of “Tigers No.101” playing cards manufactured by Russell & Morgan Co. The Joker features a snarling tiger's head inside a design of circles and suit symbols. Images courtesy of Rod Starling.
The Kings Wild Tigers deck incorporates many design elements from the original deck, which, when combined with the brightly coloured matchboxes, creates an eye-catching design.
The box has a patriotic “Americana” colour palette, and includes full color printing inside the box with a band that says Kings Wild Tigers and a pattern of stars and stripes. The back of the box matches the back of the card design.
The bottom of the box (see bottom ) includes Robinson’s signature bible verse, 1 Thessalonians 4:11, which can be found on all of his decks: “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.”
Left: The Kings Wild Project seal.
Right: the Russell & Morgan seal.
To give the impression that it has seen some use, both the box and the cards have been designed with a distressed aesthetic.
The two jokers are a nod to the original Russell & Morgan Tigers deck, both jokers feature the circular image with the snarling tiger surrounded by the four suits. One of the jokers incorporates a Kings Wild stamp in the design (see joker ), similar to early tax stamps which signified the appropriate tax had been paid.
The deck features two gaff cards (see below). The first is the matches card, fitting in with the theme that the deck is a box of matches, and could be used as a prop in magic tricks. The second is the full verse of 1 Thessalonians 4:11, one of Robinson’s signatures which can be found on many of his decks.
All the courts have fully custom designs (which are loosely based on Goodall courts), which are stylised like tigers. The card layouts are completely recognisable, although they look interesting and different, they are still suitable for card playing.
The Tigers series is considered rare among luxury deck collectors, with prices ranging from $30 for a standard first edition to $528 for The Matchbox Gold Edition signed by Jackson Robinson on eBay.
Thailand • Member since March 15, 1997 • Contact
Adam has been involved in developing the site as well as reviewing new decks and conducting research. He is particularly interested in innovation, Kickstarter and East Asian cards. He is a member of the IPCS and webmaster of the EPCS.
Originally titled Oriole Playing Cards, based on a deck produced by The New York Consolidated Card C...
Arthurian Playing Cards by Kings Wild Project, a luxury playing card deck designed by Jackson Robins...
Luxury playing cards produced by Theory11 in collaboration with The Nomad Hotel in New York City.
The Civil War Deck designed by Jackson Robinson, 2017.
A preview of Vadim Smolenskiy second edition Lumberjacks deck.
“Kingdoms of a New World” playing cards designed by Nathanael Mortensen, 2014.
Instead of the usual ace of spades, or a seven of diamonds, this pack has a "spade of aces" and a "d...
A pack inspired by subjects such as spirituality, the occult, ouija boards, spirit photography and g...
Diba Salimi has created a hand illustrated pack inspired by Persian ancient history, art and Persian...
These steampunk inspired cards are based around a pair of real steampunk goggles that you can purcha...
Three fine deck of playing cards inspired by the characters and stories of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Ar...
Enter the Kingdoms of the New World with these fantasy themed playing cards by Nathanael Mortensen, ...
A beautifully hand-painted pack inspired by wildlife and the wilderness created by the Uusi design s...
Connie Lim has created a beautifully illustrated set of fashion inspired playing cards, a tangible ...
Paul Janzen and Troy Sullivan also know as Hurlyburly Games have created a unique pack to showcase t...
A deck of cards inspired by the American Civil War, featuring leaders, army generals, President Abra...
A deck of playing cards inspired by the Wayang Shadow Puppets of the Island of Java.
The deck has been inspired by pirates and swashbuckling and the world of Steampunk, a science-fictio...
The Black Book of Cards by UnCommon Beat
Follow-up pack for the 2012 Blue Blood Playing Cards pack on Kickstarter.
Our top articles from the past 60 days
Thailand • Member since March 15, 1997 • Contact
Adam has been involved in developing the site as well as reviewing new decks and conducting research. He is particularly interested in innovation, Kickstarter and East Asian cards. He is a member of the IPCS and webmaster of the EPCS.
Originally titled Oriole Playing Cards, based on a deck produced by The New York Consolidated Card C...
Arthurian Playing Cards by Kings Wild Project, a luxury playing card deck designed by Jackson Robins...
Luxury playing cards produced by Theory11 in collaboration with The Nomad Hotel in New York City.
The Civil War Deck designed by Jackson Robinson, 2017.
A preview of Vadim Smolenskiy second edition Lumberjacks deck.
“Kingdoms of a New World” playing cards designed by Nathanael Mortensen, 2014.
Instead of the usual ace of spades, or a seven of diamonds, this pack has a "spade of aces" and a "d...
A pack inspired by subjects such as spirituality, the occult, ouija boards, spirit photography and g...
Diba Salimi has created a hand illustrated pack inspired by Persian ancient history, art and Persian...
These steampunk inspired cards are based around a pair of real steampunk goggles that you can purcha...
Three fine deck of playing cards inspired by the characters and stories of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Ar...
Enter the Kingdoms of the New World with these fantasy themed playing cards by Nathanael Mortensen, ...
A beautifully hand-painted pack inspired by wildlife and the wilderness created by the Uusi design s...
Connie Lim has created a beautifully illustrated set of fashion inspired playing cards, a tangible ...
Paul Janzen and Troy Sullivan also know as Hurlyburly Games have created a unique pack to showcase t...
A deck of cards inspired by the American Civil War, featuring leaders, army generals, President Abra...
A deck of playing cards inspired by the Wayang Shadow Puppets of the Island of Java.
The deck has been inspired by pirates and swashbuckling and the world of Steampunk, a science-fictio...
The Black Book of Cards by UnCommon Beat
Follow-up pack for the 2012 Blue Blood Playing Cards pack on Kickstarter.
Our top articles from the past 60 days
