The Deck
The Deck semi-transformation playing cards, USA, 1983.
The style of this fun pack is “semi-transformation” (i.e. the pips are arranged in a non-standard pattern in a variety of different ways, or may be of an unusual size or colour, in order to fit into the picture, drawing or cartoon on the front of each card). The pack was produced by Ink,Inc., New York in 1983 and features delightful designs on every card by famous New Yorker cartoonists William Steig, 1907-2003 (Hearts), Lee Lorenz, 1932-2022 (Clubs), Roz Chast, 1954- (Diamonds), Arnie Levin, 1938- (Spades), and Jack Ziegler, 1942-2017 ((Joker, backs).
Above: The Deck semi-transformation playing cards produced by Ink, Inc., New York, USA, 1983.
Note: Ink, Inc. is a graphic design, printing and print-brokerage house established in 1978.
Reference: Field, Albert: Transformation Playing Cards, US Games Systems, 1987, p.178, #67.
By Peter Burnett
United Kingdom • Member since July 27, 2022
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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