Bicycle Tattoo
Bicycle Tattoo, USA, 2010
Published in 2010 by the United States Playing Card Company under the Bicycle brand, and designed by artist and magician Stephen P. Rooks, this pack celebrates the vivid and colourful world of tattoo art. Like a traditional ‘no-revoke’ pack, all cards feature a black background with the Clubs being printed in blue, Diamonds in green, Spades in pink and Hearts in yellow. A custom Ace of Spades explodes with pink and green. In addition, there are two jokers, a card promoting ‘R♣♣KS Designs’, and a gaff card. The eye-catching back design and tuck case feature classic tattoo art motifs like skulls, yin-yang, dragons, and flames. Additionally, the tuck case has a flap reveal of the 5 of Clubs. See the box►
Above: Bicycle Tattoo playing cards designed by Stephen P. Rooks, USA, 2010.
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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