Bicycle Tragic Royalty
Modified courts rendered tragic and somewhat scary.
Another in the ever-expanding series of modified Bicycle packs. In this one, the faces of the court cards have been rendered tragic and often somewhat scary and skeletal. At one end of each court card, the suit-sign has been printed in black on white or red on white; at the other, it appears in grey on black (black suits) or white on black (red suits). All the cards have a grey background which adds to the feeling of gloom and doom. The pips all have added decoration in the form of small curlicues. The back design is the traditional Bicycle one but coloured grey, red and black only. The box, which has bilingual text (English + French), indicates that the cards glow “under blacklight”. See the box►
Above: Bicycle Tragic Royalty playing cards printed by the U.S. Playing Card Company, Erlanger, KY, USA, 2020. 52 cards + 2 Jokers + 2 extra cards (one of which is a double backer, the second back design being in black and white only) in tuck box. Size: 63 x 88 mm.
By Roddy Somerville
France • Member since May 31, 2022
Roddy started collecting stamps on his 8th birthday. In 1977 he joined the newly formed playing-card department at Stanley Gibbons in London before setting up his own business in Edinburgh four years later. His collecting interests include playing cards, postcards, stamps (especially playing cards on stamps) and sugar wrappers. He is a Past President of the Scottish Philatelic Society, a former Chairman of the IPCS, a Past Master of the Worshipful Company of Makers of Playing Cards and Curator of the WCMPC’s collection of playing cards. He lives near Toulouse in France.
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