Europe

[samurai007]

Here are some Eastern European decks that I own:



Let me start with the blue deck in the upper right. It is an advertising deck created by a Polish paper company. The face cards on the deck are amazing, and the card back is that blue stained-glass you see on the box.





The cards are more of a light tan than a bright yellow, that's just from my scanner. However, I was incredibly disappointed when I actually got the cards in my hands... the plastic coating on them is incredibly sticky with itself! The cards will literally hold together in a clump when you take them out of the box until you flex them a few times. Even then, at least a third of the cards will be stuck to a neighboring card. It's so bad that they are practically unusable for actual gameplay, much less flourishing. If this was meant to advertise the prowess of International Paper, I'd say they failed miserably. The art and printing are still nice, but I would warn people against buying it unless you have no intention of ever using it for a playing card deck.

[samurai007]

Next we have the Petropolis deck, tuck box on the upper left in the post above. The artist for the deck is Vyacheslav Yastremsky. This is a well-made deck, not like the Pol deck, but there is no information anywhere on the box as to what company printed it. The card back is on the upper rt.

[samurai007]

Next, we have one of my very favorite decks that I own, called Eneida. It was printed in 2011, and I believe it's from the Ukraine. Every card has artwork on it, as you can see below. Aces are labeled "T", Jacks are "B". Printing and finish are excellent.:

[dazzleguts]

Great Eneida deck!
I thought of picking this one up myself, but somehow never did. Might have been the cost. Hadn't seen the pip cards before and I really like the fantastical creatures they show. This will be on my hit list now for sure.

[samurai007]

Here's a good deal for them: http://www.ebay.com/itm/54-Ukrainian-Pl ... 41718f4da6" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Apparently they come in both a 54 and a 36 card version, you want the 54. The 36 version, besides having fewer cards, has no art on the pip cards, only the faces.

[volantangel]

I really like the first deck you posted with the stained glass back. The faces are amazing.

[samurai007]

I really like the first deck you posted with the stained glass back. The faces are amazing.

Yeah, if only it didn't shuffle like wet naugahyde, it'd be a great deck...

[samurai007]

Ok, next is the "Golden de Luxe Russian" deck by Piatnik. This is one of Piatnik's single decks rather than their typical 2-deck boxes. I really like the aces and court cards in this set, but the back is a very boring color crosshatch and the Jokers are bland swans.

[samurai007]

And finally, we get to the 5th and last deck from my 1st group shot above, the "Ukraine" souvenir deck. It is one of many decks that swiped the designs of Vladislav Erko's deck that he designed for the Taras Bulba restaurant. Those original decks are rather rare and expensive, but the knock-off decks tend to be much more common and much cheaper. The quality and design varies from one version to another, this on has a traditional embroidery pattern on the back and around the aces. Other versions have a variety of objects encircling the aces instead, similar to the aces of the Piatnik Russian deck above.

[lolo]

With this sample, we can see that we have got a plethora of good playing card designers in Europe. I hope they will know how to use Kickstarter to promote their work soon !

[dazzleguts]

Well since they are already being published they don't really need KS. These designs may have all been commissioned by the respective printers or publishers.

Sam, were the little objects beside the figures of your Vladislav Erko used as actual suit symbols in the original deck? I noticed they are suit specific and I seem to remember having seen them before. His figures have so much individual character that he must have had real people he based them on. That kind of detail is almost impossible to pull out of the air.

Perhaps you could do a card trick with the POL cards where you throw them at something and they stick.

[lolo]

Well since they are already being published they don't really need KS. These designs may have all been commissioned by the respective printers or publishers.

I know... I know... But nothing prevents them to design new decks. And if they use KS, with their talents, it will be surely a success...

[samurai007]

Well since they are already being published they don't really need KS. These designs may have all been commissioned by the respective printers or publishers.

Sam, were the little objects beside the figures of your Vladislav Erko used as actual suit symbols in the original deck? I noticed they are suit specific and I seem to remember having seen them before. His figures have so much individual character that he must have had real people he based them on. That kind of detail is almost impossible to pull out of the air.

Perhaps you could do a card trick with the POL cards where you throw them at something and they stick.

Yes, those were the original suits, good catch. That is another reason I didn't get the original versions (besides price and hard to find), the new suits seemed a bit too strange IMO.

[NineLives]

I stumbled on this thread while browsing (am still finding my way around this place ) - Truly enjoyed seeing so many old European decks, many with beautiful, intricate artwork! I have a few decks that have travelled with me from time spent in Scandinavia, while they are less collectable than many shared here, I still cherish them