Lightning
Master Member
You might remember a while back when I made reproductions of Shorty's playing cards.
Limited Run - Indiana Jones, Temple of Doom Playing Cards
At the time I had been unsuccessful at locating the cards, so when I found a set of Mah Jong cards using the back design, I figured they must be connected to the real cards somehow. Well, turns out, the maker of the Mah Jong cards just stole the design from the real cards (and replaced he circular figure in the middle).
After I made my cards I eventually went back to the search. Now when looking for something like this I often scroll through hundreds of eBay listing until I happen upon the right item. This had proven unfruitful until I realized that those scenes has been filmed in the UK. A jump over to eBay UK proved successful.
So what are they? Bancroft & Partners Ltd. Casino 300 playing cards. Made by the Obchodní Tiskárny (OTK) company of Czechoslovakia and imported to the UK by Bancroft after WWII.
www.wopc.co.uk
These were made for quite some time and I've found 3 box styles.
I think the red ones are the oldest, the ones with the people next, and the big C is definitely the newest. They changed fonts and Joker styles in the 1960s around the time of the first box style change. I don't know when these ceased production. OTK made Pegasus brand cards until 2010 when they got out of the playing card business and transferred the Pegasus brand to Hraci Karty 1884 of the Czech Republic. Hrací Karty - Tradiční výroba standardních i reklamních hracích karet Unfortunately, while they still use the same Ace design and the Joker from the 1960s, they don't offer this back design. And when I emailed them about it they didn't seem enthusiastic about adding it. They do have a custom card service, so theoretically you could have it custom printed.
The good news for our European members is that these seem reasonably common on auction sites if you aren't picky about what box version you get, since we can barely see the fronts in the movie, and no box at all. There is also a blue version and a Svengali version where half the deck is the King of Spades.
Limited Run - Indiana Jones, Temple of Doom Playing Cards
At the time I had been unsuccessful at locating the cards, so when I found a set of Mah Jong cards using the back design, I figured they must be connected to the real cards somehow. Well, turns out, the maker of the Mah Jong cards just stole the design from the real cards (and replaced he circular figure in the middle).
After I made my cards I eventually went back to the search. Now when looking for something like this I often scroll through hundreds of eBay listing until I happen upon the right item. This had proven unfruitful until I realized that those scenes has been filmed in the UK. A jump over to eBay UK proved successful.
So what are they? Bancroft & Partners Ltd. Casino 300 playing cards. Made by the Obchodní Tiskárny (OTK) company of Czechoslovakia and imported to the UK by Bancroft after WWII.
Casino No.240 — The World of Playing Cards
Piatnik-Ritter No.240 - Obchodní Tiskárny Casino No.240.
www.wopc.co.uk
These were made for quite some time and I've found 3 box styles.
I think the red ones are the oldest, the ones with the people next, and the big C is definitely the newest. They changed fonts and Joker styles in the 1960s around the time of the first box style change. I don't know when these ceased production. OTK made Pegasus brand cards until 2010 when they got out of the playing card business and transferred the Pegasus brand to Hraci Karty 1884 of the Czech Republic. Hrací Karty - Tradiční výroba standardních i reklamních hracích karet Unfortunately, while they still use the same Ace design and the Joker from the 1960s, they don't offer this back design. And when I emailed them about it they didn't seem enthusiastic about adding it. They do have a custom card service, so theoretically you could have it custom printed.
The good news for our European members is that these seem reasonably common on auction sites if you aren't picky about what box version you get, since we can barely see the fronts in the movie, and no box at all. There is also a blue version and a Svengali version where half the deck is the King of Spades.
