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dazzleguts wrote:Seriously though Jay, I love that treasure chest. Have you considered having some kind of image burned into, or varnished onto, the lid of it? And you have got to have a secret compartment in there somewhere!

No, but that's an amazing idea!! Not too sure about the secret compartment, there really isn't anywhere for it.

The chest is going to be stained pretty dark to match my entertainment unit, I wonder how I could do it. Hmmmmmm

Afrank8 wrote:Are there any bicycle decks that you thought were too terrible a concept to get or looked horrendous enough for you not to buy it?

I have purchased some real stinkers. As a collector this sometimes happens, but I need to buy it to complete the collection (which will never end)
The Merz decks are some of the worst.



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Here we go... Box #3







This is another set that I get asked about a lot. The Bicycle Games decks.













These are pretty hard to find, and even harder to find sealed. I have been lucky enough to find 2 sets ( I sold the extra set earlier this year ).
The reason these are so hard to find is because they are part of 2 different board games.


Pyramid Pokeno, and Criss Cross Pokeno












As with most vintage games, normally a lot of the pieces are missing and in this case... the cards are normally missing, or destroyed because of use.



































































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And a few more of the rarer decks out of Box #3


Bicycle Five Hundred has 63 or 64 cards in the deck & an instruction booklet/flyer. THis is a thick tuckbox!!
you can see the additional cards in the pictures.



















Bicycle Cage Garden set













Bicycle Five Star Whiskey was attached to 5 Star Whiskey bottles by the Crown Royal Distilling Company back in 2010
















The Berry Cupid Test Deck (the one on the left) - I won this on Ebay a long time ago.


















That's it for this box. I hope you guys are enjoying this


Jay


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Yes we are! Hope this process isn't too impractical for you, Jay. I ended up hating taking pictures for the wiki after a while (and look how that went...).

Jay have you seen the old Po-ke-no sets with the "uncut" sheets of cards? I think they combine poker with bingo. The old courts on the cards are fancier than the usual USPCC, but the a of s has "by the makers of Bee and Bicycle" on it. They are very attractive courts. Would you collect something like that which is not really a deck of cards but has a specific deck pictured in the game?

Well that curious, I have a bike gaff deck (the one with the reflected box) and it didn't come with any seal at all, are there different versions of this ?

What's the story behind the Cage Garden set? Why are they so expensive? I find hardly any mention of them anywhere...

Sher wrote:What's the story behind the Cage Garden set? Why are they so expensive? I find hardly any mention of them anywhere...

They were only released in China, so only the people with some sort of contact were able to get one, hence the high price for bike collectors. They were notorious for their bad handling.

MagikFingerz wrote:Hope this process isn't too impractical for you, Jay.

It's more work than I thought it would be, but it gives me a chance to organize my collection!

dazzleguts wrote:Jay have you seen the old Po-ke-no sets with the "uncut" sheets of cards? I think they combine poker with bingo. The old courts on the cards are fancier than the usual USPCC, but the a of s has "by the makers of Bee and Bicycle" on it. They are very attractive courts. Would you collect something like that which is not really a deck of cards but has a specific deck pictured in the game?

I haven't seen them, do you have a pic??

volantangel wrote:Well that curious, I have a bike gaff deck (the one with the reflected box) and it didn't come with any seal at all, are there different versions of this ?

I'm not sure if there are different versions. I'm pretty sure I got both of these from Ellusionist.


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So, here are the actual first 2 decks I bought!! (I talk about it in the first post)
They're still in pretty good shape.







I'll post box 4 tomorrow



Jay



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CBJ wrote:...

dazzleguts wrote:Jay have you seen the old Po-ke-no sets with the "uncut" sheets of cards? I think they combine poker with bingo. The old courts on the cards are fancier than the usual USPCC, but the a of s has "by the makers of Bee and Bicycle" on it. They are very attractive courts. Would you collect something like that which is not really a deck of cards but has a specific deck pictured in the game?

I haven't seen them, do you have a pic??

Haven't looked at these in a while and it turns out I have 2 versions, one older than the other. I've never posted them here since they aren't really a deck of cards. Here is the more recent one first and it has the ace I talked about above. Turns out the courts are from the "Little Duke" deck USPCC used to make:
This second version is older and has the "Little Duke" ace. The courts are the same only more detailed and with more subtle colours:
The card sheets are 7 1/4" x 9 3/4", or 18.4 x 24.8 cm. So each card is 1 1/4" x 1 3/4", or 3.2 x 4.4 cm. There are 12 card sheets in each set.

CBJ wrote:The chest is going to be stained pretty dark to match my entertainment unit

So that's what the kids are calling it these days!

ETA: And my chest and "entertainment unit" already match, anyway!

Afrank8 wrote:Are there any bicycle decks that you thought were too terrible a concept to get or looked horrendous enough for you not to buy it?

CBJ wrote:The Merz decks are some of the worst.

I still maintain that the courts in his Bicycle "Santa" deck (the ones wearing the Santa hats), and in his Bicycle "Tie Dye 2" deck (the ones wearing the tie-dyed shirts) are pretty decent - much better than the tons of re-colored standard court Bikes out there, anyway.

Given you collect mainly bicycle is it getting harder what with all the kickstarter projects all getting the bicycle branding?

To follow up with Afrank's question - If it's a tuck swap and both are Bicycle branded, would you get both? For example - the Steampunk Pirates Series?

Afrank8 wrote:Given you collect mainly bicycle is it getting harder what with all the kickstarter projects all getting the bicycle branding?

It's very hard to keep up. As KS-Bicycle decks get funded, I add them to a list. I also add non-KS-Bicycle decks to the list until they're in my collection. I back a very small percentage of KS decks.

Sher wrote:To follow up with Afrank's question - If it's a tuck swap and both are Bicycle branded, would you get both? For example - the Steampunk Pirates Series?

Yeah, I get all the variations ... I know, I'm an addict



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dazzleguts wrote:

CBJ wrote:...

dazzleguts wrote:Jay have you seen the old Po-ke-no sets with the "uncut" sheets of cards? I think they combine poker with bingo. The old courts on the cards are fancier than the usual USPCC, but the a of s has "by the makers of Bee and Bicycle" on it. They are very attractive courts. Would you collect something like that which is not really a deck of cards but has a specific deck pictured in the game?

I haven't seen them, do you have a pic??

Haven't looked at these in a while and it turns out I have 2 versions, one older than the other. I've never posted them here since they aren't really a deck of cards. Here is the more recent one first and it has the ace I talked about above. Turns out the courts are from the "Little Duke" deck USPCC used to make:

Po-Ke-No.jpg

Po-Ke-No box.jpg

This second version is older and has the "Little Duke" ace. The courts are the same only more detailed and with more subtle colours:

Po-Ke-No Little Duke.jpg

Po-Ke-No Little Duke box.jpg

The card sheets are 7 1/4" x 9 3/4", or 18.4 x 24.8 cm. So each card is 1 1/4" x 1 3/4", or 3.2 x 4.4 cm. There are 12 card sheets in each set.

These are pretty cool, but not something I would add to my collection.

Thanks for the pics!

Here we go... Box #4








































































This box was pretty standard stuff, except for the Grand opening deck....















How did I get them?

I had talked about it a few post back with the 125th Anniversary test decks. Here's what I wrote:

"I had friend who had a contact at USPC. They put me in touch with them, and told me about some of the decks that they had been given over time.
They agreed to sell me some of their stuff, so the wife and I planned a road trip down to Erlanger. I met up with them, and went through their stash. (about 3 totes worth)
I walked away with a few gems! You'll see the rest in later posts."

This was by far the best deck that I was able to snag!


Jay



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Jay, do you have the boxed set with the floorboards from the old factory. I think its a 125th set if memory serves. I'd love to get my hands on that!

Kdklown wrote:Jay, do you have the boxed set with the floorboards from the old factory. I think its a 125th set if memory serves. I'd love to get my hands on that!

No, I wish!!

I've only ever seen 2. A guy named Liberto had one, and then recently Bicycle gave one away on their FB page.

I instantly messaged the winner to see if he'd be willing to sell/trade, but he shot me down

Jay...

I would love to say I would find out where you lived to rob you of your collection, but the trail of opened cellophane would lead the cops straight to me.

Seriously man I am baffled... and almost in tears because of the amount of money I will spend to try and catch up with you.

Jeez all these vintage, heritage etc. reprints look great. Maybe I'll get an oldie deck one of these days.

Here we go... Box #5





















































































Nothing too special in this box, except for the "Made In America / John Ratzenberger" deck







John Ratzenberger went to the Bicycle plant for a show called "Made In America". Here's the video:







CBJ


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Thanks again for sharing CBJ. Where did you get the blue/aqua Nautic deck? I have the white and pink and got them from Target but I have never seen the aqua.

nECr0MaNCeD wrote:Thanks again for sharing CBJ. Where did you get the blue/aqua Nautic deck? I have the white and pink and got them from Target but I have never seen the aqua.

It looks green to me. But yeah, I've never seen that one either.

the green was an overseas exclusive.
I didn't spend too much for it. You can find them on Ebay most times

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bicycle-Nautic- ... 19e2d10921" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Jay

CBJ wrote:the green was an overseas exclusive.
I didn't spend too much for it. You can find them on Ebay most times

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bicycle-Nautic- ... 19e2d10921" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Jay

Thanks for the heads up and link. I'll wait to see if I can get it here in the states. $21 w/ shipping.... ouch.

Here we go... Box #6




























































And here are a few harder to find decks!




















Jay


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Did you pay a premium for the Pilipinas deck? I currently see it on eBay for around $50-$60 shipped, but I'm curious if there's a cheaper source.

I've never seen so many colors of the riderbacks before! What's the difference between the ones in box #5 and Box #6?

Sher wrote:Did you pay a premium for the Pilipinas deck? I currently see it on eBay for around $50-$60 shipped, but I'm curious if there's a cheaper source.

I've never seen so many colors of the riderbacks before! What's the difference between the ones in box #5 and Box #6?

If you're refering to the colorful ones, they're the MagicMakers Inc. Reversed backs as opposed to the regular ones (from box 5). If you're refering to the OriginalFake ones, those are super rare.. last I saw they were going for $30 each on ebay but I haven't checked for over a year. I don't even know if they're out there anymore. Nice find, Jay!

I just did a quick spread sheet and budget to see how much it will cost me to catch up to CBJ...... I fainted.... twice.

nECr0MaNCeD wrote:I just did a quick spread sheet and budget to see how much it will cost me to catch up to CBJ...... I fainted.... twice.

There is no way in Hell that spreadsheet was "quick."

You sir, have too much time on your hands.