We love all things Playing Cards here at PCD and love to share it with our customers or anyone who is just curious. Here you will find our collection for various articles on playing card history, trivia and in depth interviews on creators and others involved in playing cards whether they be playing card collectors, magicians, cardists or manufactures. All articles were originally published in our “All-In” Playing Card Blog. You can also be notified of our new blog posts by signing up for our weekly email newsletter.
Frequently Asked Questions for New Collectors
Playing Card Basics
- How Playing Cards are Made (July 30, 2018)
- What To Look For In a Quality Deck of Playing Cards (September 11, 2018)
- The Bicycle Brand: Is it really worth the money to get a Bicycle deck? (September 18, 2018)
- How Should I Look After My Deck? 24 Tips for Making Playing Cards Last (October 30, 2018)
- Card Clips: What Are They, and Why Get One? (August 21, 2018)
- Factors That Affect the Handling of a Deck – Part 1 (February 12, 2019)
- Factors That Affect the Handling of a Deck – Part 2 (February 19, 2019)
- Breaking in a New Deck: Why & How? (March 5, 2019)
- Playing Cards Made of Different Materials (April 2, 2019)
- The Cartamundi Decks (June 18, 2019)
- Products For Display & Storing Your Decks (July 23. 2019)
- Products For Carrying & Protecting Your Decks (August 6, 2019)
- More Great Gift Ideas for the Playing Card Collector (August 20, 2019)
- The Art of Card Shuffling (October 29, 2019)
- Playing Card Terms You Should Know (February 4, 2020)
- 7 Top Marked Decks (March 17, 2020)
- 7 More Top Marked Decks (April 7, 2020)
- How To Create Your Own Deck (July 14, 2020)
- The Luxury & Innovation of Foil Playing Cards (January 13, 2021)
- Where to Buy Playing Cards (January 20, 2021)
- 10 Types of Playing Cards You Should Know About (March 9, 2021)
- 10 More Types of Playing Cards You Should Know About (March 16, 2021)
- What You Need to Know About USPCC’s Crushed Stock (October 27, 2021)
Playing Card History
- The History of Playing Cards: The Evolution of the Modern Deck (October 16, 2018)
- The Creative Genius of Transformation Playing Cards (June 26, 2018)
- 20th Century Transformation Playing Cards (July 10, 2018)
- Modern Era Transformation Playing Cards (July 23, 2018)
- Restoration Versions of Famous American Decks (November 28, 2018)
- Debunking Common Myths About Playing Cards – Court Cards (January 1, 2019)
- The Iconic ARRCO Playing Cards (January 29, 2019)
- Debunking Common Myths About Playing Cards – Tarot & China (February 26, 2019)
- The Faro: A Card Shuffle and a Card Game (March 19, 2019)
- Playing Cards as Weapons of War (April 16, 2019)
- Historical Curiosities That Shaped Our Modern Deck #1 (May 7, 2019)
- Historical Curiosities That Shaped Our Modern Deck #2 (May 14, 2019)
- Different Uses For Playing Cards In Previous Centuries – Part 1 (June 24, 2019)
- Different Uses For Playing Cards In Previous Centuries – Part 2 (July 2, 2019)
- Using Playing Cards For Propaganda (November 5, 2019)
- Modern Hanafuda Cards Inspired By Ancient Japan (November, 13 2019)
- The Cotta Transformation Decks (March 24, 2020)
- The Legend Of The Dead Man’s Hand (March 31, 2020)
- The Legendary Jerry’s Nugget Playing Cards (June 30, 2020)
- The Case Of The Missing 40k Jerry’s Nugget Decks (July 7, 2020)
- Kickstarter Rockstars, Part 1: The Top 20 Most Funded Decks of Playing Cards of All Time (June 15, 2021)
- Kickstarter Rockstars, Part 2: The Top 40 Most Funded Decks of Playing Cards of All Time (June 22, 2021)
- Why You are Probably a Fan of Andrew Dougherty Without Even Knowing It (June 29, 2021)
- How Playing Card Improvements Have Helped Card Magic (December 15, 2022)
Playing Card Creators and Stories
- It All Began With A Deck of Cards: A life-changing Kickstarter success story (May 28, 2018)
- Introducing Some Talented Designers and Their Work (June 11, 2018)
- 2018 Ultimate Playing Card Holiday Gift Guide (November 12, 2018)
- 2020 Ultimate Playing Card Holiday Gift Guide (December 22, 2020)
- The Perils of Selling a Magic Product to the Mass Market (January 8, 2019)
- The Cartamundi Brand: USPCC’s Competition and Now Their New Owner (June 11, 2019)
- Playing Card Manufacturer: Noir Arts (NPCC) (September 2, 2019)
- Playing Card Manufacturer: Piatnik (September 9, 2019)
- Playing Card Manufacturer: Legends (LPCC) (September 19, 2019)
- The National Playing Card Collection Day Decks (October 15, 2019)
- Playing Card Manufacture: Make Playing Cards (MPC) (October 21, 2019)
- PCD Produced Decks In 2019 (December 3, 2019)
- Brand Spotlight: Theory11 (January 2, 2020)
- Brand Spotlight: Ellusionist (January 7, 2020)
- Playing Card Publisher US Games Systems (February, 25, 2020)
- Playing Cards About Novels (April 21, 2020)
- The Solitaire Mystery (April 28, 2020)
- Alice In Wonderland (May 5, 2020)
- Brand Spotlight: Art Of Play (May 12, 2020)
- Playing Card Designer: Randy Butterfield (June 2, 2020)
- Playing Card Designer Alex Chin (June 11, 2020)
- Brand Spotlight: Guru Playing Card Co (August 4, 2020)
- Brand Spotlight: Vanishing Inc. (August 11, 2020)
- Playing Card Designer: Karin Yan (September 29, 2020)
- Playing Card Manufacturer: Taiwan Playing Card Co (October 20, 2020)
- Playing Card Manufacturer: Hanson Chien Playing Cards (December 29, 2020)
- A New Benchmark from LPCC and EPCC (February 23, 2021)
- Award-winning Decks of the Year (March 2, 2021)
- The First Ever Million Dollar Playing Card Project on Kickstarter (September 21, 2021)
- Brand Spotlight: Usui (November 3, 2021)
- Let’s Visit an International Playing Card Convention! (Part 1) (December 2, 2021)
- Let’s Visit an International Playing Card Convention! (Part 2) (December 8, 2021)
- Brand Spotlight: Penguin Magic (December 14, 2021)
- Bicycle Goes Digital By Launching their NFT Collection of Playing Cards (December 17, 2020)
- A Personal Tour with Some Playing Card Collectors and Creators (January 19, 2022)
- The Mystery of The Newest Million Dollar Playing Card Kickstarter (February 7, 2022)
- The Collectors and Cards at a Playing Card Convention (March 8, 2022)
- Deck Releases and Deck Awards at 52 Plus Joker’s Convention (March 15, 2022)
- The 52 Plus Joker Club and Virtual Conventions (March 22, 2022)
- Playing Card Manufacturer: Shenzhen Wangjing Printing Company (WJPC) (March 30, 2022)
- The Best Decks of 2021: A Gallery of Award Winners (April 26, 2022)
- 10 Top Decks Produced by PlayingCardDecks (July 11, 2022)
- 25 Things to Love About PlayingCardDecks.com (July 18, 2022)
- 10 Top Playing Card Designers (August 29, 2022)
- Diamond Award winner Stockholm17 and his Notorious Gambling Frogs (October 19, 2022)
Playing Card Trivia & Novelties
- Interesting Facts About Playing Cards (April 23, 2019)
- Why So Many Different Decks of Custom Playing Cards? (May 19, 2018)
- Market Saturation: Are There Too Many Decks of Custom Playing Cards? (December 4, 2018)
- Hype Decks and Popular Playing Card Series (January 5, 2021)
- Telltale Signs That You Have Too Many Playing Cards (March 30, 2021)
- Playing Card Enthusiast, Collector, or Addict – Which Are You? (July 20, 2021)
- Alternative Uses for Playing Cards (May 15, 2018)
- Playing Card World Records (July 29, 2019)
- Common Playing Card Nicknames (June 4, 2019)
- The Impact of Playing Cards on the English language (January 22, 2019)
- Great Quotes & One-Liners About Playing Cards (March 26, 2019)
- Flip-book Animation Playing Cards (April 20, 2020)
- When Playing Cards Become Puzzles, Part 1 (August 3, 2021)
- When Playing Cards Become Puzzles, Part 2 (August 10, 2021)
- How To Make an Impossible Bottle (December 10, 2019)
- World Record Card Houses (May 25, 2021)
- Crafting with Playing Cards: Kirigami (July 27, 2021)
- Small Details You May Have Missed in Some of Your Favorite Playing Cards (June 1, 2021)
- 10 Top Information Videos About Playing Cards (July 7, 2022)
- 10 Top “How To” Videos For Getting More Out Of Your Playing Cards (September 13, 2022)
Card Games
Solitaire
- What You Should Know About Solitaire (June 16, 2020)
- What’s Good About Solitaire Card Games (May 12, 2021)
- The 3 Most Played Solitaire Games: Klondike, Spider, FreeCell (June 23, 2020)
- Two More Most Played Solitaire Games: Pyramid & Golf (September 9, 2020)
- Popular Builder Solitaire Card Games (December 8, 2020)
- More Popular Builder Solitaire Card Games (February 2, 2020)
- 10 Builder Solitaire Card Games With Unusual Layouts (March 23, 2021)
- 10 Less Common but Popular Two-Deck Solitaire Card Games (May 18, 2021)
- Popular Adding and Pairing Solitaire Card Games (July 7, 2021)
- Simple Non-Builder Solitaire Card Games (August 17, 2021)
- Simple Builder Solitaire Card Games (September 1, 2021)
- Advantages of Digital Solitaire (August 18, 2020)
- Best iPad & iPhone Solitaire Apps (August 25, 2020)
- Best Digital Resources For Playing Solitaire (November 25, 2020)
- Special Features for Your Best Experience With Digital Solitaire (January 26, 2021)
- Popular Non-Builder Solitaire Card Games (December 30, 2021)
- Single-Deck Builder Solitaire Games That You Should Try (May 10, 2022)
- Single-Deck Non-Builder Solitaire Games That You Should Try (May 17, 2022)
- Solitaire Games You’ve Never Heard of Before Which You Should Try (October 14, 2022)
Cardistry
Card Magic
- How to Get Started in Card Magic (July 9, 2019)
- Why Children Should Try Card Magic (January 14, 2020)
- Recommended Resources For Beginners In Card Magic (July 16. 2019)
- Why You Should Try Self-Working Card Tricks (November 19, 2019)
- 10 of the Best Self-Working Card Tricks (November 26, 2019)
- 10 More of the Best Self-Working Card Tricks (March 10, 2020)
- Popular Self Working Card Tricks for Beginners (January 20, 2020)
- Golden Rules For Magic (December 17, 2019)
- The Magician’s Oath (April 14, 2020)
- 10 Important Tips for New Magicians (November 10, 2020)
- How Well Do You Know Playing Cards (September 22, 2020)
- Why Do Magicians Use Marked Decks? (February 15, 2022)
- What is the Ideal Marked Deck for Card Magic? (February 21, 2022)
- Starting with Hugard and Braue’s The Royal Road to Card Magic (April 12, 2022)
- Moving beyond Hugard and Braue’s The Royal Road to Card Magic (April 19, 2022)
- The Best Factory Printed Marked Bicycle Decks (May 26, 2022)
- Powerful Marked Bicycle Decks That Use a Stack (June 8, 2022)
- Recommended Marked Decks Besides Factory Printed Bicycle Decks (June 15, 2022)
- 10 “Must See” Card Magic Videos from 10 Top Magicians (November 15, 2022)
Playing Card Interviews
- Designer Randy Butterfield (Midnight Playing Cards) (March 13, 2018)
- Collector Mike Quinn (April 10, 2018)
- Magician Harry Lorayne (August 28, 2018)
- Designer Lorenzo Gaggiotti (Stockholm17 Playing Cards) (September 25, 2018)
- Retailer Will Roya (October 23, 2018)
- Designer Karin Yan (Bona Fide Playing Cards) (November 20, 2018)
- Designer Jody Eklund (Black Ink Playing Cards) (December 18, 2018)
- 2018 Deck of the Year Interview with Artist Alain Benoit (December 20, 2018)
- Designer Lee McKenzie (Kings & Crooks) (December 24, 2018)
- Designer Paul Carpenter (Encarded Playing Card Co.) (February 5, 2019)
- Collector & Reviewer Victor Jose (March 11, 2019)
- Collector & Curator Simon Wintle (World of Playing Cards) (April 9, 2019)
- Reviewer Magic Orthodoxy (May 21, 2019)
- Designer Giovanni Meroni (Thirdway Industries) (August 27, 2019)
- Magician & Collector Lee Asher (September 17, 2019)
- Designer Alex Chin (Portfolio52) (October 8, 2019)
- Magician Roberto Giobbi (December 24, 2019)
- Wholesaler Murphy’s Magic (January 28, 2020)
- Collector & Gaffer Don Boyer (The Deck Tailor) (March 3, 2020)
- Shipping Manager Beverly Bach (May 19, 2020)
- Magician & Teacher Jeff McBride (May 26, 2020)
- Card Thrower & Magician Rick Smith Jr (July 21, 2020)
- Collector Steve Brooks On Playing Cards (September 16, 2020)
- Magician Steve Brooks On Magic & The Magic Café (December 16, 2020)
- Veteran Collectors Tom and Judy Dawson (October 6, 2020)
- Collector, Creator & Consultant Max (February 17, 2021)
- Accessory Creator Sherman Tsao (Carat Case Creations) (April 6, 2021)
- Designer Artur Rajch (September 29, 2021)
- Designer AZURED OX (the artist behind the Cotta’s Almanac Reproduction decks) (November 4, 2021)
- Antique Playing Card Collector Kevan Seaney (January 4, 2022)
- Playing Card Designer Elettra Deganello (March 2, 2022)
- Playing Card Historian and Antique Collector Jason McKinstry (April 5, 2022)
- Magician and Creator Kellar O’Neil (November 30, 2022)
