Transformational Decks of Playing Cards

The article is now obsolete. The new updated article is:

My Transformation Decks.

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As I understand it, a transformation deck of playing cards designs the pips into the image of each card. Below for instance is a nine of hearts from a Peter Wood transformation deck: Notice that the there are nine hearts in the image placed in the exact spots where they would be placed in a standard deck but they are integrated into the overall image. It's a very very special art form.  

Can you see the nine hearts in this image?
Transformation Playing Cards

I have two transformation decks that I bought from Peter Wood from the UK. I have a 2000PIPs and Wild!  The box of each deck is signed by Peter Wood himself.

2000PIPS by Peter Wood
Joker 1
Transformation Deck

2000PIPS by Peter Wood
Joker 2
Transformation Deck

 Take a look at how beautifully Peter Wood has worked the pips into the design for each of these cards in the 2000PIPS deck.

2000PIPS by Peter Wood
 Transformation Deck

Can you see the nine hearts in this image?
Transformation Playing Cards

The 2000PIPS Deck
Box and Back
Printed by the Design & Print Partnership

The Wild! Deck was designed by Peter Wood
Copyright Newt's Playing Cards

In the Wild! cards,  the pips are again woven into the card designs. But the designs are a little simpler and are themed to cover the animals.  They are copyrighted by Newts Playing Cards at NewtsCards.com, a Playing Card Superstore (sic).

Wild! Animal Cards

Here's a transformation deck that I added to my collection in late 2019. It was purchased from the Gamblers Warehouse. It was published by Sunnish Chabba and Ishan Trevida of the Guru Playing Card company, Melbourne Australia. It's a tribute (does this mean reprint?) of "the beautiful work of Garnet Walch & George Gordan McRae titled "On the Cards. Or, A Motley Pack. A Christmas Annual published in Melbourne in the year 1875..." 

There are degrees of transformation decks.... true versus so-called transformation decks! 

I have several more transformation decks but Peter Wood's were the first I bought and the 2000PIPS deck is my favorite. It turns out in the esoteric world of the challenge of design transformation decks, there is room for fine distinctions and for people to declare the concept of "so called" and "true" transformation decks.

 For instance, the description of my Circus Transformation Playing Card Deck by F Robert Schick (1924-1988) says:  "..in designing this true Transformation Deck (emphasis added), the artist has exercised no poetic license whatsoever with manipulating the sizes, placement or shapes of the 'pip's unlike some of the few "so-called" Transformation Decks which have been designed in recent years.'

Stay tuned for my article about  my Circus Transformation Playing Card Deck by F Robert Schick.  (It's been nine years and we are still waiting on that article...)

Ebay Auctions for Joker Playing Cards

Anyone else an Ebay Joker Card Purchaser?

I was feeling like spending a little money on myself and so, I clicked over to Ebay to look at joker playing cards and spent I think around $50- $100. I actually bid on about 20 items but 4 of them seem to have been immediately buys or already closed.   Here's the playing cards that are headed my way.

BTW, in the lots of cards, there were at least three jokers that I thought were interesting. One of the fun things about buying jokers online is the photography of them is already done so I have more visual fodder for my collection.

Here's the jokers that I purchased today so far....

The new jokers for me are
(counting L to R, Row 1, then 2):
Numbers 1, 3, 5, 7 & 9

I have most, maybe all,
of these jokers already but they
 seemed good buy anyway

Three liquor playing card jokers
They're all new to me!

Ugly jokers, aren't they?

This time on Ebay looking at jokers made me wonder about the other modern media.  So I poked around on Twitter and found:  @PlayingCardBlog @PlayingCards @CardsCollector . There's probably a whole community of joker and playing card aficionados there and maybe a hashtag or two that I should figure out. I did start to look at their followers and there's one company that seems worth calling out, the Worshipful Company of Makers of Playing Cards. 

I don't have a Twitter handle dedicated to this topic so you can reach me as @VSpellCityMayor which is my day job (it greatly interferes with my passion for collecting). Actually, that's not altogether true in that I also collect vintage educational technology tools which has turned out to be perfect decorating theme for my high tech edtech company.  And I do have some jokers on the wall in my office and we did do a corporate deck of cards with our own characters as jokers.

For those who are wondering, my Ebay name is johnegood.  The fun in joker collecting for me is to do it without spending money. What this means is that I tend to spend about a $1 per new joker.    I do often spend more.  I have a hard upper limit of spending no more than $5 per new joker.  Unless of course I've been drinking in which case I might go wild and spend $10 for a particularly beautiful joker.  For me, the most beautiful jokers are the ones that do a clever variation on a theme.  Favorites might be:

My Favorite Jokers: Classic Playing Card Jokers

My own Jokers designed

Jokers sitting cross legged

Jokers in my office

Actually, I'm going to have to think hard about my favorites.  Some of my favorite pages from the albums don't seem to show up on the website except in the joker card video...

Joker Playing Card Collection Videos

Nine Flying Jokers

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My Favorite Jokers: Classic Playing Card Jokers

YO! THERE'S A NEW UPDATED ARTICLE ON FAVORITE JOKERS.

These three are among my favorite playing card jokers. They're all classics or minor variations on joker classics.  On the far right, there's the jester bust  holding his bauble or jester stick. Lets call him Floater. In the middle, there's the newly colorized Bicycle joker.  And on the left, there's a jester on the globe scattering cards all over. ScatterMan! My favorites:.

My favorite playing card jokers

The next one is a new one to my collection. He is a very cool joker dude. His deck back is also minimalist. I believe that he is one of the new collector decks that are being put out regularly by the US Playing Card Company.

I think these two are among the most beautiful jokers. They also are faithful to the joker tradition using the card elements and the jester.  They are designed by Peter Word, a British article and card designer. They are from transformational decks.

Here are some more favorites.

This joker was designed by me. Not that I'm an artist or have skills. I sat with the designer and told her (Juliana) what I wanted. It's in the topsy turvy tradition where there is no upside own.   Note the variation on the traditional jesters wand or bauble: the cat has a mouse head and visa versa.

This cat and mouse are in the VSC Hangman Online Hangmouse game. Highly recommended!

Also in this post, I thought that I would call out some previous posts such as:

Playing Card Jokers Hanging In My Office.

More Jokers on the Wall  

Modern Art Jokers

Joker Collection Videos on YouTube

Pinup Girlie Porn and Erotic Jokers

This section of erotic (pinups, pornographic) jokers is obsolete. It got  too large so it is now split into subsections each with its own articles. The new sections are the bikini girls (the essentials covered), illustrations, old fashioned, Asian, and harder core.

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It is with mixed feelings that I share some of my racier jokers starting with nine Asian ladies. Pardon my pun and of course, if this offends you, move on. There are lots of other joker pages to look at which don't raise hackles or questions.  I sort of agree with you but I'm an equal opportunity joker collector.

So here are my pin-up jokers, the naughty jokers, my girlie jokers, my erotic jokers, the porn jokers, the glamor shot joker playing cards. I have quite a large collection of porn jokers some of which are too obscene to share (I might get rated X by Google!)

(UPDATE  I just counted and I now have 112 jokers in this section - 12/23/2018).

Lets start with nine different pretty Asian lady jokers. The girls are in bikinis, pin up style.  Sort of cute and innocent (as this sort of stuff goes).

Pretty Asian Girls in Bikinis on Joker Cards

 These girlie jokers come in many different levels of artsiness, explicitness, or porn-ness. And there are some boys too!

The next two jokers are from the same deck. They're real collectors items:  they are classy, subtle, a little hot, and funny.

Le Florentin

I have two of these. One is the album, the other is framed on the wall in my home office.  Here's some more info on the two jokers above. They are from a French deck: "Le Florentin" by Draeger Freres - Editions Philibert. France 1955. Limited & numbered edition playing cards designed by Paul-Emile Becat. 12,000 decks where printed. Each deck was numbered. Blue and red backs. per Tom van Berkum on the Facebook Joker Collectors Group. Thanks Tom!

And here's the back from the Le Florentin.

HEH, if this section is really not your thing but you like jokers, here's some ideas of where you might go next.

 Standing jokers - All FULLY Clothed.
Jokers who are dancing
Jokers doing tricks or performing.
Jokers who are juggling.
Jokers who are simply a head or head and torso.

And then back to the modern world and a series of girls-gone-wild, bourdoir photography, Bond girls, and some classic pinup shots from a bygone era. Plus a bunch of jokers from Hooters.

Girl in Bikini With a Car on a Joker

Vargas Girl Jokers

A Bond Girl Joker - 007!

A Hot Faun Joker

This next one feels very 1980s to me.

Hot Bikini Girl Joker

Ironically, this section is kept in the same album with the Christmas jokers (complete with angels and cherubs!)

HEH, if this section is really not your thing but you like jokers, here's some ideas of where you might go next.

 Standing jokers - All FULLY Clothed.
Jokers who are dancing
Jokers doing tricks or performing.
Jokers who are juggling.

Jokers who are simply a head or head and torso.

If you've made it this far, I'm assuming you are not too offended by pornographic jokers.  So, lets get a little more explicit. Ready for some B&B? (buttocks and boobs?)

Buttocks

Boobs

And here is an overview of the erotic joker section in the ensemble shots (updated Feb 2018).

Ironically, this section is kept in the same album with the Christmas jokers (complete with angels and cherubs!)

One famous pin up type girl who is not in this section is Betty Boop. I have two Betty Boop jokers but I'm not sure where they should be classified, take a look at Betty Boop jokers and read about here role as a feminist icon.

This section is now split into subsections: the bikini girls (the essentials covered), illustrations, old fashioned, Asian, and harder core.