Frankendecks

 I just realized that I have accumulated a decent number of frankendecks. I did not set out to collect them but it turns out that I have bought at least six of them.  They are delightful. Two Martin Hills, one old Congress, one Kings Wild fully customized deck, and one modern plain one. Here's the details.

But first, what is a Frankendeck? Like the Frankenstein monster, a frankendeck is made up of parts from different decks. Specifically, no two cards can come from the same deck so a frankendeck is made up of 53 or 54 cards (including a joker or jokers), from 53 or 54 different decks. But the decks must all be of the same size and part of the fun, is to further restrict it and have all the cards come from the same publisher or something. Useless for playing most games, frankendecks are purely for collectors. 

Two Martin Hill Franken decks, both #18 out of 53! The packaging on these two decks is exquisite. They feel like they belong in Diagon Alley (which is part of the Harry Potter world for you illiterate muggles). 

Martin Hill Franken decks, both #18 out of 53

Here's the first of these two Frankendeck decks (It might be V2 of Martin Hill's decks.  The backs...

Martin Hill - Version 2 - Frankendeck - Limited Edition - Backs

And the fronts:

Martin Hill - Version 2 - Frankendeck - Limited Edition - Backs

Here's the backs of the second deck.

Here's the fronts of the deck

Here's some info on the Martin Hill decks by Portfolio52 who produced version 2 & 3. And I quote:

In 2022 Martin Hill produced a limited run of 54 Franken decks with a leatherette sleeve made to evoke Frankenstein’s monster. These gained a lot of interest and sold out, so much so that I decided in 2023 to produce a second (and now third) version modelled after Victor Frankenstein and his fiancé, Elizabeth.

While the V1 was stitched sleeve slipped over a random tuck from the decks used to create the Franken decks, the V2 and V3 outer elements are made by hand, included the inner tucks (or tray, in the case of the V2).

These have had amazing, continued support from many of the original purchasers of the V1 deck, the V2 and V3 have not had the same volume of interest. From lessons learned with the V2 which had delays he pivoted to shipping V2/V3 as pairs with matching edition numbers.

This Frankendeck is created with only old (ie wide) Congress 606 cards. They're from 1900 to 1920ish.  This is one of my best treasures.   

For you afficienados, I will  go through each card, suit by suit...Note that I mention the copyright date of the deck only when it is written on the back of the card (and when I can see it).

And before we do, let me mention that  in 1904, Congress published what they called a Multi Deck with a special brand number: 666.  Basically, it's a Frankendeck created by the publisher.  Was mine?  The box actually said Multi on it. I wonder how many they made? Want to see one? How about three? You can see Kevin's, Matt's, and Colin's (Seaney, Schacht, and Bradley respectively) multideck by looking at The Congress Guy's (Kevin's) website, the page on special decks.

The Joker and the diamonds 🔶🔶🔶🔶🔶🔶

Joker -🃏 1905 - Village Blacksmith  

2🔶 - 1904 - The Shower

3🔶 - George Washington on Horseback

4🔶 - Jane

5🔶 -  Viola

6🔶 - 1920 - The Ripples
7🔶 - Moorish 

8 🔶 1908 - Volendam

9 🔶 1906 - Moonlight (1906)

10 🔶1905 - Rose

J🔶- Sitting Bull

Q🔶 - Nymph

K🔶 - Poetry

A🔶- Oriental

 

Here's the Deuce to the Ace of Hearts 💗 💗 💗 💗 💗 💗 💗 

2💗  - 1909 - The Trail

3💗  - Moonlight (1906)

4💗  - 1906 - Colonial Girl

5💗  - Youth

6 💗  - 1905 - Summer

7 💗  - Diana

8💗  - 1920 - Solitude

9💗  - Desert

10💗  - 1920 - In Old Madrid

J 💗  - Gala Day

Q💗  -  1904 - Military

K💗  - 1908 - Beacon Light - James G Tyler

A💗  - 1906 - La France - 

Here's the Deuce to the Ace of Spades   ♠ ♠ ♠ ♠ ♠ ♠ ♠ ♠ ♠ ♠ ♠ ♠!

2 ♠  - Rube
3 ♠ - At Sea
4 ♠ - Harbor
5 ♠ - Apache
6♠ - Venice
7♠ - Tambourine 
8 ♠ - Berenice
9 ♠  - Rookwood
10 ♠ - 1905 - Autumn

J♠ - Yes or No

Q♠ -  Autumn
K♠ - Five AM
A ♠ - 1903 - Mistletoe

And here's the Clubs -  ♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣   

2♣  - Pocahontas
3♣  - 1909 - Dixie Girl 

4♣   - Liberty

5♣   - Good Night

6 ♣   - 1907 - Beauty's Mirror - 

7♣    - 1903 - Miss Demure - H.C. Christy

8♣    - Laughing Water

9♣    - 1915 - The Trooper 

10♣    - 1920 - Airedale 
J♣    -  Martha Washington
Q♣    - Homeward

K ♣    - Kaatje 

A♣    - The Minuet
 

This next Frankendeck came in an Old Ironsides Box. It's a Kings Wild Project.  The deck is made out of cards that are completely customized (ie none of them use standard fronts, all are custom)

Here are the fronts of the Kings Wild Frankendeck.

This last Frankendeck however is completely plain. Modern cards. Standard fronts. Narrow sized. No package. Hardly worth mentioning.

You should now read about:

- My limited edition numbered decks and questions about creating scarcity for collectable decks

- My Congress Jokers and Decks from the Matching Joker Era

- My Transformation Decks

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