More Transformation Decks - Chasing Hochman's List

If you don't know what a transformation deck is, jump over to my article explaining transformation decks.

Transformation Decks Build the Pips into an Image

At the most recent 52 Plus Joker Conference in Charlotte NC, I first heard about the idea of a Completist Collector. Matt Schacht used the expression in his talk where he self-identified as a Completist Collector meaning (as I understand it), a collector who likes having a defined finite list of items which he tries to collect all of. As an example in his case, he focused on The Souvenir Decks mentioned in Hochman Chapter 25. 

So I looked at the Transformation decks mentioned by Hochman in Chapter 18 and if I count the modern reproductions (which is as cheesy as can be), I have 6 out of the 15 that Hochman mentions. Here's the status of my collection in completing a collection of the 15 trans decks that Hochman lists. 

Hochman Transformation Decks - Chapter 18					V 11-14-2025
	Year	Deck	Mine	Publisher	Comments	Reprints
T1	1833	BARTLETT	2023 reprint	Caleb Bartlett, NY,	Identical to three decks produced Europe ~15 years earlier, known as Beatrice or Fracas,	2023
T2	1860	Samuel Hart		Samuel Hart & Co.,	copied from Braun and Schneider, Munich, Germany ten years earlier
T2a	1860	Samuel Hart		Samuel Hart & Co.,	minor changes
T3	1876	Eclipse Comic	deck, 52+J	F.H. Lowerre, NY,	Centennial deck, first original transformation deck to be published in USA
T4	1879	Tiffany Harlequin	reprint	Tiffany & Company, NY,	The most artistic of American transformation decks, designed by C.E. Carryl	1974
T5	1883	Murphy Varnish		Murphy Varnish Co	Transformation and advertising deck
T6	1888	Harlequin Insert		Kinney Tobacco Co	Cards individually found in Sweet Caporal cigarette packs
T7	1889	Harlequin Insert		Kinney Tobacco Co	Collecting all 53 insert cards earned a full size transformation deck (see T8)
T8	1889	Harlequin Insert		Kinney Tobacco Co	first American transformation deck to include courts with transformed pip designs
T9	1895	Hustling Joe I,		USPC	a clever pseduo transformation deck- see pics
T10	1895	Hustling Joe I,	reprint	USPC	Fixed colored background problem which made deck poor for games	reprint
T11	1895	Vanity Fair	deck, 52+J	USPC	Transformation deck. Courts are clever & comical but not transofrmed
T12	1896	Y Witches Fortune-Telling	deck, 52+J	USPC	More of a fortune-telling deck but included...
T13	1905	Funny Sport		Contiental PC Co, NY	Pips had comical faces, every card had a motto or statement
T14	1977	Sutherland-Brown		Laura Sutherland	Transformation-like

If you don't know anything about Transformation decks, click ASAP to my introductory article about Transformation decks.  If you do understand the concept, then stick around as I move away from the Hochman completist idea and provide some updates on my transformation deck collecting...

Here's descriptions of three of my transformation decks (others are covered in my other transformation deck article): 

• Vanity Fair Transformation Deck of 1895.
  
• Fronmann and Bunte or Jeanne Hachette 1870 Transformation Deck 
• Circus Transformation Deck by F. Robert Schick, 1988

Vanity Fair Transformation Deck of 1895. This is the first transformation deck by USPC and it is very well done. Here's a few pip cards.

The Five Spades - all in their traditional spot - are
cleverly integrated with five images

The Two of Spades from the 1895
Vanity Fair Transformation Deck 

The Three of Spades from an 1895 Transformation Deck 
Transformation Decks Started in Germany in the early 1800s

The royal cards are not transformed but they are original and humorous. The joker is a devil. A complete set of photographs of the deck is available on the World of Playing Cards (out of England) or on the World Wide Playing Card Museum website (out of Russia by Alexander Sukhorukov).

Vanity Fair Transformation Deck of 1895: Joker, Ace, and Back

Vanity Fair Transformation Deck of 1895 - Humorous Royal Cards

I also recently acquired the Fronmann and Bunte or Jeanne Hachette 1870 Transformation deck published by B.P. Grimaud.  A reproduction deck was printed in 1976 by J. Chr. Sorensen of Copenhagen of a transformation pack. Here's information about it on The World of Playing Cards on Jeanne Hachette and the WWPCM on Jeanne Hachette.  

Jeanne Hachette 1870 Transformation Deck

Jeanne Hachette 1870 Transformation deck - Ten of Hearts

Eight of Hearts - Jeanne Hachette 1870 Transformation deck

Jeanne Hachette 1870 Transformation deck: Ace, Two, or Three of Clubs

Here's a quick scan (thanks Peter) from Albert Field Transformation playing cards about the Fronmann and Bunte or Jeanne Hachette 1870 original and modern Transformation decks. (need to rescan...)

Albert Field Transformation Playing Cards Book
Excerpt about the Fronmann and Bunte 1870

The Circus Transformation Deck was designed by F. Robert Schick. When he died in 1988, his widow worked with Carti Mundi to get the deck published in 1000 copies. My example is 792 and is one of my rare unopened decks.

Here are a few card images of the The Circus Transformation Deck was designed by F. Robert Schick with image credit going to The World of Playing Cards (since my deck remains sealed)

The Jokers of the
The Circus Transformation Deck 
by F. Robert Schick1989

Comng soon - my write up of the Inky Dinky, Gab of Bones, transformation playing card deck which just arrived this week.

Another transformation deck of note (ie, not a modern reproduction) that I own is the the Eclipse Comic Playing Cards Deck. It is described in my previous article on transformation decks. There are also some super interesting modern transformation decks by Peter Wood and by Elaine Lewis. I also, as mentioned in the table above, have some modern reproductions of the best historical transformation decks. Enjoy!