"Gamer Opinions - Old West cards?" Topic

Hey folks, waiting for my supporting membership to activate (I paid, just waiting I suppose).

So, for a Old West Ruleset I'm working on, what would players like more as the playing cards included with a set:

Blue deck is a repro-1864 poker deck, while the red deck is the Bicycle "Expert Back" vintage series.

I'm leaning toward the 1864 deck. Opinions good fellows?

I like the blue deck, the one with one symbol. Reflects cheap printing?

Bicycle cards have only been around since the late 1880s, if that makes a difference.

The repro 1864 poker deck is more reminiscent, I feel, of what the "cowboys" would have had. I'd go with something similar.

Jim

Another vote for the blue deck. Very retro.

I vote for the Blue Deck as well.

Blue deck.

Cool, that was what I was feeling. Yeah, the quality of the blue deck is top notch, but it is a repro of rather poorly printed cards. So, it has more of a feel. I also tend to like the squared edges etc.

The price difference is minimal. I'd like to hear from more people, but the response has been mostly blue here and on other sites. Thanks guys!

PS: Yes, the Bicycle Expert Back is apparently a throwback to their 1895 deck…so there is a rather huge gap between the two.

I vote for the Bicycle deck. I like the worn and beaten look.

Yeah, the worn look is nice – but on some of the cards it's very poorly applied (and the non-touched areas are blazingly white, like fake-teeth from a TV commercial white). The blue deck only has some minor patina on the back of the cards.

What is not overly apparent in my pictures also is that the 1864 cards have a very soft beige tint to them, as opposed to the white base from the Bicycle ones.

Keep the info coming. If I sold enough copies I'd be able to allow buyers to choose, but I think my goal numbers will only let me make a bulk purchase from one manufacturer.

So, for a Old West Ruleset I'm working on, what would players like more as the playing cards included with a set:

If the deck is a standard deck, I would not include it with tabletop gaming rules to keep costs down. It is really an add-on. If these are custom cards like Piquet or C&CA, I like the block-printed blue backs.

The game will be available in two forms. Also, the cards will be provided "at cost" to players, saving them about 55-60% over buying them elsewhere.

The "basic" version will not include tokens/dice/poker cards etc. Thus if you have two (identical) poker decks there will be need for them. Likewise you could hop down to the local drug store and buy normal Bicycle cards for what…$1 a pack as well.

It'll be up to the players/purchasers. Not a big deal.

I currently use the 1864 repro deck for all Old West games that need a deck, it's a great set of cards and not that hard to get used to.