IMPORTED PLAYING CARDS
History
Our first deck of playing cards, designed and illustrated in 2022, took inspiration from tobacco packaging and duty stamps from the early to mid 1900s. The project was ongoing for much of the year before being launched on Kickstarter in December. With no following or customer base, no reputation, and very little knowledge of how Kickstarter worked, the campaign did not reach its funding target...
story
We then re-launched the campaign in early 2023, this time with a very small following from the first campaign and some professional photography from the fantastic Chris Moyer aka chambertincards (whose photographs can be seen throughout our website). This campaign did much better, but still failed to successfully fund, for several reasons. Looking back now, we still didn't really have any idea what we were doing! But we had a product we believed in, that we had created with passion and hours and hours of hard work. We were determined to bring it to life...
release
We self-produced our first deck of playing cards and brought it to market in 2023, choosing to print with Legends Playing Card Co. after extensive research and play-testing with various premium manufacturers. The deck was a sleeper hit with several personalities in the playing card world publicly professing their appreciation and love for the classic style and hand-drawn finishing evident in Imported Playing Cards.
award nomination
Imported Playing Cards was nominated in the Deck Of The Year (DOTY) awards for 2023 in the Rookie Of The Year category for new creators.
theme
Imported Playing Cards is a premium quality vintage deck of playing cards paying homage to the golden age of playing card manufacturing and export, the early to mid 1900s, when decks of cards were printed by the million right here in England by makers like De La Rue and Goodall, and sent all over the world. When entering countries in Europe and South America, decks were opened by customs officials and stamped on the playing cards with the seal of Mercury to indicate duty-paid status. These stamps can be seen on our deck on the Aces.
SHOP IMPORTED PLAYING CARDS
Let customers speak for us
These cards came carefully packed in multiple layers of bubble wrap. Once opened it was clear that there was just as much, if not more love and care that went into the creation of these cards. They feel just like actual paper, but holds their shape extremely well even after countless shuffles. The designs of every court cards are beautiful and unique, not to mention the smooth vibrant colors on both the face and back of the cards. I’m very pleased with these cards!
Superb!!!...Love the design ....esp the Jokers...
genuinely the best poker cards. i am a poker dealer and everything is perfect. of the material is perfect but the font is premium.
Superb quality, keep their shape on the shuffle and look smart
I recently ordered some cards that did not arrive in the post as expected. I was able to fully explain the situation in which I felt listened to and provided with assurances that the issue would be looked into.
Alex maintained excellent communication throughout and the issue was resolved. Turns out the discrepancy was with Royal Mail and I now have my cards, which are in perfect condition.
I will definitely buy from Haines cards again :)
Very high quality. Such a unique and fun design on the cards.Highly recommend.
Very very nice coin! And made of real heavy steel! Not something made of a lightweight alloy.
These are really great cards! I initially bought three setups because the overall design was so nice. But impressed by the high quality of the cards, I ordered more. The plastic is very high quality, and the textured surface is quite thick, giving them a really nice feel when handling them.
Great quality cards -- beautiful and very easy to shuffle.
A very nice deck: classy design, cool retro-styled courts and handles very well
Beautifully designed and spookily illustrated cards - arrived just in time for Hallowe'en. These aren't a run of the mill deck by any means - these are works of art! Well done to the design team who have captured the feel and charm of vintage illustrations.
Love the cards! The index is in that Goldilocks zone and the red ink is bright and vibrant. Cards are very flexible and they shuffle like butter. Don't sleep on these!
Absolutely brilliant poker setup. Thin stock easy to shuffle, unique court design, lack of strong plastic smell present in other brands of plastic cards (if you ever handled Copags you’ll know) and simple elegant box with gilded crown. What more you could possibly want.
It’s amazing
Thank you for excellent customer service
What customers think about the store
This store delivers premium playing cards with exceptional design and quality. Customers praise the unique artwork, superior card stock, and excellent handling. Fast shipping with careful packaging ensures products arrive in perfect condition. Outstanding cust...