Though The Collector's Guide to Playing Cards will mostly be used as a pricing guide for playing card collectors, the book does include around 30 pages of content before the price guide begins that gives plenty of information on the origins of playing cards. Fans will hear plenty of theories on how and why a deck of playing cards use the two primary colors of red and black, why the amount of cards in a deck and weeks in a year are the same number and more. The book then goes on to explain the true origins of playing cards that can be traced all the way back to the 1400s before spreading around the world and receiving many different rule changes and design changes before arriving at the 52 card set used all around the world that we see today. The pre-guide content is really interesting and one of the most enjoyable sections of the entire book.
The rest of the 100+ pages featured in The Collector's Guide to Playing Cards covers the suggested prices of some of the most expensive card decks of all-time. The section is obviously good for looking up the prices of decks, but collectors can also use the pages to search through and find decks they may have not known about prior to purchasing the book, and there are plenty of colorful pictures for each deck that are just fun to look at. The book obviously doesn't hold information on every single deck ever printed. The content of the guide is sorted alphabetically, which isn't always the best way to look up a deck of cards, especially if the exact name of the cards is unknown by the reader. A helpful glossary of decks in the back of the book help readers look up decks more easily than sorting through the twelve or so decks featured on each page though.
The Collector's Guide to Playing Cards is a softcover guide that is easy to pick up and read but may not hold up to the test of time, though the book's content would likely be long stale by then anyhow. The pages in the book are a high quality paper with a glossy finish that makes every page turn feel good while making the images on the page really shine, literally. The Collector's Guide to Playing Cards is a good book to simply pick up and look through to spot the various types of card decks that have been printed in the country over the years, but the book's content is high quality too. Several Internet and eBay searches showed prices that fared very well with the prices given in the guide, and carrying the book into a hobby store or flea market may just help collectors to haggle a better deal from the seller.
The Collector's Guide to Playing Cards is a good read for hardcore playing card collectors or for a casual read for fans looking to get a new hobby, and it makes a nice addition to the top of any coffee table. The content of the book is top rate, and the materials used to craft the book aren't too shabby either. The colorful images on each page pop thanks to good layout on each page and high quality images that capture the playing cards perfectly. Readers will be able to look up the price of decks without needing a computer and Internet connection handy with The Collector's Guide to Playing Cards, and they are sure to learn several things they never knew about the history of playing cards by reading through the pages of the book. Check out The Collector's Guide to Playing Cards from Schiffer Publishing in stores right now!
Book Information:
- Publisher: Schiffer Publishing
- Author: Mark Pickvet
- Softcover
- 160 Pages
- Release: March 2014
Score: 8 out of 10