PLAYING CARDS IN PREPARATION

	FIFTIES ADS Consumerism was king in 50s America. After WW2, industries that had mass-produced weapons of war churned out fridges and cars. But Rosie the Riveter — briefly liberated by essential war work — was now back in the kitchen or serving cocktails on planes. These classic ads of grinning housewives and perfect families are both icons of design and graphic images of yesterday's status symbol.
	For 2008
	The AMERICA'S CUP 54 classic photos of defenders and challengers in sailing's greatest regatta. From the schooners and sloops of the early years, through the majestic J-class and sleek 12-metre yachts, these graceful vessels recall the heyday of The AMERICA'S CUP, the oldest active trophy in international sport.
	PEDIGREE DOGS For doggy people everywhere, 54 breeds of popular and rare pedigrees in all their playful charm, in colourful and appealing photographs.
	RIGHT ROYAL LAUGH The QUEEN and the British ROYAL FAMILY are loved and admired the world over — for their dedication and bravery. But behind their sense of duty lies an equally strong sense of humour, as this collectors’ pack of PLAYING CARDS — featuring 54 great photos — reveals. Lurking beneath the ceremonial pomp of court life is a BELLY LAUGH bursting to get out!
	Olympic Glory: The Greatest Olympians 52 of the greatest athletes to have won gold at the Olympics, chosen by an award-winning sports writer. Jesse Owens, Zatopek, Spitz, Carl Lewis...Olympic legends who, like Bob Beamon on his day of glory, rose above all others. Their records may be broken, but their place in the sporting pantheon is unassailable.
	PIRATES! Pirates, buccaneers and privateers — Hollywood casts them as Robin Hoods or early pioneers of free enterprise, but the reality was different...the pirates of the golden age, from Drake to Blackbeard and the fearsome Anne Bonney, were ruthless murderers greedy for treasure, and not too fastidious about health and safety. 54 hand-coloured contemporary prints of pirates and pirate ships, with glamourous images of Hollywood's romantic world of swashbuckling heroes.
	RAILWAY ART THE GOLDEN AGE OF RAILWAYS, before the age of jet travel, coincided with a golden age of graphic and industrial design. Sleek American diesels, and streamlined European steam engines, were pictured in seductive posters by great artist designers like Maurer and Cassandre. The fusion of industrial beauty with brilliant typography create a memorable genre of POSTER ART, both nostalgic and powerful.
	TITANIC Commemorative PLAYING CARDS featuring iconic photographs of RMS TITANIC, her officers and passengers, and memorabilia. They convey the beauty of the doomed ship, and a nostalgic world of elegance and optimism. To accompany the pack, Nicholas Bird has written a concise summary — TITANIC: FACT & FABLE — of the Titanic story. Access the PDF by clicking here.
	OOOPS! Famous GAFFES, GOOFS & DUMB REMARKS Gaffes and stupid remarks of the famous, on every card - 'You are a woman, aren't you?' (Prince Philip) 'I owe a lot to my parents, especially my mother and father (Greg Norman) ’I hope I stand for anti-bigotry, anti-Semitism, anti-racism' (George Bush Sr.) ' I think we ought to raise the age at which juveniles can have a gun' (George W. Bush) 'Mansell can see him in his earphone' (Murray Walker)- with quirky photos of their authors. A treasure trove of idiocy.
	ELVIS LIVES! or HOLD THE FRONT PAGE! From the weird FREDDIE STARR ATE MY HAMSTER and the scarcely credible MERMAN CAUGHT IN SOUTH PACIFIC to classic headlines announcing WAR! and PEACE! these nostalgic front pages proclaim triumph and DISASTER! in graphics that reflect the elegant peaks and tawdry depths of high and low journalism.
	EGYPT ART Egypt, the land of the pyramids, ‘these oldest relics of human architecture’ as Pevsner called them, inspired some of the most powerful images in art, and the portraits of great kings and rulers from the pyramid age, the fourth dynasty of the Old Kingdom, are among the most beautiful.  Pared to essentials, highly stylized, ‘there is a solemnity and simplicity about them which one does not easily forget…reliefs and wall-paintings provide an extraordinarily vivid picture of life as it was lived in Egypt thousands of years ago.’  These 54 collectors’ PLAYING CARDS illustrate - on every card - the art of the pharaohs in sculpture, painting, ceramics and jewellery.
	CLASSIC MOVIE POSTERS 54 classic and cult MOVIE POSTERS from Europe and America - promoting movies both memorable and forgettable, but in this Golden Age from the 20th. century even the tackiest picture got the full studio treatment, stirring images, powerful graphics...
	Genius of CLASSICAL ART The masterpieces of Ancient Greece and Rome are fundamental to the development of Western art, to the Italian Hign Renaissance and beyond. The world of Alexander the Great inspired Rome to imitate and interpret Greek sculpture and painting and - like the Greeks - celebrate the human form, the mirror of how they saw themselves. From the sensuous beauty of Apollo and Venus, to the powerful portraits of heroes and Emperors, this connoisseur's pack is a tribute to the incomparable art of the ancients.
	WONDERS OF THE WORLD WONDERS OF THE WORLD on all 54 cards including natural wonders like the GRAND CANYON and MT. EVEREST, ancient man-made wonders like the PYRAMID of Giza, STONEHENGE and the GREAT WALL of CHINA through wonders of the classical world like the COLOSSEUM and HAGIA SOPHIA, to the more recent TAJ MAHAL and LEANING TOWER of PISA. A selection to stimulate, provoke and delight.