Roddy Somerville
- France • Member since May 31, 2022
Roddy started collecting stamps on his 8th birthday. In 1977 he joined the newly formed playing-card department at Stanley Gibbons in London before setting up his own business in Edinburgh four years later. His collecting interests include playing cards, postcards, stamps (especially playing cards on stamps) and sugar wrappers. He is a Past President of the Scottish Philatelic Society, a former Chairman of the IPCS, a Past Master of the Worshipful Company of Makers of Playing Cards and Curator of the WCMPC’s collection of playing cards. He lives near Toulouse in France.
B. Braun-Dexon®
Publicity pack promoting B. Braun-Dexon’s atraumatic needles, with non-standard courts and pips.
Bibaraja
Amusing designs of boys as circus performers by Alberto Muñiz Sánchez.
Peintres Latino Americains
Original artwork by 18 different Latin American artists.
54 Affiches Retro
54 different old French advertising posters, mainly for travel and health products.
Il Vostro Destino
Italian fortune-telling pack produced by Viassone and later by Masenghini.
Paco Lobo
Highly original and striking designs by Paco Lobo for the fashion house of the same name.
Loewe: Moda Europea Siglo XVII
Luxury pack for the Spanish fashion house Loewe, with 17th century costume designs by Margot Hamilton Hill.
Toros: De El Cordobés a Espartaco
Publicity pack for the Spanish newspaper Ya with caricatures of famous bullfighters by Fernando Vinyes.
Baraja de Alava
55 different paintings by Emilio Lope depicting the history and culture of Vitoria and the province of Álava.
Jeu du Bicentenaire de la Révolution Française
Pack created by Yannick Pennanguer commemorating the bicentenary of the French Revolution and the centenary of L’Est Républicain.
Sweden playing cards
Named characters from Swedish history.
Romania playing cards
Romanian voivodes and their wives from the 15th and 16th centuries.
Dutch Court playing cards
Games & Print Services’ version of the Dutch pattern.
Le jeu des 7 Familles ’Utuafare
Colourful Happy Families game from Tahiti depicting costumes from different archipelagoes.
Norfin® Trolls
Troll dolls with gaudy hairstyles in a multitude of different costumes.
Impressionist Art Cards
Details of 13 paintings by 8 different Impressionist artists on elongated cards.
ČZ playing cards
Advertising pack for the Czechoslovak motorcycle factory Česká Zbrojovka.
Bourbon Bridge
Attractive, woodcut-style courts adapted for modern play.
Bischofszell
Advertising pack for the food producer Bischofszell, designed by Heinz Looser-Brenner, with non-standard suits.
Scheffmacher
Advertising pack for Scheffmacher, master painters in Schaffhausen, with comic designs by Fritz Bünzli.
Jeu Boléro
Sweeping, semi-abstract designs by J.L. Jolin in red and black only.
The Lovers playing cards
Reproductions of old postcards with romantic messages for Valentine’s Day.
I Gatti Originali di Evelyne Nicod
Etchings of cats on a set of major arcana created by Evelyne Nicod.
Knoll International
Geometric designs by the French artist Jean Garçon for Knoll International, the furniture company.
Carte Osteologiche
Skulls and bones of all descriptions have become the suits and pips in this 40-card pack from Italy.
Marcello Morandini
Modern designs by Italian artist Marcello Morandini using the simplest of forms and colours.
Cartes à Jouer Fluorescentes
Standard French cards but printed with fluorescent inks on a black background.
SEMP playing cards
Modified Anglo-American courts advertising a French medical publishing company.
Tarot de Madrid
Black-and-white photographs of models whose faces are made up using elements found on the major arcana.
Portrait de Fribourg
Fine reproduction of a Fribourg pattern pack, originally by Jean-Jacques Burdel.
Claude Weisbuch
Free reinterpretation of the traditional Paris pattern courts by the artist Claude Weisbuch.
Orientierungslauf Skat
Humorous designs by Helmut Härtelt on the subject of orienteering.
Borna Skat
Publicity pack for the Saxon town of Borna, with designs by Andreas Wachter.
Postgeschichte
A celebration of different postal systems in Germany from 1630 to 1850, with designs by Volker Hartmann.
EPOC playing cards
Modern designs by Brazilian artist Maria Leonor Décourt inspired by standard English pattern courts.
Campari playing cards
Publicity pack for Campari, designed for the Portuguese or Brazilian market.
Batman® playing cards
Characters from Batman: The Animated Series on a pack issued in 1992.
Sylvanian Families mini playing cards
Miniature cards in sheet form with Sylvanian Families characters on the courts and Jokers.
Hôtels-Grils Campanile
Publicity pack for the Campanile hotel and restaurant chain featuring French provincial costumes, with designs by James Hodges.
Ripley’s Believe It or Not! playing cards
Strange facts from Robert Ripley’s ‘Believe It or Not’ books, in the form of cartoons.
Tavaglione playing cards
Well-designed pack by Giorgio Tavaglione, with courts in medieval costume.
Belgian/Genoese pattern from Turkey
All-plastic cards of the Belgian/Genoese type, made in Turkey.
MISSCŒUR
Elongated cards from France with a fourth court card, a Miss.
Jeu des Copains
French popular singing stars of the 1960s.
Wren 300 playing cards
Papercuts by Chloe Campbell of the 52 Wren churches in the City of London.
Marlow playing cards
Visitor attractions and businesses to be found in Marlow, Buckinghamshire.
Card Tricks
Stereotypical representations of gay men and men they most admire, in a 1981 pack from San Francisco.
Naipes de Personajes Granadinos
Forty famous men and women with links to Granada, on a pack designed by Rubén Garrido.
El Niño de las Pinturas
Forty-nine distinctive works by Spanish graffiti artist Raúl Ruiz.
Christmas 1980 playing cards
Festive courts on a Waddingtons pack designed to celebrate Christmas 1980.
Mediaeval Playing Cards
Finely executed late 19th century pack from the USA featuring courts in medieval costume.