The story of Key West playing cards:
Back in the dark ages before there was Poker Chip Forum, we all gathered over on Chiptalk. When I first started collecting casino chips, I got some Key Wests, and eventually ended up owning the exclusive rights to the artwork for that chip -- Red's shenanigans notwithstanding.
One day, a Chiptalk member suggested I make some playing cards to match the chips, with the Key West logo on them. "No problem," I though. "I'll just call up the good folks at U.S. Playing Card Co., and tell them to slap the Key West logo on the back of some KEM cellulose acetate plastic cards and print a few hundred decks." So I called and said something like that into the phone.
There was a long silence. The polite woman on the line explained that I had unwittingly violated some of the cardinal rules surrounding the religion of making playing cards.
My first thought of what the cards would look like. All they had to do was say "yes."
I was quickly brought up to speed. I could not use cellulose acetate unless I ordered 20,000 decks or 10,000 setups. I could never use the KEM brand on the decks.
I apologized profusely, and asked about doing some of those nice coated paper casino cards with the "Bee" back design we've all seen. Surely, this could not be a faux pas, as the company regularly made those cards for lots of casinos, large and small, and even some card rooms.
Again, I messed up. No, I could not use the "Bee" back design for my cards unless I did .... I can't really remember how many tens of thousands of cards. And there was an issue around the "Key West" name on the cards. They would not do it unless I had "my lawyers" call their legal department and clear the design from any copyright issues, and essentially prove that no Key West Resort & Casino existed. They thought the owners of some real casino named Key West would sue them.
She told me to get back in touch with her after the lawyers worked out all these issues, and the cards were "cleared with legal." She essentially told me to go f%@k myself. But politely. I was a police officer, and people told me to go f%@k myself about a dozen times a day. I was not deterred.
I tried other card makers. The people at Gemaco were genuinely the nicest. Yes, they would do the cards any way I would like. They "got it," and completely understood what I was seeking. But they had very, very high minimum order quantities. I seem to recall 20,000 decks as the magic number at around $3 or $4 each. I tried all the others. Some said, "No, non, nyet, iye, etc."
I collected about 15 sample decks from "custom card makers" who offer beautiful photos of cards that look real. Their cards were generally awful. Most came in unmarked, white paper window boxes that showed the deck. Open it once, and you'll never use the box again. The cards were really bad, and you could even see the pips through some of them.
I stumbled upon Liberty Playing Card Co., of Arlington, Texas.Their sample decks were amazing. They made some great cards for the Norman Rockwell Museum featuring full-color Rockwell art on the card back. They did decks for colleges, pro football teams, and rock bands. They did decks for the U.S. Army with bad guys on the face cards. If you made enough cards, you could get full tuck boxes printed.
Two of the sample card backs Liberty sent. The WSU card is a custom cut.
And their cards felt good, like real playing cards -- not like some of those party favor decks. They're certainly not KEM WSOP decks, but you can't get those anyway, unless you're the WSOP or have a Bat Cave under your stately manor.
I called Liberty. Yes, they would do custom colors to match the Key West chips, and a custom back. (Legal issues? What legal issues? They were in Texas.)
John from J5 Design agreed to draw a new custom card back for the decks. He even made a custom casino ace of spades, which Liberty put on the front of the card. John also did the box design to Liberty's specs. (Later, I did some of the legwork to copyright the design for John.)
Some of J5's amazing design suggestions. Can you pick out the one we used?
They did a small test run -- 600 decks, 300 in each color -- despite their MOQs. The cards arrived on May 10, 2012. Five months later, they were all sold. A toy store in Key West bought 144 decks, as did a transvestite bar. (Money is money, after all.) I went down to Key West and showed the cards around between Martinis. Several Old Town bed and breakfast places bought decks to give to patrons.
In October, I placed another order for more decks -- 5,000 this time. A month later, a tractor trailer pulled into my neighborhood with 5,000 decks on two pallets, fresh from the great state of Texas.
Later, I learned that U.S. Playing Card Co., will and does make custom decks for designers who are into trolls, dragons, magic, and imaginary women. I'm not exactly sure how they get this done, but it seems to involve Kickstarter. And you have to be under 25 and wear your hair in a man bun.
