USPC KNOCKOFFS
I’m defining “knock-offs” as decks that were issued in direct imitation of existing USPC Bicycle designs. Some are identical, or virtually so, others are clearly inspired by specific USPC Bicycle decks, such as the acorn design below. Sometimes it’s impossible to know which design came first, the USPCC version or the one that’s similar. A case in point is that of the New Fan and Goodall swallow backs described on the New Fan page.
One way to identify an identical design copied from the USPC original is when the design is reversed from the original, such as in the New Fan back card pictured below. This happens when a card back is photographed and a printing plate is made from the image. When it is printed, the original image is reveresed. Other tell-tale signs of a knock-off are Bicycle style jokers that lack the “U.S.” linked in the corners, and instead have the equivalent of a dollar sign–see the jokers, below. Also note the blank milestone, instead of one with an “808.”
The above Rider deck looks identical to the USPC original except for several giveaways: the color of the back is wrong, the ace of spades has no reference to USPC or “Bicycle” and the spade itself is lacking the internal figure of Freedom, and the joker has no “808” on the stone and the U in the corner logos are missing their bottoms.
Rider Back. Note that the mountains and birds are reversed from the USPC original.
This Goodall back (above and right) is a clearly modeled on the USPC Bicycle Expert back, but there’s only anecdotal evidence that the USPCC version came first.
Note that the bicycle in the fan of this bridge deck is reversed from the otherwise identical USPC version of the New Fan back.
A very amusing variation on the standard USPC Bicycle joker
This deck is curious in that it is a “Bee” back design with a seemingly authentic Bicycle ace.
