Company rolls out GOP and Dem cards

The new edition will feature cards for Democrats with blue
borders and Republican cards trimmed in red.

CINCINNATI (AP) — A company that produced “Iraqi Most Wanted” playing cards at the beginning of the Iraq war will now let card players declare their political bent — with different colored cards for Democrats, Republicans and independents.

The United States Playing Card Co. is hoping to make some sales and have a little fun with its new political decks, even tracking sales results to see which is the most popular.

“It was one of those deals where we were looking around and realized that we already had red and blue decks and you always hear about red and blue states, so why not have some fun with that,” said Rob Clendening, brand manager for the company’s Bicycle brand of cards.

The company, based in the Cincinnati suburb of Norwood, has done other types of custom cards for decades, including some for the White House and the military, Clendening said.

The “Iraqi Most Wanted” cards in 2003 displayed black and white photos of Iraqi government officials, or a black silhouette if no image was available.

The new Bicycle Election Edition will feature cards for Democrats with blue borders and a donkey riding a bicycle on the back, with the Republican cards trimmed in red with an elephant on a bicycle.

Independents, too

Cards trimmed in purple with an eagle design are made for independents. Images of U.S. Presidents Washington and Lincoln appear on the fronts of the king and jack cards. Eighteenth-century patriot Betsy Ross, credited with making the first U.S. flag, appears on the queen cards.

The decks — expected to sell for about $3 — should be available to retailers by October. But Clendening said he expects most orders will come in the first two quarters of 2008 so retailers can align sales to presidential primaries and caucuses.

Bill Merz, who sells playing cards and games on eBay Inc. under the name, merz67, and on Amazon.com Inc. under the name, stayathomedads, said he’ll definitely order the cards as soon as they are available.

“They should do pretty well even without the political connection,” said Merz, 40, who lives in the Cincinnati suburb of Springdale. “The Bicycle card is a classic and whenever they change the back and front, people really go after it.”

To more closely link the cards to the 2008 campaign season, the company will be tracking monthly sales results and posting them on its www.bicyclecards.com Web site starting around February so people can see which deck has the highest sales.