Romance of the Three Kingdoms Playing Cards

[James]

Today I received an unexpected surprise. A person with whom my father was speaking recognized Kongming’s Archives (probably mentioned by the old man) and he told him that I was his son. This kind fellow (Kevin) then found or went out and purchased a deck of Romance of the Three Kingdoms playing cards, each card with elegant portraits of characters. The kingdom characters are spread out over the various suits, rulers being aces. The Emperors are jokers.

Aside from being thrilled to get such a gift, I’m also wondering if there is a place online where this set might actually be purchased. I wouldn’t want to ruin the one set I do have by playing with them. Also, I’m curious about the artwork. Are those of you who are familiar with Three Kingdoms artwork also familiar with this, Cao Cao’s portrait? Is it something original for the cards, or adapted from historical drawing? I’d like to have fun with it, but I don’t want to violate copyright... and I don’t even know who made the cards.


<hr><a href="/viewtopic.php?p=242637#242637">Deck Listing and Scanned Images</a>
<hr><a href="http://kongming.net/products/playing_cards/">Complete Scan Set (Kongming’s Archives)</a>

[Ranbir]

I've found similar items, but not the one that you have...it seems very unique indeed. Ok, this maybe a stupid question, but didn't you ask the guy who gave them to you where he got them from?

Anyway, here is the set I found...
One of the jokers reminds me of Zhuge Liang.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... egory=1438

[James]

Yeah, I’ve just heard back from him. He says he found the cards overseas a ‘long time ago’, and doesn’t know any location at which they might be purchased today. That also means he got them for himself, and later gave them to me, perhaps no longer having a set for himself... I’m not quite sure what to say to such generosity.

That [eBay] set certainly doesn’t look like a Three Kingdoms specific set, but they are very attractive. On with my search.

[Kong Wen]

The set on EBay is actually 4 decks. The one on the bottom left is a Three Kingdoms set (I presume that's the one Ranbir thought looked like Kongming, too).

[Ranbir]

Yeah, it was...and it says story cards...Can anyone read the writing on the card? *squints*

[James]

The set on EBay is actually 4 decks. The one on the bottom left is a Three Kingdoms set (I presume that's the one Ranbir thought looked like Kongming, too).

Why not... I just placed a bid on it (te-hee). The shipping is insane though...

[Kong Wen]

$7.99 US?

The guy is in Ontario, so I know the actual shipping cost would be no more than $2.00 US. Rip-off.

Get those cards scanned James, so I can print them off.

[Morg]

I have seen other 3K card sets surface on Ebay and on Japanese auction sites, but there don't seem to be any listed at the moment. The problem is that generally these things are sold by sellers in the far east and shipping usually cripples the deal as they will usually only use EMS.

[James]

Get those cards scanned James, so I can print them off.

Is James lifeless enough to scan the whole deck?
... Perhaps he is? Hmm...

[Seven at One Stroke]

The set on EBay is actually 4 decks. The one on the bottom left is a Three Kingdoms set (I presume that's the one Ranbir thought looked like Kongming, too).

Why not... I just placed a bid on it (te-hee). The shipping is insane though...

The upper left deck is from A Dream of Red Mansion (Hong Lou Meng), the character on the joker card is Jia Baoyu; the upper right deck is from the Water Margin (Shui Hu), the character shown is Song Jiang; the lower left deck is indeed ROTK, and the joker - of course - is Kongming; the lower right deck is the Journey to the West, and the joker is the Buddha!