For over 135 years, Bicycle Playing Cards have been the preferred deck for collectors, renowned magicians, card game enthusiasts, and, most recently, NFT collectors. After purchasing the #1227 Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT, Bicycle held a worldwide casting call (#1227CastingCall) for its community playing card deck on Twitter (X), giving fans a chance to participate in a “Joker Fan Vote Bracket” tournament. Bicycle’s long-awaited Bored Ape Community Playing Card Collection presents two limited-edition decks now available for preorder, featuring selected 57 Bored Apes appearing on the tuck cases and 54 Bored Apes appearing on the playing card decks.
As a newly-minted member of the growing BAYC Community, Bicycle, in collaboration with designer AV Tones, has added fan-favorite Bored Apes to the new playing cards, celebrating fellow Bored Ape NFT holders. Two sets are now available to preorder, including the Golden Banana deck — exclusively available to the BAYC, MAYC, BAKC communities and Bicycle NFT holders — and the limited-edition Silver Banana deck, which will debut in limited quantities on Bicycle’s website. Bicycle will also unveil an “Ape Hundred” (eight hundred) limited-edition, 3-pack Golden Banana Collection and a Silver Banana Collection, offering double the amount of playing cards and a personalized display case for each set.
“Our playing cards have brought communities together for over a hundred years,” says Craig Townsend, EVP North America at Cartamundi. “We are thrilled to collaborate with the Bored Ape Yacht Club community while offering something new to our core collectors that have been with us for decades.”
Paying homage to the 54 Bored Ape holders that made these collections possible, Bicycle is also releasing custom merchandise designed in partnership with iconic lifestyle brand Fred Segal, unveiling summer-ready T-shirts, hoodies and hats. The “Casting Call” T-shirts depict original Bicycle card deck artwork, while the hoodies showcase the 1227 Bored Ape masquerading as the signature Bicycle Joker on the back panels.
“As we immersed ourselves into the Bored Ape community, we knew that reciprocity was the key ingredient,” says Masha Ievseieva, Vice President, North America Marketing and Global Insights. “Collaborating with fellow Bored Ape holders has been a blast and we’re really excited to bring to life this one-of-a-kind collection. Here, we have a playful community bringing together a unique deck of cards that is unlike anything we’ve ever produced. The future of collecting is here! Every tuck case will be unique and features every one of the 57 apes on unique backgrounds. We wanted every ape to have their own special moment.”
Verified holders of Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs presented in the collection will also receive Bicycle’s Golden Banana deck, replete with a one-of-a-kind Joker NFT personalized in their likeness.
The Golden Banana and Silver Banana decks retail for $49.99 USD, with the 3-pack collections priced at $199.99 USD. Preorders are now available on Bicycle’s website.
