#907 ASS QUARTETT - FLITZER RENN- UND SPORTBOOTE (3218), SPORTWAGEN (3240) (Around 1971 and 1973)

Two more decks for my collection of ASS quartets. Sportwagen (sport cars) and Flitzer Renn- und Sportboote (race and sport boats).

Of course, the deck with the cars is much more interesting and more valuable than the other. At the time there was a big interest in those race boats shown on the cover of “Flitzer” (I recall having assisted to a boat show in the late 80s), so it does not surprise me that there are so many boat quartets from the 70s and the 80s. I have seldom heard about this type of races anymore, so I guess they are not being held anymore. Too dangerous?

The “Flitzer” deck of cards was made around 1971 and it does not actually include many of these race boats described above, but more ordinary little sport and inflatable boats. The deck is nice, I do not dislike it, and also includes the “futuristic” flying disk, some kind of U.F.O. hovercraft.

The deck includes the “Berufstip” (advice for people willing to become) photographers.

Sportwagen deck looks slightly newer, it was made in 1973 (according to quartettblog, so it is 100% sure), and it does not display the Blitztrump logo on the cover anymore. The “Berufstip” card, has been replaced by a “Fahrbericht” of a Porsche 911 S. That is a driving report, like in the specialized press.

The cover is a BMW 3.0 CSI, which is not the most interesting car in the deck… Having so extremely cool cars in the deck, why that BMW? Nevertheless, I love this quartett, take a look at all those Lamborghinis, Maseratis, Ferraris, Porsches, Alfa-Romeos… from the early 70s. One of the coolest quartets I own despite the cover. It was also available with blue cardback.

FACTS AND FIGURES

• Name: FLITZER RENN- UND SPORTBOOTE (3218), SPORTWAGEN (3240)
• Year: Around 1971, 1973
• Company: Vereinigte Altenburger und Stralsunder Spielkarten Fabriken A.G. (Also ASS) (East-Germany)

#719 ASS – HEIDI QUARTETT (3172/7) and SCHNIPP-SCHNAPP HEIDI (1986 and 1979)

 

Heidi is one of the most successful cartoon series ever in Europe, I don't know if it was also popular in the US, Japan and other countries, but in Spain, Germany and Austria it was very very popular. There were thousands of related toys and articles for children, like the walking doll I showed a long time ago, the PVC figures from Germany or the two decks today.

One of the decks is based on the original cartoon, but it has a different style, note that the drawing are not exactly like the ones in the TV series.

This deck is not the original release, but a promotional re-release from the 80s of an Austrian Bank (P.S.K.). At some point in the 80s, the P.S.K. gave away some promotional mini-quartetts with popular topics of those years. This is the only one I own, but I have seen more.

The second deck is based on the live action, TV series Heidi from 1978. This was a West German and Swiss co-production, but unfortunately I haven't seen it. The card deck, however, is newer. It seems to have been released in 1986. 

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: HEIDI QUARTETT (3172/7) and SCHNIPP-SCHNAPP HEIDI
• Year: 1986 and (around) 1979 respectively
• Company: Vereinigte Altenburger und Stralsunder Spielkarten Fabriken A.G. (Also ASS) (East-Germany)

#657 ASS - FAMILIE FEUERSTEIN QUARTETT und SCHWARZER PETER (Nr. 662) (1967)

The Vereinigte Altenburger und Stralsunder Spielkarten-Fabriken AG (short: ASS) made this beautiful deck of cards around 1967. The copyright from Hanna-Barbera dates from that year, so I guess it was probaby manufactured around that year.

The deck consists of 36 cards (6 families) and one extra card to play Schwarzer Peter. Each familiy tells a story in 4 cartoons with some text in the lower part of the card. These stories deal with different situations like a car race, flying an airplane or hunting a dinosaur.

The most interesting fact about this deck is to observe how the cartoons are not made by the original artist from Hanna-Barbera, and these are not taken from the TV series or anywhere else. They have been remade by another artist, and you can tell that these are not the original Flintstones, but a little bit of a fake. Despite this, ASS apparently got the copyright, so it is a legal "reinterpretation" of the original characters.

The game comes with the cover card and another one with the instructions printed on it. The cover card, on its back side has a monochromatic cartoon depicting all 7 main characters with their names in German. Everything comes in an oversized box, much deeper than it is actuallz needed. A common practice, to make the deck/game look more than it actually is.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: FAMILIE FEUERSTEIN QUARTETT und SCHWARZER PETER (Nr. 662)
• Year: 1967
• Company: Vereinigte Altenburger und Stralsunder Spielkarten-Fabriken AG  (East-Germany)

#639 AMIGO and ASS - TURTLES QUARTETT and POLICE ACADEMY POKER QUARTETT (1990)

 

This two sets have several things in common. Both are from 1990 and based in cartoon characters, licensed by Mirage Studios and Warner Brothers espectively. Both come in an oversized package that might have helped to sell better, or at least for a higher price.

 

 

 

 

 

In the case of the turtles deck, the box includes two round card holders, that may be good for children with small hands to hold a lot of cards and having all in sight. The Police Academy deck includes nothing but the deck.

 

 

A difference between them is that the turtles game is simply a quartett game, while the Police Academy is actually a trumpf game too. Each card shows a vehicle or a weapon with several technical characteristics: speed, distance, attack and defense... it is quite fun to play.

 

The Police Academy film series was always one of my favorites. I haven't seen any film as many times as Police Academy 3, closely followed by Police Academy 4, they were really funny. The cartoon series however was aired only rarely and in regional channels, and I think I have seen it a couple of times (a couple of chapters) and it was ok.

 

The Ninja Turtles cartoons were much popular and I have seen many chapters, but still I preffer the other quartett game. When I saw it, I knew I had to buy it.

 

 

 

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: TURTLES QUARTETT and POLICE ACADEMY POKER QUARTETT
• Year: 1990
• Company: Amigo and ASS (Germany)

#463 ASS (BLITZ-TRUMPF) – KM/H, DEUTSCHE AUTO-ASSE’72, FEUERSTÜHLE and FLUGZEUGE II. WELTKRIEG (Around 1971)

In this entry I will show four card decks made by Ass in the early 70s. At that time, the trumps/ technical quartets had been redesigned to make them look more modern. Pictures were becoming more and more common (instead of drawings), and a new name (“Blitz-Trumpf”, something like “lightning-Trump”) were given to the new series.

These had a reference number starting with 32xx and the deck card had a similar appearance for each deck.

Something very nice about the “Blitz-Trumpfs” is that each set included some advice for your adult professional life , and not some random advice, but something related to the topic of the card deck you own.
For example, if you bought “Deutsche Auto-Asse’72”, it is very likely that you love cars, and maybe you want to build them when you grow up, so they tell you what you need to become a mechanical engineer. The Km/h set explains how to become a reporter, the WW2 Planes deck explains how to become pilot, and Feuerstühle (scroll down for Feuerstühle) gives some advice to work as an employee in a gas station.

These are the complete decks I currently own. I bought some others, but they are missing some cards, I hope I can complete them sometime:

Km/h – Ref. 3201 – Around 1971

Deutsche Auto-Asse’72 – Ref. 3206 – Around 1971

Flugzeuge II. Weltkrieg – Ref. 3228 – 1971

Feuerstühle – Ref. 3221 – Around 1971

Something nice I like commenting is the price of toys when they were sold. In this case, the deck was 16,50 Schilling, that makes a bit more of 1 Euro.

You can see more entries with ASS cards HERE. I have already presented some decks frm the mid-50s, other from the late 80s, and now these from the early 70s.

FACTS AND FIGURES

• Name: KM/H, DEUTSCHE AUTO-ASSE’72, FEUERSTÜHLE and FLUGZEUGE II. WELTKRIEG (Ref. 3201, 3206, 3221, 3228)
• Year: Around 1971
• Company: Vereinigte Altenburger und Stralsunder Spielkarten Fabriken A.G. (Also ASS) (East-Germany)