About the Project

Our Story & Mission

TurretDecks by Sterling Thames Media began as a private collection of playing cards in a small studio in Wellington, New Zealand. What started as an appreciation for the intricate line work of bicycle rider backs quickly blossomed into a profound respect for the history, engineering, and cultural significance of playing cards.

Our mission is to bridge the gap between historical preservation and modern collection. Through our Store, we provide access to meticulously authenticated rare finds and highly anticipated limited editions. Through our Museum, we educate and inspire by showcasing the lineage of card design spanning hundreds of years.

Our team of experts—comprising historians, cardists, and veteran collectors—dedicates their time to curating a selection that represents the absolute pinnacle of playing card artistry.

From the first sealed brick we photographed for our catalogue to the museum-grade exhibits we prepare for long-form articles, every decision is driven by respect for the object and for the person who will own it next. We believe that a deck of cards can be a textbook on printing history, a snapshot of popular culture, or a precision tool for performance—and often all three at once.

Operating from Wellington gives us a vantage point at the edge of the Pacific: close enough to serve New Zealand collectors with fast domestic fulfilment, yet connected by air freight and trusted partners to auctions, private sales, and publishers across North America, Europe, and Asia. That geography shapes how we think about stock, seasonality, and the careful pacing of limited drops so that collectors in every time zone have a fair chance to participate.

Values that guide us

Transparency sits at the centre of how we describe inventory. When a tuck shows shelf wear, when a vintage deck has been opened for inspection, or when a modern release has a known print variance, we say so plainly in the listing and in the photographs. Collectors build trust slowly; we treat every order as a chance to earn it again.

Education is not an afterthought. Our articles, museum entries, and in-person conversations at the showroom are meant to demystify grading, factory codes, and the difference between a reprint and an original issue. The more confident you feel as a buyer, the healthier the hobby becomes for everyone.

We also invest in relationships—not only with customers but with artists, publishers, and fellow dealers who share our standards. Fair dealing, prompt communication, and discretion when handling high-value consignments are non-negotiable parts of our day-to-day work.

How we curate and authenticate

Each acquisition path is different. Some decks arrive from estate clearances with incomplete paperwork; others come straight from authorised distributors with full traceability. In every case we build a short provenance note for our files: where the item was sourced, who examined it, and which reference materials were consulted.

Authentication for vintage casino and pre-war material leans on a combination of period documentation, comparative microscopy, and decades of collective experience within our team. We cross-check seals, corner cuts, and stock colour under consistent lighting. When uncertainty remains, we prefer to pass on a listing rather than guess.

Modern limited editions are tracked from announcement through delivery: we record edition sizes, known defects from the factory, and any publisher statements about materials or finishing. That discipline helps us answer detailed questions quickly and supports warranty and return discussions if something does not match the stated specification.

The museum, the archive, and what comes next

The TurretDecks by Sterling Thames Media museum section of our site is both a showcase and a working reference. Entries are written to be read by newcomers and by specialists alike: timelines place a deck in its historical context, while expert commentary explains why a particular issue matters to design history or to the evolution of cardistry as a performance art.

Behind the scenes we maintain a growing archive of high-resolution imagery, factory samples where available, and correspondence related to notable acquisitions. Over time we hope to lend select pieces for temporary exhibitions and to support academic research into print culture and material heritage in Oceania and beyond.

Looking ahead, we are exploring small-group workshops on handling and storage, deeper collaborations with contemporary deck designers, and expanded editorial series on regional playing-card traditions. If you have a research proposal, a collection you would like assessed for consignment, or simply a story about how you discovered the hobby, we would be glad to hear from you through the contact form below.