Newt’s Games & Playing Cards
A Division of E-Quiver, Inc.
Circleville, OH 43113
Phone: 740-420-6024
Newt’s Games & Playing Cards (aka Newt’s Playing Cards) is a Division of the E-Quiver, Inc. family of companies and is located rural, Circleville, Ohio which is a small town just south of Columbus, OH.
Specializing in gift ideas, accessories, playing cards, card games, decks of cards and more to the Card Collector, Card Player and Card Enthusiast, the Playing Card Superstore is unlike any other store on the web. With an average of over 200 different decks of playing cards, gifts and accessories in stock so far, our selection continues to grow as we offer unique items that are difficult to find.
We started out as Newton’s Novelties back in the spring of 2000. We started out as a game site with over 400 online games for folks to play. Not only that, but while we had a lot of traffic we didn’t make any money to pay the bills. We then started selling sports collectables. From NASCAR to NFL we sold anything from leather jackets to novelty sports fun. It was during this time in fall of 2001 that we introduced playing cards in our store. As a collector, Jim knew that he liked playing cards and card games, but he didn’t realize how many other folks loved cards. From card players to card collectors. In spring 2002 we decided to streamline into just games which included a selection of playing cards and monopoly games. After an extremely successful holiday season we decided to convert to the Playing Card Superstore and sell nothing but items of interest to card players and collectors. This just happened to be right before the HUGE poker craze which continued to fuel our growth. Playing cards then became a huge part of our business as we sell hundreds of different card games and decks of cards from around the world.
The exciting part of this was when we started to produce our own decks of playing cards! In the spring of 2002 we rolled out our first ever deck of cards called WILD! With beautiful artwork from playing card artist Peter Wood, this deck has become the definition of Newt’s. With it “Transforming the Playing Card Industry” became our tag line. We now look to not only make normal decks of cards, but decks featuring art from days gone by. My personal favorite is what is called “semi-transformational” art (we like to call it seek-n-find). Basically it is where you take the pips (hearts, diamonds, clubs & spades) and hide them in the artwork of the defined card.
Keeping up with our custom deck production, in 2007 we rolled out 2 more decks of “semi-transformation” playing cards which were both again drawn by U.K. playing card artist, Peter Wood. The first deck included one of Peter’s specialties, Teddy Bears! The deck is called Busy Bears, which takes on different jobs or work positions. The second deck was also by Peter Wood which is called Cats – Pips and Paws and features the furry feline in various cat situations.
In 2003, we published one of our biggest selling decks ever! Newt’s Iraqi Most Wanted, which has sold over 25,000 decks and still remains one of the collectables of the whole “Most Wanted” craze. Since our deck was one of the 4 American printed decks, it has become an important part of history, actually being added to the Ohio Historical Society.
Over the years we have also tried to create different political decks of cards like 52 Reasons to Re-Elect George W. Bush, Politically Wild McCain and Politically Wild Obama.
In 2005, we started producing and publishing what we call “Real Souvenir Playing Cards”. These are decks of historical playing cards that feature old-fashioned photos from local Historical Societies, Main St. Associations or Museums. The “Real Souvenir” idea has become a HUGE “crowd” fundraiser for organizations across the US. If you are looking for a different type of fundraiser, this is it!
In 2002, we started producing custom photo playing cards at our facility in Columbus, Ohio. People were allowed to order as few as one deck at a time, and it was a hit! Since that time many, many other organizations have come along to duplicate the one deck philosophy. In late 2006 we launched a site which allows folks to go online to design custom, photo playing cards for themselves. In the past folks just emailed us a photo, but now they can upload their image, add text and see exactly what their card will look like.
During 2006 – 2008 we have played around with a lot of different ideas on the retail side. While Newt’s Playing Cards does AWESOME on the internet, we never seemed to be able to establish a strong “brick and mortar” presence. It was during 2008 that we were going to “give up the ghost” on selling in a “brick and mortar” store…but we didn’t. Instead, we moved everything to Circleville, OH.
In 2007, we printed a local deck of playing cards that features “buckeyes.” Yep, the whole deck is based on the history of this poisonous, but famous Ohio nut. We simply call them Buckeye Playing Cards. We hope to release other decks of cards featuring “buckeyes.”
In 2009, we started making Bible Playing Cards. It is meant to be a line of cards that include various decks about the Bible. Our first Bible deck is based on the life of Jesus, and we hope to launch more decks in this line.
Also in 2009 we started carrying a wide variety of jigsaw puzzles. With all the crazy changes in the economy, we were looking for new products to expand on. Especially since many of the people who were creating decks of cards pretty much either went out of business or stopped carrying as many decks. Along with the all the jigsaw puzzles, we created our first jigsaw puzzle about the local Circleville Pumpkin Show.
Who knows what else will happen at Newt’s! Honestly, I could have never imagined that we would do so well with a game, puzzle and playing card store. We thank our thousands of customers who have made Newt’s such a huge success. Should you have any suggestions, please feel free to contact us.
Thanks for listening,
Jim & Christine
Newt’s Mom & Dad, President (& VP), Card Collectors and Card Players