El Hombre Enmascarado Playing Cards were produced by Naipes Heraclio Fournier S.A. in Spain in 1978. The Playing Cards are titled ‘Los Minis De Fournier’, with this name located on the title card. The Playing Cards are licensed by King Features Syndicate.
Naipes Heraclio Fournier S.A. is a Spanish playing card manufacturer based in Vitoria, having its factory based in Legutio, Spain. Naipes Heraclio Fournier S.A. is owned by the ‘United States Playing Card Company’, which is a subsidiary of ‘Cartamundi’, based in Turnhout, Belgium.
Established in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain in 1870, Naipes Heraclio Fournier S.A. was founded by Heraclio Fournier after establishing a lithography factory, with the aim of manufacturing playing cards. Heraclio Fournier would go on to produce stamps and publishing books.
To this present day, Naipes Heraclio Fournier S.A. sells 16 million packs of playing cards a year, mainly to casinos worldwide, considered one of the most important playing card manufacturers in the world.
The El Hombre Enmascarado Playing Cards were sold in a yellow plastic container with a clear see-through lid measuring 6.5cm x 4.5cm x 1.5cm.
A full set of Playing Cards is made up of 1 title card plus 24 playing card, printed in full color on heavy stock paper. The Playing Cards are numbers and titled:
- A-1 to A-6 (El Hombre Enmascarado),
- B-1 to B-6 (Satan/Devil),
- C-1 to C-6 (Diana Palmer),
- D-1 to D-6 (Guran).
The reverse of all the Playing Cards contain the same pattern, the makers logo ‘HF’ (Heraclio Fournier) and the word ‘minis’. Below we see the title card plus the reverse of the cards.
The object of the game is to be the first to manage to run out of cards in your hand. The first player to achieve this is the winner. All the cards are dealt among all players. Start the game on by placing a card on the table. The next player will deposit another card of the same letter or number on that card and the rest of the players will play in this way. If a player has no card to play, they will pass.
In the 1990’s, Heraclio Fournier reissued the El Hombre Enmascarado Playing Cards in Spain.
Slightly larger then the original set, the Playing Cards were again released in a yellow container with a clear see-through lid. The reissued set closely resembles the original 1978 set. Visually, we see slight wording differences on the title card.
The 1978 version is seen below on the left, the 1990’s version is seen below on the right.
A full set of the 1990’s Playing Cards, including the title card can be seen below. Again, the Playing Cards are individually numbered and titled, with the same pattern on the reverse, as seen in the original 1978 set above.
There were a total of 20 different Playing Card sets produced.
COCHES DEPORTIVOS, MOTOS VELOCES, BRAVURA EN MOTO, COCHES DE CARRERAS, ATAQUE AL EVEREST, SAFARI FOTOGRÁFICO, PAISES DEL MUNDO, ARTES MARCIALES, FLASH GORDON K.F.S, EL HOMBRE ENMASCARADO K.F.S, EL PRINCIPE VALIENTE K.F.S, MANDRAKE EL MAGO K.F.S, AVENTURAS DEL PATO DONALD Disney, ESTRELLAS DE WALT DISNEY Disney, DISNEYWORLD Disney, AVENTURAS MICKEY MOUSE Disney, MORTADELO Y FILEMÓN BRUGERA S.A, ZIPI Y ZAPE BRUGERA S.A, PEPE GOTERA Y OTILIO BRUGERA S.A, EL BOTONES SACARINO BRUGERA S.A.
The Phantom 