PART III: Gallo's last stand

8/03/2026

PART III: Gallo's last stand — Enter "Faisán"

In this third and final installment of the series—acting essentially as an epilogue—we will examine the subsequent evolution of the Gallo deck carried out by other manufacturers following the success of Clemente Jacques' designs. Below are the links to the first two parts:

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Some time ago we analyzed the phenomenon of the Faisán [Pheasant] decks, featuring one of the most widespread Spanish playing card styles in Mexico. This design can essentially be seen as a "public-domain" pattern with artwork remarkably similar to that of the Gallo pack, where the rooster emblem is typically replaced by a pheasant—likely to avoid legal disputes. While the similarities are far too blatant to pass off as mere "inspiration," there are a few noteworthy differences. The most striking is a further feminization of the Knaves, and here even spreading to the Knights, who take on the appearance of young women wearing fake mustaches.

It remains uncertain which manufacturer was the first to introduce these changes. What is certain, however, is that its reach across the Mexican market was nearly universal, and it remains in production to this day by several companies—ranging from generic promotional packs to editions produced by international makers like Cartamundi, though two names come up most frequently when discussing these: PRONACO (Productora de Naipes y Confetti S.A.) and Productos Leo S.A.

Today we'll have a look at an example from the latter to close the loop. To do so, we will run another direct visual comparison spanning from Clemente Jacques' early Victoria deck, moving through the Gallo, and concluding with this Faisán. This will give us a complete overview of what we may well call the "Mexican Pattern", tracing its history from its Fournier-inspired origins right up to the present day.

Across all images, from left to right: Victoria → Gallo → Faisán

Looking at these images, we can confirm the strong similarity between Faisán and Gallo. If anything, we might point out a few extra details: the designs on the Aces and courts exhibit a slight decrease in detail, most obvious on the Ace of Cups and the courts' attire, though broadly speaking it's nothing major. It is also interesting to note that the tunic of the King of Batons remains reaching down to his calves rather than his ankles.

We conducted a more in-depth study on the decks featuring this pattern in earlier posts. To avoid repeating myself, I invite anyone who hasn't read them yet to check them out—I would even encourage placing these packs side by side to appreciate the subtle differences between versions and manufacturers.

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To wrap things up, a few words on the materials of this Productos Leo deck. They're quite good, featuring a satin finish and flexible cardstock offering great handling and slide. Oddly, the quality is superior to that of the Pasatiempos Gallo pack we examined in Part II. Compared to other releases we analyzed featuring Faisán designs, the print quality sits right in the middle between the generic Faisán deck and Cartamundi's.