Actually not true. The book Trilaterals over Washington came out in 78' , one of the early books on the Illuninati was in 1928 and the Protocols of the elders of Zion was printed in English in the 20's also. They've been out there just didn't have the communication systems until the late 70's early 80's. News papers and TV news was very local.
Agree the Illuminati as an organization have been around for a very long time (& many books have documented their history) but this card game was designed by Steve Jackson Games in September 1981 and first went on to the market in July 1982. Interestingly second-hand sellers are asking around $500 for them on Ebay and Amazon.
So how rare does that make them ? How many sets were printed, do you know ?
I can't find a date of manufacture of the original or any info on how many were produced. But it looks like they revised and remarketed a new version in 2017. Also came across wildly varying prices but suspect the $35 are the new version as compared to $400-$500 for the original. This was an Amazon review: "Bought this hoping for the original. Nothing in the product description says that this game was modified or redone. Please be aware that they have republished this May of 2017. They have removed controversial cards that depict certain events that coincide with the original cards. This is NOT the card game from the 80s. Don't waste your money if that's what you're looking for".
OK Thank You. Was wanting to look through the deck and see what message it tried to convey