Quote from: MattKelly on November 01, 2015, 01:49:08 PM

Quote from: Don Boyer on October 27, 2015, 11:31:37 PM

then place the order.

So I just received two bricks of blue Tally Ho Circle Backs and unfortunately I'm super disappointed! What happened to the quality of these cards since I used them years ago... man, they are stiff as a board and clump so easily. I feel like there isn't a single mass produced deck that is soft and flexible these days. Honestly, I don't know what to do short of dishing out lots of $ for more limited decks (and that's such a pain when I go through decks so consistently). I wish I could just suck it up and use the standard Bikes/Tally's USPCC puts out these days, but the sleights I perform are just too intricate for these stiff cards...

All right, it sounds like you need to try a custom deck, but you need to try something softer and less likely to clump.  I could say try using NOC decks.  Of all the custom decks you're going to find, the basic colors of the NOC deck are the least expensive - they run $5 a pack.  You can also try perhaps the Crown decks.  Crown decks will be like Bikes in firmness, but they have the added advantage of (probably) being "Magic Finish" coated as well, which might at least aid against clumping.  Those are among the least-expensive custom deck options you're going to find.

And before you give up all hope on standard decks, try a few that are standard but less common - Streamline (get US- or Spanish-made only; new stock is US-made), Aviator, Hoyle, even Play-Right from Walgreens.  You clearly need a deck that's in current production.

Short of all that, if you REALLY want to get a deck that's literally built to your specs, look in getting a print run of custom decks for yourself - pick a simple design with a standard face, find a good printer and just have them made in bulk for you.  You'll spend about what you'd spend for off-the-shelf decks on a per-deck basis, though you'll probably have to print somewhere in the ballpark of 2,000-3,000 decks to get that per-deck price.  But for somewhere in the ballpark of $4,000-$10,000, depending on the exact specs and print run size you end up with, you'll have a lifetime supply or close to it of a deck made precisely the way you want it - and if others want it that way as well, you can sell some to help defray the cost of the print run, or if they're popular enough and you can charge the right price, pay for it altogether.

Hi, I am new to the forum and I am also new in collecting cards.

Matt, have you ever tried the Richard Turner's Gold Seal Bike?  They are said to be Bee stock.  And my feeling is they are quite soft.  A bit softer than normal bikes.
And I have done some measurement on it immediately out of the box.  The 52 cards thickness is about 15.3mm and weight is about 86.8g.  Sadly I don't have Bee Stinger / EATCT and cannot make the comparison.  The decks I received are made in the old OHIO factory so you might imagine the deck is feeling something like OHIO Bee.  Price is not high and it seems there are still enough stock for your to get in bulk.

Another soft deck I came across is the Bicycle Tactical Field.  The one I opened is on Black back.  The 52 cards thickness is about 14.5mm and weight is about 86.4g.  This supposed to be a durable deck.  But unexpectedly it seems to be relatively thin and soft.  And I do believe it is durable.  I played with it almost everyday (15 mins per day) for almost a month and it still looks like brand new.  However, this deck can't fan.  I don't recommend this deck but it is really quite soft and I think it is interesting to share.

Welcome to the forum, then, Matt!

Believe it or not, there's a lot of factors that can make a stock feel different, not the least of which being the humidity in the factory on the day the paper was pressed into pasteboard or on the day the paper was cut into sheets or the day it was printed.  Rolls of paper are stored in climate-controlled storage units, but it's not like the entire factory is hermetically sealed.  Even within a single brand you'll spot differences in the paper.  It's the nature of the beast.

Tally Ho is probably the way to go.  Sounds like the best deck that's commonly available and suits your needs.  Modern TH decks are OK, but be on the lookout for color inconsistencies - I had some from a batch made in 2012 that had card backs of different shades of the same color in the same deck.  (And Circle Backs still have the subtle one-way mark that appears to have been accidentally added a few decades ago!)

The gaff you want is available from the Kevin Reylek deck I mentioned - it's all common blank facers and double-backers, utilizing the two colors and two back designs, plus some Bicycles for people wanting to mix decks in their tricks or fake having a Bicycle deck but "change" it to a TH, etc.

You can MAKE your own blank facers, you know...  Kevin teaches dry splitting and regluing on his video for "Cannibal" and you can buy a pack of TH and a pack of double blanks to make all the TH blank facers you want.

For a change of pace, there's still Black TH decks available in both backs from magic shops.  They're perhaps $5 a pack, but they come with identical jokers, a blank facer and a double-backer.  I have no idea who commissioned them or how many were made, but it was printed in Cincinnati a handful of years before the move to Erlanger.

I have found that Daniel Madison cards are pretty flimsy and these:

http://www.ellusionist.com/red-bordered-dealers-by-daniel-madison.html

or this:

http://www.ellusionist.com/swe-deck.html

Have the border and the price in bulk.  Others may chip in on the feel as some of his decks may be better for what you want than others.  He offers a few with borders.