Analysing the quality/handling of a USPCC deck vs EPCC decks: four key elements

[Don Boyer]

But he does seem to state quite definitively that the embossing happens on the web press, and thus occurs is part of the printing process.  Or am I misunderstanding either him or you?

I was going from memory, having visited the factory once.  He's going from experience, having worked more closely with USPC.  What he said is probably the more accurate.  Some factories do indeed print on pre-embossed papers, like EPCC and LPCC - they get the paper imported from a manufacturer somewhere in Europe, for the most part, then shipped into Taiwan and China for printing, rather than using locally-sourced paper.  But it's possible that I was mistaken in that the embossing comes after printing but before laminating, at least on the web press.  The sheet-fed press may (or may not!) be different in that regard, I'm just not sure off the top of my head and I wasn't taking notes during the tour!

I do know that the web press isn't even considered for USPC jobs under 10,000 decks these days because it prints an entire roll at once, containing between 10,000 and 11,000 sheets, so the web press process is only applicable for the most part to their mass-produced decks, whereas their Custom Department almost exclusively prints on the sheet-fed press due to the size of the print runs being requested.  Even a run over 10,000 may end up on the sheet-fed press, particularly if it was a low-ish amount not divisible by 10,000 (for example, perhaps a big company like Ellusionist or Theory11 might ask for 25,000 decks of a particularly popular model) - but I'd guess that if a print run exceeded a certain size, USPC would probably encourage if not insist that the customer go with the web press.

Anecdotally, I'd think that the sheet-fed press would be better for a high-end custom run.  I've been opening a few hundred packs of Bicycle Standard and Tally Ho Circle Back in recent months for the work I've been doing "altering" decks and some of the alignment errors I've seen are absolutely horrible.  Not simply off-centered, but even CANTED backs get through their quality control as acceptable for retail.  Literally tilted at an angle - I'm still trying to figure out how something like that happens, knowing the process by which the cards are cut, which is that a deck sheet is cut into strips, then the strips are fed into the die cutter and punched out one card at a time at high speed.  How does an entire strip end up canted?  Was the die canted?

[EndersGame]

It's worth highlighting that Expert and Legends PCC have been expanding the finishes they have available. 

JN Finish: This basically replaces the Emerald Finish produced previously by LPCC.  It's also produced in China rather than Taiwan.   Very few decks have been printed with the JN finish until now, and the only known decks at this stage appear to be the Legal Tender deck by Jackson Robinson, the SINS deck by Giovanni Meroni, the Stoic deck by David Blaine, and the Meow Deck by Malota, and the Skull & Bones Sample JN Finish deck by Jackson Robinson.  Reports on these have been mixed, with some real quality issues observed with some of the above, especially in relation to the cards becoming clumpy, and not fanning and spreading smoothly and evenly.  I've personally used two of these decks, the Meow Deck and the Skull & Bones JN Finish deck.  The Meow deck did become a little clumpy in places over time, thus not fanning or spreading as smoothly as I'd like, although that could also be due to the accumulation of grime/oils.  My experience with the sample Skull & Bones deck with the JN Finish was more positive, and that has been holding up nicely.  So the level of consistency observed so far isn't as good as we'd like to see.

STUD Finish: This is a super soft stock that is very rare and in limited supply.  The only known deck using this stock so far is the Skull & Bones STUD Finish deck, which was produced in order to trial this stock.  It has no coating, and thus the handling out of the box is less than ideal - although it does improve with use, and the cardist will love using it for springs and similar moves.

Cardistry Finish: The only known deck with this stock  is Patrick Kun's Mirage V3 Eclipse Edition Playing Cards.  This uses the exact same stock as the STUD Finish, but has a coating added.  As a result, these cards handle even better, and fan and spread beautifully and consistently.  It's an outstanding and super soft deck, that is especially well suited to cardistry.  The only unfortunate thing about this stock is that Legends only has it available in a very limited supply, so it's doubtful that we'll see a lot of decks with this finish.

I've written up some separate articles that recount in much more detail my experience with some decks in these three newer/recent finishes from EPCC/LPCC, and you'll find these two articles linked below:
- JN Finish (sample deck: Skull & Bones JN Finish)
- STUD Finish (sample deck: Skull & Bones STUD Finish)
- Cardistry Finish (sample deck: Mirage V3 Eclipse Edition)

Review: New finishes from Legends & Expert Playing Cards

Review: Mirage V3 Eclipse Edition (Patrick Kun)

[mcmc]

Thanks EndersGame (greetings from TheMagicCafe!) and Don!

Do you guys happen to know when USPCC moved from cloth rolled finish to embossing on the card itself?

And, did either of you notice in the mid 1990's, Bikes going from having a full square pattern air-cushion finish embossing, to one side having the squares, and the other side having lines? There was a period where all the Bikes I got were like the latter, and the decks were thinner, some even came with a set curve out of the box, and warped easier, etc. Just felt lower quality overall.

[EndersGame]

Do you guys happen to know when USPCC moved from cloth rolled finish to embossing on the card itself?

I'm afraid I don't know the answer to that - perhaps Don might.

And, did either of you notice in the mid 1990's, Bikes going from having a full square pattern air-cushion finish embossing, to one side having the squares, and the other side having lines? There was a period where all the Bikes I got were like the latter, and the decks were thinner, some even came with a set curve out of the box, and warped easier, etc. Just felt lower quality overall.

Very interesting.  What's fascinating about the new B9 True Linen stock from Cartamundi, which is proving very popular (e.g. their Copag 310 series), is that the embossing pattern on the front and back of the cards is distinctly different.

I haven't checked just now, but current Bicycle decks have the same embossing pattern on the front and back don't they?

[mcmc]

Hey Ender - yup, they have returned to the same pattern on front and back, though I think the decks are still not as thick or robust as my mid-90's decks.

That's cool about the Cartamundi B9 True Linen. I've heard also that the Jerry's Nuggets got their legendary feel from different pattern on front and back too. Maybe I should have kept some of those front/back different Bikes!