They got a wierd smell but will sure go away after some time.
All USPC finishes have a distinctive smell. I can tell when a deck is coated in Magic Finish just from the smell - it tends to be a bit stronger.
I was starting to get very tempted to buy these but in the end I found that it would be more fulfilling to get the originals. My reason being that they are rarer and have a lot more charisma and history to them.
In a few years to come, these will turn rarer and have a much history to the too. Factoring in the custom seals, signatures and the custom box, I think they are definitely worth the price. What you are paying for is guaranteed quality.
"Turn rarer"? Are you planning to destroy a lot of the v1-6 decks sometime soon?
If by "have a much history to the too" you actually meant "have AS much history to THEM, too", I have reservations about that. The originals had better court cards and the earliest decks were made at the Cincinnati plant on good quality stock.
Factoring in...
...the seals. Meh. It's just a sticker. The trend used to be for no deck seals, now it's for custom deck seals - and in a year, it'll probably be something else, not unlike the trend for black decks. People couldn't get enough of them when they came out. Now they're somewhat quaint, especially since people know they show edge damage more rapidly...
...the signatures. It's not like D&D never signed anything up 'til now.
...custom box. It's more of a curiosity, though it might make the set worth a little something extra, particularly when factoring in the serial numbers.
...worth the price. Let's break it down - $85 for six packs of cards. That's just over $14 a pack. For a new deck, that doesn't sound like a huge value to me. The originals were what, $8 a pack when they came out? $7?
...guaranteed quality. Practically any custom deck coming out of Kentucky today is a quality deck - that's not really a distinction these days; it doesn't make the deck stand out head-and-shoulders above any other custom USPC deck.
The one and only factor that these have going for them as a valuable asset in the future is that they made 10,000 sets - the early decks were short runs, but by the time v6 came out, they were printing about 20-30K per print run (and the S&M decks had only one print run each). But scarcity doesn't add up to higher future price. There were more Bicycle Centurion decks in white made (about 1,100) than there were white Bicycle Gold Seal New Fan Backs (only 1,000). But I have never seen a White Centurion going for less than the Gold Seal NFBs at auction or retail - usually they're more expensive by a multiple. There were 5,000 Bicycle Black Ghost 1st Edition decks made and even they sell for more than the white Gold Seal NFBs. It doesn't make that deck any less or more scarce - it's just not where the market is focused.
This boxed set is not a reprinting - it's an homage to the originals. But as such, it's more of a pale shadow when compared with them. Don't count on them becoming more valuable than the originals in your lifetime.
