Playing Cards - "Fact or Fiction?" + Links

[john]

E doesn't use Bee Casino stock anymore.

http://imgur.com/CIcWh

[Don Boyer]

E doesn't use Bee Casino stock anymore.

http://imgur.com/CIcWh

I see - and I've seen that image before.  Looks like they're using standard Bicycle stock now.  Has anyone noticed this on new printings of the older decks?


I'm moving this to the "Fact or Fiction" topic - it's a better fit there.

[john]

E doesn't use Bee Casino stock anymore.

http://imgur.com/CIcWh

I see - and I've seen that image before.  Looks like they're using standard Bicycle stock now.  Has anyone noticed this on new printings of the older decks?


I'm moving this to the "Fact or Fiction" topic - it's a better fit there.

You saw it from me

[Don Boyer]

You saw it from me

Hey, when you're my age, the details will start getting fuzzy for you, too! 

Thanks for the redirect.  I would have thought that they would have used thicker stocks for the older decks, from Arcane backwards through the product line.  Who doesn't remember some people griping about how thick the Masters were and how difficult to handle.  Now I'm curious to refresh my stock of E decks...

[xela]

Hey Don, without revealing too much about how I sign my decks under the cellophane:

With the purchase of a $50 resealer machine and the cellophane sheets with tear strips, you can remove the factory-issue cellophane, sign it, then reseal it for later sale or giveaway.

While that is one method, I sign them under the USPCC factory cellophane without the use of a resealer machine. I do own one, but that's for wrapping my vintage pretties to prevent them from taking more environmental damage.

The cellophane you can buy for resealing decks comes with a clear tear away strip that is positioned slightly lower than USPCC cellophane's. It's also MUCH smaller, and so it's really easy to tell a resealed deck from a factory sealed deck if you know what to look for.

The Vortex SUC decks all have the original red tear strip too.

You were right about one thing though, it's not a feasible process for mass production in any way. It takes me about an hour to make one and that's after spending dozens of hours perfecting the process (and there is STILL room for improvement!)

[Don Boyer]

I've been doing some thinking on USPC card stocks recently...

Someone with inside knowledge recently told me that yes, USPC only offers Bicycle and Bee Casino stock at this point in the game - but with a large caveat.

USPC uses the same paper to make the card stock for both models.  This card stock is fed through a press using two rolls - one for the front, one for the back - and from there, the graphite-laced glue is added and large steel rollers squish the sheets into the paper sandwich we know today.  It's also at this point that the stock is either left flat for smooth decks or embossed for "air cushion, linen, linoid, etc." dimpled-surface decks.

The amount of pressure applied at the rollers, humidity levels, variations in the quality and thickness of the paper and who knows how many other factors all have a hand in just how thick or thin, heavy or light the finished product will be.  In fact, because of there being so many variables affecting the final product, USPC stopped describing their stocks using the industry-standard grams per square inch meter (gsm) and instead offer thickness of stock as their measuring stick.

But the thing is, the standard for Bicycle stock and the standard for Bee Casino stock now covers a fairly wide range of thicknesses - and there's even some OVERLAP between the two categories!  It's actually possible to end up with a Bicycle stock deck that's thicker than some Bee decks, and a Bee deck that's thinner than some Bicycle decks.  It's as if USPC threw in the towel about being precise on just how heavy a stock will be and instead of offering several stocks with small thickness ranges, they just offer two with a broader range in each.

In a way, you could picture this in your head and say, "Well, in a sense, all those other stocks that we knew and loved are really still being made - they're just being lumped into larger categories and you can never really know in advance precisely which decks will have a thickness consistent with, for example, Tally Ho stock, Bicycle Casino stock or Aristocrat stock."  To make life easier on themselves, however, USPC will only offer you a range - pick Bicycle, the range is from X₁ to X₂; pick Bee Casino and the range is from Y₁ to Y₂.  You can't pick the thickness you want with any greater a degree of accuracy than that.  And as mentioned above, X₂ falls within the range of Y₁ and Y₂, just as Y₁ falls within the range of X₁ and X₂.  I'm going to try including a primitive but effective graphic to illustrate this.

If you ask me, USPC's mission of being the best card company, period, seems to be taking a back seat to making acceptable cards while cutting costs and making it easier on themselves - ever since the company changed hands so many times in the latter third of the last century.

It's almost enough to make me want to create my own playing card company!

[Russell CircleCityCards]

Hey Don most of that above isn't quite right.

After touring the factory floor, talking with line employees and seeing first hand how the decks are made I have found a few discrepancies with your previous post. To over simplify I will go through the whole process...
(colors indicate a new 'area')
1. Two rolls of single-ply paper get fed into a hundred foot long machine.
2. The first part of the machine makes the paper/glue/paper sandwich.
3. There are a few rolls that compress (NOT IMPORTANT) to keep everything together.
4. Still in the 100ft long machine, it finishes in the oven/dryer.
5. Move to the printing machine.
6. Rollers print the design on the front and back.
7. Finish coating.
8. Embossing or Smoothing machine*
9. Cut into 'uncut' sheet size (56 cards on one page)
10. Sits on warehouse floor until they are done printing all the decks for the week.
11. Printing and sandwiching/drying machine shut down, cutting machines start up.
12. Cards are cut into wide strips and are punched out into cards.
14. cards are gathered and placed into boxes
15. seal machine then cello machine
17. put in 'bricks' then by hand placed into 'gross' boxes


* this simple machine is just two rolling drums with the paper being fed in between them. You can set the machine to different pounds of pressure which decides how thick the final product will be. This is why I roll my eyes when people compare thickness of decks. True, a casino deck will be thicker 99.99% of the time. I hate it when people compare two standard decks together and say one is better because it is thicker. That is BS and just an opinion. Setting the machine for a thinner card will make it more snappier and harder to bend. Setting it thicker will allow the card to bend easier. It's a personal preference, neither is right or wrong.

As for Casino vs Standard, I'll have to go through my emails and notes to myself, but I know how you described above is partially incorrect.  They are not the same thing only squeezed differently.

---edit---
As always, I might have made a small mistake in the exact order of operations, but by-and-large the above is correct.

[Don Boyer]

Well, much of what I was talking about was conjecture, based on a few simple facts that I knew.  I was bound to be wrong at times.  I do appreciate your input here, Russ - you're among the few who would have more first-hand insight as to how this all works.

I have been told by Lee Asher in the business that the pressure applied can make a difference in the finished product.

And there's a difference in the order IF you're using the sheet-fed press.  The paper gets cut into sheets before it gets printed.  It's the reverse on the web press.

I've been told that the paper gets embossed before printing - it happens at the time the paper layers are glued.  Is it possible that the process is handled differently for web press and sheet-fed press projects?

[Russell CircleCityCards]

I was describing the web-press process. The sheet fed is a bit different, cut before the printing. I don't recall if it is embossed before or after printing, surely it must be after otherwise the print would come out funny.

Lee is a great guy and he knows his shit. We both agree there is a difference in how a card feel when pressed tightly or not. Again, neither is good or bad, they are opinions based on how YOU use the deck.

[Don Boyer]

I was describing the web-press process. The sheet fed is a bit different, cut before the printing. I don't recall if it is embossed before or after printing, surely it must be after otherwise the print would come out funny.

Lee is a great guy and he knows his shit. We both agree there is a difference in how a card feel when pressed tightly or not. Again, neither is good or bad, they are opinions based on how YOU use the deck.

I forget who it was that told me this, but for a sheet-fed deck, USPC supposedly limits the fineness of the detail in any given design on embossed paper, because when printed too finely, the embossings will show more prominently and ruin the detail work.  But again, I could be wrong on this - I probably forgot more things about cards than I can remember! 

[Collector]

I promised I do:

My blog about playing cards – http://playingcardcollector.wordpress.com

Several additional words about it:
http://playingcardcollector.wordpress.com/2013/03/04/this-blog-about-this-blog-1st-month-on-wordpress/

[Don Boyer]

I promised I do:

My blog about playing cards – http://playingcardcollector.wordpress.com

Several additional words about it:
http://playingcardcollector.wordpress.com/2013/03/04/this-blog-about-this-blog-1st-month-on-wordpress/

This is a blog worth catching up on - for new decks as well as vintage.

[Collector]

I promised I do:

My blog about playing cards – http://playingcardcollector.wordpress.com

Several additional words about it:
http://playingcardcollector.wordpress.com/2013/03/04/this-blog-about-this-blog-1st-month-on-wordpress/

This is a blog worth catching up on - for new decks as well as vintage.

Thanks

[Don Boyer]

I've been doing some thinking on USPC card stocks recently...

Someone with inside knowledge recently told me that yes, USPC only offers Bicycle and Bee Casino stock at this point in the game - but with a large caveat.

USPC uses the same paper to make the card stock for both models.  This card stock is fed through a press using two rolls - one for the front, one for the back - and from there, the graphite-laced glue is added and large steel rollers squish the sheets into the paper sandwich we know today.  It's also at this point that the stock is either left flat for smooth decks or embossed for "air cushion, linen, linoid, etc." dimpled-surface decks.

The amount of pressure applied at the rollers, humidity levels, variations in the quality and thickness of the paper and who knows how many other factors all have a hand in just how thick or thin, heavy or light the finished product will be.  In fact, because of there being so many variables affecting the final product, USPC stopped describing their stocks using the industry-standard grams per square inch meter (gsm) and instead offer thickness of stock as their measuring stick.

But the thing is, the standard for Bicycle stock and the standard for Bee Casino stock now covers a fairly wide range of thicknesses - and there's even some OVERLAP between the two categories!  It's actually possible to end up with a Bicycle stock deck that's thicker than some Bee decks, and a Bee deck that's thinner than some Bicycle decks.  It's as if USPC threw in the towel about being precise on just how heavy a stock will be and instead of offering several stocks with small thickness ranges, they just offer two with a broader range in each.

In a way, you could picture this in your head and say, "Well, in a sense, all those other stocks that we knew and loved are really still being made - they're just being lumped into larger categories and you can never really know in advance precisely which decks will have a thickness consistent with, for example, Tally Ho stock, Bicycle Casino stock or Aristocrat stock."  To make life easier on themselves, however, USPC will only offer you a range - pick Bicycle, the range is from X₁ to X₂; pick Bee Casino and the range is from Y₁ to Y₂.  You can't pick the thickness you want with any greater a degree of accuracy than that.  And as mentioned above, X₂ falls within the range of Y₁ and Y₂, just as Y₁ falls within the range of X₁ and X₂.  I'm going to try including a primitive but effective graphic to illustrate this.

If you ask me, USPC's mission of being the best card company, period, seems to be taking a back seat to making acceptable cards while cutting costs and making it easier on themselves - ever since the company changed hands so many times in the latter third of the last century.

It's almost enough to make me want to create my own playing card company!

I'm quoting myself here because I have an addendum to this.

I spoke with some of USPC's larger and smaller custom deck customers and learned something new.  The above generally will apply to small design shops, the ones that produce two or three decks in a year in print runs of 5,000 or less.  Bigger firms have greater options; we're talking about companies that might do about a half-dozen decks or more in a year (counting color/texture variations as separate decks due to the necessity for a separate print run for each) and in larger numbers, large enough to warrant the use of the larger, high-capacity web press.  At USPC, as one would expect in any business, the customer who drops more cash is the customer they're more willing to be flexible with and accommodate.

So, are there other stocks out there?  If you want to really split hairs, there's a near-infinite number of different stocks, if you define a stock as being of a certain grade of paper, sandwiched with a certain amount of glue, pressed together with a certain amount of pressure, stored under certain humidity conditions, weighing a certain number of grams per square inch meter, etc.  Under those criteria, practically every roll of paperboard USPC makes would be considered a different stock from all the others, because it's practically impossible to make an organic, composite material like paper, and more specifically like the source paper they use, that's consistent from batch to batch and roll to roll.  While "the little guy" is told there's two stocks, each falls within a certain thickness range, the ranges overlap, etc., if a big customer says, "I'd like you to do this for my order of (three, four, six, eight) print runs of (10,000 / 20,000 / 30,000) decks each," well...  It's like in the military, when an officer tells a trainee to jump - the only question from the trainee at that point is "How high?"  The more you're spending, the more eager USPC is to jump however high you request - up to a point, of course.

Some prime examples of this:
- David Blaine's White Lions Series A "rainbow edition" purple - created through a transition process from red ink to blue ink on the card backs in mid-run.
- CARC's Professional Bicycle Skull & Bones series "red/black" deck - same as above.
- CARC's Erdnase 216 - created on a unique, smooth stock with a unique coating that Bill Kalush has been developing with USPC over the course of many months and many experimental print runs, the end result being a deck that's thinner than most and has a very different feel to it, unlike anything else USPC produces today.

As sort of a codicil to this addendum, if you're a customer not from the US and looking to make a custom USPC deck, the process becomes at least one degree more complicated as a result of international custom deck orders being handled by the International Department rather than the Custom Department.  I'm sure you guys have heard the headaches that Zenneth Kok had to deal with on the Coterie Bee decks...  It's been a little while since I've been in touch with him, but at that time the issues still hadn't been satisfactorily resolved.  A tip to international designers seeking to make a USPC deck - if you can, find an American business partner to work with, in order to get the Custom Department to handle your project from start to finish.

[Anthony]

Time for another edition of "Noob Questions" hosted by yours truly 

So as always, trying to do my homework, because while I go with what appeals to me ascetically, it is always a plus to learn about what your adding to your collection.

So, Bee brands, seems these are more of the "Classic" design professional playing cards, used by Casino's etc...OR is it a finish? I see this tossed around here and there, "Bee Casino Finish". I do like the more classic design on the Club Specials Stinger Backs for instance ( I hear the Black version is tough to come by), but what am I really looking at when looking at a Bee Deck? I'll be honest, I'm still kind of figuring out the "Pecking Order" as it were with playing cards, I know USPCC prints most decks, but then you have Bicycle, Bee, Hoyle, Aviator, Km and a few other smaller "Brand" I guess? I think my confusion lies in descriptions such as this " Bicycle XYZ Deck designed by T11, manufactured by USPCC" there seems to be 3 different things going on there.

Maybe an easier example would be the recent Black Book of Cards on Kickstarter. They offered "Bicycle" branded decks, so it's the same deck, but with Bicycle branding...why is this such a bit deal? Or is it?

As always I appreciate the feedback and apologize if this is a simplistic question that I'm making complicated. When I started it seemed it was more like, "OOOHHH, Pretty Cards!" now as I learn more it seems to bread more questions.

Thanks in advance 

[kdklown]

Time for another edition of "Noob Questions" hosted by yours truly 

So as always, trying to do my homework, because while I go with what appeals to me ascetically, it is always a plus to learn about what your adding to your collection.

So, Bee brands, seems these are more of the "Classic" design professional playing cards, used by Casino's etc...OR is it a finish? I see this tossed around here and there, "Bee Casino Finish". I do like the more classic design on the Club Specials Stinger Backs for instance ( I hear the Black version is tough to come by), but what am I really looking at when looking at a Bee Deck? I'll be honest, I'm still kind of figuring out the "Pecking Order" as it were with playing cards, I know USPSS prints most decks, but then you have Bicycle, Bee, Hoyle, Aviator, Km and a few other smaller "Brand" I guess? I think my confusion lies in descriptions such as this " Bicycle XYZ Deck designed by T11, manufactured by USPCC" there seems to be 3 different things going on there.

Maybe an easier example would be the recent Black Book of Cards on Kickstarter. They offered "Bicycle" branded decks, so it's the same deck, but with Bicycle branding...why is this such a bit deal? Or is it?

As always I appreciate the feedback and apologize if this is a simplistic question that I'm making complicated. When I started it seemed it was more like, "OOOHHH, Pretty Cards!" now as I learn more it seems to bread more questions.

Thanks in advance 

So I'll prime the pump here for Don.  Don't confuse stocks and finishes.  USPCC offers two different stocks.  Bicycle and Bee.  Bee is the more expensive slightly beefier of the two. 

As far as the Black Book Decks go...  The cards inside the tuck are exactly the same.  It's just the difference between branded and unbranded.  Bicycle branded decks appeal to a specific audience.  Some folks only collect bicycle branded decks.  It's a subset of this community. 

The default for custom made decks is Bicycle stock with magic finish. 

It is possible to have a Bicycle branded deck with Bee stock.  USPCC plays it pretty loose with the terminology you can put on your tuck box so you may come across several bizarre stocks and finishes that don't really exist.  They all boil down to the basic few. 

Check the sticky thread, I think you'll find it at the top of the PCP Forum.  Sheds way more light on this. 

Hope this helped a little. 

EDIT: here's the link to all the knowledge you may desire.
http://aethercards.com/discourse/playing-card-plethora/playing-cards-fact-or-fiction-myths-debunked-here/

[Anthony]

Thanks kd, yes I've read the Fact or Fiction thread quite a bit. Its making more sence but can still be a bit confusing when your coming in completely green. It seems everyone has a slightly different way of explaining something and within those explanations you can make sence of it all.

I'm sorry if the thread is a bit re dundent.

[Mydnyghte]

I'm like you Sparkz, trying to make sense of all this wonderful madness. Like a baby in a titty bar, I just don't know which way to go.

From the Kickstarters I've back, I gathered Bicycle branding is just that; branding. Other than collector appeal, is there really any reason to pay the extra money for the name?

The whole coating thing threw me off too. It seems everyone has their own term for the same thing.

[bhong]

As another newbie to the playing card world. I totally understand the confusion. I think half the problem is usage of older terms that are no longer applicable.

[Don Boyer]

EDIT: here's the link to all the knowledge you may desire.
http://aethercards.com/discourse/playing-card-plethora/playing-cards-fact-or-fiction-myths-debunked-here/

I've merged this topic with that one - that's really where a meaty discussion like this belongs.

Time for another edition of "Noob Questions" hosted by yours truly 

So as always, trying to do my homework, because while I go with what appeals to me ascetically, it is always a plus to learn about what your adding to your collection.

So, Bee brands, seems these are more of the "Classic" design professional playing cards, used by Casino's etc...OR is it a finish? I see this tossed around here and there, "Bee Casino Finish". I do like the more classic design on the Club Specials Stinger Backs for instance ( I hear the Black version is tough to come by), but what am I really looking at when looking at a Bee Deck? I'll be honest, I'm still kind of figuring out the "Pecking Order" as it were with playing cards, I know USPCC prints most decks, but then you have Bicycle, Bee, Hoyle, Aviator, Km and a few other smaller "Brand" I guess? I think my confusion lies in descriptions such as this " Bicycle XYZ Deck designed by T11, manufactured by USPCC" there seems to be 3 different things going on there.

Maybe an easier example would be the recent Black Book of Cards on Kickstarter. They offered "Bicycle" branded decks, so it's the same deck, but with Bicycle branding...why is this such a bit deal? Or is it?

As always I appreciate the feedback and apologize if this is a simplistic question that I'm making complicated. When I started it seemed it was more like, "OOOHHH, Pretty Cards!" now as I learn more it seems to bread more questions.

Thanks in advance 

OK, from the top working my way down...

Bee is considered a classic design.  It's USPC's oldest brand, dating back to before the creation of the company - part of how USPC grew to the monolith that it is was by "the Microsoft method" - find any company doing any good work and buy them!  The "traditional" version sold in stores all over the world is the Bee Diamond Back, with the pattern that's printed into the bleed (past the edge of the cut line, resulting in a borderless card), creating an illusory effect when spread, making it hard to know where one card ends and another begins.  They're still sold in stores this way, but casinos have for the most part dropped that and similar designs.  In addition to the not-entirely-perfect cut on the card back creating what was in essence marked cards, but because many card mechanics took advantage of that visual effect I mentioned to conceal some of their card sleights.  The majority of casino decks today now use a back with a border to it, be it white or some other color, but not a pattern on the edge.  One of the popular designs, used on Bee and old Aristocrat decks created for casinos, was the Stinger Back - basically a Diamond Back with a fade-to-white border.  On casino-designed decks, they were usually accompanied by the casino's name or logo, and a tiny oval with a Bee logo in each corner - hence the name Stingers.  The Aristocrat version, while still called Stingers, had an image of the four suits in the tiny ovals of their decks.

I believe that the Stingers you're referring to are the Theory11 decks.  T11 got permission from USPC to create the first-ever Stinger Back made for a non-casino deck.  In addition to removing the casino names, they did away with the Bee logos on the corners, creating a very simple, elegant back design.  They were originally sold only in black (and just called "Stingers", not the name we know them by today, "Black Stingers" - much like how World War I was "The Great War" until World War II began), and those sold out.  A couple of years later, the Red Stingers were made - same design, new color, very popular.  They were using a stock that's no longer available for custom decks, Aristocrat stock, which has a slightly beefier feel to it and aren't quite as stiff as Bee Casino stock.  Anyway, those, too, are sold out now.  But...it's been noticed that while the original print run of Black Stingers was made in Cincinnati, many decks came on the market labeled that they were made in Erlanger.  It was soon discovered that T11 was still reprinting some of their older decks, but for unknown reasons only selling them through other retailers and not on their own site.  We know of at least one other instance where this occurred, with the Propaganda deck, one of the first designs T11 created.  As people started learning of this, price differentials developed between the Ohio and Kentucky decks, with Kentucky decks fetching a lower price.

In regards to paper stock...

I wrote a rather nice article about them here with an addendum here.  I'll tell you that at one time, there were many, MANY different stocks at USPC - Bicycle (Standard), Bicycle Casino, Bee, Bee Casino, Aristocrat, Tally Ho.  At one time, E was using the Bicycle Casino stock for all of their decks, but they switched to a thinner stock when the company moved to Erlanger due to problems USPC was having getting the thicker stock to print properly on the new hardware.  Tally Ho got the axe early on, and they started using Aristocrat stock for Tally Ho decks.  Then Aristocrat itself was removed.  Lastly, Bee (Standard) was axed, and it was around that time that USPC stopped using the industry standard for measuring the weight of paper, grams per square meter (gsm) and switched to measuring paper by its thickness range instead, with Bicycle being the thinner and Bee Casino the thicker - but as you'll see in the articles linked above, I've learned that there's actually some overlap between the two papers' thickness ranges...

The way most people saw it was that Bicycle was the thinnest and Bee Casino was the thickest, much as today.  Bicycle Casino was a bit thicker and stiffer.  Aristocrat and Tally Ho were about the same thickness, heavier than Bicycle Casino, but Tally Ho was stiffer while Aristocrat was more pliant.  Then came Bee followed by Bee Casino.

Lastly, there was one oddball stock, UV500.  Early Ellusionist decks were marked as having "UV500 Air-Flow Finish".  The UV500 part was the stock name.  It was a heavy stock, on par with something like Tally Ho or perhaps even thicker/stiffer.  What made it unique was that the paper was UV-sensitive - it fluoresced under a UV lamp, a lot like someone wearing a white outfit, making for some inpressive looking cards - ordinary white card stock didn't react at all under blacklight.  It was their go-to stock - until the plant making the paper jacked up the price high enough to make it prohibitively expensive.  I could be mistaken, but I think the last company to use it was David Blaine for his UV-sensitive version of the White Lions Series A in blue.  It was considered one of the "Rainbow Series" decks in that run, the other two being the red deck and the transitional purple deck - that deck shifted gradually in the production run between blue and red, allowing Blaine to have two different deck colors in a single print run.  But I digress...

Now about finishes...

At one time in history, these words meant something and represented actual, different finishes of differing formulae: Cambric Finish, Ivory Finish, Air Cushion Finish, Linoid Finish, Linen Finish, High Finish and probably a few more I don't know about.  Today, we associate these finish names with the different brands that used them: Cambric and Ivory are most often found on Bee decks (Ivory much less so today), Linoid is found on Tally Ho decks, Air Cushion is found on Bicycle decks, etc.

First, let's clear something up that USPC loves to get muddled: a card's finish is actually referring to the embossing more so than the laminate applied to the cards.  Back in the day, USPC's decks were all made on smooth paper, and it was in the laminating process that the embossing was applied (which is probably where people start muddling things, right there).  The laminate was applied to the paper using textured cloth rollers - different fabrics created different textures, so that's where the embossing came from.  It's also why some of the finish names (such as Cambric, Linen, Linoid) are derived from the names of fabrics.  Anyone fortunate enough to own older decks like Jerry's Nugget or the Japanese Friar's Club may notice this difference, especially on the Jerry's - I'm told that it's textured on one side, smooth on the other, which is believed to contribute to the deck's beloved handling characteristics.

I forget when the change took place - it was either late 1970s or early 1980s, probably around the same time they stopped using a traditional cut for their standard decks - but eventually USPC did away with the cloth roller process altogether.  The rollers tended to wear out more quickly and needed frequent replacement, slowing down production.  To the best of my knowledge, they now put the embossing on the paper when the graphite glue is applied, using heavy steel rollers that press into the surface of the paper itself.  (Pasteboard, which is what cards are made of, consists of two layers of paper held together with a layer of glue in between.  The glue is laced with graphite in order to make the cards opaque - they're only translucent without it, allowing one to read the cards from the back under the right lighting.  Some cheap decks today are made without the graphite or with inadequate amounts, which is why some cheap decks will show light through them when held to a lamp.)  There's a video that USPC created for one of the educational/reality networks on cable which shows the manufacturing process.

Today, the only real difference between the "finishes" is the marketing.  Linoid, Cambric, Air Cushion - it's all pretty much different ways of saying the same thing - basically a "standard" finish, which is how USPC refers to it internally.  They all use the same basic laminate and get pressed together in between the same rollers.  (Of course, the smooth decks are pressed between smooth steel rollers...)

But, there is one new wrinkle - what you know as "Magic Finish", a new laminate introduced by the company a couple of years ago.  I've heard some say there's no actual difference, but I've actually noticed that fresh out of the cellophane, a Magic Finish deck has a sharper chemical smell than the standard finish does - my wife can tell the difference at a distance because she likes the smell of Magic Finish!  I can tell it as well.  Crack open a pack of basic Bikes and a pack of some new custom deck and you'll probably notice it as well.  At one time, Magic Finish was an option you had to pay extra for, whereas now, it's the automatic finish selection for custom decks - you actually have to request the "standard" finish laminate.

In addition, particularly in the early days of the finish, many companies had their custom decks labeled using the traditional names rather than calling it Magic Finish.  The very first deck to have Magic Finish on it was the Gold Arcane deck, and it's labeled as "Air Cushion".  The first deck to have Magic Finish and to say so on the tuck box was the Bicycle Cargoyles by Lance Miller.  The first smooth-finish deck to have Magic Finish, to the best of my knowledge, was the black and silver Bee Erdnase 1902 Acorn Back deck in Ivory Finish produced by Bill Kalush at CARC.  It's believed that the creation of the finish was in part motivated by the problems some early metallic-ink decks were having with handling.  Anyone who's handled a Stephen Rook/Diavoli deck knows what I mean.  The cards are pretty nice to look at, but clump like cold, wet mud.

Did you catch my earlier mention of "Traditional Cut"?  As mentioned, circa 1980 plus/minus a few years, USPC stopped using Traditional Cut.  Traditional Cut is what's known as a "face-down" cut, meaning that the individual cards are pressed through the cutting die facing toward the blades.  The beveled edge this created not only made the cards easier to shuffle, but also permitted one to make a table faro, face-down, right out of the box.  For reasons unknown, this required the card sheet to be inverted at some point after printing (and for web press decks, after cutting the sheets from the roll).  USPC got hardware that allowed them to speed up the process of making a deck, something that didn't require the sheet to be turned, but that created what we call a "Modern Cut", which is a face-up cut, with the cards being pressed into the die with the backs facing the blades.  They don't shuffle as well, and can't be faroed face down until they've had a good deal of breaking in.  Casinos, being the traditionalists that they are, generally insist on Traditionally-Cut decks.  A good example of a traditionally cut deck would be the Richard Turner Gold Seal Bicycle Rider Backs as well as the Professional Bicycle Rider Backs from CARC.

Almost any new, uncanceled deck from a casino will also be traditionally cut, but because paper decks are no longer used in poker, most of the decks you'll find will have "Tech-Art" faces - those are the ones with the four Ace indices, the ones on the left being short of the corner, as well as all the number cards up to 9 falling short.  These cards were designed so a blackjack dealer could know immediately if he was dealt a blackjack by the use of a mirror built into the table - cards worth ten had a high index in the left corner while Aces had a high index in the right corner.  They're also usually jumbo-index, as that's the preference these days for most blackjack tables.  Many people aren't fans of either Tech-Art or jumbo indices - T-A isn't good for standard card play and may look a little too alien for some spectators.

[kdklown]

Don quick question for you...  You always refer to the United States Playing Card Company as USPC.  Most others myself included refer to them as USPCC, using all five initials.  However, I can't remember ever seeing you correct anyone on the forums.  Maybe you tried and have given up or maybe you just shorten it for ease of operation.  I would want to correct my usage if it wrong.  Just curious.  Thanks. 

[Don Boyer]

Don quick question for you...  You always refer to the United States Playing Card Company as USPC.  Most others myself included refer to them as USPCC, using all five initials.  However, I can't remember ever seeing you correct anyone on the forums.  Maybe you tried and have given up or maybe you just shorten it for ease of operation.  I would want to correct my usage if it wrong.  Just curious.  Thanks.

The company used to use all five initials.  They've shortened it to only the four in recent years.  On their own websites they refer to themselves as USPC.  It's pretty much like the difference between to-MAY-to and to-MAH-to...

[kdklown]

Roger that.  Thanks Don.   

[Anthony]

Wow, that was quite the explanation Don....but greatly appreciated and most importantly answered a boat load of questions. So it seems at this point, for a beginner, there really isn't too much to really consider when picking up current/modern decks especially if our intention is based more on collecting than practical/professional use and even then it seems to be a personal preference. I would say when chasing more vintage decks more of the dated details would come into play.

So finishes for the most part are just identified by different names depending on the brand that they are attached to, but I have to admit that I know what you mean by the stronger smell and have noticed it on certain decks. And if I read correctly there are only 2 different card "Stocks", of course taking your thickness research into consideration when making that statement.

As I mentioned, this did clear up a lot of questions for me and I'm sure others as well and I appreciate the time you took to go into such great detail....I've also copied your response into a Word dock to review on occasion or when the need arises.

[bhong]

A quick question for anyone that might know the answer. Technically there's only two real finishes by USPCC, air cushion and magic finish, but CARC developed the special finish on the Erdnase 216 playing cards. Is that finish exclusively CARC or will others be allowed to use that finish for their own decks in the future?