Alex, can you please update this? I find it very interesting! Thx!
It sounds like Alex is a little busy, so let me see what I can do about that...
Here's some quotes from Alex's first post - I'll go over them one by one and see if anything's changed since he wrote it.
Without a doubt some of the most interesting details about how a deck of cards is made are obscured by uncertainty.
This thread is here to once and for all put a rest to some of the myths that circulate the community about cards. Have a myth you want debunked? Submit them to aethercards@gmail.com.
MYTH1 | Card production expenses are through the roof! FALSE
With the USPCC, production costs are reliant on so many variables that it will take decades to list them all. However, here are some basics that everyone should be aware of:
1. As of this post, Arrco faces cost significantly less - it costs more to use Bicycle faces, and even more to customize them.
2. Different stocks cost different amounts of money.
3. It actually costs extra to print under the Bicycle brand, but it can cost more to print without it if you choose to have custom face cards.
4. Metallic inks really are luxury! They cost significantly more per deck to use. Same goes for embossing and custom seals.
5. A huge chunk of spending of any good deck of cards is used on creating proofs/prototypes of the decks. Each prototype costs exponentially more than a deck of your standard cards. For example, the Vortex prototypes cost $250 each.
6. The more you print the cheaper it gets per deck! This one is pretty obvious, because quantity discounts apply to pretty much any business.
So as you can see, card production costs are only through the roof so long as you opt for high quality products. The higher quality you want, the more originality you create - it's very easy to drop over $10,000 on production. Likewise, for small businesses that want quality promotional items such as a deck of cards, it's also possible to spend half that for a simpler product with the USPCC.
Still pretty much correct. Making a very basic deck with nothing custom but the backs would be very cheap in comparison to the custom decks we're used to seeing. The only increase I'd see in production costs would have to do with the cost of fuel for transporting manufacturing materials and finished products. My father was a contractor while he was still alive, and even then contractors were tacking on surcharges for fuel usage - I can't imagine this practice has gone away. If anything, it's likely a higher charge today than it was then.
MYTH2 | The reason decks aren't fully customized more often is because of legal issues! FALSE
More customization means more money spent, but it also means a longer development time. USPCC has all the obvious legal restrictions that center around copyright, but also allow for 100% custom decks to anyone that wants them.
Again, still pretty much the same. Copyrighted works not owned by the deck's creator get scrutinized up the wazoo to make sure the proper legal clearances are in place, but if you're dealing with your own completely original art, it's not all that big an issue.
MYTH3 | Clipart decks take under a week to develop, and are created for the sole purpose of ripping off collectors! TRUE
The unfortunate reality is that many "custom" decks being released now are made in just a few short hours, and don't use any real custom art. The purpose of these decks is to suck in anybody that is looking for a sweet, limited set of cards.
Merz67 lives and dies by this fact! The moral of the story is don't buy a crappy deck just because it's a limited edition. All that does is encourage more people to make crappy decks.
MYTH4 | The USPCC is responsible for all of the horrible decks we see! This is their doing! FALSE
The USPCC goes to great length to actually keep horrible decks from polluting our market. However, they are a client-oriented company and do what the client requests. If you see a horrible deck from them - it's not their fault. Blame the person that made the deck.
All too true, what Alex stated...
MYTH5 | Cards can be signed underneath the cellophane! FALSE
Decks are wrapped in cellophane in the production plants and then shipped out. There is no way to not damage the cellophane to get a signature underneath it.
Alex himself has proved this myth to be true now - he gave away some decks that were signed under the cellophane. But the trick of it is that such decks would usually be signed after production. 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. But it is a tedious process, one that most deck designers aren't in a position to deal with (or want to deal with).
The more common method of deck signing is unwrapping the cello and signing the box itself. It's a permanent marking, but it means the deck's no longer sealed in cellophane. The other option is to sign the cellophane. But most markers will rub off cellophane if you accidentally handle the signed portion of the wrapping, and it also means you'll never open that deck because that means you might tear off part of the cello that's signed in the process. Furthermore, cellophane does shrink with heat and time, eventually tearing open on its own (many still-sealed Jerry's Nugget decks are in this condition). When the cellophane's gone, so is the autograph.
MYTH6 | Q1 quality control is a real thing - it ensures that decks are printed without any huge mistakes! TRUE
Quality control is a huge must-have for any deck creator. Centered backs, smooth edges - all these things are the result of quality control. It works in a very simple way: all decks that don't meet X standard are chucked. That means it costs more money to print because the higher quality you demand, the more you end up chucking.
Here are some things quality control is NOT:
- Q1 is not a special machine made for those who have the money to print perfect decks.
- Q1 has nothing to do with how your cards handle with the exception that it ensures even edges.
- Q1 is not sheet-fed press vs. web-fed press. These two things have to do with the quantity of decks you're printing, not the quality.
Q1 will indeed get you the best quality that USPC has to offer. But that doesn't mean that every single deck will be completely perfectly made. It just means that in the overall print run, more defective decks get caught during the manufacture and packaging processes - but it doesn't mean they catch all of them.
And as Alex stated, it's not some special machine or different type of press. It's simply the level of quality control offered by the company. Q-levels range from Q1 (best) down to Q5 (worst). The lower you go, the cheaper your manufacturing will be, but the greater chance that bad defects will get through to your customers' hands and the more refund/replacement requests you'll have to deal with.
MYTH7 | Web-press is far better for a deck than sheet-press! FALSE
The Web vs. Sheet battle has been going on for ages and it has actually been settled a while ago. The sheet-fed press at USPCC is not lower quality, and as of late many people have been arguing that sheet-fed cards have better quality-control standards. This is a myth I'll be investigating at a later date.
You can learn more about the Web Press and Sheet Press by clicking the respective links here.
I went over this in a subsequent posting. I spoke with Lee Asher about this. He mentioned that in the latter days of the Ohio plant, the sheet-fed press was a dilapidated, ancient machine, thus more likely to make faulty decks. The Kentucky plant, however, now has all state-of-the-art equipment.
In the sheet-fed press, the paper roll is cut into sheets before going into the press. This is fine for a short-run deck with only a few thousand copies being made, but somewhat inefficient for decks with larger print runs. In the web press, the paper goes into the machine as a roll, is printed, and then is cut into sheets, then later into individual cards. This is the type of press you see in those movies and TV shows where a scene takes place at a newspaper plant - the paper winds though the machine like a really long belt. This is a very fast press, perfectly suited for large print runs.
As far as quality, the current presses in use at Erlanger are about equal in quality. Other factors might affect the quality than simply which press is used, such has how recently a press has been maintained, whether the cutting blades and dies are new and sharp, how the paper was stored before printing began, the quality and consistency of the paper from the source, etc.
MYTH8 | Ohio decks are always better than Kentucky decks. Quality has just gone down the drain lately! FALSE
It took a little while for the factory in Erlanger, Kentucky to begin printing high quality decks like its Ohio counterpart, but we are now at a point where Kentucky decks are actually superior in terms of quality control. For most of the higher-end decks, gone completely are rough and uneven edges. Backs are much more centered now as well, and the available stocks are optimized to last and are absolutely wonderful. In fact, unlike the old Ohio decks which had a nasty tendency to "bow" and create a U-shape in the deck (making flourishing a nightmare), Kentucky decks are known for how flat the cards are. No bowing, no contortions.
This is very much the case. The late Ohio decks were noticeably lower in quality than the current Kentucky decks, assuming all other factors to be equal (Q-level, paper type, etc.). This was especially the case with the late Ohio sheet-fed press decks, as I described above.
MYTH9 | The USPCC minimum run for a custom deck is now 5,000. TRUE
The number of decks that is a minimum requirement from the USPCC for printing is changing constantly. As of now, this minimum is 5,000 decks. Special deals are often arranged with the USPCC and you can print less but it costs significantly more to do so, and not as many options are available.
Since this posting, the minimum has been lowered to 2,500. Subject to change with the weather and the whims of USPC's executives...
MYTH10 | The new "Standard Bicycles" are simply nowhere near as good as the old "Rider Backs" from Ohio! TRUE
The "Bicycle Standard" decks have a much lower quality control than their old counterparts. Riderbacks are still made in mass production with high standards for quality, but you aren't as likely to find them in your local department store anymore.
The "classic box" Rider Backs are NOT easy to find these days. If they're still making them, USPC's keeping it an awfully big secret. I only see "Standard" boxes now.
But, should you want a better quality deck, there are other options, many of which exceed even the quality of the "classic" box decks from Ohio:
- There's still a lot of Richard Turner "gold seal" Rider Backs around. Traditionally cut and printed on Bee Casino stock. Most shops still carry them for $5/pack, so they cost a little more, but far less than the majority of custom decks on the market.
- Aside from the box reveals, a pack of the CARC "Professional" Rider Backs is practically identical to the Turner decks. Better still, they also come in Ivory Finish as well as Air Cushion, in the event you prefer smoother-textured cards. Smoother cards provide more resistance between each of the cards, making them great for intricate cuts, aerial stunts involving tossed packets and easier double- and triple-lifts.
- The two look-alike decks on the market, the Mandolin Backs and the Maiden Backs, are of equal or better quality than classic-box Rider Backs, they're traditionally cut, and you can buy newly-made gaffs for them with altered backs, something that's no longer available for Rider Backs.
MYTH11 | The USPCC offers tons of different finishes! FALSE
Contrary to popular belief, the USPCC does not offer a large variety of finishes. Actually, there are only two kinds of coatings you can use on a deck of cards manufactured by the USPCC: Magic finish and Air Cushion finish. Cambric, Linoid, Linen, 909 Premium, Plastic Coated - these are just written on the box but either no longer exist (Linoid), or never existed in the first place (909 Premium). Unless you print a deck under the Bicycle brand, the USPCC actually allows you to write any made up finish name on the side of your box.
Alex's words are all too true. But there was a third, experimental finish that was used on some of Alex's Vortex decks. So Alex, what was the verdict regarding those decks? Is USPC going to go forward with that finish or have they shelved it (or is it still being tested)?
At some point in time, there were distinctly different finishes used on different decks - it's where names like Cambric, Air Cushion, Linoid, Linen and High Finish all came from. The thing is, though, that not only was it cheaper to replace all of those finishes with a single finish, it turned out that the "standard" finish now used, being of a more-modern composition, is actually in most cases superior to the original finishes that bore those (and other) names. However, the newer finish is also known for being fantastic out of the box, but not lasting as long. From the perspective of USPC, this is a good thing - decks wear out faster today than decades ago, meaning people buy replacements more often and they sell more decks.
"Apocalypse" and "Premium 909" finishes are just brand names dreamed up by the companies that made those decks. So are any other variant finish names you see these days.
Also, take note that simply because a deck says "Air Cushion", "Ivory", etc., that doesn't necessarily mean it has the "standard" finish on it. During the early stage of the transition to using Magic Finish on all their decks, many of Ellusionist's decks still said "Air Cushion" on the box despite being coated with Magic Finish. The first-ever deck to use Magic Finish, the Gold Arcane deck, says Air Cushion Finish on every single box made. CARC produced one of the Acorn Back decks in three versions, all using black and metallic silver inks, all marked as either "Cambric" or "Ivory", all made using Magic Finish. CARC only used that finish because of the silver ink, and preferred using the classic Bee finish names. (To date, the Ivory version of that deck is the only one ever made using Magic Finish on a smooth-textured stock.)
MYTH12 | The "finish" on a deck refers to the "dimpling" pattern pressed into the cards! FALSE
The finish on a deck of cards actually refers to the type of coating used on the cards in question. The dimpling has no real name, and a deck of cards either has the dimpling or does not. Cards that do not have the dimpling are commonly referred to as "smooth finish" despite the fact that the coating/finish applied can be Air-Cushion as well.
Many moons ago, the dimpling patterns were indeed made by using dimpled cotton or linen rollers to apply the finish. That process was expensive - rollers had to be replaced frequently, resulting in a fair amount of down time for the press and spending on a lot of extra rollers. It's why a Jerry's Nugget card has a dimpled finish on one side and a smooth finish on the other.
Today, to save money, steel rollers are used for applying finish, and the paper is either made smooth or dimpled during the layering process when the paper is pressed into card stock. Two separate paper rolls are run though a machine where a glue is applied that's laced throughout with graphite - this makes the cards opaque rather than translucent. When they are pressed together, they're either dimpled with steel rollers containing many fine points on them that deboss the paper while being sandwiched together, or they're left smooth by using smooth steel rollers. This is the major reason why the resolution of what gets printed on a dimpled card is limited - the surface being inked isn't smooth and can distort very fine detail art.
OK, gang, so how did I do?
