Great answer as always 
if it weren't for you guys I never would have realised how complicated the whole range of stocks and finishes is xD
Well I guess the notion I'm getting from your responses is just to try round a few different casino decks and see what I like, from the Aristos to the Bees... I actually have one of the CARC Bee Erdnase decks, it's in Ivory finish though (I didn't realise cause I picked it up at the magic shop here in Melbourne, Australia), so it's not ideal, but it does give me an idea of the Bee Casino stock
Anyway, I'm still interested in those Wynns above all other casino decks, perhaps I'll post an ISO thread in the STISO forum to see if anyone's got a bunch they're willing to sell off at a decent price... what price do you think I should try and look for when it comes to Wynns? I see a lot of prices between $40 and $60 for Brown Wynns, but I did once see Angel magic selling a Red and Violet Wynn deck for a mere $25 a set! I'm so bummed I missed out on that opportunity...
Today, for most custom deck orders, USPC will give you two choices of stock (Bicycle or Bee Casino), two texture choices (smooth or embossed) and two choices of finish ("standard" and Magic) and that's it. Plain and simple. Major companies they're willing to work with on stock variations and finish variations, but if you're some guy who just closed his first Kickstarter project, you get the short end of the choices stick.
Ivory Bee Erdnase is not a bad choice, really. There are casinos that actually use and even prefer smooth-finish stocks. Don't be surprised if you do indeed find smooth or "Ivory" finish casino-branded models. The smooth decks, not having the slightly-weakened surface integrity of an embossed deck, are noticeably stiffer and harder to shuffle - some people like the stiffer cards more.
As far as getting a bunch at a decent price - I wouldn't go crazy chasing down brown Wynn decks like that, honestly. They're terrifically expensive. Perhaps one or two for the collection is great, but if you're buying it to put to good use, get something that doesn't cost about a dollar a card! There's plenty of other alternatives out there that won't cost you an arm and a leg.
As you know, in the US, USPC is the proverbial 800-pound gorilla in the playing card market - and this holds true for casino orders as well. However, there are a few other players out there. Gemaco is one - the name usually appears with a "superbar" over the "a", making the pronunciation geMAYco. They're actually a wholly-owned subsidiary of USPC, but they're still operated independent of the "mother ship", dealing primarily in the casino market - they probably catch the casinos that decided they couldn't afford USPC/Bee! Print quality is OK, but the handling on most Gemaco decks I've encounter is terrible. Unless someone specifically recommends them (or you don't care about performance, just the appearance), avoid them.
There's another company, Paulson, that's casino-only - I can't speak much for them, since most Paulson decks I've ever seen were used and canceled. Alex would know better. I understand they've been around a while, though - you don't survive if you keep making crap cards, right?
Lastly, there's Cartamundi. (At least lastly for me - I'm sure there's more that I never heard of, but as I've never heard of them, I can't speak about them, really, now can I?
) They're based in Belgium but have operations here in the US - I'm pretty sure they print in this country as well. The quality can be VERY hit-or-miss, usually more of a miss when compared to USPC. They also print non-casino decks, many licensed properties - they currently hold licenses for Star Wars, Harry Potter and James Bond (they made the actual decks used in the casino tournament scenes of "Casino Royale", and offered them for sale). The last pack of theirs I handled was the previous generation of Magic Castle decks - and they were awful, mediocre print quality and a finish not even a mother could love.
I mention them because what I know of them - frankly, I've been wrong before. I wanted you to know these print companies exist, and gave you my assessments of them thus far, but for most of them my experience is rather limited, especially when compared to USPC. Just know that they're out there and be prepared to evaluate them for yourself - you may agree completely, partially or not at all with what I've said of their work.
