Superior Brand: Robusto Classic, by EPCC

[HolyJJ]

Personally, I would have liked the cards to still be a little stiffer... but hey, I can't complain -- I'm just glad that this card stock exists!

STIFFER?!?  What are you, a masochist? 

Lol.

No masochistic stuff from me brother, honestly. Boxing is one of my hobbies, and if got pleasure out of getting hurt or beaten up, then I'd probably be better off looking for a new hobby instead.

Whilst the Rubosto finish is definitely stiffer than any other "papery" ‎feel cards, they definitely are not finger-breakingly stiff. They're very good, and very well balanced feeling cards, in my humble opinion. I don't have any difficulties doing those Steve Forte style bridged table riffle shuffles with the finger tips (even Daniel Madison does those pretty well)‎, and nor are the cards difficult to spring.

I just think that for cards to be considered to be ultra-stiff, they'd have to be a few notches stiffer than Robusto. However, if the cards were as stiff as what I've suggested preference towards, then I do recognise the fact that their practical use would be seriously limited -- probably down to just false dealing and certain shuffles, shifts, and passes. I'm probably in a tiny minority that likes cards to be very very very stiff.‎
‎
And so what EPCC have put out with this Rubosto Finish, I think is pretty much perfect‎ for a "paper" feel deck.

I think for the future, maybe EPCC can consider experimenting with the coating, perhaps to get the slip factor up some more

[Paul Ruccio]

I'm really intrigued by this stock and the conversation around it. I really need to get my hands on this deck and give it a test. Adding it to the "To Buy" and "To Do" list.

[hecrob]

I would be really excited... if my decks were with me now... They are still at the LA office... dont know why :/

[Don Boyer]

Personally, I would have liked the cards to still be a little stiffer... but hey, I can't complain -- I'm just glad that this card stock exists!

STIFFER?!?  What are you, a masochist? 

Lol.

No masochistic stuff from me brother, honestly. Boxing is one of my hobbies, and if got pleasure out of getting hurt or beaten up, then I'd probably be better off looking for a new hobby instead.

Whilst the Rubosto finish is definitely stiffer than any other "papery" ‎feel cards, they definitely are not finger-breakingly stiff. They're very good, and very well balanced feeling cards, in my humble opinion. I don't have any difficulties doing those Steve Forte style bridged table riffle shuffles with the finger tips (even Daniel Madison does those pretty well)‎, and nor are the cards difficult to spring.

I just think that for cards to be considered to be ultra-stiff, they'd have to be a few notches stiffer than Robusto. However, if the cards were as stiff as what I've suggested preference towards, then I do recognise the fact that their practical use would be seriously limited -- probably down to just false dealing and certain shuffles, shifts, and passes. I'm probably in a tiny minority that likes cards to be very very very stiff.‎
‎
And so what EPCC have put out with this Rubosto Finish, I think is pretty much perfect‎ for a "paper" feel deck.

I think for the future, maybe EPCC can consider experimenting with the coating, perhaps to get the slip factor up some more

They are the stiffest paper cards I have yet to encounter.  But they still don't meet your standard for "ultra-stiff?"  Dude, were you expecting them to take Viagra before you opened the tuck box??    The card pictured below is the ONLY card I've found that was stiffer!

[Justin O.]

How does the Robusto's stiffness compare to quality plastic and carbon fiber decks? I've never handled either.

[Don Boyer]

How does the Robusto's stiffness compare to quality plastic and carbon fiber decks? I've never handled either.

Plastic decks tend to be soft - they're more "bendy" than paper.

Carbon fiber is practically unbendable and very brittle - you'd risk snapping it, assuming you could apply enough force to bend it.  Never handled a carbon fiber deck, but have handled carbon fiber sheets heat-sealed in layers as well as the carbon fiber card clip Expert PCC sells.  Sure, it's hard and used in some armors, but diamonds are hard, too - the harder something is, the more brittle it tends to be.  Tough to bend, easier to shatter than to bend.

[Justin O.]

How does the Robusto's stiffness compare to quality plastic and carbon fiber decks? I've never handled either.

Plastic decks tend to be soft - they're more "bendy" than paper.

Carbon fiber is practically unbendable and very brittle - you'd risk snapping it, assuming you could apply enough force to bend it.  Never handled a carbon fiber deck, but have handled carbon fiber sheets heat-sealed in layers as well as the carbon fiber card clip Expert PCC sells.  Sure, it's hard and used in some armors, but diamonds are hard, too - the harder something is, the more brittle it tends to be.  Tough to bend, easier to shatter than to bend.

Cool, thanks for the info don! After I read through this I remember that Kevlar weave playing card project from a little while back and went to look into that for more info, had completely forgotten the project creator had done several runs of carbon fiber decks prior the including Kevlar into the mix and found this cool YouTube video. One I had watched previously by him did say that if you tried to fold one of the cards in half it would break, not bend, but there is still enough flexibility to be able to shuffle. I'm thinking our Robustos are more along to the carbon fiber decks than our bikes.

[Scrambled Decks]

I just recently made a couple of review videos about the Robusto Classic and Robusto Classic Reserve.  There's a pretty interesting story behind the design of the tuck boxes.  You can find the videos at:

Robusto Classic:
https://youtu.be/etFEIQhTWIo

Robusto Classic Reserve:
https://youtu.be/PIl9oGTasHA

[PrincessTrouble]

Some of each are being released today at CARC at 4:00pm EST.  Get there quick if you want a foiled reserve!

[HankMan]

Some of each are being released today at CARC at 4:00pm EST.  Get there quick if you want a foiled reserve!

This offer comes with free postage WORLDWIDE!!!! 

*I am glad I missed the first release.. otherwise I will be paying more for shipping.

[Justin O.]

This offer comes with free postage WORLDWIDE!!!! 
*I am glad I missed the first release.. otherwise I will be paying more for shipping.

Yeah, the free shipping is pretty amazing!!

[Mark]

Thanks for posting!

[Blackjacker]

Some of each are being released today at CARC at 4:00pm EST.  Get there quick if you want a foiled reserve!

Seems a great use for all of the gift certificates that were likely purchased during the Blaine Microsoft deck promotion.

[PrincessTrouble]

*I am glad I missed the first release.. otherwise I will be paying more for shipping.

Although the price of the decks has gone up since the first release.

[HolyJJ]

The price has indeed gone up... but if you live outside the US, and you're ordering a relatively low number of decks, it would still work out a lot cheaper.

I got myself in for a brick of the regular decks, and 3 of the reserve decks.

The reserve decks are now sold out... and so that means that out of the 1000 that were made, 250 are gone (100 last time, and 150 this time). If CARC keep around 200 for their own private reserve, then only 550 will remain for general sale... which really isn't a lot (for a deck which seems to sell pretty fast).

Resellers will likely jump on them, and 550 will probably be gone in a week or less. If anybody wants a reserve deck and they missed it this time also, then they really will need to act on CARC's e-mails pretty fast next time, otherwise they'll have to sell an organ to pick up a reserve deck on eBay.

[Justin O.]

Some of each are being released today at CARC at 4:00pm EST.  Get there quick if you want a foiled reserve!

Seems a great use for all of the gift certificates that were likely purchased during the Blaine Microsoft deck promotion.

I did not even think about doing that... Crap... I spent longer than I care to admit tuning in my shopping cart to meet $500 as closely as possible.

[HolyJJ]

Although my latest order of Robusto Classics have not yet arrived, my deck that arrived in late December is still going strong despite the daily abuse I put them through.

They outlast the Classic Finish decks by a fair bit, which in turn outlast any of the present day USPCC decks multifold. So, definitely a long lasting deck!

Here's a question for PCF member's who already have a Reserve deck that they've opened: what's the foil registration like on this one?

Some of the previous EPCC decks that have used foil on card backs (eg. Exquisite Bold, and 52+J deck) have had issues whereby the registration is way off -- as in really noticeable.

In the photos that Anthony posted, the foil registration actually looked close to perfect... but then again, those could have just been carefully selected cards.

[HankMan]

Although my latest order of Robusto Classics have not yet arrived, my deck that arrived in late December is still going strong despite the daily abuse I put them through.

They outlast the Classic Finish decks by a fair bit, which in turn outlast any of the present day USPCC decks multifold. So, definitely a long lasting deck!

Here's a question for PCF member's who already have a Reserve deck that they've opened: what's the foil registration like on this one?

Some of the previous EPCC decks that have used foil on card backs (eg. Exquisite Bold, and 52+J deck) have had issues whereby the registration is way off -- as in really noticeable.

In the photos that Anthony posted, the foil registration actually looked close to perfect... but then again, those could have just been carefully selected cards.

Hi HolyJJ, the registrations of the reserve deck still have more room for improvement, though it is invisible to naked eyes. The only way I can notice it is when I do riffle test.
The other problem I noticed is the foiling quality being uneven.
See the photo I attached, some cards have nice solid foil yet some cards is showing the black dimples.

[HolyJJ]

Thanks a lot Hank, for the excellent analysis, as well as the photograph which clearly illustrates the point that you have raised. +1 for you brother.

Of course, perfection is definitely what is desired... and it's clearly not there just yet. This will be something to look out for over time.

I do think that the Taiwan factory and EPCC need to get foil application picture perfect, because whilst USPCC's metalluxe technology appears to have the similar registration issues, metalluxe decks do look pretty darn cool.

USPCC don't appear to care about registration though, and so there's (unfortunately) a fair chance that they'll not make any efforts to get it perfect... on the other hand, LPCC and EPCC have made it clear that they want to keep raising the bar with regard to quality. If EPCC do succeed with foil registration, then I'll rate them higher than USPCC for foil. At present, I have it pretty even.

[hawk199]

Received my package
4 classic and one reserved 799/1000, so close to 800  but still happy with the decks