Is the quality of decks coming out of China improving? Starting a discussion.

[EndersGame]

In the past, Chinese produced decks have typically been sub-par in quality and in performance. As a result, consumers have often avoided them when looking for a quality deck suitable for card magic, card flourishing, or even as a card collector.

But it seems to me that this is changing, and the quality of Chinese-produced playing cards has improved significantly. In the last year or so we've seen some decent quality playing cards coming out of China.

Examples include the following:
● UltraLux stock from Penguin Magic - see my detailed impressions
● Phantom Finish from DMC Elites - see my detailed impressions
● Pre-crushed Classic Finish from LPCC - see my detailed impressions (also worth mentioning is their Viper Finish)
● Various stocks from WJPC - see my detailed impressions.

Not surprisingly, with the exception of WJPC, the creators are keeping the name of the actual printers that they are using in China a closely guarded secret. That's understandable, because there is no point in giving other creators the chance to use a manufacturer you've worked hard to find first of all, have developed a good working relationship with, and perhaps even helped develop their technologies and perfect their product. That has happened previously with the Taiwan factory that was first sourced and used by LPCC and EPCC, which seems to have `sold out', and has since been used by a lot of other creators as well.

As for WJPC, that is a playing card manufacturer in China which is being used regularly by creators like Elephant Playing Cards. While WJPC's quality isn't quite up to snuff for card magic or for card flourishing, it is more than acceptable for card games. And the fact that their playing cards are more affordable at high volumes is why we've seen companies like Elephant Playing Cards switch to using them, given that their target audience is the mass market.

The playing card industry has seem some shake ups recently, and that looks to continue. We've already seen big companies switch their allegiances, e.g. Ellusionist switched from using USPCC to Cartamundi; Penguin switched from using USPCC to their new UltraLux stock; Elephant switched from LPCC to WJPC. With reports that Cartamundi has increased its prices for custom decks significantly, perhaps we will see more creators turning to China, given increased quality available there, at potentially lower prices.

These stocks won't suit everyone, and they all have their strengths and weaknesses, as I've documented elsewhere (see the links to "detailed impressions" above). And they might not quite match the levels of USPCC or Cartamundi just yet. But in my experience they all handle quite decently, and are better than what we've seen in the past from Chinese-produced playing cards.

Looking at the overall picture, it seems to me that the quality of China-produced playing cards has improved significantly in the last year or two, and they are becoming a bigger player in the playing card industry.

What do you think? And what are your impressions of these newer China-printed stocks? I'd love to see some more discussion on the above, and hear what others think about these things.

[hsbc]

There's also King Star (KSPCC) which used to be a part of WJPC - I guess they took the Acelion stuff with them?

[Eric Lee]

From Lorenzo's Notorious Gambling Frog, it shows that WJPCC is really improving. Definitely better than NPCC and standard MPC decks now (not MPC's Linen stock and M3x finishes) Lorenzo's latest deck, the 17th Kingdom will be using WJPCC as well. So we'll see how that goes. It'll be great promo for WJPCC when that deck comes out, if done well.

[EndersGame]

There's also King Star (KSPCC) which used to be a part of WJPC - I guess they took the Acelion stuff with them?

King Star and WJPC seem to have had a falling out and were originally one company, but Acelion stayed with WJPC.

Your post about the WJPC-Kingstar split in another thread is worth repeating here, because it is from a reliable source (Kingstar's US reseller):

Got some clarity on this from Patrick of Zealous Star, who is Kingstar's US reseller

WJPC and kingstar used to be one company. Then they had some disagreements and split up. WJPC focus more on game cards than playing cards, and kingstar now only focus on playing cards, cardistry related stuff

I have a contact over at WJPC, and asked them about the Acelion brand, and who that belongs to. Here's the response I got:

The Acelion brand was registered as a joint venture between Jack Yang, the owner of our Wangjing company, and his friend. Later, that friend left, and the Acelion brand belonged to our boss alone. People who used to work for the Acelion site also left Wangjing. Together they started King Star (KSPCC), a small trading company.

This source confirmed that although some Acelion employees also moved to King Star at the time, Acelion itself still belongs to WJPC, and is still one of their brands.

[Harvonsgard]

Great infos you're providing Ender. Thank you for all the grunt work you're doing.

And yes, China improved the card quality over the last years tremendously. There was not one China deck I got that I was a failure within the last two years. The great bunch is still not on USPCC level though. Which, might be due to preferences of the designers - for example the Phantom Finish deck is too stiff and a notch too thick for my liking but maybe that's intentional.
There're definitely decks that handle tremendously out of the box though. I'd say longevity is the only thing they need to improve.

[Tal]

In the past, Chinese produced decks have typically been sub-par in quality and in performance. As a result, consumers have often avoided them when looking for a quality deck suitable for card magic, card flourishing, or even as a card collector.

But it seems to me that this is changing, and the quality of Chinese-produced playing cards has improved significantly. In the last year or so we've seen some decent quality playing cards coming out of China.

Examples include the following:
● UltraLux stock from Penguin Magic - see my detailed impressions
● Phantom Finish from DMC Elites - see my detailed impressions
● Pre-crushed Classic Finish from LPCC - see my detailed impressions (also worth mentioning is their Viper Finish)
● Various stocks from WJPC - see my detailed impressions.

Not surprisingly, with the exception of WJPC, the creators are keeping the name of the actual printers that they are using in China a closely guarded secret. That's understandable, because there is no point in giving other creators the chance to use a manufacturer you've worked hard to find first of all, have developed a good working relationship with, and perhaps even helped develop their technologies and perfect their product. That has happened previously with the Taiwan factory that was first sourced and used by LPCC and EPCC, which seems to have `sold out', and has since been used by a lot of other creators as well.

As for WJPC, that is a playing card manufacturer in China which is being used regularly by creators like Elephant Playing Cards. While WJPC's quality isn't quite up to snuff for card magic or for card flourishing, it is more than acceptable for card games. And the fact that their playing cards are more affordable at high volumes is why we've seen companies like Elephant Playing Cards switch to using them, given that their target audience is the mass market.

The playing card industry has seem some shake ups recently, and that looks to continue. We've already seen big companies switch their allegiances, e.g. Ellusionist switched from using USPCC to Cartamundi; Penguin switched from using USPCC to their new UltraLux stock; Elephant switched from LPCC to WJPC. With reports that Cartamundi has increased its prices for custom decks significantly, perhaps we will see more creators turning to China, given increased quality available there, at potentially lower prices.

These stocks won't suit everyone, and they all have their strengths and weaknesses, as I've documented elsewhere (see the links to "detailed impressions" above). And they might not quite match the levels of USPCC or Cartamundi just yet. But in my experience they all handle quite decently, and are better than what we've seen in the past from Chinese-produced playing cards.

Looking at the overall picture, it seems to me that the quality of China-produced playing cards has improved significantly in the last year or two, and they are becoming a bigger player in the playing card industry.

What do you think? And what are your impressions of these newer China-printed stocks? I'd love to see some more discussion on the above, and hear what others think about these things.

One deck I am still curious about is possible by impossible company (not in china but in taiwan)
I was trying to get a deck but seems like theres no way to get it outside japan / taiwan, english site has no shipping and japanish site tells you there are no shipping options when you enter worldwide address.
tryed to contact them via mail / instagram, no response (pretty rude)
printed by twpcc, with brand new improved paper stock
you got your hands on them?, if not, then as a playing cards enthusiast, and the community's leading source of knowledge, you are obligated to get the cards and provide us with your feedback

Got a review video by takumi takahashi, it has youtube subtitles, and it seems they are pretty good

[EndersGame]

One deck I am still curious about is possible by impossible company (not in china but in taiwan)
I was trying to get a deck but seems like theres no way to get it outside japan / taiwan, english site has no shipping and japanish site tells you there are no shipping options when you enter worldwide address.
tryed to contact them via mail / instagram, no response (pretty rude)
printed by twpcc, with brand new improved paper stock

Hi Tal, since your question is about a deck produced in Taiwan, and doesn't relate to the subject of this thread (decks produced in China), I've posted a detailed answer to you in another thread here on United Cardists about TWPCC, since that's the company that produced the particular deck you are asking about.

Head here to see my post and response to you:

Playing Card Manufacturer: Taiwan Playing Card Company (TWPCC)

[GandalfPC]

I was trying to get a deck but seems like theres no way to get it outside japan / taiwan, english site has no shipping and japanish

You can try using https://zenmarket.jp/ to order from the Japanese site

Choose “Other Shops” then “add URL” and enter the web address for the item

[EndersGame]

Jackson Robinson (Kings Wild Project) should be added to the list of those who have been using a manufacturer in China in recent years to print many of their playing cards.

Like many of the other creators on the above list, I don't think he has disclosed the name of the factory at this point.

But there are at least two different factories that people do know about and are commonly used at this point:
- LPCC/EPCC's Chinese factory (their partner)
- WJPC's Chinese factory

[kevork]

Jackson Robinson uses Dongguan Tongheng Printing Company. https://www.tongheng.cc/