sinjin7 wrote:I always felt the original Mana decks were one of the most beautiful decks ever produced, but it was greatly underrated for a couple of reasons. First of all, it wasn't released domestically in the U.S. But the biggest reason was that the release of the Mana deck was over-shadowed by the release of Alex Chin's Seasons decks. The Zinfandel and Indigo decks were really nice and I appreciated the fact that Erik went fully custom with his second editions, but I still like the original version better.
I don't like the fact Erik is breaking the continuity of the series by switching from the USPCC over to the Taiwanese/Chinese printers, plus I really hate that side load tuck box (why can't they just glue to bottom flaps to solve the issue of the cards getting hung up/damaged when putting them back into the box?). I do love the gold version and at least those won't be side load tucks. This won't be one of those situations where you have a super nice tuck box but are disappointed by the cards inside.
Sinjin, just like the old Oldsmobile ads said: these are not your father's playing card decks. The Expert quality is WAY up over the past year. Heck, even the decks from MPC with their new paper stock (really nice French 310gsm linen finish made by Arjowiggins - same company used by Expert and USPCC amongst others to supply some of their paper) and even I was shocked to have to admit that right out of the box they are excellent feel and quality - to the point that we have to remember "Bicycle" just upgraded their stock without much fanfare a few months back - to keep ahead of the Joneses, as we say. Are they the same? Certainly not. Are the better to the point where I could hand you all three blindfolded and you could not possibly tell between them (and there is no smell any more) - absolutely. They all have that 'springy' quality that the traditional 'magic finish' / "air cushion" / etc (all the same, actually) decks we have loved for ages have. You can take a deck of MPC cards and if you're not careful they will fly out of your hand just like a brand new USPCC deck always has, same thing with the latest stock and finish from Expert/Legends. Are they made in the USA? Nope, they're not. Are the absolutely impeccable quality? They certainly are. If you had three decks all the same made by each company and randomized the tucks you put them in could you tell them apart? Not any more you can't.
I couldn't say that a year ago, in fact I couldn't say that even 6 months or 3 months ago, but I can assure you - there is no difference and in fact the cards made by Expert and MPC are better in that they don't have the registration 'drift' problem seen in almost all of the recent USPCC-made decks. There's not a whole lot they can do about that. When you have roll-fed Heidelberg presses that can pump out a million decks in a single 24-hour period registration is always going to be an issue. Sheet fed digital Heidelberg presses - not so much, in fact not at all, and those printed by the HP Indigo printing press aren't subject to ANY registration nor alignment issues at all either.
We're working with Arjowiggins and Metsabord GMbH to identify a perfect high gloss/shine high brightness perfect texture casino grade paper stock for the Chromografix decks. It's not an easy task, since it comes down to those aspects plus the amount of moisture in the paper and a whole lot of other things. I was leaning towards a Chromalux Digital 800 paper that's 330gsm, but I found a 350gsm paper that perfect, not too stiff, not too flexible from Arjowiggins that might be the ticket. Time will tell. Chromalux is made by Metabord, formerly Zander, the same company that printed the first 12-color decks that were never sold to the public but only used as salesmans samples, maybe 1000 decks total over about a 10-years period after consulting with the current VP at Metabord who was there in the 60's. Dr Zander made them simply to show off his "Fine Papers" and the quality of cards that could be made with them. We have to remember that Dondorf bit the bullet trying to do a 28-stone deck (16-color faces with 12-color backs) and never recovered. After being in business for over 100 years these "centennial" decks sent them into bankruptcy and A.S. Spilekarten ended up with them and eventually stopped using the name and it became just another part of "A.S.S." which is still in business today. Spielkartenfabrik Altenburg GmbH is still right there in Altenburg Germany.
If you have a deck of Lotrek's Venexiana Gold you'll find those are a 330gsm French casino grade paper stock that is a perfect balance of springy and flexible but still not stiff, and those are just the best decks I have ever held in my hand - and they aren't intended to be anything but looked at, frankly. You could easily play a game with them, but I suppose it's not the best plan, since they average out to around $1.85 per card - or $1.66 if you bought them here on UC. They - being the world's first fully foiled back card made are well worth it.
I really liked the part explaining the story behind the deck's name, Sybil.
