Durability of Magic Finish

[Don Boyer]

I'm very interested in hearing what people think about Magic Finish - not when it's fresh out of the box, but when you've been using a deck with it for weeks at a time.  How long does it hold up?  Does it simply go like an Energizer bunny, does get better with age or does it crap out and start clumping eventually?

It might seem like an odd question coming from me, but I have so many decks in my collection that in the course of rotating through them, I might use a deck only a couple of times a year for only an hour or two each time.  (BTW: that's a time that it's time to slow down on the collecting...  )

Please tell me some of your personal experiences with using Magic Finish, Performance Coating, etc. over time.

[Paul Carpenter]

I have opened exactly 1 Tendril deck for my daily use. I got those decks in April last year and have had it on my desk or in my pockets since then, with relatively consistent usage. When I first got the decks I'd say I played it for several hours each day for many weeks. Since then, it still gets a few hours of use here and there. Even in humid south Florida, I just pulled it out and it fans perfectly.

http://instagram.com/p/VcCebuFL_p/

So, I think that is holds up amazingly well. I have decks from other places that have started to clump after an hour or so and never seem to recover.

[john]

With some of the first magic finish decks, gargoyles and artifice mainly, the decks handled great and then they just started to handle like crap, couldn't do anything to get them to handle well again. With the magic finish decks recently all i have had was smooth handling with little to no clumping.

[pwhovey]

Just got my first couple of decks with Magic Finish (Zen) and I had to find a place to say how much I like it.  So glad this forum is here.  Hopefully the finish will hold up over time.

[Marcus]

They usually hold up great, better than others in my experience. (I'm working in my Sharps to see how their classic finish (and stock) hold up as they're a new favorite of mine. Not as slick but love the feel of the cards.)

[Siegismyname]

My Gold Arcanes clump quite badly now but works fine after being "warmed-up" through shuffles and spring for half an hour or so. I've had them for a few years now and don't usually play with them though.

One of my favourite magic finish decks would be the Bee Erdnase Cambric Finish Black and Silver Acorn Backs from Conjuring Arts. They handle better with more use. I am looking to stock up more of those. If anyone has some for sale, you could PM me.

[Don Boyer]

My Gold Arcanes clump quite badly now but works fine after being "warmed-up" through shuffles and spring for half an hour or so. I've had them for a few years now and don't usually play with them though.

One of my favourite magic finish decks would be the Bee Erdnase Cambric Finish Black and Silver Acorn Backs from Conjuring Arts. They handle better with more use. I am looking to stock up more of those. If anyone has some for sale, you could PM me.

Any deck, given enough usage, will wear out.  Even plastic cards require replacement, though nowhere near as frequently - perhaps a new deck or set every few years or so, depending on the brand.  But judging from observations by others and myself, Magic Finish/Performance Coating works well and lasts longer.

Those Erdnase decks aren't terrible common these days.  The Ivory Finish version of that deck you favor was actually the first smooth-textured deck to have Magic Finish as its coating.  They tend to be a bit easier to find because the lack of embossing results in a much stiffer card (too stiff for some) and the Cambric ones are pretty stiff to start with!  That deck might be easier to find than the Cambric model, and the durability of them is really, REALLY good.