I hope that I post in the right place. Sorry if the question was already solved but I tried to make a search on the forum and I have not found the answer. When I started my collection in 2011, I bought four Bicycle Series 1800 in two different shops and I received two different versions. With the pictures of boxes, you can see that the versions are completely different but I still don't know what are the real differences of these two versions. Now, I think that the V1 with the red Ace of Spades on the blue box and the barcode is less common but I am not sure. I just know that I bought the "Performace Coating" (with the error for the word performance) version a little later but long before the publication of the Marked V3 by Ellusionist. Do you have any information please?
Version one was the original, manufactured in Cincinnati before the plant moved to Kentucky.
Version two came later - in addition to having the Performance Coating (misspelled, as you noticed!), all decks made in Kentucky also have the "legalese" fine print on the bottom of the box, including the copyright date and name of the manufacturer (always USPC) and copyright holder (which in this case is also USPC, because the Series 1800 is just a modified Rider Back). Performance Coating is the original code name for Magic Finish - USPC's first Magic Finish deck was Ellusionist's Gold Arcane deck, a 5,000-deck limited run. Ellusionist preferred the code name over the common name and continues to use it instead, though I have also seen them list it as "Performance Finish" on some decks, probably by accident. I prefer the code name as well - what magician wants to pull out a deck with the word "Magic" printed on it? Anyway, the coating was critical in making the deck easier to use - something about the aging effect on the original cards made them get very tacky and sticky after only a little use, requiring a dusting of fanning powder to get them to perform even just adequately. And technically, Magic Finish/Performance Coating is a coating, not a finish - all the Series 1800 decks have the same embossing, "finish" in printing being defined as the paper's texture, not the layer of varnish or plastic coating it.
Version three appears identical in all ways to version two - EXCEPT that the marked decks all have standard black USPC sticker seals, not the weathered/aged-look red and blue stickers used on the version two decks. Technically, because it's a magic deck and not a standard deck, what you call version three really is more of a new product than a version of the original. The box bottom has the Ellusionist "firebird" logo they use for "Ellusionist Playing Card Co." but without the wording, a small barcode on the right and a copyright date of 2014.
Collectors might find version one more desirable for its rarity, as it is no longer in print. People who use the cards, however, will prefer version two, as the Performance Coating makes the cards much more playable and easier to use.
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