I've had the deck for a bit now and thought it was high time I tell you what I thought of it in terms of quality. The art speaks for itself and that's not necessary for me to comment on.
The cards are thin. If you're a thin card guy, you may read that and get excited. Well read on. They're papery feeling, is the only way to describe it. The coating is very thin and the cardstock is very thin, it mixes to a flimsy feel. Not soft, don't get me wrong. I do mean flimsy, as in I would expect them to tear if I dropped them in on a gentle use friendly poker game. The texturing on the cards does make it feel a little better than if it was smooth.
The cut on the cards looks good. There is however a clear lip where the dye pressed through, card back down to card face, which makes them not move so smoothly. They don't fan well for me, nor do I find them easy to faro. Even after many gentle shuffles the lip remained triumphant and it was clear this lip wasn't going anywhere soon. I wasn't about to go to town on the deck like I would normally shuffle, without worry or thought just do it. This stock isn't something that gave me confidence in doing so and lets be honest, this is an expensive deck so I was gentle and methodical in my shuffling.
Lastly the printing on the indices. It seems very strange to me. Whether by design of by process I have no idea as I don't own any other NPCC decks. I tend to think it was by design but you can see spill over on the printing registry in other places as well. I don't just mean the pips. It is noticeable on the cards in hand by a man who doesn't see to well, namely me. See attached photos below.
Overall, I wouldn't purchase this deck again given it's price point or even half it's price point. I hope to get some light use out of it and enjoy the art on the cards. The texture on the cards is the only thing in my opinion that sets the quality of playing card apart from much less expensive decks with the catch phrase we all know, Plastic Coated. This is a deck you pick up to enjoy the art. It's just not for use. I would think that a deck like Branle would be a place to show off what you can do as a printer. NPCC may have done that here, I don't know. It's definitely a starting point. Overtime NPCC will likely improve that time just isn't here yet. As for being a contender for MPC, I'm sorry but no they're not. MPC produces a much higher quality product.