Hornet morphing into a Phoenix

[Linguist_]

I recently ordered all of the Karnival collection so far, several from a vendor called MagicBox here in the UK. I was surprised to open up my package and find that my Karnival Hornet had morphed into a Phoenix back. I don't know anything about the Phoenix back cards other than they are £2 (~US$3). I'm not the kind of person to ask for refunds or complain though, so I'll just accept the cards into my collection.

Does this happen often to you guys when you buy a few different items? If it does, would you contact the seller and try and sort it out? And if so, what kind of outcome would you prefer?

And what are the Phoenix back decks? Feel free to tell me that the Phoenix back is mighty rare and has a wonderful and diverse history.

[Russell CircleCityCards]

It happens occasionally.  Politely tell the reseller the mistake; chances are they will send the other deck and let you keep the wrong one.

[Kanped]

Well, there's Phoenix Backs from (I think) Bicycle and Phoenix back from Card-Shark.  Neither are particularly valuable but then, neither are the Hornets.  You should still say to them that they made a mistake.

[Frost]

I think you should contact the seller to and tell them that they gave you another deck and wouldn't be happy with a deck that i didn't want .

[hazofhorsham]

Not going to lie, Magic Box have awful customer service. I ordered a sentinals deck new years eve with some other things. 5 days later get the package without a sentinals deck... I emailed and asked what happened... They were like they were out of stock (no note on the website) and that they would send them within two to four weeks. I emailed them early february (after 5 weeks) and they said they had tried to get in contact (lies) and that they would sent them withing a week or so. Upshot is that it's been nearly 9 weeks... No deck. I refuse to buy from them now, and that sucks cos they used to be so good and still have a great selection. Email them to point it out (You will probably get through to someone called Graeme, and he seems nice and helpful)

[NathanCanadas]

Even if they have terrible customer service, you should be able, with a bit of luck, to figure something out with them!

[Russell CircleCityCards]

Going in with a positive and nice attitude is key to dealing with ANY customer service.  Demanding things, even if you are in the right, just makes dealings much harder.

[Don Boyer]

"Bicycle Phoenix" - a Stephen Rooks deck, out of print but not that great, gets clumpy FAST.
"Phoenix Deck" - decently-made deck, some are from USPC while the others are made somewhere in Germany - the USPC decks ("Master Edition") are better.
Karnival Hornets - casino grade, probably Bee stock, handles very nicely.  More subtle in the "skull/skeleton" designs than most of their recent offerings.

Neither possible Phoenix deck is as good as the Hornets.
I'd ask them about giving you what you ordered, not what they felt like sending you - in a nicer way than that, of course!

[Kanped]

I'm pretty certain that the Hornets do not have a Bee stock.  It could be Bike casino stock but it feels very different to Bee casino, or Bee standard stock.

[hazofhorsham]

"Karnival Hornets are printed on high grade Bee Stock for a slick & smooth feel"


Taken from bigblindmedias website...

[Kanped]

Huh... just a different finish, I guess.  I stand corrected.  I wonder if they mean 825 Bee Casino stock because I generally find that the standard Bee stock seem too easily crimped and I don't get that with the Hornets and they seem less stiff than Bee Casino... are there other Bee stocks or am I totally off on this one?

[Don Boyer]

Huh... just a different finish, I guess.  I stand corrected.  I wonder if they mean 825 Bee Casino stock because I generally find that the standard Bee stock seem too easily crimped and I don't get that with the Hornets and they seem less stiff than Bee Casino... are there other Bee stocks or am I totally off on this one?

Stocks can be altered by the temperature and humidity level they're stored at before printing.  Tally Ho stock is no longer made - they're now made on a variant of Aristocrat stock.  There's no way in hell you'd say a Tally Ho deck handles like an Aristocrat deck does, but they're made from the same rolls of paper from the paper mill.  It also wouldn't surprise me to learn that the glue layer between the front and back can affect handling in terms of snap and stiffness and such.