Quote from: Marcus on January 10, 2015, 06:39:55 PM

Hate to be "that guy", Rob - but shouldn't the Hive 2 deck have its own thread as they are separate from the first edition albeit part of the same series?

I leave that up to Don. We've been kind of bunching series together.
What do you think Don. If it is a new KS project for a Deck in a series, make a new topic. If it is a restart of a failed project, combine with the old?

They were made around the time USPC transitioned from Cincinnati to Erlanger.  Many decks of that period had issues.  Initially I though it was a shakedown period of the printing press, but I recently learned that it's something more.  The Federal Goverment passed regulations forcing playing card manufacturers to use all-recycled paper, vegetable-based inks and starch-based coatings.  OK, maybe not those combinations specifically, but they were forced to stop using 100% unrecycled stock, oil-based inks and plastic-based coatings and had to switch to something less toxic and more renewable.  They were forced to do some much-needed R&D work to find the right replacement supplies and still make a viable playing card.  I'm guessing that Magic Finish is one result of that R&D work.

So in general, custom decks from '09 and early '10 were the "lab rats" USPC used to try and make these supplies work while devising improvements.  Some noticed a loss in quality on Rider Backs - again, this is a possible culprit, and the fact that they were having trouble with the normal stock in use at the time (325 g/m²) on the new presses in Kentucky and stepped down to a slightly lighter stock (300 g/m²).  Sure there are differences, but I consider the current-issue Bicycles to be at least decent in quality - not godsawful, but not their finest work, either.

More to the point, the Blaine Tally-Ho decks were made, I think, during that changeover away from chemical inks and coatings.  Back then, you could get a pack to work well for you for a short while, but within a week or two of moderate use, the deck was shot because the cards had developed a much-higher friction co-efficient.  The starch coatings became tacky and glue-like, as starch does in foods when not cooked just right.

Quote from: bamabenz on November 18, 2014, 11:52:24 PM

Live. $125.
http://www.ellusionist.com/prohibition-6-deck-boxed-set-playing-cards.html

/bama

Sweet....How the hell do i add to cart?

Quote from: bamabenz on November 14, 2014, 06:11:57 PM

Hey Don, I'm curious -- what do you consider a decent price, for a limited edition deck and for a gold deck?

/bama

It would largely depend on the production values and features brought to bear.  I can understand a deck being expensive, sure - it's the whole "elite" thing going on, such tiny quantities.  See, I'd probably not purchase a gilded deck - they're absolutely gorgeous, but they're not cheap, albeit worth every penny.

Nominate Paul Carpenter for Zenith