I was really, really hoping this was some kind of April Fool's joke, but I can't believe this is for real! I don't even know what to think of this, but this sounds like such a downgrade, if you ask me. I know a lot of people have been saying USPC's cards have been going down in quality ever since they moved to Erlanger . . . this seems like they would be going down in quality even more since Cartamundi's stuff tends to be really cheap . . . even their US cards have rather flimsy stock that wear out quickly.

I'm just . . . disappointed in this news.

You know what? I think I'm going to go with the suggestion that it must be humidity. After all, it is summer, and summer down here in the deep south (and spring too, for that matter) is always condusive to humid conditions. Because it turns out, it's not just the Bike deck: I pulled out one of my Bee decks, and the same thing happened, the cards began warping.

My current deck of red Bikes has an oddity to it that I don't recall seeing on in a deck before, but specific cards in the deck (in this case, Ace and 9 of Clubs, 2 and 10 of Diamonds, 6 of Hearts and 7 of Spades) have a slight dark smear (appears to be blue in color) down the left side of the face of the card. It's faint, but it's noticeable - especially in a bright, or well-lit room. Again, this was in a 2-pack that came with a red and blue deck, but it appears only the red deck was affected by this, and not the blue.

And like I mentioned in another thread, my Chinese-made, imported Streamline deck has terrible misalignment with the printing on the court cards.

I also wouldn't chalk up off-centered backs as misprints or manufacturing errors - with the exception of my Limited Edition Ace Authentic deck, I haven't come across any other deck that doesn't have off-centered backs (unless you count Bee, but like Don once said, even Bee can be affected by off-centered backs).

Ace is really braching out more and more beyond dollar stores. Food City had an entire display case of them directly across the aisle from their USPC display case; I'm guessing Cartamundi is wanting to broaden their sales territories, because up until the last year or so, just about the only place you could find Cartamundi brands (Classic, Ace) was only dollar stores (except for those specialty and limited edition decks they had at bookstores).

A visit to Cartamundi's factory in Belgium:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDO9oAi6b7M

The video is dated, otherwise they're clearly not quite up to par if they have to print both sides separately, and cut off the corners after they cards have been cut (which may also explain why their rounded corners aren't always perfectly even).

Actually, I think I have a theory as to why I'm suddenly seeing more brands at grocery stores as of late: because they're selling wine now. Typically, it was fairly common to find Bicycle decks in a grocery store usually at the check-out lines, or dangling from a shelf down whatever aisle had chips and/or liter bottles of soft drinks - but now that stores are allowed to sell wine, there's usually an end-cap display case full of USPC brands of cards (and occasionally, so others as well) at the wine aisle, I've come to notice.

Now, to answer your question specifically, here's what I can give you as far as a break-down of the brands:
* Bicycle - They're everywhere. Number one product, so it makes sense. Now, while I usually just see Standard Size/Face in most stores, one regional chain down here called Food City carries additional decks, such as Jumbo Index, Pinochle decks, and Bridge-sized decks. I'll also occasionally see a special deck, such as a pink breast cancer deck. Walmart almost always has the Shark decks
* Bee - Surprisingly, for this to be USPC's other top brand, I only see these at Food City (it's where I got mine), I never see them anywhere else. I also see them in Jumbo Index.
* Hoyle - I used to see these almost exclusively at book stores like Books-A-Million and Barnes & Noble, but another one of our regional chains, Kroger (despite being headquartered in Ohio, is a mostly southern chain) has been carrying the traditional Shellback decks - usually in a two-pack of red and blue (as Bicycle often comes in), but as of late, Kroger has also been carrying plastic Hoyles as well, including the clear ones. Interestingly, one time, I saw a Jumbo Index Hoyle deck at Hobby Lobby, of all places.
* Aviator - Like Hoyle, I used to generally only see these at the book stores, but as of this summer, I began noticing them alongside Bicycle and Bee at most Food City locations; now, they're also popping up at Kroger alongside Bicycle and Hoyle as well.
* Streamline - Food City's the only place I've seen these, and as I mentioned in another thread, they appear to be (at least the deck I purchased anyway) Canadian decks imported from China . . . how they ended up down here in Tennessee is beyond me. They don't see to sell well though, there's usually very few of them in the case, and they're usually always dirt cheap (like a dollar or so) compared to the usually higher Bicycle or Bee decks. Even Aviator decks are selling for like two dollars. So yeah, I can see what you mean about them being a "discount" deck. Of the few decks that I own, it's perhaps my least favorite.
* Maverick - I can confirm they are down here in the south, but I can also tell you that they're not very common either. The only place I've seen them in any kind of regularity is Big Lots, usually in their own miniature cardboard case hanging at the end of a toy aisle). I think I may have also seen them in a Family Dollar at one point, but I can't say for sure, I rarely, if ever, shop at any dollar store other than Dollar General, where they at least have brand-name products. I don't own a Maverick deck, but I have noticed the consensus among most enthusiasts out there is that it was an okay/decent deck until USPC moved to Erlanger, and they've apparently gone straight downhill since. Guess I'm not missing anything.
* Tally Ho - I can also confirm this must be a regional deck, because I've never seen a Tally Ho deck first hand in any store anywhere. I generally hear good things about the deck, though.
* KEM - Never see them.
* As for those novelty decks that you mentioned (Coca-Cola, America, The Dog, etc.) Yup. All at Kroger.
* Congress I've actually never heard of before.  But, based on the information you've given, I guess I could see why (same with KEM).

I should also mention that Food City, in addition to carrying the certain aforementioned deck brands, also carry Bicycle accessories, such as dice, and plastic poker chips.

Interestingly enough, I've noticed that Cartamundi brands are starting to branch out beyond the dollar store chains. Both their Classic and standard Ace brands are being sold alongside the USPC brands at Kroger now, which is really odd - the Classics are sold individually, but the Ace decks are sold in a pack that comes with both red and blue, as well as dice. As I said previously, Classic had pretty much disappeared from dollar stores in favor of standard Ace for a while, but both are being sold again; dollar stores also have Limited Edition Ace decks, but not like the ones we discussed in another thread - dollar store Limited Edition Aces are usually either purple or green. Eagle seems to be exclusive to another regional chain called Ingle's - and likewise, they too are sold ironically alongside Bicycle at check-out. Then again, I haven't shopped at an Ingle's location in a long time (they're not as progressive as other grocery store chains that have long since adopted the whole "super center" layout, but that's not necessarily a bad thing), so I don't know if they've started carrying other brands - if I ever find myself at an Ingle's, I may check for curiosity sake.

So, in short - as far as USPC brands go, Bicycle (and its novelties), Bee, and Streamline remain common; Hoyle and Aviator are becoming more widespread; Maverick is dwindling; the others are virtually nonexistent in these parts. Meanwhile, Cartamundi brands like Classic and Ace are also becoming more widespread.

Must be special order then, as I said, they're popping up more and more just in regular grocery stores now alongside Bicycle, and whatever other brands that are carried, which depends on the store itself.

I see Aviator brand cards are becoming more widespread and easier to find, as opposed to just exclusively a bookstores, so although Aviator may be growing in popularity, I still feel that it could be more eye-catching hanging from the racks among other playing cards - the box design, in my opinion, could certainly use an update and a little modernization, so I got to playing around in Fireworks, and this is what I came up with what I think would be a better box design for Aviator (keep in mind, this isn't anything serious, just something I piddled around with). The back of the box description was paraphrased from Bicycle's website, since Aviator already lacks any kind of description on their boxes other than "Poker Size Playing Cards." And this is really, really rough, so I apologize for the lackluster quality.

I mean these cards have a stock that is even thinner and flimsier than Bicycle's stock since moving their factory to Kentucky . . . not really sure how Cartamundi believes that's "maximum durability." The box doesn't note any kind of finish, but it's rougher and more coarse than Bee's finish. The cards themselves are like almost the entire opposite of what Cartamundi says on the box.

Just picked up a Hoyle deck and was actually surprised that the stock is virtually the same as the Ace deck I got: thin, flimsy, not durable, with a coarse finish - despite saying "plastic coated" on the box. I expected more from a USPC deck.

I found this video on YouTube - not sure if this has been shared here already or not, if so, disregard this thread.

But anyway, here's a brief little visit to the USPCC's headquarters when it was in Cincinnati, as hosted by actor John Ratzenberger; we're treated to a very brief oral and visual history of the company and playing cards from the company's CEO, a look at how decks are manufactured, and John even indulges in a little friendly game of poker:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlVSyhg8g3s

One thing I did forget to mention about the Streamline deck I got was that I noticed the edges had a purplish hue to them, which I've never seen before on a deck. Last night, I noticed a corner on one of the cards had started to peel apart, so I further peeled it apart to take a look at what the stock looked like, and I have to say, it almost looks as if they just used grade school blue construction paper for stock.

So in other words, Streamline is apparently perhaps like a "stepchild" USPCC deck brand that they don't really care about then? Well, that would explain the low overall quality and handling in comparison to higher quality deck brands like Bicycle and Bee. That, and it would also explain why the deck was so dirt cheap too (like $1.19, I think). Ironically, I got this in the same store I had gotten my Bees.