I logged in to say that I'm a huge fan of Gemacos.

Theyre thick and do get mushy but are so resilient to multiple washings that I cycle through my used ones (no need to open a new pack)

There are a few types of Gemaco that get knicked and marked more easy than the other types. I just picked up a few discounted Gemaco decks from a vendor on Chiptalk forums and they're excellent

i bought a set-up because one of my regulars insisted that paper is better than plastic. He saw that they were a different design than traditional Bikes . . . I just said they updated the backs. Ace of spades looks the same so nothing more was said. Asked him how he liked the new deck at the end of the night. He said they were good, and then I told him they were plastic. no more paper cards EVER.

Early in the thread somebody mentioned Piatnik cards. I have one old and used a lot deck.
Still not in a bad shape, colors are good and in general not much damage on them.
Plastic coated, bridge size.
What is special about them is that they have beautiful face cards, best I have seen.
Back is not a bad design either.
"Big" Ace in this deck is not spades, it's harts, with a horseman logo on it.


Pic taken by phone, just noticed that flash is on jokers head...

My favorite deck is Furnier's EPT deck

Hey guys, joined the 2+2 forums specifically because of this thread. I recently picked up a deck of Bicycle Prestige cards because I wanted to try Fournier cards. My question is, how do the Prestige compare to other set-ups by Fournier? Has anybody tried both? Are the Prestige of equal or lesser quality? Btw, there are 2 versions of the Prestige cards, the version that comes in the nice cardboard box are by Fournier, the other version comes in a clear plastic box and are lesser quality cards made in China!

Thanks!

Welcome to 2+2 and HP!

I haven't played with regular Fourniers, but I'm part of a tourney group that uses the Prestige cards weekly. While they aren't my favorite, they are still very decent plastic cards. Even better, Walgreens puts them on sale a couple times each year (BOGO), which means you can get a setup for about $9. I consider this a steal and always buy 2-3 setups for the group during these sales.

Also FYI, the clear plastic cards you mention are Bicycle, but not Bicycle Prestige. They're just called "Bicycle Clear Plastic Cards."

I went upstairs to check them out and they appear to be fairly consistent across the board. I now have the Prestige cards to compare to the others. What do you think of them? My biggest complaint with them is the back design, otherwise I think they are very nice cards.

Would you by any chance have been directed here from Reddit?

Wasn't actually directed here by anyone. Discovered the thread while researching card brands/styles.

As far as the Bike Prestige go, I think they're good cards, but a bit too stiff for my personal tastes. I do like the the colors on the court cards vs the reg paper Bikes(the blue is a different shade). I put them into the rotation last night in my reg games along with Copags and Kems to get everyone's opinions. We typically use paper Bikes in that games. The consensus was that the Prestige were good, the Copags better, but most people liked the Kems best. This means we will no longer be playing with paper cards thankfully!

Schmend, there actually are 2 types of the Prestige. I bought the "Made in China" ones before I realized they weren't the Fournier made ones. They have the crown with Prestige printed underneath and say Dura-Flex on the front label as well. I have seen the clear plastic cards and they are definately different.

Would attach a pic but I'm doing this from an iPhone...

Also, thanks for the welcome!

Furnier makes Bicycle Prestige?

Yes and No

USPC has owned Fournier since sometime in the 90's(I think, but don't quote me on the date)but supposedly allows Fournier to maintain their own operation.

When I bought my first deck of Prestige cards they seemed cheap, plasticy, slick, and stank to high heaven. These cards were getting good reviews most places but the box my cards came in was not the same as the one I saw in reviews.

I did a search and Caragails lists the Prestige as being made in Spain by Fournier. The label on my clear plastic box of Prestige says Made In China, so I went to Walgreens looking for the Prestige in the black cardboard box. Check the back of those and it says Cards manufactured in Spain. Bingo! So I take them home, open them up, and they are of a much higher quality than my first deck of Prestige cards.

So,
Black cardboard box with silver slipcover=Fournier made cards
Clear plastic box with stick on labels=cheaply made Chinese cards

If you search for the cards on the Walgreens website, they're listed as being made in China and Spain.

To add to the confusion I've seen Bicycle cards labeled as "prestige" that come in the traditional Bicycle cardboard box on ebay and other online retailers.

Hope this helps

ಠ_ಠ

Hmm, I'll have to check mine when I get home, but I was certain that all Prestige cards were made by Fournier. I'd love to see side-by-side pics if you can get them posted.

EDIT: Removed "made by Fournier in Spain" because for all I know, Fournier makes all their cards in China.

Okay, this pic from Amazon clearly shows the "Made in China" stamp on the A:



As I said in my previous (edited) post, "Made in China" doesn't mean that they aren't made by Fournier. But I still haven't seen Bicycle Prestige cards in a clear plastic box, so I'd still like to see pics if you have them, philthy415.

Okay, a few minutes of googling and I think I have the answer.

It looks like the first Bicycle Prestige cards were sold in clear plastic boxes:


This version of the card had quality issues and smelled bad. At some point (I think around late 2009) the cards were improved, and packaging was changed to the black cardboard boxes that we see in stores today. The clear box version was made in China, and it looks like some of the black box decks were made in Spain while others were/are made in China.

So unless you happen to find a dealer with very old stock, don't worry about getting the plastic-boxed cards. They haven't been made for more than two years.

Very true! I hadn't thought about that before.

I'm glad it's cleared up now. I wanted the Prestige as a way to try the Fournier brand by just walking 3 blocks to my nearest Walgreens. Now this will hopefully keep others from spending $$$ on the lesser quality version

Ha! I have many vices. What else can I say?

I also joined 2+2 to post here, as Bicycle Prestige cards are the closest thing we here in Canada can get to Fournier cards without importing them from the UK or the US. There doesn't appear to be a Canadian distributor for Fourniers, and shipping from the US is pricey (best price I've seen is $13 shipping for a two-deck set at Caragails).

Which is too bad, because I really like the "Spanish" Prestiges (my sets do not have "Made in China" on the AoS), but I'd like to get some Fourniers with the yellow inlay.


These may be the ones available in Europe. On the Fournier website, they have them in those cases. They are also Jumbo Index.

Source: http://www.nhfournier.es/en/producto...cycle-prestige

I did contact USPC via the contact form on their website to see if these would be available in North America. According to them, the answer is no...only the regular index will be made available to the US market.

Cheers,
DC

Welcome guys

Palindrome with the RECRUITGOOT! If only we could recruit for our games as well...

Thanks for the welcome, folks.

Based on the reviews on the thread, I ordered some Desjgn Classic Victorians. In comparison to the Prestiges, they have a similar texture, and definitely feel thinner. They are very easy to shuffle, and I like the look as well. The pips are larger than the standard index on the Prestiges, but are smaller than the jumbo ones on a set of Marion (similar to Royals?) that I have here. I think they'll work out nicely, and at just under $21 shipped from the US, the price is right.

I did have some issues with a few cards in one of the decks, but after a quick e-mail to Desjgn, it was corrected very quickly. Their customer service is second to none, and they stand behind their product. Gotta like that. All they need now is a Canadian distributor.

Cheers,
DC

When you wash your cards, how do you dry them? I lay each card out on a towel. With a full setup, that takes a lot of space. I am thinking about trying a salad spinner?

Hello All! Bumping this thread fromt he FAQ. I purchased a set of Cartamundi Acetate cards as a gift for my friend who hosts and I am very disappointed. The cards themselves look great and feel great but the ink on the face is "flaking" off.

I'll try to take a pic with my phone next game.

The cards I got are here:

http://www.caragails.com/cartamundi.htm

Green box at the top. Anyone else have any history with this brand?

yup . . . no issues with the set-ups I have. My advice would be to contact Cara-Gails, as they have great customer service. They might suggest you contact the manufacturer directly, but if that turns into a dead-end, they still might work with you if it's an obvious defect.

Thanks for the bump, because there is a discussion going on in the open thread which deserves to be mentioned here.

Jason at Desjgn Playing Cards has a Kickstarter project to expand his color choices. These cards have been highly review here in HP, and Jason deserves support for this. Also, you more than get your money's worth in setups, so it is a good deal for you.

http://kck.st/Yasp6e

Note that this offer includes only poker sized cards.

Thank you eneely. Due to this thread we purchased (every 2-3 week home tournament) some Desjgn Classic Victorians, and they were a huge hit. I'm in for the $50 kickstarter (my first, though have been aware of ks for many many months) on these. Thought long and hard about the $400 level (may still instruct my wife to go that way!) for the homegame artwork. So happy to help these guys with their product... Merci!