Review
This deck is made by Best Made Co. a company that specialises in outdoorsy products such as axes, camp supplies etc, and it is supposed made in mind to be used by the campfire hence the large corner indices and small pips in the center. The cards are produced by uspcc.
Box
As you can see from the pictures below, the front of the box features the back design, in the middle is the Best Made Co. cross in a typical american design. On the left side, it has the words grace . fortitude, and on the right, courage . compassion, which i suppose is part of the company's vision, motto. And on the back we have a diagonal stripe going across with the words "Famous, for the workshop camp & home". The bottom has uspcc information and Designed in New York. The top is blue with "made in the USA', and the flap is completely yellow. I think the whole colour scheme really works for me, and the top flap ties everything together with the yellow. However the box isnt of the highest quality nor embossed (think fathom-style), but still decent enough.
The Cards
This is a fully custom deck of cards. But to be honest, i was a little disappointed by the cards, from the pictures on the website, i expected more of a variation between the different suits. And the courts are just stripes which is pretty boring after the first look, and also all the courts have the exact same stripes between the different suits. In the picture below, i only showed one suit, but the rest of the suits are same, just changing the pips from spades to hearts etc. I think the jokers are pretty nice, but nothing stunning. The aces all have the same lightning design, which is terrible, shows the lack of effort. The 'ad cards' are not really add cards, but an extract from one of their poster/greeting card design which is thought was pretty nice, im just a sucker for these things. The back design is clearly one way, and isnt very interesting since they took a minimalistic approach to these cards.
Handling, Finish and Stock
Let me first say that this doesnt feel like a deck of cards from the uspcc, but not in a bad way. First off it has a really nice smooth finish that has the slick feel of a magic finish, not sure if this is always the case for smooth finish but i really like it. The card stock is stiff, as stiff if not stiffer than bee casino stock (im comparing this to the aurum), which is why i say it feels different from a uspcc deck of cards. The cards fan veryyy nicely straight out of the box, doesnt slip as much as the magic finish, BUT the fans are soo damn boring which is truly a pity. The fanning of the faces produces some interesting things, the courts have their stripes all the way to the edges which can be seen in a fan, but the other cards are completely white which is bad, I can totally imagine cheating with this deck in a poker/blackjack game, a quick peek by tilting the deck will tell me where all the courts are. Dribbles are fine, springs are definitely not as easy with the stiff stock. Faroing is difficult with this deck, and it seems to be traditionally cut since it faros from the faces (correct me if im wrong thanks!!), perhaps the edges need more breaking in. This is were the real problem begins, the full bleed of the back design makes corners chip very easily after faroing, and is clearly visible on the back design. Giant fans are boring as well, no pics sorry, hard to do a god giant fan while slinging a dslr. Cuts are superb. packets stay together much better than dimpled finishes as with all smooth finishes. Not sure how durable these cards are, havent been using these cards for extended periods of time.
Overall
I think the overall handling and feel of the deck is absolutely superb and is the highlight of the entire deck, i wish more decks would go this direction since uspcc has now shown that its smooth finishes are indeed comparable to its air-cushion/magic finish. This deck of cards have been let down by its back design and the court cards, if only they went with a repeating pattern of the Best Made Co cross, and actual courts, it might be ranked that much higher in my list. Sadly the deck is going to drift off into the land of the forgotten, but do pick these cards up, if you want to try a different handling experience.
Pictures
ps. Please feel free to praise/slam this review, correct me if im wrong, inform me if i left anything out. Cheers guys!