Voltige Playing Cards by D&D

[badpete69]

Yes I just heard back from D&D . The Collector set is indeed both decks for cheaper

[cosmicsecret]

Ouch!
They rape international customers on the shipping!
For 2 decks to Europe :

Select Shipping Method

Standard $17.00
Priority $29.00
Express $52.00

For 6 decks to Europe :

Select Shipping Method

Standard $27.00
Priority $31.50
Express $60.00

D$D =

[sinjin7]

Picked up a set. they look very nice. Sinjin you know you are a card whore like me... Stop being an hypocrite and buy a set already hehehehe You know you want too. Come on go that's it click on the buy now

#@&%!!! I caved and I picked up 3 sets, I can't help being a card whore . . . I feel like I need to shower. These are the first D&D decks I've bought since the S&M reprints. All the overpriced crap they've put out since, like the horrible Bruce Lee decks and sad Magic Cons to name a few, were easy passes for me. I wanted to vomit after reading their pretentious verbiage in the description for these decks.

But at the end of the day, these were surprisingly not grossly over-priced and I am intrigued by the tucks. I ordered these at $14.25 per deck shipped, but I honestly thought the Bucks would price these out around $20.00 per deck shipped. Maybe they have been paying attention to our griping about their ridiculous pricing after all, or maybe they learned some hard lessons after their DeckStarter fiascos.

The reviewer mentions soft stock (which usually means thin and flimsy) and smooth finish and couldn't manage to fan the deck worth crap, so I have low expectations on the performance of the cards themselves. I think the twins completely cheaped out on the stock/finish to save costs (although these are supposed to be printed in the US) and put the money in the blinged out tucks. Also, no mention of how "limited" this print run was, there could be 20,000 decks for all we know.

Damn, I can't shake this feeling that I'm going to regret buying from D&D again - its like I'm going to wake up tomorrow morning and have to take the walk of shame . . .

[badpete69]

You have done well my young (or old) card whore padawan. rejoice in the fact that your collection has again grown with beautiful decks

[Marcus]

Had these been reasonably priced, say somewhere between $6 and $9 with the regular brick discounts and sensible shipping I'd be in for a brick or two of each color. However with their international shipping prices and the deck price I'd be paying $20 per deck. That's far from reasonable and a no-go for me.

When did the Buck twins stop producing decks that were meant to be used?

[MagikFingerz]

Too many negatives for me. Bad stock (I don't prefer thin and soft) and finish (obviously), boring monochrome back design, not-really-custom courts, 1's instead of aces (wtf?), lots of words/text on the faces... Nope!

Another nugget from the review video: "...and the edges are rather smooth." Rather smooth? Not good enough, man. And those fans are BAD.

You have done well my young (or old) card whore padawan. rejoice in the fact that your collection has again grown with beautiful decks

Here's a new avatar for you, Pierre

[Marcus]

Too many negatives for me. Bad stock (I don't prefer thin and soft) and finish (obviously), boring monochrome back design, not-really-custom courts, 1's instead of aces (wtf?), lots of words/text on the faces... Nope!

Surely, you've seen the European decks with an E instead of A? If the 1's offend you the E must be just as bad.

[MagikFingerz]

Too many negatives for me. Bad stock (I don't prefer thin and soft) and finish (obviously), boring monochrome back design, not-really-custom courts, 1's instead of aces (wtf?), lots of words/text on the faces... Nope!

Surely, you've seen the European decks with an E instead of A? If the 1's offend you the E must be just as bad.

What? No, E is the same as A, just in a different language. Why would that make any difference? Not that I've seen any European decks worth collecting, but that's beside the point. 1 is just boring, I mean there are 9 other numbered cards in the deck lol. Seems like making the Queen into a pawn to me.

[Eoghann]

Not that I've seen any European decks worth collecting.

You take that back RIGHT NOW!

[Marcus]

Just got it confirmed that these are indeed printed with USPCC if anyone's on the fence and that makes a difference.

What? No, E is the same as A, just in a different language. Why would that make any difference? Not that I've seen any European decks worth collecting, but that's beside the point. 1 is just boring, I mean there are 9 other numbered cards in the deck lol. Seems like making the Queen into a pawn to me.

Actually I agree about the A/E/1, but far from everyone would be that liberal about having the A switched out for an E.

[volantangel]

From that handling and smooth finish, I highly doubt that it's uspcc, with a custom box like that there no way to verify it until someone gets their decks. So I'll wait for it to happen, surely they can handle a smooth finish deck decently, even I can.

[Marcus]

From that handling and smooth finish, I highly doubt that it's uspcc, with a custom box like that there no way to verify it until someone gets their decks. So I'll wait for it to happen, surely they can handle a smooth finish deck decently, even I can.

As I mentioned earlier it's been confirmed that these are indeed USPCC. As for the handling, we'll just have to wait and see.

[volantangel]

Hey marcus, have you handled a smooth finish uspcc deck before ? If anything, their stock is wayy stiffer than that of air cushion finish because of the lack of dimples, rather than what is claimed as softer stock. But yes, lets wait and see what the quality of the deck is when someone has a deck in their hands, i dont want to jump to conclusions based on a single video.

[MagikFingerz]

Not that I've seen any European decks worth collecting.

You take that back RIGHT NOW!

Oops! Won't take it back, but I'll add "...for me"

Just got it confirmed that these are indeed printed with USPCC if anyone's on the fence and that makes a difference.

Well, in that case they chose a flourisher with pretty bad fans to review their deck (relative to their standards/reputation, no offense to the guy).

Actually I agree about the A/E/1, but far from everyone would be that liberal about having the A switched out for an E.

Might have something to do with my first language's word for Ace starting with an E, so you're probably right

[Marcus]

Might have something to do with my first language's word for Ace starting with an E, so you're probably right

Yeah, you norwegians and your weird words. (It's the same in Swedish. )

Hey marcus, have you handled a smooth finish uspcc deck before ? If anything, their stock is wayy stiffer than that of air cushion finish because of the lack of dimples, rather than what is claimed as softer stock. But yes, lets wait and see what the quality of the deck is when someone has a deck in their hands, i dont want to jump to conclusions based on a single video.

Um, yeah, I've probably gone through a few hundred or so of each type during my time at E and Murphy's so yeah, I have actually handled a smooth finish USPCC deck before.

[sinjin7]

Ok, I just got these in today and I want to clear a few things up.

First, and most importantly the good news: the Voltige deck does not have a smooth finish, it has the standard USPCC Air Cushion finish on what appears to be Rider Back stock. I don't know why J&T would say it was a smooth finish in his review. I don't know what was up with his fanning in the video (he's usually better than that) but these fan just fine. Too bad it doesn't make much of a difference since the borders are so wide.

Now the bad news. The tucks are incredibly difficult to open. The top flap (or the side flap since its a side tuck) is sealed shut and perforated, so you have to somehow break the perforations apart without damaging the deck to open the flap. Furthermore, the deck seal is also perforated and designed to be lined up with the side flap that opens, so ideally you break/cut the seal in half in the process of opening the deck. Of the six decks I got, two of the decks didn't have the deck seal properly aligned, which made cutting through the perforations of the tuck flap even more difficult. I finally had to peel the deck seal off and cut it in half and reapply the seal after I finished cutting through the all the perforations to open the tuck. Why in the world did they perforate the tuck flap instead of having it pre-cut?

Instead of just scoring the back "hinge" of the side tuck flap, its perforated as well. So just by opening and closing the tuck box many times in regular use over time, the perforations connecting that back hinge are going to break and the whole side tuck flap will separate from the rest of the tuck box. Poor design in my opinion, they should've just scored the back hinge like most other tucks do. You really have to take care closing the side tuck flap because its such a tight fit.

And what about the "soft-touch coating" on the tucks that's supposed to be "a texture that will surely add an entirely new dimension to the future of playing cards" according to the twins? Its nice, but too bad its already been done by T11 on the Red Monarch tucks and the Medallion tucks, so nothing new here. Damn, I hate D&D.

And just in case if anyone is still reserving judgment on whether the Voltige merely copies classic French courts or if its fully custom "from scratch" and thought we jumped the gun in calling D&D out (I'm talking to you, Don Boyer), yup, these are barely modified copies of the standard French courts. Again, nothing new here.

Having said all this, the French courts are a nice change from the standard USPCC courts, and I like the custom pips. The Ace of Spades is plain and forgettable (apparently the Ace of Clubs is the featured ace in this deck), but I like the Jokers. The back design is OK, but don't like the one-way aspect of it and as previously mentioned, the borders are criminally wide, you get almost blank one-handed fans.

I think the guy that designed the deck, Jacques, is a nice enough guy, he had the stones to come here and explain and defend his design so I have to respect that. But I'm having incredible buyers remorse and can't believe I drank the Buck Kool Aid again and bought anything to do with D&D. Tuck is very novel, but fragile, and its only going to be a matter of time before the tuck breaks down at the perforated back hinge and fall apart. You would think the Bucks, who made their bones with magic and cardistry, would produce a more user friendly deck. I think this is really a deck only for collectors who never use their decks because of the attractive and fancy side tuck.

[Widdee]

Thanks for the heads up, Sinjin! I have been pondering this deck but believe I'll pass.

[volantangel]

So theres both goodnews and bad news, but that issue with the back of the flap is kind of a dealbreaker for me. Could we possibly get pics of it?

Btw: Why would D&D allow for such an inaccurate review? Unless.. The deck used in the vid was a prototype placed in the new box, that would kind of make sense.

[MagikFingerz]

Regarding the review, I'd venture a guess that the deck in the video was a prototype deck which had smooth finish and poor fanning capabilities.

[sinjin7]

Here are some pictures. First up is a picture of two new decks, which don't come with any cellophane. Notice the perforations, and I don't know if you can tell, but the perforations on the deck seal on the red deck isn't properly aligned so it won't tear along the perforation on the tuck box flap.

The second picture is of an opened deck, notice the jagged perforations.

The third picture shows the back hinge is perforated, not scored, which compromises the durability of the tuck flap.

The last picture shows a different view of the perforated back hinge.

[sinjin7]

Sorry for the double post, but apparently I can only post 4 pictures in a single post. This last picture shows the Voltige deck in a one-handed fan. Due to the thick, wide border, the fan looks almost blank.

[Maddest Hammer]

Man, those are some HUGE borders! Not exactly a solution to their shitty design, but maybe a piece of scotch tape across the fold line of the tuck (on the inside) might extend the life of the tuck. Or, maybe the whole thing is actually supposed to come of?

[vasta41]

Wow, I don't usually care one way or the other about thick borders but these are just too much! What were they thinking? Really, how did no one at D$D say, "he guys, let's enlarge the back design just a tiny bit?" Odd.

[sinjin7]

Man, those are some HUGE borders! Not exactly a solution to their shitty design, but maybe a piece of scotch tape across the fold line of the tuck (on the inside) might extend the life of the tuck. Or, maybe the whole thing is actually supposed to come of?

I actually wondered if the whole flap was meant to be removed as well since its perforated all around, maybe its meant to be used as a cap of sorts. But this is a side tuck so it really wouldn't work as a box top cap, and none of the pictures on their site showed the tuck flap completely removed. The tape idea would work, but wouldn't be too visually appealing when the tuck is opened.

Wow, I don't usually care one way or the other about thick borders but these are just too much! What were they thinking? Really, how did no one at D$D say, "he guys, let's enlarge the back design just a tiny bit?" Odd.

It's strange, but a lot of things seemed to have gotten past the twins on this deck. The thick borders could've been such an easy fix. And I'm sure the twins have seen the review video many times, but they still let the error about the smooth finish slip by. Volantangel and Magikfingerz are probably correct and J&T was probably using a prototype in the review.

[markjanderson]

I just got my pair of Voltige decks yesterday and the interesting thing that I noticed was that like sinjin7 said the back of the red deck was perforated all the way around, but the back of the blue deck was just scored (front and sides were perforated like the red deck though).

Seemed pretty strange to me.