A couple of nights ago I was hanging out with a couple of magicians and one of them asked if the rumor about Bicycle Cards that are sold are Costco was true. If you don’t know, the rumor is that the Bicycle Cards there are “seconds” and not as good as ones you’d buy elsewhere.
I think that the cards at Costco are the same ones you’d get elsewhere. I also think that Bicycle’s standard card has become junk over the last 15 or so years. I use them, but I only use them at gigs because a deck of cards at a gig lasts me about an hour. After an hour the deck is missing so many cards it’s not usable.
After a Bicycle deck is broken in, I don’t think they handle well. So personally I buy higher quality cards for my own non-show use. I find that I practice more frequently using better decks of cards. Here’s the current deck I’m using:
I know that 90% of the “higher quality” cards are printed at the USPCC, however I’m pretty sure they are not printed on the standard stock. Having better tools that last longer gets me to practice more. I’m learning moves I’ll never use, but it sure is fun!