Review: Bicycle Prestige Playing Cards

Everybody knows Bicycle for their paper playing cards but few realize they have a competitive plastic playing card too. The Prestige cards were originally released as a limited time offer but apparently were successful enough for continued production. These were my first deck of "real" plastic playing cards and they are interesting. They boast a "paperlike feel" and I guess they do now after plenty of use. It could be the Dura-Flex plastic (I suspect is PVC although the original releases were prone to "acetate" smells? Since most people are morons, I'm not sure. Maybe the moron is me this time. Regardless, mine didn't smell and don't feel like cellulose acetate.) or it could be skin oil collecting on the surface but either way, they do feel most like paper than any other card I own. To be clear, i mean "like paper" in how they feel when shuffling. Otherwise, they are thick and fairly stiff. Less stiff than the Da Vinci cards but more so than the Kems

The color is very pretty for both the red and blue. The picture is pretty accurate for both. The backs are beautiful and look very good spread out while washing the deck. The face cards are pleasing and are no different than those printed on the paper cards. The ace of spades is one of my favorites. It possesses enough detail to make it stand out but not so much as to look cluttered. Also, it is sized appropriately unlike the Copag (too small), Da Vinci, or Gemaco (too big).

The problem with these is that they float easily and some people will have a problem getting them to stop moving when they set them down. The solution is easy - give a quick tap to the top card to push all the air out. A second problem i've noticed is the ink is flaking slightly after about 6 months of use.

Either way, these are decent. Not my favorites but not bad either. Definitely good enough to play with on a regular basis. Maybe the best part, you can buy them at Walmart.