As a bona fide playing card junkie, I heard about our new vendor's new playing cards (here) and had to pick up a setup to try them out. The brand is called Guild and the cards are 100% acetate plastic (same material as Modiano Platinum and Kems). The setup I purchased was poker size, jumbo index with black/gold card backs (they come in all combos of bridge/poker and jumbo/standard with either blue/red or black/gold card backs).
I'll preface my review with my playing card preferences for reference. I typically prefer the thicker Italian & Spanish playing cards, my favorites being Modiano, Fournier & Dal Negro (in that order). I also really like J Design cards, especially when I'm steady dealing as these are a little more flexible. Kems are beautiful but I don't care for the feel, and only use Copags when I'm dealing for really long stretches. Onto the review...
The Guild setup comes in black plastic case (it's actually a Modiano case) with a Guild Poker cardboard cover like most other premium cards.
The artwork on the card backs are very detailed, and IMHO reminiscent of a combo of both the Kem Arrow and the Bicycle designs. Nice sharp graphics and consistent color, and most importantly the white boarders appeared consistent in size and in sifting through the deck I didn't see any blemishes.
The decks came with 52 cards plus 2 jokers and a card ranking cheat sheet. The signature Ace of spades is pretty sharp.
The face cards have the same design style as Modiano cards:
All of the cards have a boxing around the inner pip indicators on the face; for A through 10, the boxing has an off white fill color:
While the face cards have the design style as Modianos, the colors on much more vivid and saturated on the Guild cards. The red on the hearts/diamonds is very bright, especially when compared to the "security" red ink on the Modiano. Modiano Cristallo Acetate top row, Guild bottom row:
Here's a comparison with a few different brands. From top to bottom: Fournier 2800, Guild, J Design, Copag:
And another comparison of colors/pips, from left to right: Dal Negro Net, Modiano Cristallo Acetate, Guild, Fournier 2800, J Design, Copag:
And one last comparison of some card backs, from left to right: Dal Negro Net, Kem Arrow, Guild, Modiano Cristallo Acetate, Fournier 2800:
The Guild card stock is really nice, it's a relatively thick card with a textured finish (unlike Kems/Copag which are smooth); rubbing two cards together sounds like light sandpaper. The stock feel is most similar to Modiano, Dal Negro & Fournier. The card surface has a slightly glossy finish, more like Fourniers (whereas Modianos have a bit more dull finish). This makes them a hair more slippery, but easier to push the cards together during a riffle. Flexibility is fairly stiff, again similar to Fournier/Dal Negro, slightly less flexible than the Modianos. The corners on the cards are again similar to Fournier & J Design, not quite as rounded as Modianos or Dal Negros (the pic above of the card backs shows this really well). The card stock is a really bright white, brighter than most of the other cards in my collection, about the same as the newer J Design cards.
Both decks in the setup were relatively flat. Not 100% flat but within acceptable tolerance, I had no issues shuffling or dealing the cards across the full length of the table. The gold deck was a little better than the black deck.
Gold Deck (card backs face to face):
Black Deck (card backs face to face):
Overall I really liked these cards. They have a really great, substantial feel to them, similar to the Modiano/Fournier style, though they're a little more slick. That's either a good or bad thing, depending on your preference. Inexperienced shufflers (those who pick up the deck off the table, split in half, shuffle, then bridge, etc. or worse lol) will probably find these a little more slippery and hard to control, whereas those who really know how to shuffle (i.e the deck is never more than a 1/4" off the table) will love them as they'll be easier to shuffle. I really like the back designs, and while the face cards are relatively standard/basic, the saturated colors look great and the off-white boxing is a nice touch. Overall I would put these on par or just a hair lower than my other favorites, definitely worth a spot in the rotation and a decent deal at <$25 shipped per setup. If I can remember I'll update the review after we've played with them a few times.
Edited: the Modianos pictured are Cristallo Acetates, not Platinum Acetates.
I'll preface my review with my playing card preferences for reference. I typically prefer the thicker Italian & Spanish playing cards, my favorites being Modiano, Fournier & Dal Negro (in that order). I also really like J Design cards, especially when I'm steady dealing as these are a little more flexible. Kems are beautiful but I don't care for the feel, and only use Copags when I'm dealing for really long stretches. Onto the review...
The Guild setup comes in black plastic case (it's actually a Modiano case) with a Guild Poker cardboard cover like most other premium cards.
The artwork on the card backs are very detailed, and IMHO reminiscent of a combo of both the Kem Arrow and the Bicycle designs. Nice sharp graphics and consistent color, and most importantly the white boarders appeared consistent in size and in sifting through the deck I didn't see any blemishes.
The decks came with 52 cards plus 2 jokers and a card ranking cheat sheet. The signature Ace of spades is pretty sharp.
The face cards have the same design style as Modiano cards:
All of the cards have a boxing around the inner pip indicators on the face; for A through 10, the boxing has an off white fill color:
While the face cards have the design style as Modianos, the colors on much more vivid and saturated on the Guild cards. The red on the hearts/diamonds is very bright, especially when compared to the "security" red ink on the Modiano. Modiano Cristallo Acetate top row, Guild bottom row:
Here's a comparison with a few different brands. From top to bottom: Fournier 2800, Guild, J Design, Copag:
And another comparison of colors/pips, from left to right: Dal Negro Net, Modiano Cristallo Acetate, Guild, Fournier 2800, J Design, Copag:
And one last comparison of some card backs, from left to right: Dal Negro Net, Kem Arrow, Guild, Modiano Cristallo Acetate, Fournier 2800:
The Guild card stock is really nice, it's a relatively thick card with a textured finish (unlike Kems/Copag which are smooth); rubbing two cards together sounds like light sandpaper. The stock feel is most similar to Modiano, Dal Negro & Fournier. The card surface has a slightly glossy finish, more like Fourniers (whereas Modianos have a bit more dull finish). This makes them a hair more slippery, but easier to push the cards together during a riffle. Flexibility is fairly stiff, again similar to Fournier/Dal Negro, slightly less flexible than the Modianos. The corners on the cards are again similar to Fournier & J Design, not quite as rounded as Modianos or Dal Negros (the pic above of the card backs shows this really well). The card stock is a really bright white, brighter than most of the other cards in my collection, about the same as the newer J Design cards.
Both decks in the setup were relatively flat. Not 100% flat but within acceptable tolerance, I had no issues shuffling or dealing the cards across the full length of the table. The gold deck was a little better than the black deck.
Gold Deck (card backs face to face):
Black Deck (card backs face to face):
Overall I really liked these cards. They have a really great, substantial feel to them, similar to the Modiano/Fournier style, though they're a little more slick. That's either a good or bad thing, depending on your preference. Inexperienced shufflers (those who pick up the deck off the table, split in half, shuffle, then bridge, etc. or worse lol) will probably find these a little more slippery and hard to control, whereas those who really know how to shuffle (i.e the deck is never more than a 1/4" off the table) will love them as they'll be easier to shuffle. I really like the back designs, and while the face cards are relatively standard/basic, the saturated colors look great and the off-white boxing is a nice touch. Overall I would put these on par or just a hair lower than my other favorites, definitely worth a spot in the rotation and a decent deal at <$25 shipped per setup. If I can remember I'll update the review after we've played with them a few times.
Edited: the Modianos pictured are Cristallo Acetates, not Platinum Acetates.
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