"Turbo" cards? (2 Viewers)

[eatmorepies]

It looks like Kem's online store has a new card out: https://www.kem.com/turbo-brown-green/.

They look kind of interesting; they're $35.00 for a pack of two, which is close to the price of their Arrows a few years back.

I can't find a whole lot of information about them on the Web; just listings from other retailers, with no reviews.

Their advertising should be commended, though. The description on their site reads only, "Turbo Plastic Green / Brown - Set includes one Green Deck, one Brown Deck." Wow! That pitch makes a great first impression for their new card line. I can't wait to fork over $35.00, plus shipping+tax, for these cards!

Has anyone tried these before?

 

[merkong]

We have maybe 6 or 7 different brands of setups. Of all of these, Kems are my meat favorite. I think they bow too much with shuffling. Maybe these are stiffer. If you grab a setup report back.

 

[Eriks]

Are they trying to appease the 4-color haters? (Not working on this particular one)

 

[GeeOhVee]

Check eBay, I got them for $7.50 for a setup, about $10 shipped. It's a double deck setup.

 

[DrStrange]

Errrr . . . . players would need to be extra super cautious about not showing the color their minor suited cards. The clubs and diamond are exceptionally distinctive.

Same thing with the dealer. Flashing by accident or with purpose could be a problem.

Not a fan -=- DrStrange

 

[GeeOhVee]

They're a peculiar addition to my collection, but I don't foresee ever putting them in play. They're more of a novelty.

 

[Split]

These cards have nothing to do with Kem and are not a new offering. The patents that appear to be associated with these cards show a priority claim in 2007, filing in 2009, and were granted in 2010. I assume the cards were produced somewhere around this time due to the patent pending note on the Ace. The version being sold on Kem.com was almost certainly produced by Amass. I like this version of Amass card stock, but I've never had the opportunity to play poker with cards produced on this type of Amass card stock so I cannot speak to longevity. There was also a different version apparently produced by Fournier. At least one version of these cards seems to have been available on the Turbo Gaming LLC website by 2015, possibly 2014. Their Facebook page has one post from January 3rd, 2014 and has 12 followers. The Turbo Gaming LLC website went offline sometime in 2017-2018, and the cards showed up at Spinettis by 2019. I assume that Spinettis acquired them due to Turbo Gaming LLC exiting the market.

Kem.com is operated by Kardwell. You can search on PCF to get a feel for their current reputation. Back in the Chiptalk days they were a major supplier for our niche hobby. I fondly remember browsing through the printed catalogs that Kardwell sent out. However, my more recent transactions with them have driven me away as a customer. I have neither the time nor the energy to deal with the consistent discrepancies between what I ordered and what I received. Perhaps orders only containing a single item are safer.

I can only guess that some or all of these setups made their way to Kardwell from Spinettis due to Spinettis moving and reducing inventory. Spinettis still had thousands of setups in stock before the current move, and that's a lot of slow-moving setups to store. As I said before, I like the card stock itself. I can see how these cards could be useful when playing certain circus games, but the issues @DrStrange noted remain. I think I picked up the setups I have for something like $5 each. They're fine for playing card games with the family for that price. I wouldn't consider paying $35 for a setup; there are significantly better options available for that price.