Royal Plastic Playing Cards
I picked up two decks of Royal playing cards for reviewing. The decks were incredibly inexpensive for plastic playing cards, costing $7 for the pair of them.
The cards are made in Tawain.
The decks I received were described as being 3 7/16 in. X 2 1/4. Bridge sized cards are 2.25 x 3.5 inches. When I received them, they were exactly as tall as regular playing cards, 3.5 inches. They were, however, slightly wider than bridge cards.
The decks come in sets of 55 cards, including 2 jokers and a card of bridge scoring rules.
Royals New In Box
Each deck comes in its own plastic box. The bottom of the box is black while the cover is see-through clear. The lid comes off and on easily, and should be banded to keep it in place.
The decks were described as having blue and red backs. If so, that is the darkest blue I have ever seen.
Blue? Back - Red Card - Ace of Spades - Red Back
The cards themselves have a very waxy feel to them. They certainly feel as though they are made out of 100% plastic. Nothing about them reminds me of any paper card.
I measured a stack of 52 cards at .5218 inches. That makes them considerably thinner than the other plastic cards I've reviewed. But, the Royals, despite being thin, are not at all flimsy. In fact, they're stiffer than several makes of plastic cards.
After having run several sets of plastic cards through my tournaments, I realize that bridge-sized cards simply do not work well in our playing environment. So, I did not run these cards through our games.
I think that at this price point, the advatage of having plastic cards instead of paper ones is that the plastic should hold up to greater bending and survive spills. These cards do pass the bend test, allowing you to bend the card so that the top and bottom edges touch, without "remembering" the bend once the card is released.
I also soaked some cards in water for several minutes, which is much longer than they would sit in a spill. They came back to the deck without issue.
I did however, see reports of these cards failing to stand up to repeated use in tournaments. So bear that in mind when deciding whether or not to buy Royals.
Overall, these cards do not have the feel of a premium plastic playing card. But they don't have the cost either.
I think Royals would be a fantastic substitute for paper playing cards in a lot of conditions. They would be perfect for picnics, camping trips, and good for children to take to the pool or use in their clubhouse. They would stand up to things like dew on the picnic table, greasy fingers, and clumsy hands. And those are the better reasons for buying plastic cards.
They are not however, premium plastic cards. Even if I could get a set in poker size with jumbo indexes, I wouldn't be interested in running them through my tournaments.
Royals are a good substitute for paper cards. They are not an "investment in plastic cards". They would certainly excel in some situations, but fall short in others.
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