Cartamundi Group to purchase USPCC

[CBJ]

Newell Brands Announces Agreement to Sell The United States Playing Card Company to Cartamundi Group


https://ir.newellbrands.com/news-releas ... es-playing" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Jay

[shermjack]

Wow! Wonder how this will affect the card scene.

[montenzi]

WOW ... COOL!

Cold foiled decks printed in the USA this year?

[hsbc]

Well this is massive news

[chicken_ql]

Yikes, I hope they don't do sketchy stuff now that they're going to be pretty much a monopoly.

[BaconWise]

Does Cartamundi have the same minimum order as USPCC? Curious if it will go up/down or if they will keep both printers separated under Newell and just run business as normal?

Also, holy shit, Newell is a huge company. Paper Mate®, Sharpie®, Dymo®, EXPO®, Parker®, Elmer’s®, Coleman®, Marmot®, Oster®, Sunbeam®, FoodSaver®, Mr. Coffee®, Graco®, Baby Jogger®, NUK®, Calphalon®, Rubbermaid®, Contigo®, First Alert®, and Yankee Candle®

[guru]

Interesting.

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/ ... ted-States" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[PrincessTrouble]

Maybe registration will improve? lol

[Outsider]

Don't know how I feel about this. Having the big two competing with EPCC/LPCC coming up behind was a good thing, in my opinion. This basically creates one big card company with a handful of lesser printers floating around.

On the positive side, there's no reason to assume Cartamundi will change USPCC's stock and finish, and they may even attempt to fix some of the registration issues if they dislike it enough.

[chicken_ql]

Don't know how I feel about this. Having the big two competing with EPCC/LPCC coming up behind was a good thing, in my opinion. This basically creates one big card company with a handful of lesser printers floating around.

On the positive side, there's no reason to assume Cartamundi will change USPCC's stock and finish, and they may even attempt to fix some of the registration issues if they dislike it enough.

I mean cartamundi's been pretty good with the trading card scene so I hope they can make the playing card scene just as big.

[Räpylätassu]

This is big news indeed. Let's see how this thing plays out, safe bet would be that nothing really changes that much. Maybe we see some new type of technology that is going to be used by the Kentucky factory now there are new masters in the house?

...Maybe Cartamundi starts to print Bicycles for the European market at Belgium? That would be huge. All just speculation at this point though.

[Merlebird]

Wow. Hopefully Cartamundi doesn't opt to relocate USPCC out of the Cincinnati metro area.

[JacksonRobinson]

https://cartamundi.com/en/press/cartamu ... d-company/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Bradius]

We have discussed before that the company that owns USPCC has been trying to find a buyer for USPCC. I am glad it is an experienced playing card printer to be honest.

[Azid]

Maybe it's possible to modify Rider Backs in future again ?
And a little less strict guidelines in some cases... Remember the situation Lee McKenzie had with his Outlaw playing cards.
We will see and as Bradius said "I am glad it is an experienced playing card printer to be honest"

[Pablo393]

Maybe this means a possibility of more Jackson Tally-Ho deck designs in the future.

[Bradius]

Hah! My avatar is a partial protest to USPCC’s treatment of Lee McKinzie. Note the extra long middle prong in the pitchfork.

[MagikFingerz]

Don't know how I feel about this. Having the big two competing with EPCC/LPCC coming up behind was a good thing, in my opinion. This basically creates one big card company with a handful of lesser printers floating around.

On the positive side, there's no reason to assume Cartamundi will change USPCC's stock and finish, and they may even attempt to fix some of the registration issues if they dislike it enough.

Let's be honest, it never felt like the USPCC really "competed" with the others, they just did what they had always done. Now, they may actually work towards improving. Quality control, new experimental finishes, you name it.

[serubi]

Wow, didn’t see that coming! Maybe they’ll start selling USPCC decks in Europe now

[hsbc]

I am glad it is an experienced playing card printer to be honest.

Agreed 1000% - I was half-expecting a giant conglomerate to buy USPCC that would care about it even less than Newell. Instead it looks like Cartamundi just gained a massive foothold in North America, and they can add Bicycle, Bee, Fournier et al to their portfolio. And I've mentioned this before but I feel that Cartamundi is working hard to innovate - the new Cohorts finish or their partnership with VXD's diffraction printing are good examples

I imagine USPCC has many existing contracts with casinos so I wouldn't be surprised if USPCC retains its name and just acts as a somewhat autonomous subsidiary of Cartamundi. Will they try to replicate any finishes on the other side of the Atlantic? (B9 in the US? Bicycle-style stock in Europe?)

[macstrat]

I am feeling a strong sense of ambivalence to this news...

[TheGentlemanWake]

I too am ambivalent. Typically large mergers mean lay offs and other negative repercussions. I was hoping to see the card world expand rather than contract. Competition is important. I would never want Apple to buy Microsoft or Xbox to merge with Playstation. It's not good for the consumer. Hopefully my fears will be unfounded.

[rousselle]

We've talked often here about how back in the day, USPCC bought Dougherty and other old timey companies, but we don't often talk about how Hoyle had similarly gobbled up a bunch of competitors, and then USPCC gobbled up Hoyle. At that point, I think USPCC becoming the de facto monopoly (yes, I know that Gemaco and Liberty still exist and still produce vast quantities of casino decks and, to a lesser extent, ad specialty decks) was a real thing. I think them being gobbled up by a conglomerate that had no real interest in playing cards per se was a genuine problem, and it has shown itself in many ways, but it didn't turn into the disaster I had feared it would. With the rise of competent competitors overseas, I think we've been enjoying a new golden age of playing card production.

Like many of you, I'm neither particularly optimistic nor pessimistic about this news. I'm glad USPCC will be in the hands of a company that is primarily concerned with playing cards, so that's cool, but it's too soon to tell if this will mean USPCC will adopt the best practices of Cartamundi, or if it'll be dismantled and sold for parts. Time will tell.

[guru]

Large mergers & acquisitions have seen mass layoffs in 95% of cases, and I do hope and wish this doesn't happen here with USPCC workforce. EPCC/LPCC have got diminished presence already in terms of custom decks produced through Kickstarter, and hope they are able to reinvent themselves and able to differentiate themselves based on real capability as compared to creating hype like JN finish etc.

On another note, it came to my mind recently that someday PCF might acquire UC (after seeing a note from Mike R. on JN Reprint thread).

[Harvonsgard]

... if this will mean USPCC will adopt the best practices of Cartamundi, ...

I hope so. I'm pretty optimistic. The consumer service of USPC just sucks and as discussed in other threads, the QM went down noticable lately.
Cartamundi was the biggest player on the market anyways. It was just a matter of time. It still blew my mind this morning, since I didn't thought of this happening so soon. I think USPC is in pretty good hands in the Cartamuni Group.

In case Cartamundi f**ks up and screws the whole poker playing cards market... I heard a great guy in Greece is producing awesome stuff anyways.

[chicken_ql]

... if this will mean USPCC will adopt the best practices of Cartamundi, ...

I hope so. I'm pretty optimistic. The consumer service of USPC just sucks and as discussed in other threads, the QM went down noticable lately.
Cartamundi was the biggest player on the market anyways. It was just a matter of time. It still blew my mind this morning, since I didn't thought of this happening so soon. I think USPC is in pretty good hands in the Cartamuni Group.

In the case Cartamundi f**ks up and screws the whole poker playing cards market... I heard a great guy in Greece is producing awesome stuff anyways.

Hopefully he doesn't get bough out as well

[MagikFingerz]

On another note, it came to my mind recently that someday PCF might acquire UC (after seeing a note from Mike R. on JN Reprint thread).

What? I can't see anything to that effect in that thread.

[Bradius]

Lotrek doesn’t stand still long enough for anyone to buy him out. Sure hope that doesn’t happen to the printers he uses though.

[VXD]

Just left Cartamundi headquarters about 3 hours ago and heard it from the horses mouth. Big news indeed. Makes thing very interesting. It's an outright 100% acquisition, not a 'merger'. We went along with 2 representatives from Vrijdag Premium Printing (our other partner) and Cartamundi reps let us know about it at the start of our meeting. We also found out some other interesting nuggets. I think the industry is changing and actually, from what I have come to see....it's about time. I think USPCC was falling behind and required basically rescuing. The industry has stood relatively still for decades and needs to catch up with changing consumer demands and expectations. Other industries are leaping forward. Innovation is expected these days...it's vital to growth. Aren't we all a little bored of just art + gold foil by now?

I say it's a good thing.

USPCC was not innovating.

Cartamundi are.

[Harvonsgard]

...it's vital to growth.

I would say change instead of growth, but in general agree.

I say it's a good thing.

USPCC was not innovating.

Cartamundi are.

Agreed as well. USPC was almost stagnant for the last years.