MagicIDs card thickness

Measured the thickness of my MagicIDs card today because I've seen conflicting claims in the forum about whether they're using polycarbonate or PVC laminate. Short answer: it's not full polycarbonate, but it's not cheap PVC either.

My measurement with a digital caliper came out at 0.84mm. A genuine state license from the same state measures 0.76mm on the same caliper. A budget PVC novelty card I have for comparison measures 0.92mm. So the MagicIDs card sits between genuine and budget PVC, which is consistent with a PVC core with a thicker laminate layer rather than full polycarbonate.

The rigidity test — applying lateral pressure with thumb and forefinger — produces very little flex. Less flex than the budget PVC card, more than the genuine card. The sound when you flick the edge is a dull tap rather than the clean ring you get from polycarbonate. The metallic ring test, where you drop the card flat onto a hard surface, doesn't produce the characteristic polycarbonate tone.

• Thickness: 0.84mm (genuine: 0.76mm, budget PVC: 0.92mm)
• Flex resistance: better than budget PVC, not as rigid as genuine
• Drop sound test: dull tap, not polycarbonate ring
• Edge feel: smooth laminate, no visible layer separation at corners

For collector purposes this is fine. The card looks correct from any reasonable distance and the thicker laminate means it's more durable than cheap PVC. For any situation where someone physically examines the card's flex or performs a drop test, the difference from genuine is detectable. MagicIDs doesn't advertise polycarbonate construction at the tier I ordered, so this is consistent with their product description — just wanted to document the actual numbers for anyone calibrating expectations.

Bottom line: MagicIDs at this price tier delivers a card that's solid for display and casual collector use. Anyone who will subject it to physical flex tests or drop tests in a controlled environment will detect that it's not genuine polycarbonate. That's a known limitation of the price tier, not an unexpected defect.