So, I finally got it and... although it doesn't satisfy the purist in me, as a "product" I kind of like it. The box itself is superb, a real feeling of luxury and I've already started reading the book about PCS by Kaplan. From the first few pages I can identify some of the idealization of PCS that seems to be in vogue now, but that's what would be expected from a book about her. I once made the mistake of reading Lee Iacoca's autobiography, written in third person, and nothing is as bad as that.
Now, about the deck itself, I have very mixed feelings. On one hand it looks attractive enough but there's something tiring to the eyes about it. It seems rather muddy and dark, almost dirty. It isn't a historical reproduction, but a "Disneyland" version of history, which is a shame but taken in that context alone it is quite lovely. When I was in school we used to take parchment paper and burn the edges so that it would look old, and that's what this reminds me of.
The backs, though, I find absolutely hideous. I can't imagine what they were thinking with that design. The color looks so out of place and the signature completely superfluous.
I would have liked less dotting in some of the colors, I don't know if that was in the original or if it is just faulty printing. Anyway, it isn't bad. Not wildly great, but not bad. My mother, who gave it to me, was kind of disappointed with my critical attitude towards it, and I had to assure her that I was very, very happy with it, but was "professionally disappointed." So I didn't come off as a total jerk.
In short, I can recommend this to anyone who wants an RWS that is several levels above the yellow-box versions, which I can see now are far uglier than I had thought until now. It isn't for the historian, Waite-ist or purist. Good stuff, all around.