Thursday, August 22, 2013

Quality of Card Stock

I love all of my Tarot decks for various reasons: the artwork is lovely, I love the themes presented, etc.  All of my decks seem to mesh well with my energy, and the readings I do with them are solid.  But I'm feeling kind of frustrated when it comes to the issue of card stock.

I recently purchased the Wildwood Tarot, and I absolutely love it.  I really love it in every way.... I love the art and the theme (Will Worthington), I love the slightly non-traditional take on some of the meanings, and I even love the card back, which is a deep green with an intricate Celtic design.  I think it's probably my favorite card back out of all my decks.  And yet after using the deck 4 or 5 times there is at least one card that's started to peel along one of the edges!  I am so upset!  I am gentle with my cards, so it's not from rough handling, and my shuffle style is not at all aggressive either.  So I'm really troubled by it.  I've already started thinking I'll have to have a back-up deck at some point, which seems lame since I just bought this one!

I also adore my DruidCraft deck for similar reasons - the artwork (also done by Will Worthington) is rich, and I love the earthy theme which "speaks" to me.  When the deck first came and I opened it, I was a little disappointed that many of the cards seemed to have light scratch marks, which was really noticeable across the backs (which are a dull brown and not particularly attractive).  Also I've found this deck really hard to shuffle, because the cards are not very smooth and have a tendency to stick together.

Peeling Rider-Waite-Smith??

My Golden Tarot has held up pretty well.  It's easy to shuffle for the most part because it's slightly slippery, but not too slippery that they fall out of my hands.  Even so, after a couple of months of fairly light use, the edges of some of the cards had started showing clear wear.

But I've noticed that with my two remaining Tarot decks, the Morgan Greer and the Radiant Rider-Waite, they are the most durable and easiest to shuffle of all.  (And speaking of backs, they have my second-favorite backs: dark blue with stars - love it!) The Radiant Rider-Waite is almost bordering on being too slippery, but I still enjoy using it.  The Morgan Greer is just about perfect.  They  are both published by U.S. Games, whereas the other decks in my collection are published by several other publishing companies.

So while I'm sad that many of my decks seem to be showing more than their fair share of wear and tear (wow, say that three times fast), I'm contemplating sticking with decks published by U.S. Games in the future because I think I can count on them being really solid and long-lasting.  If anyone can recommend other great-quality publishers, let me know!!

4 comments:

  1. I also like Lo Scarabeo's card stock, they shuffle well and are durable. And on the up-side, Will Worthington's next deck (my Celtic Lenormand) is being published by US Games. So, you get his fab artwork, but with US Games quality cardstock :D

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    1. Oooo, thanks! I was actually wondering about that company. Hahah, well you already know that I have my sights set on your new Celtic Lenormand. Actually I've been kind of waiting on getting a Lenormand deck until yours is out :-D

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    2. Not everyone likes Lo Scarabeo, and it must be said their LWB's are atrocious. However, I like the card quality, and they do offer a huge variety of decks! And they are allied with Llewellyn, who have the same quality card stock, but tend to offer very good books with their decks.

      That's so sweet, I really hope you enjoy the Celtic Lenormand once it's out! On the other hand, I'll understand if you give in to temptation before that, as it's going to be at least another 4 or 5 months til it's out... :D

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    3. Hah, no worries! I have my hands full for now, so I will be patient. By the time the Celtic Lenormand is out I'll feel more ready to jump into that style of reading (and I'm looking forward to it! :) ) Yes, actually I was going to ask about Llewellyn, so it's nice you mentioned it!! I like the looks of some of their decks too :)

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