Sola Busca tarot Mayer 1998 or Sola Busca tarot (revisited)?

[Zennistar]

Dear All,

I am wondering whether to purchase Sola Busca Tarot Mayer 1998 or Sola Busca Tarot (revisited) from tarot by seven stars. I feel that the latter one is red in tone and former one is with darker shade?

There is price difference as well, of course the former one has nice packaging but it seems that the former one has blank tarot back?

Please let me know your opinions.

Thank you.

 

[Zephyros]

Well, they're not the same, so it depends what you're looking for. The first is the original, or at least a reprint, and is quite different from later decks. I still like it, wonderfully evocative. The Revisited is a collage made with images from the original to conform to later RWS structures. So, they really aren't the same deck.

Personally I would go for the real thing.

 

[JayBee]

If you can afford to go for the Mayer, you should definitely make that choice. It's no contest. I have it. It's truly beautiful.

 

[garmonbozia]

The Mayer is beautiful. If you want a Sola Busca deck, I'd get that one.

The Revisited deck is not really a Sola Busca deck at all. The majors have been completely redone to look like RWS majors in an artwork style similar to the Sola Busca to make it an easily readable deck for those who know how to read a RWS deck.

It's comparing apples and oranges really. If you want a Sola Busca reproduction, the Mayer is the best one I've seen, and it's still currently available.

If you are just looking for a new reading deck and don't care if it's really a Sola Busca deck or not, you'd probably be happier with the Revisited deck.

 

[Le Fanu]

I was a little surprised at the Revisited. Got it in a Trade - had never really thought about getting it until it popped up here and so I went for it. When it arrived I found it stretched and pixelated and a little indecipherable in places. As though I was getting a first, sketchy version. There were distorted details which I simply couldn't make out. I didn't quite get it. Plus it did that curious warp of twisting diagonally (does that make sense?)

I have the Berti version which I got later. Until that point I had only had the LoS version, which I don't really mind to be honest. If you can get the Berti version, I'm sure you'll love it, but as someone said above, the concept is different.

 

[Chrystella]

I have both. The Sola Busca is not a tarot in the traditional sense and it is challenging to read with. Also, considering its price and that's it's not so easy to obtain, I'm not sure I'll ever read with it. However, it is a beautiful deck with historic significance and so I do recommend it.

My copy of Sola Busca Revisited is very nice. As mentioned above, it's Sola Busca reworked to create a more practical reading deck. I really like it.

As an aside, I recently nabbed the Sola Busca by LoS on eBay for $30 including shipping. I'm more comfortable handling that one than the Mayer.

 

[Chrystella]

Oh, and yes, the Mayer backs are blank unfortunately.

 

[conurelover]

I have both. Nothing compares to the Mayer anywhere in the tarot world. Go for the Mayer if you can.

 

[Zennistar]

Dear All,

Thank you very much for your replies.

Now I know there is a version made by LS. Is it also a redone version of the original?

Thank you.

 

[Chrystella]

Now I know there is a version made by LS. Is it also a redone version of the original?

With Mayer, you get Sola Busca as it looks now. Lo Scarabeo's version has cleaner lines and is more detailed and brighter than Mayer's. Also, LoS adds a black border with white numbers and multilanguage titles. The card stock is typical of LoS, which is thinner than Mayer's. Il Meneghello also sells a version, but I don't have it so I can't comment on that one.

Tarot Heritage shows a card from each publisher side by side at the bottom of this page.

It's also worth noting that the LoS version isn't called Sola Busca. They called it the Ancient Enlightened Tarot and my version, which is from Spain, is called Tarot Alquimista.