Surprising Disappointments

[debitutchi]

Well, if anyone has read my rantings in the Etteilla III thread, my biggest disappointment has been the Book of Thoth Etteilla Tarot by Lo Scarabeo. Love, love, LOVE this deck. The disappointment is that all of the copies printed after 2012 (the newest edition) have some of the best trumps printed in black and white!!! (Birds & Fishes, Wheel, etc.) Also, some of the colors on the other cards are more garish than in scanned images I've found of the previous editions. I've tried so many ways to find a seller that has an older edition, but I've been thwarted at every turn. I don't think there is a way you can tell without opening and examining which card back design is present. The boxes don't tell you which edition is contained.

I have a version of this deck which is color-perfect (Peruzzo), but the cards are smaller than a standard tarot deck (more like elongated playing cards). Its better than nothing, but I have larger hands and small cards just don't do it for me. Sigh...

 

[daenys]

I've tried so many ways to find a seller that has an older edition, but I've been thwarted at every turn. I don't think there is a way you can tell without opening and examining which card back design is present. The boxes don't tell you which edition is contained.

Maybe the different editions have different ISBNs?

 

[karen0205]

Does anybody know if the 2003 (I think that was first print) Wildwood card stock differs from the 2011? Scarlet, good idea trimming. I'm too afraid to do it though!

The Wildwood was released in 2011, there was no edition before that one.

 

[Onyx]

My most recent disappointment is the Fountain Tarot. Looked forward to it for so long after the Kickstarter campaign ended. Then when I finally go it was shocked at some of the features.

The coloring was very faint and almost washed out. The card stock is almost impossible to shuffle.

The creators put in a remarkable amount of work and I could see any of the cards being great prints individually just as deck I find it disappointing.

I am happy to have in my collection and will never trade it away but just know that it will be a collected deck and not a used deck.

Onyx.

 

[delinfrey]

I was looking forward to receiving Tarot Illuminati... Now I just feel sad. The cards were stuck where the gilding is, and as I had to pull them apart (because you can't really use a block of cards for anything), now the edges of the cards are with white, um, dots? Like when you rip teeny parts of paper off. I was super careful and could not do anything against it, but now I basically have a ruined deck (aesthetically). It wasn't my cheapest set either. The problem is that the damaged bits really stand out, since Illuminati is a borderless deck and I use a black cloth. So this white "dotting" is especially visible.

Not entirely clear to me either why I have to pull apart the cards myself. Have other gilded decks as well, haven't had the same issue. Very sad

 

[HallowedNight]

I don't know if I would consider it disappointing, but ai biught the Llewellyn Tarot recently and just haven't been able to use it! I absolutely adore the artwork, but for some reason I just haven't connected with it.

Maybe it's because I got my Wild Unknown the day before and was blindsided by that. Either way... *shrug* Maybe it'll grow on me as a reading deck eventually.

 

[WolfSpirit]

I was looking forward to receiving Tarot Illuminati... Now I just feel sad. The cards were stuck where the gilding is, and as I had to pull them apart (because you can't really use a block of cards for anything), now the edges of the cards are with white, um, dots? Like when you rip teeny parts of paper off. I was super careful and could not do anything against it, but now I basically have a ruined deck (aesthetically). It wasn't my cheapest set either. The problem is that the damaged bits really stand out, since Illuminati is a borderless deck and I use a black cloth. So this white "dotting" is especially visible.

Not entirely clear to me either why I have to pull apart the cards myself. Have other gilded decks as well, haven't had the same issue. Very sad

I think you got a faulty deck and should contact the seller. If you bought it from a big store like amazon they will probably replace it, they may ask to send the damaged deck back.
When you receive a deck of cards it is not supposed to be a solid block.

 

[delinfrey]

I think you got a faulty deck and should contact the seller. If you bought it from a big store like amazon they will probably replace it, they may ask to send the damaged deck back.
When you receive a deck of cards it is not supposed to be a solid block.

I ordered it from BookDepository and I have always had excellent customer service with them - but I just didn't feel it was in any way their wrongdoing. But I could try I suppose...

 

[journeyinghome]

Tarot Illuminati

I ordered it from BookDepository and I have always had excellent customer service with them - but I just didn't feel it was in any way their wrongdoing. But I could try I suppose...

I would contact them. If the goods are faulty, you didn't get what you paid for! And Book Dep. are good about this sort of thing. Just so you know, I've had 2 copies of the Illuminati - one glittery, one not - and neither were stuck together like yours. I hope you can get a replacement copy sent out to you.

 

[Glass Owl]

I think you got a faulty deck and should contact the seller. If you bought it from a big store like amazon they will probably replace it, they may ask to send the damaged deck back.
When you receive a deck of cards it is not supposed to be a solid block.

I agree! Please try to return them. I bought the Psychic Tarot for the Heart new from a bookstore and had the same problem. I returned them the next day with the receipt and received a full refund. I would have bought another deck from the store but they were out. I ended up buying a very cheap used copy on Amazon through a third party seller that was like new minus any gilding. I'm not sure why that deck didn't have any gilding at all but I was just happy that the cards were not stuck together. I think that it happens when the cards are stacked at the factory before the ink has a chance to dry properly.