Aunty Anthea
Thanks for your list of current RWS decks. However some of the categories can be broken down even more
• the regular RWS (usually in the yellow box,) - Variations due to printer & print run.
This is based on a 1910 "Pamela A" with the brown "crackle back" pattern. Has been printed in four sizes: Mini, Pocket, Standard, Giant.
- c. mid-60s to around 1975: Rider & Co, London, in association with Waddington Play Card Co., Ltd., printed by AGMueller (no copyright on cards). Blue lift-off box. Clarity excellent; blacks tend to be a little sharper & blacker, but can vary!
- c. 1968?: Weiser distribution of Rider deck.
- c. 1968: US Games, NY (no copyright on cards - usually well printed, but not as good as the best Waddington ones). AGMueller printer.
- c. 1975: US Games added copyright to each card - AGMueller printer. Brightness & sharpness varies from print run to print run.
- c. ?: Italian printer. Lettering by PCS is changed to a standard print font. Garish.
- c. ?: China/Japan printer? At some point the lettering by PCS is back. Quality returning.
• c. 1960s on - Merrimak Publishing - interpretations printed on cards. Two sizes: Tiniest & standard.
• c. 1930-1970?? - the de Laurence Tarot deck. Printed in two colors: black and (red, orange, yellow, etc.) which varied over the years. A rip-off deck and Waite's book published under the de Laurence name.
• There are other modern reproductions of the 1909 deck published in Europe with sales restricted to certain countries: Lo Scarabeo, Turin and Uitgeverij Schors, Amsterdam.
• The "Original" RWS. Muddy.
• the Centennial Smith-Waite (a different attempt to reproduce one of the first decks,)
This is a reproduction of the 1909 "Roses & Lilies" back that came in a red box with Waite's Key to the Tarot. Some cards show slightly more of an original image that was trimmed in the 1910 version. It was quickly printed in order to be sold at the Arts & Crafts Christmas fair and the card stock proved defective - separating into layers. Purchasers were offered an exchange for the deck we generally call "Pam A".
- The 2009 standard size edition. Slightly muddy in its attempt to look old.
- The 2015 "tarot in a tin" edition. Smaller and brighter in color. (I like it; shuffles well!)
• the Albano Waite (brightly colored but not changing any details,)
- Created by Frankie Albano. First published 1968 ((Los Angeles: Tarot Productions, Inc.). Found in three sizes: standard, mini, Majors only-Deluxe Edition-extra large. Also, posters made of some of the cards.
- US Games began publishing (date?). The colors are over-bright and too shiny - garish.
• the Universal (redrawn/recolored but closely following the RWS.)
• Radiant (both (redrawn/recolored but closely following the RWS)
- Similar decks printed in China include "Mystic Fortune Teller Tarot Cards" Forum Novelties, and "Tarot" Encore Sales.
• Diamond Tarot - RWS images in an elaborate border.
• The Golden Tarot - redrawn & recolored.
• Quick & Easy Tarot - interpretations printed on the cards.
There are some other RWS exact or close reproductions from other countries.
W O W
I had absolutely no idea there were so many