Decks You Wish You Hadn't Bought?

Michellehihi

Shadowscapes.
I really don't understand why people like it. It is even one of the favorite decks of the aeclectic forum!
I bought it especially because of all the raves about it, but seriously....I look at it and think of those kitsch plastic beads garland curtains we had in the 70ies. It's all so precious, like tiny cups of tea that you can only put one table spoonfull in it. There's nothing coming out of this deck for me...
I sold it to another member who was over the moon for it! Go search why...
 

euripides

Tarot of Delphi, even though I'm a figurative artist and nudes are my forte, I find many of the paintings in this deck offensive due to the naked barely
adolescent girls and sameness of (19th century) saccharine sweet re-imagined 'Classical' nudes. Many figures show the worst of later European art academies...heavy on technique, fluffy on content when applied to Tarot.

you've just saved me a small fortune, PenPendragon - I might have to come check in with you next time I buy. That deck was on my wishlist - I like the PreRaphaelites but really have this same issue with the 19th century Academy art.

My only real regret is a purchase when I thought I was buying the IJJ Swiss, but it turned out to be a 'Prediction Deck' with pip minors and majors that looked like illustrations from one of those religious tracts that doorknockers hand out. The seller, of course, swore they had no idea.
 

MistyCheckers

Heart Tarot: I liked the ❤️ shape and the artwork on some of the cards (hanged man, 7 wands) but most of the cards were meh

Renaissance Tarot: colors washed out compared to online scans, just didn't appeal to me in person

Zombie Tarot: I love Housewives Tarot and this was by same people; pictures were funny but grossed me out

Tarot of the Spirit: just couldn't connect with these cards

Impressionist Tarot: I love impressionist art, but this deck didn't do it for me. I just felt meh when I touched the cards

I've given all the above decks away.

The Illuminated Tarot: it's pretty... but... I wish I hadn't bought it. It was so expensive. I'll probably give it away or trade it at some point.

The Byzantine Tarot: just got it on an impulse. Not sure how I feel about it yet. This may join the list.
 

ana luisa

The Kingdom Within. As much as I try, I can't seem to come to grips with this deck. On a side note, the book is AWESOME but perhaps there's a bit too many things happening at once, too many theories put together and some really puzzling renditions. I don't know...
 

Eric in NJ

The Byzantine Tarot: just got it on an impulse. Not sure how I feel about it yet. This may join the list.



Ahhhhhhhhhh!! I love it, love it, love it! I also love the art of the Eastern Orthodox Churches though, so that may explain it =)

My regret deck is The Osho Zen. This deck to me is useless and the art alone doesn't justify it. I'm actually looking to unload it, it's mint. Guess I need to up my membership.
 

IHeartRescues

Tarot Classic

First deck I ever purchased fm a small shop run by a swarthy woman who read fortunes in the back room. She had a variety on a display rack (ugh no peeking!) and I didn't know where to start. She pointed to the TC. I said are you sure? and she just nodded. A woman of few words I guess. I took it home and just hated the stubby legs, the bright white backgrounds and almost everything about it. Amazingly that didn't stop me right there! and I went on to find a store across fm the Rosicrucian Center in San Jose, and purchased the Morgan-Greer thankfully. And that was fine for a few years until discovering the online world of deck reviews.......................................o. m. g.
 

IHeartRescues

I have bought many decks I wish I hadn't. Can't remember them all. Eventually give them away. Short list below:
Viscounti Deck, Old English, Morgan Tarot (hippy B/W), Llewellyn Tarot, Mystic Fairy, The Ancestral Path, Oracle of the Grail, and recently, The Tarot of Delphi and the Mucha Tarot.

Tarot of Delphi, even though I'm a figurative artist and nudes are my forte, I find many of the paintings in this deck offensive due to the naked barely
adolescent girls and sameness of (19th century) saccharine sweet re-imagined 'Classical' nudes. Many figures show the worst of later European art academies...heavy on technique, fluffy on content when applied to Tarot.
Mystic Fairy... felt to me just delicate drawings, no drama or action, little meaning.
Llewellyn... I read the Mabinogion but doesn't resonate with me in Tarot images, interpretation. (perhaps it would be meaningful to a Welsh lit. scholar?)
Mucha Tarot... not original Mucha drawings, lines in some suits too thick, muddy dark colours in two suits. Haven't even shuffled that deck. Feel stupid for buying it.
Pen

So today i pulled out my T of Delphi. Was all excited until i noticed some of the painting snippets are kinda..yes saccharine...meh. Also was having trouble seeing so many of them as a good match to the card meaning either. Maybe it's just a momentary disconnect. The nudes being nudes haven't bothered me yet, but sub-par art really does. It's now striking me more as a mixed bag. Shall try again tomorrow over a nice creamy cuppa and really take a good look at this. Don't usually pay full price for decks, but on this I did so...

ETA: this morning I went thru all my cards again, fm T of Delphi, and saw the reasons I bought it. I also saw the reason this will be hard to read (esp if the minors had no titles). Beautiful deck, but agree w PenPendragon that there's lots of samey sweet nude youths (when an opportunity to showcase better art and match the card meaning was passed on). Why, I do not know? Anyway it's here so I shall keep it for now, as there are cards that read beautifully...
 

Marcus R

Haven't seen this thread for ages. Thought I'd regret Shadowscapes, what do I first see at the top of page 85? Shadowscapes. This was a first choice when beginning Tarot.
I like the intricacy of the paintings but the details are hard to make out at reading distance. The card stock is disappointingly thin.
Maybe further in time it will work better but for now I find it hard to get good reads out of it. Can't imagine who I could give it to either, my youngest daughter would take it but I know she would be totally baffled.
 

MistyCheckers

With Shadowscapes I like looking at the art, but only in pieces. The details can be beautiful, but the overall composition is so busy that the cards end up looking up the same. I ended up buying the Fool's Dog app so I could zoom into the pretty details. I never did get the physical cards. Otherwise it probably would have qualified as a regrettable deck for me too.

To add to my list of decks that I regret, Motherpeace. I tried it because it was a classic, but I ended up disliking the art.
 

JylliM

Haven't seen this thread for ages. Thought I'd regret Shadowscapes, what do I first see at the top of page 85? Shadowscapes. This was a first choice when beginning Tarot.
I like the intricacy of the paintings but the details are hard to make out at reading distance. The card stock is disappointingly thin.
Maybe further in time it will work better but for now I find it hard to get good reads out of it. Can't imagine who I could give it to either, my youngest daughter would take it but I know she would be totally baffled.

Hmmm....I 'wonder' who might take an unloved deck off your hands? ;)

To stay on topic, though, one I really wished I didn't buy was Legend The Arthurian. I found the colours insipid, and the deck in general quite unappealing. I can't go into more detail, as I moved it on fast and didn't get to know it.