Expensive decks you just don't want

Dark Victory '39

However wolfspirit made such an excellent point, as I become more experienced in tarot my needs and tastes are changing. I am not sure what directions I will go next.
.....I have to really like the art or have a purpose for my study in my life. I am a newbie collector though! :)

i havn't been into tarot very long and can already see how this is happening. I worry a little because i sometimes sell off or trade things pretty quick, and yet i always think i know myself SO well. Like that's my big safety; some safety. lol. I agree about having to really like the art, and yet I've watched it unfurl, w/ say the daniloff, where i thought it was so beautiful, and there is not a reason in the world it should not read well for me as its so RWS, and yet i had it for a couple months barely touched it ended up trading it, for a trade i'm really happy with, but still. Why? Was it those pointy corners? Yet, part of me thinks the reason i'm into the collector side of things here in the piggy parlour, is just for this reason; i never know what's going to float my boat, truly, until its in my hands. But if i'm going to ever start thinking of myself as a collector i do need a bigger scope; my income, for instance, fluctuates WILDLY. I had a great year last year and could buy wht i wanted, but i can already see the gravy train not flying quite so freely this year. There will probably be spans throughout my entire life where i cant buy what i want. If my memory is still accurate two years ago there were months where a twenty dollar deck would have been out of reach for me.

Decks i don't want; i've been thankful the ironwing isn't in my sights. It seems like the sort of thing i should want, and i look at scans often but the nervous thrill isn't there. Tyldwick; i STILL look at that sight so often they should charge me admission; i love the concept, but i don't want the deck. I suspect if the images were slightly sharper, more close up so i could inspect the wares in the rooms better it would be a different story.
 

Debra

I think Mi-Shell is right.

I would also add, though, that for some people who like tarot as art (me), the "limited edition" label is basically meaningless because most "limited edition" decks these days are limited for business reasons--appealing to the desire for a rarity. The rarity is a marketing descision.

The artistic reason to limit an edition is because it is difficult or expensive to produce (for example, involving a lot of handiwork, or using printing plates that wear out).

In other words, often there is no artistic reason to limit the number produced; it's a business decision that allows for higher pricing. Decks that take a lot of handwork, are printed beautifully on interesting card, etc., cost a lot out of respect for the artist's time and effort.

Aranel, there is zero cultural appropriation in the Ironwing--it is a totally individual and unique vision. Truly.
 

gregory

Aranel, there is zero cultural appropriation in the Ironwing--it is a totally individual and unique vision. Truly.
I second and third that. And everyone I know who practises any form of shamanism would say the same.

I agree with debra about the reasons for limited 4editions too, I'm sorry to say. In fact several of my LE decks were very cheap ! They were hand printed by their creators who had decided to limit them simply because they couldn't face a print run of thousands !
 

Tibor

I love the Daniloff and own the 2nd ed but I do not care for the other decks.

I also own the Tyldwick and it turned out to be my biggest disappointments just for the fact that it did not even come with a LWB so that we could learn about some of the more confusing images. I think of this deck as an art project that ended up being made into a deck (even if that was not case). It's a shame that instead of creating some sort of e-guide book or something for this deck the artist is already thinking about another tarot project.

However, those Lenormand decks are just absolutely beautiful!!!!
 

Le Fanu

Exactly! It's as I said further above (about OOP decks generally); they weren't sought after when they were available and that's why they stopped producing them. THEN everybody wants them. :rolleyes:
I think that's true up to a point. But if nobody was buying them in - say - 2003 - and they were sitting on the shelf, as the Ironwing was, and let's say for the sake of argument, ten people bought it, then there's no reason why in 2013 ten people can't still desire it but not have it (because it's OOP) and then they get vocal about it.

I think the number of people desiring a certain rare deck might actually be pretty constant in print and out. I desire the Daniloff but I bought it (1st and 2nd editions) so I keep my mouth shut. I deeply desire the Tyldwick but I bought it and coo behind locked doors, so you don't know. If it wasn't available, yes, I might wail from the rooftops. But as I desire and can have, you don't hear a whimper from me.

250 people might have bought the Greenwood in 1996. 250 people might wail about it in 2014. It's just that you didn't hear anything from those who wanted it and subsequently just went out and bought it.

Also, it's natural to be swayed by comments. I don't think there's any shame in it (not that you were, Nina). You see it in car magazines - why do so many people want a Mini Cooper? I think there's a certain superior pleasure in being able to say "well everyone wants that deck, but I don't. I am independent of thought. I am not gullible." Nobody dare admit that they are swayed into buying something because others swayed them. But everyone likes to think they don't follow fashions and my god they do. But nobody likes to admit they were manipulated. Or that they're not very original.
 

HearthCricket

Oddly enough, a lot of the MRP decks, which theme-wise you would think I would be clinging to them. Had the BG in regular and silver. Just too dark and dramatic for me. So, sold those off. Victorian Romantic. Very pretty, but I was expecting familiar works of Victorian art and found none. I don't know why, but it just never clicked like I hoped it would and I pre-ordered via all the hype and was sorry in the end. Thus the reason I skipped the Alice Tarot. It is a fun deck, I am sure, but not my own personal vision of Wonderland, so didn't even want to tamper with it. That being said I am in love with the Baroque Bohemian Cats and that was one deck I didn't expect to connect with as it came out after my cats had passed on, so thought I would be sad using it. Nope....I love it and find it very Marie Antoinette! :D

But taste definitely changes and our abilities to work with various artwork in divination, as well. All the above are fine decks for collectors but I now only buy decks for reading and so they just don't fit the bill for me. Honestly I have not been following limited edition decks lately. I am pretty happy with what I have and having the room to add a deck here and there without feeling overwhelmed. So that desire has passed from me.
 

Emily

I have the Victoria Regina, the first black and white deck I owned. I disliked it immediately because of the guns/swords - for me it didn't and still doesn't fit. The backs are a plain glossy white so you are constantly making sure that they don't get marked. I never actually used this deck for reading, it was put back in its bag and forgotten about until I found it was OOP.

The only decks I went out of my way to buy OOP are the Merryday tarot and its book and a nice little Rune card deck that I can't remember the name of. Both were bought very cheaply , presumably because the former owners didn't know what they were selling. But all my OOP decks are used, apart from the Victoria Regina.
 

Annabelle

Ah, just found another to add to my list of (very!) expensive decks that I absolutely do not want.

The Nybor Tarot.

$315 USD and still available. But I wouldn't want a copy if they were giving them away.
 

Morwenna

I remember when Nybor was still creating the deck. But I never wanted it either.
 

OaksWhispering

Definitely the Alice tarot for me too. I was excited when I heard about it but when I saw the artwork - not my style at all. The backs are gorgeous though.