The Pamela Colman Smith Centennial Deck review thread

Getting the WHOLE set again

Seems like that is what a lot of us would like, another deck without having to get the whole set! I don't see that happening any time soon, but maybe one day they will release the deck alone or (dare I hope!) a pocket deck. But I will happily buy another set to have a back up. Besides, I like having one Pamela just for my readings and another for readings I may do for someone else!

I just was looking at getting another set myself. This has been the only deck I have read with since it came out and it's looking a bit rough around the edges now. the set price is not too bad, but I just have no need for another whole box of goodies. Wasn't there a LS version out in europe that was more or less just this deck?

Great point, starlightexp

It isn't the money, it's that I don't feel a need for yet another set. Stuart was kind enough to send me another box when Amazon dented mine and he inc an extra book on Pamela which was very kind. To have THREE boxes and three Pamela books, well, I would just rather have the deck. If you do find the deck somewhere by itself, hope you share! There's always the possibility some individual vendor will just sell the deck on Amazon. Although I don't really want a used one.

starlightexp said:

Wasn't there a LS version out in europe that was more or less just this deck?

Click to expand...

Lo Scarabeo put out a deck called the Pamela Colman Smith RWS Tarot but it can't be sold in the U.S. because of copyright infringement with US Games.

It does not include Pixie's lettering although the card name at the bottom is in England and it has the card name repeated in four languages at the top. Also the numbers have been removed from the pictures and placed in the 4-language band at the top. As a result, the image itself is smaller (both in height and width) than the standard RWS. The printing is slightly darker and the blacks heavier as so not as much detail is apparent as in the best standard versions.

An interesting touch is that the "oops line" is missing from the Sun and replaced by *three rays* of the Sun - producing 24 rays in all! This goes along with the LoS theory that the "oops line" is actually a crack in the lithography stone used for printing.

I got my copy in Milan.

greatdane said:

Seems like that is what a lot of us would like, another deck without having to get the whole set! I don't see that happening any time soon, but maybe one day they will release the deck alone or (dare I hope!) a pocket deck. But I will happily buy another set to have a back up. Besides, I like having one Pamela just for my readings and another for readings I may do for someone else!

Click to expand...

I posted a thread in the trading section here is the link http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=168421

I hope it did this post okay.

So I finally got my copy of this set. The deck is nice. I'll never be a super huge fan of the RWS like some people here are, but compared to other versions/colorings/whatever, this one is nice.

What I really would like to say is awesome though, is the rest of the box. The box itself is pretty classy, and the book about her art + the postcards? Lovely. I'd love to have even more prints of her artwork, but these are pretty damn cool too! The extras alone make the set def worth it to me :]

I got this yesterday and I can already say this is _my_ RWS. I love the cardstock, love the coloring, the backs, even the artificial aging. It's just gorgeous. The Original looks so garish next to it. (the albano too, but it's so garish in a delightful way, I still adore it)

The whole set is lovely. I love it when packaging is thought out, although I agree that that the binding on the books and the crappy organza bag are the low points.

I'm in agreement. I think the backs are horrible. That baby/powder blue colour is just, yuck. And it's not enough that we get to see Pamela's signature 78 other times. Now we get to see it pasted all over the backs as well.

I love this deck, not sure why I don't use it more. There are no plans by USG to ever sell the deck alone, but they do plan to keep the set for sale for the long term, because it sells so well.

I hated the card backs at first - but they kind of grew on me. Besides my oldest pre 1975 RWS (it has the most lovely cardstock) this PCS deck is my favorite.

My PCS Commemorative came today. The PKT book is missing The World, but I think this weird defect has curiosity-value. (I have a hard-bound edition, full of bookmarks, which I would rather use anyhow.) The PCS material is great, and I'll probably end up framing some of the pictures, including the beautiful photo of my favorite Tarot artist. It's really nice to have a present-day printing which does justice to the RWS deck. (Even my AGM Belgian-French edition from the 1990s leaves a lot to be desired.) Moreover, the card stock is just right for my non-riffle shuffle. All my other RWS editions will have to take a back seat to this one. From this day forth, my go-to decks will be this RWS edition and my German Albano.