Just received my Giant Rider-Waite...

Noelle

rwcarter said:
My first thought upon hefting the China print was that it's heavy. One very nice thing about the China printing - it's not a brick! Laying out all three decks next to one another, the Italy is thicker than the Belgium and the China is thicker than the Italy. So I was right when I thought that it was heavy.

It is a brick.
 

rwcarter

Weird. Mine wasn't and it was sealed. The cards just slid apart.
 

rwcarter

rwcarter said:
OK. Now I'm not so sure my Belgium-boxed version is actually printed in Belgium.... :mad:
I have received a truly printed in Belgium version and now I know that my other printed in Belgium version is a printed in Italy version put into a printed in Belgium box. :mad: :mad:

The printed in Belgium version I just received has handwritten titles and only ©1971 U.S. Games along the side of the cards. The impostor deck has ©1971 U.S. GAMES SYSTEMS, INC. along the side of the cards and has typeset titles. The real Belgium deck didn't come with a LWB, so I don't know what printing it is. The impostor deck also has a card with it that lists USG's website, which I don't believe a truly printed in Belgium deck would have.

Live and learn.

Rodney
 

rwcarter

rwcarter said:
I have received a truly printed in Belgium version and now I know that my other printed in Belgium version is a printed in Italy version put into a printed in Belgium box. :mad: :mad:
I have now seen three different printed in Italy decks in boxes that say printed in Belgium - mine, a friend's and a sealed deck at a bookstore. So those who are looking for printed in Belgium decks can't just rely on the "printed in Belgium" on the back of the box....

Rodney
 

Le Fanu

rwcarter said:
I have now seen three different printed in Italy decks in boxes that say printed in Belgium - mine, a friend's and a sealed deck at a bookstore. So those who are looking for printed in Belgium decks can't just rely on the "printed in Belgium" on the back of the box....

Rodney
Add mine to your list. I bought a deck which was printed in Belgium, got it home and the deck was printed in Italy. I traded it 48 hours later. Fortunately, I do have a nice vintage Belgian Giant RWS from the RedQueen which I treasure... But there are a lot around. Almost as many as there are "Printed in Belgium" (but actually Printed in Italy) Hanson Roberts.
 

BeTo1984

I know this is an old thread, but I was able to snag a Made in China version of the Giant Rider-Waite Tarot deck at my local Borders...wow is all I have to say. Not only am I happy that this version has the original calligraphy font, but the colors and coloring are MUCH nicer (I never noticed how botched the facial features were in my regular Italian deck), the cardstock is better, and there is no awful chemical smell. They're a little too big for reading, but I think they'd be good for meditative purposes. Only gripes I don't like are the 10 of cups (the card looks a little "off" to me) and the tartan backs (which look a little fake) compared to my regular Italian deck. Other than that, they're perfect. It seems like they were made in 2010, so I'm pretty sure there are plenty out there to go around for collectors. :D
 

rwcarter

I think the Giant Rider Waite is ideal if one is studying the deck. It's also good for meditation (in general) or specifically meditating on cards from a reading.
 

Emily

You know that heavy lamination doesn't give over time - my Giant which I bought in 2006 and have used many times over the years and spent many hours shuffling is still the solid brick of cards that it always was. I gave up on trying to get them back into the box quite a while back because they were such a tight fit and I was worried about damaging them so now they live in a bag. I did think it might do them good not being all jammed into the box. :)
 

BeTo1984

You know that heavy lamination doesn't give over time - my Giant which I bought in 2006 and have used many times over the years and spent many hours shuffling is still the solid brick of cards that it always was. I gave up on trying to get them back into the box quite a while back because they were such a tight fit and I was worried about damaging them so now they live in a bag. I did think it might do them good not being all jammed into the box. :)

That's good to know. I have the Italian regular-sized deck and initially thought the cardstock was flimsy…that is, until I compared the thickness of the cards with my small Thoth deck. They were similar in thickness, which surprised me since the Rider-Waite felt so light.

I just wish the coloring and chemical smell weren’t so off-putting, but I’m happy nonetheless. The smell didn't last too long once I aired the cards out and the artistry makes up for everything else. :)
 

Seven Pelicans

I hope it's ok to revive this old thread... I decided to get a giant RWS deck & went looking on Amazon, where I was surprised to see a publication date of March 5, 2012. Does anybody know what the story is with that? Is this a new edition?

In any case, went to the US Games site & filled out their contact form asking about it. Main thing I want to avoid is the typeset font.