Surprising Disappointments

Barleywine

The Rider Waite laid in my "I don't love you" box of decks for 14 years. I took it out late last year, and now I use it every week. While the artwork is landmark, it's not my favorite. But that deck reads like no other!

Same here. I'm a Thoth guy, so I never appreciated RWS very much until I started doing commentary in the Your Readings forum. I still don't pay much attention to the "canned stories" in the scenic minors, but I do make a lot of use of the "postures, gazes and gestures" of the human figures, along with the decans.
 

jema

Haha Noak's ark-y, that's the word!

I got it but never had any expectations on it. Same with Anna K, got it really cheap and counted the cards, took a photo and put it away.
 

JankaV

Mine would have to be The Wooden Tarot, which was both disappointing and a little bit sad in itself.



I'd bought the limited edition major arcana and loved it to bits, and when I saw the Kickstarter for the entire deck, I backed it. When I got it some months later and looked through the cards (the major arcana still had the same cards; the aces for the full deck had been changed), it gave off a distant and aloof feeling. I've only worked with it once, but it's now just sitting there.

I almost bought this deck...not as bummed I didn't now!

Haha, yeah exactly!

feynrir, that's very true about the Wild Unknown, I mean, they sell it in Urban Outfitters! WTF?

But guess what? There's a new hipster deck in town, it's called The Starchild Tarot, it out hipsters the Wild Unknown by a mile!

This cracked me up...I really liked what I saw so far of this deck! To each her/his own :)

My disappointing deck? Sacred Isle...waited so long for my black border to ship overseas...and then it just totally wasn't my thing. Super fantasy...sexy naked women...so not me. I sold it for about what I paid so no harm. I was also bored with Tarot Navigators of the Mystic Sea. I still have it...maybe I'll save it for s swap train thing ;)
 

FLizarraga

Another one for the Gilded AND the Legacy of the Divine. The Gilded is beautiful, but there's something.... unfinished about it (can't say why or put it better than that), and it leaves me cold, cold, cold.

The Legacy is one MAGNIFICENT deck, and there is not one card I do not like --that Queen of Wands! But... I don't know. I take it out of the bag, look at the cards, admire them, and then put them back. It doesn't ask to be read with.

The Gilded Reverie Lenormand, on the other hand, gave me my first Lenormand breakthrough, and it does not only stays in use, but it actually stays on my desk --I like to keep it handy.
 

Thoughtful

l'm with others about the Wild Unkown, such a pity, l adore animals specially when they are depicted in a real life way. The mages l saw online really drew me to this deck. Once l had it in my hands l was so happy but it just did not speak to me. When l tried to read with the deck it was like so sterile and stilted, such a huge disappointment and l really tried to work with it. In fact in the end l sold the deck then regretted it and bought another. Still no response!
Some decks like this and my Kat Black Golden seem to just clam up, but l tried.
 

Rhinemaiden

recent purchase/disappointment - Art Nouveau Tarot (Matt Myers)

Beautiful art/lovely colors/vibrant majors.... BUT the minors, tho well intentioned, are a muddled mess. It's not the printing, it's the "couple" concept of the minor suits. An idea whose time had/has not come. Because I'm a collector, I'm keeping this OOP deck. But it's strictly for looking, not reading.
 

Barleywine

Chrysalis - too Noah's Ark-y - it just feels like everything has been tossed in there for fear that civilization might end. So I tend to question the vibe of the whole world spread thinly.

Noah's Ark-y to be sure, but at least its inclusiveness is a little more imaginative and thoughtful than "Let's see, it has four brown ones, two yellow ones and a red one, a couple of fairies, a cat, a gnome and a dragon, we're good to go." I'm glad I wasn't looking for depth from it, though.
 

garmonbozia

I just got the second run of the Prisma Visions Tarot and I am very disappointed in the color. What looked like vibrant colors in the scans I've seen online appear dull in the deck I received. I'd be curious to hear if anyone else finds the colors much less brighter than anticipated.

I felt the same way when I first opened mine. The black backgrounds are more gray than black. Very washed out.
 

Alta

The disappointment with the Prisma I can relate to as well. The first time that happened was the Gaian Tarot. I bought her LE Majors only, 2nd edition. It is vibrant and the colours are so intense and the images very sharp. So when her LE full deck came out I couldn't buy it fast enough, and when it came I was very disappointed. The colours in the Majors (I had no Minors to compare) were so sad and washed out looking, and not as sharp. I never bought the MM.

The other one is Sacred Isle. Not nearly as disappointed but I saw a special edition printed before the deck was even offered (Solandia was visiting me, they had sent her a copy for publicity purposes). Enchanting jewel tones, so much depth. So I bought the deck when it came out and again, what happened? Anyway, they brought out another edition and since I am clearly an idiot, I bought that in hopes they would have gone back to the original scheme. Well, it was different, again (!) but still nothing like that first pass.
 

Sulis

I'd say for me it was The Deviant Moon.. I followed it's production and really couldn't wait to get my hands on it then when it arrived the imagery felt very cold and detached to me.. I know it's a wonderful, well thought out deck but it's just not for me - at the time I was using TdMs a lot and maybe that had something to do with it or maybe it was just the strange, insectile characters that I found I couldn't identify with..

The Wild Unknown on the other hand is a deck that I just love.. It speaks my language and I'm not a hipster at all - each to their own eh? One person's unreadable deck is another person's joy :).