1982 Sacred Rose - To Trim or Not To Trim?

LindaMechele

I'm wanting to trim my "well-loved" 1982 Sacred Rose and just wanted to make sure I wasn't hacking up something that was valuable and losing that value. Am I correct in thinking a fairly well used deck of this sort is only worth about twenty bucks (if that)? No box or LWB (lost those a LONG time ago), "copyright 1982" on all minor arcana, "copyright 1980" on most all majors. They're still in really good shape, but are obviously used, especially when I put them next to my new copy.

What gives me pause is that I've seen them listed on Amazon and Ebay for a fair bit, even the well used ones, but of course that can be so very misleading. I did a search here for "Sacred Rose Value", but didn't come up with much except a few trading threads where they were twenty bucks or less.

Thanks in advance, y'all.
 

delinfrey

Ohhhh! I -just recently- lost the 5 of Swords of my beloved 1982 Sacred Rose and aching for a replacement...

If you are worried about resale value, I'm pretty certain it will be less when trimmed.
Why do you want to trim it in the first place?
 

LindaMechele

delinfrey said:
Ohhhh! I -just recently- lost the 5 of Swords of my beloved 1982 Sacred Rose and aching for a replacement...
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Oh, no! Did you try in the lost cards thread at the top of this forum? Good luck. I hope you find one.

If you are worried about resale value, I'm pretty certain it will be less when trimmed.
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Yeah, that's why I'm asking here. I'm not worried about it unless those Ebay listing prices are true.

Why do you want to trim it in the first place?
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I think the white borders detract from the images. I've seen a couple of trimmed/borderectomized Sacred Rose decks and they look SO much better with them gone. I want to trim to the black borders, then put a black edge treatment on them. It'd make them smaller and easier to handle, too.
 

RiverRunsDeep

LindaMechele said:
Yeah, that's why I'm asking here. I'm not worried about it unless those Ebay listing prices are true.
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I agree with delinfrey that the deck will be worth less money if you alter it,
especially to a "collector". I'm not sure about the accuracy of the ebay
prices. This deck is listed fairly often at a reasonable price. I recently
purchased one for $10. I'm not an expert, though, so I'm not certain what
is considered a fair price for this deck.

I think the white borders detract from the images. I've seen a couple of trimmed/borderectomized Sacred Rose decks and they look SO much better with them gone. I want to trim to the black borders, then put a black edge treatment on them. It'd make them smaller and easier to handle, too.
Click to expand...

Ooohh, I like your ideas! Looks like I have a new project to work on. :D
 

LindaMechele

Thanks, River. That's what I was thinking. It's certainly not a rare deck and hasn't been OOP for any time in it's thirty year run as far as I know, but I just wanted to make sure that in making this one more my own, I wasn't screwing myself out of a bunch of bucks. It's like hanging up the payphone and checking the coin slot just in case - you know there won't be anything there, but you just have to make sure. :p

This is the first deck I ever bought twenty-plus years ago. I gave it to a friend who turned out to be not a friend. I got it back, but haven't been able to use it because it doesn't feel like mine anymore. So I figured I'd smudge the hell out of it, hack bits off it while imagining those are the parts that aren't "mine", heal those "wounds" with black paint, and I'll love it again.

I can't remember where the pictures were of the ones I've seen that were trimmed. Let me go look ...

...

Here they are:
Trimmed One
Trimmed Two
Trimmed Three (Backs)
And Another Deck With Added Eyes!


More trimmed decks on the Trimmed Borders/Altered Decks Index by AJ. I've got my guillotine paper cutter dug out, scrapbooking ink order in the mail halfway here, and am about to send off for a corner rounder as soon as I can find twelve more bucks' worth of stuff I need from Amazon (free shipping, ya' know).

What fun! I'll show you mine if you show me yours!
 

delinfrey

The 1982 edition is different from the 1990 edition
 

RiverRunsDeep

Whoops, I meant to clarify in my previous post... the deck I
purchased for $10 is the earlier, 1982 version.
 

AJ

any new deck you buy today has the potential to be collectible down the road.
Even mass market decks from Lo Scarabeo have that potential and can command good prices. I'm thinking in the 100-125.00 range as collectible value.

I never trim any old deck on a whim. (because trimming IS fun!)
Decks I love? If I love them they aren't going anywhere and I trim if they are to big for my hands.

all that said, because people here are more familiar with the whole concept of trimming
trimmed decks usually sell just fine here on our own trading forum.

Other markets? Viewers would probably think you'd lost your mind.
 

RiverRunsDeep

AJ said:
all that said, because people here are more familiar with the whole concept of trimming
trimmed decks usually sell just fine here on our own trading forum.

Other markets? Viewers would probably think you'd lost your mind.
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:D:D:D

Life is no fun if one remains perfectly sane at all times. :laugh:

I do agree with you, AJ, that I would not trim a deck on a whim without
consideration. But this Sacred Rose is "mine" and a keeper, so no one else
needs to be exposed to my insanity unless, of course, someone chooses to
view the pictures I eventually post!

In general, I also agree that altering a deck will decrease its monetary value.
Yet, strangely enough, I have seen a few bidding wars on ebay for altered
decks.
 
Re-ordering the cards Stories thread of how we all got into reading Tarot.