Soprafino Tarot

Le Fanu said:

Does it? I wrote it and had to go back and reread it and maybe I'm missing something but I don't think I mentioned that. I wrote about the blemishes and acid stains being retained...

I have read and reread a few times to try and find what you refer to.

ETA; just seen. It is in the upper part. I didn't write that. I honestly don't think the stains are fake but would have to see an original to verify. I can't see Meneghello doing that to be honest.

Click to expand...

Ah yes, that was part of the Tarot deck description by AT, not actually part of the review. Menegazzi did use a vintage looking card stock for one of his modern decks (maybe more), but yeah for a facsimile deck, then they state they do look like the original. I think AT just assumed that the Classic Tarot and ST were based on the same batch or copy and were identical, and that therefore the ST had faux staining on it. They ought to edit their description.

I just received a copy of The Classic Tarot. It was interesting to compare it to the Soprafino Tarot. I see that yes the meanings of the cards are written down the side - not the card names. This is not ideal but then the cards themselves are quite narrow compared with the 1880 Avondo brothers deck for example, so whilst Il Meneghello chose to offer narrower cards, LoS just used regular tarot card stock dimensions and padded out the image with some 'extras'. The images are larger and lighter in tone overall to the ST but there are clear differences in the colouring on a few cards as I said earlier - and where the colours are the same, you an see that the gaps where colour was missed is different between the two decks in places too. Minor details. I can see the facial expressions better overall in TCT compared with the ST, which shed new light on some of the cards. The one thing for me that lets the deck down is that some of the scans/photographs are a bit blurry (namely the trumps 16 to 21) and lack sharpness compared with others. I wonder if this is a photographic or printing error. The ST does not have this issue, and overall is more consistent. This is the only thing that bothers me about the deck. Most of the images of the CT are sharper are clearer in definition (partly due to size) than the ST but for trumps 16 to 21, one would get more definition from the ST surprisingly. So which is better? I'm not sure. lol

DeToX said:

I just received a copy of The Classic Tarot. It was interesting to compare it to the Soprafino Tarot. I see that yes the meanings of the cards are written down the side - not the card names. This is not ideal

Click to expand...

The Classic is the only remaining LS deck I have & I am not sure I will hold onto it. The borders are definitely a problem & not just in this deck.

DeToX said:

but then the cards themselves are quite narrow compared with the 1880 Avondo brothers deck for example, so whilst Il Meneghello chose to offer narrower cards, LoS just used regular tarot card stock dimensions and padded out the image with some 'extras'.

Click to expand...

The Classic Tarot is narrow to the extreme, once you trim those nasty LS borders off. It's so worth it though.

DeToX said:

So which is better? I'm not sure. lol

Click to expand...

Oh jeez, I think I just had a mini stroke. The Soprafino is definitely tops, in my opinion. The feel of the cards, the look, the aging...I could go on and on and on. It truly is one of the most beautifull decks I've ever owned.

SweetIsTheTruth said:

Oh jeez, I think I just had a mini stroke. The Soprafino is definitely tops, in my opinion. The feel of the cards, the look, the aging...I could go on and on and on. It truly is one of the most beautifull decks I've ever owned.

Click to expand...

I have recently acquired the Edizioni del Solleone from 1981. The images on the cards are a fraction smaller than the IM version. The lines however are finer and less heavy, almost to the point where it looks more 'blurred'. However, it retains much of the IM version's charm but the faces are much clearer. I am assuming the deck is later.

The IM version seems overly sharp to me and the lines are a tad too thick - the detail is there but the faces have too many black lined shaded areas which makes them look a little odd and it's hard to get a feel for their expressions. I guess that's why I said I preferred the Classic Tarot in a previous post as the facial expressions were much clearer. The Solleone deck feels much more 'human' in a way, even if it doesn't have all the staining of the IM version.

Soprafino and Classic

I've done it! I've been inspired by this thread and others to trim the awful borders on the Classic AND I've rounded the corners of the Soprafino. Much, much better!