Do owners of rare decks have a responsibility towards them?

It is true, something like the Sangreal Thoth has worth only as a complete set, dividing it renders it meaningless. It can be compared to an antique vase I break the handle off to fix another one, something has been lost. It is one, whole artifact made of seventy eight parts, but every part counts.

PathWalker said:

It's like cutting up a rare manuscript or a set of painting designed to hang together, and selling it off in parts - the whole is then broken and ruined, probably never to be assembled again

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Okay, I'm missing the logic here. If you are creating more complete decks of this rare OOP deck by sacrificing one deck I don't see the problem.

goldenVI said:

Okay, I'm missing the logic here. If you are creating more complete decks of this rare OOP deck by sacrificing one deck I don't see the problem.

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Well, that's part of the responsibility I spoke of. If, IF, I had that incomplete deck and someone else had one, too, I wouldn't hesitate, because as you said, a complete deck is better than an incomplete one. But, selling them just to anyone, dismantling the deck completely... too rich for my blood. In that case an incomplete artifact is still better than a demolished one.

goldenVI said:

Okay, I'm missing the logic here. If you are creating more complete decks of this rare OOP deck by sacrificing one deck I don't see the problem.

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No-one has a broken Sangreal that I have ever heard of. We are not talking about some fairly recently printed deck with loads of owners with a card missing - not that even that would make it OK.

And if someone had a complete Cary Yale, with all those missing cards, it would still be positively criminal to break THAT set to complete the one in the museum. A complete work is just that - complete. Sell it WHOLE, to someone who will appreciate it as the complete work that it is.

What about cutting up a painting - that's something you can grasp, perhaps ? I'd (seriously) rather like the bottom right hand corner of a painting I saw in Venice - but I wasn't that keen on the rest of it. Would that be OK, as it would make me so happy ?

I'm not that happy to see single cards from the Rock and Roll sold - and they aren't sold to complete anything, just because people fancy a tarot pic of Joni Mitchell or something. The deck is a lovely one which was created as an entity, and was never meant to grace people's mantelpieces in bits. I often wonder how Paradis feels abut it.

Philistinism at its worst. Come here and beg in the broken decks thread; that's as far as I would EVER take it. Those decks are not rare, and are already incomplete.

closrapexa said:

Well, that's part of the responsibility I spoke of. If, IF, I had that incomplete deck and someone else had one, too, I wouldn't hesitate, because as you said, a complete deck is better than an incomplete one. But, selling them just to anyone, dismantling the deck completely... too rich for my blood. In that case an incomplete artifact is still better than a demolished one.

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I would assume people buying the individual cards are deck owners that have a missing or damaged card from that deck they'd like to replace. I would have no problem selling individual cards from an OOP for this purpose. However, from experience, if the decks were not printed around the same time they won't match and for me personally that would be annoying, BUT probably still preferable to an incomplete deck.

I am reminded of that Japanese millionaire who wanted to be buried with his Van Gogh....

goldenVI said:

I would assume people buying the individual cards are deck owners that have a missing or damaged card from that deck they'd like to replace.

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I didn't assume that when I heard it. More like splitting grandma's tea set up so the grandkids could each keep a cup or saucer as a rememberance.

goldenVI said:

I would assume people buying the individual cards are deck owners that have a missing or damaged card from that deck they'd like to replace. I would have no problem selling individual cards from an OOP for this purpose. However, from experience, if the decks were not printed around the same time they won't match and for me personally that would be annoying, BUT probably still preferable to an incomplete deck.

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When you are talking of decks of this rarity - none of this holds true.

People buying those cards (had they come up) would have wanted just one to HAVE one, as there is no hope of ever getting a full deck. Which would have led to even FEWER complete decks. If you have an incomplete OOP deck - THAT could be a time to sell the cards one at a time. But NOT a complete one.

As I say - the Rock and Roll cards were sold just so people could have a pic of whichever star they liked on a tarot card. And of course, also so that the - three, as I recall - sellers who were doing it could get upwards of $780 for a deck you could with diligence buy for $100. (I know this; I got one for $80 at about that time !) Some individual cards like Jim Morrison got up to $30 and more.

gregory said:

When you are talking of decks of this rarity - none of this holds true.

People buying those cards (had they come up) would have wanted just one to HAVE one, as there is no hope of ever getting a full deck. Which would have led to even FEWER complete decks. If you have an incomplete OOP deck - THAT could be a time to sell the cards one at a time. But NOT a complete one.

As I say - the Rock and Roll cards were sold just so people could have a pic of whichever star they liked on a tarot card. And of course, also so that the - three, as I recall - sellers who were doing it could get upwards of $780 for a deck you could with diligence buy for $100. (I know this; I got one for $80 at about that time !) Some individual cards like Jim Morrison got up to $30 and more.

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How can you be certain someone with an incomplete deck didn't buy one of those cards? And yes, selling off the parts just to make more money (78x30=2340 vs. the complete deck at
$780) speaks more to the person doing the selling and also the buyer. Personally, I would have no use for 1 card from a rare, OOP deck. Seems silly to me.

I think rare deck owners should hold Open Days, like stately homes do, so we can all come round to gaze in awe

There is only one good reason to split up a rare deck- when it's not a good plan to have all your eggs in one basket, especially in areas prone to floods/tornados/fire etc