The *AT* Tarot Top Ten....

Well, here they are.
Thoughts on the results?
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Top Ten Decks Published in 2007

1. Bohemian Gothic Tarot

2. Sol Invictus: The God Tarot

3. Jean Noblet Tarot

4. Vanessa Tarot

5. Mystic Faerie Tarot

6. Golden Botticelli Tarot

7. Lo Scarabeo Tarot

8. Pearls of Wisdom Tarot

9. Steele Wizard Tarot

10. Fantastical Creatures Tarot


Top Ten Decks of All Time

1. DruidCraft Tarot

2. Rider-Waite Tarot

3. Robin Wood Tarot

4. Aleister Crowley Thoth Tarot

5. Tarot of Dreams

6. Golden Tarot

7. Gilded Tarot

8. Victorian Romantic Tarot

9. Fey Tarot

10. Tarot of Prague

The "top 10 tarot decks of all time" list is a bit top heavy with recent decks, rather than perennial classics; and I can't believe that the Tarot de Marseille didn't even make the cut. In my humble opinion, I would say that the RWS and the Thoth would have been on the list ten years ago and, out of the ten on this year's list, the RWS and the Thoth will almost certainly be the only two to appear in a similar list ten years from now.

I rather like the "top 10 of 2007" list - I don't remember what I voted for, or even if it's on the list, but given what folks have been raving about, it seems like a fair representation.

I'm with Rusty Neon - how can it be the top 10 of all time w/o the TdM? It's like the top three places should be TdM, Thoth, and RWS, and whatever comes after that is fair game.

Part of the issue with the TdM is WHICH TdM? We have definitive decks for the Waite-Smith and the Crowley-Harris, but not for the TdM.

It's great to see that the Noblet TdM made it into the top 10 of 2007.

I'm going to mention the elephant. Many of the decks that did very well are represented by creators that participate in the forum. It's not surprising that these decks did better in an AT poll, but I don't think that it is as likely that the same decks would have had similar results in a non-AT poll of decks. The poll reflects AT, as it should.

le pendu said:

The poll reflects AT, as it should.

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Precisely.

I own 8 of the Top 10 of 2007 and 9 of the Top 10 of all time on the AT Poll.

Rodney

rwcarter said:

I own 8 of the Top 10 of 2007 and 9 of the Top 10 of all time on the AT Poll.

Rodney

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LOL Rodney, you have over 400 decks! The odds are on your side!

Debra said:

LOL Rodney, you have over 400 decks! The odds are on your side!

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(sheepishly)Yeah, I guess you're right.... But since I'm on a tarot diet this year, I'm sure the numbers for 2008 will be much smaller.

I guess I was throughly confused about top 10 deck of the year question.

I thought it entailed owning the deck and working with it for at least awhile. That's why it never occured to me to vote for the Bohemian Gothic! It came out in end of Dec. and most didn't even get a copy until after the 1st or weeks later.

I thought it'd be included in the 2008 poll, I certainly wasn't going to vote for a deck I had a few weeks.

So the poll is just about the artwork then....as in what you think has the best art/images? Then that's pretty much pointless then.

I adore the BG, don't get me wrong, I'd love to see it be #1, but the victory seems kind of hollow. Knowing that everyone had either just gotten it or didn't even own it. There obviously was no time to see how it read, how it handled etc....those kinds of things. And to me that's a major part of what constitutes a "best deck".....of course the artistry and images. And yes we saw all the cards being created, but that is never the same as actually holding and reading with a deck.

Mystic Faerie errrrr that one completely threw me off. It has some charming images, but the bad out weighs the good that deck. And please I can't bare to hear that story about someone hated it, made fun of it and thought it lightweight then they did the best reading ever in history with it, I've heard it 20x.

The results of this poll are certainly not meaningless. AT is the largest English-language tarot forum. Where else would one go to hear what tarot enthusiasts are thinking? So congratulations to the artists, authors and publishers who were involved with these decks. It is great to see such variety and creativity in tarot.

Many congratulations to:

Karen & Alex
Kim & Nic
Ciro
Lynyrd
Jean-Claude
& Ricardo

(desperately hoping I didn't leave anyone out)

Your work justly deserves the recognition.