Essence of Winter
I bought on Ebay what I thought was an old edition (the listing said printed in 1993) but it turned out to be printed in 2010 with the really glossy cards. The thing that really put me off this deck is Pixie's hand-written titles being replaced with a fixed font. That wouldn't be so bad but they have done it in a way that the text box obscures part of the image. Even though it's only a few mm, it really bothers me. Fortunately, the seller allowed me to return the cards when I explained the problem.
The Belgian edition I got on Ebay instead was printed in 1993 and is printed on similar material to my Rider decks printed by AG Muller. Comparing the two, the colours of the Belgian edition are brighter but the Italian print has much greater contrast. The increase in contrast in the Italian edition has distorted some of the colours - for example the circle on the cushion that The Empress holds is green instead of yellow. All of my other Rider tarots (blue box, purple box, yellow box printed by AG Muller, Miniature printed in China, Lo Scarabeo, Original, Commemorative and Centennial) have the yellow circle.
Needless to say, I much prefer the Belgian edition, even though I had to wipe some food stains off the cards.
The Belgian edition I got on Ebay instead was printed in 1993 and is printed on similar material to my Rider decks printed by AG Muller. Comparing the two, the colours of the Belgian edition are brighter but the Italian print has much greater contrast. The increase in contrast in the Italian edition has distorted some of the colours - for example the circle on the cushion that The Empress holds is green instead of yellow. All of my other Rider tarots (blue box, purple box, yellow box printed by AG Muller, Miniature printed in China, Lo Scarabeo, Original, Commemorative and Centennial) have the yellow circle.
Needless to say, I much prefer the Belgian edition, even though I had to wipe some food stains off the cards.