Decks You Wish You Hadn't Bought?

SwampLady

Yes that was it. I sent it off to a friend in a box of random things.
 

Lokismile

ETA I am also going to add the Fenestra to this. I read in here someone mentioning that all of the cards look the same, and after working with it a lot yesterday, I do have to agree. Gorgeous deck however, but I just see myself grabbing for another and not using it much at all, so I will probably sell it as I like working with my decks.

I found the Fenestra somehow appealing when perusing the box art and images online, primarily as an alt to RWS with enough feel to provide examples to clients of the different options. Disappointing in hand and several readings later I hated it for a variety of reasons, and barely banked $7 on ebay getting rid of that silly deck.
 

Carla

5. Crowley's Thoth - my intuition says run as fast as you can. Makes me dizzy and my stomach sick looking at it... never had that happen before. And I just got it. Something's not right. Not sure if I'll wait it out or believe my intuition.

Based on my experience, maybe you should just tuck it away and keep it. Some day you may decide to pull it out and be amazed by it. Like you, it made me ill to look at it, and now it's one of my favourite decks. I can't praise it enough, really.

Can't say that for Bright Ideas or Osho Zen, though!
 

Thoughtful

Oh Carla l love my Osho Zen :p

l have just spent hard earned money on the Todays Journey Tarot. The blurb on the box says "everyday experiences come alive with the power of archetypal imagery" and "the 78 cards represents the true essence of tarot" To think l believed that! its badly drawn (IMHO) and the colours are wishy washy. l looked through the images and felt not a stirring of excitement or pleasure.
The only good thing is the box itself, very sturdy with a magetic closure and a nice little ribbon to open it with.
l will hang on to it for the collection, but use? oh no.
 

Aeric

I used to own about 15 decks. Here are some I can recall that I disliked and got rid of over time:

Rider-Waite - What?! Yes, like many RW was my first deck and I did dislike it, but only on account of the flat, lifeless colours and the unimaginative "tarotee" crosshatched backs. They look like faded illustrations out of flight pamphlets with the attendants wearing medieval clothes! When I discovered other decks like Universal and Radiant with softer, more vibrant colours and the gorgeous starry night sky backs, I was hooked.

Cosmic Tribe - At the time I was incredibly overjoyed reading about a deck that wasn't heteronormative, that offered three choices of Lovers cards. But when I bought and used the deck, I had trouble with the psychadelic CGI hyper-New Age artwork. It also felt like I was an outsider looking in on a deck designed for rave culture or bohemians. I love that women and men of different body types are represented, but overall the deck just didn't resonate with me as much as I would have liked. I found the accompanying book with its talk of UFOs coming to hover over gatherings of druids and shamans confusing.

Robin Wood - At the time I wanted a deck devoid of Judeo-Christian imagery, and the Robin Wood was a nice deck. However I grew to dislike the artwork, with the hyperideal bodies and that Wheel of Fortune which to this day reminds me of old ads for feminine hygiene products.

Cat People - I'm going to be a crazy cat lady when I'm old. I adore the fluffies big and small, but this deck took too much work to adjust to. It felt like I was reading a deck taking place in a fictional universe out of fantasy books that required a ton of study and immersion to understand the dynamics of the culture the author was depicting. Eventually everything felt so alien that I gave up. To this day I've wanted to own the Tarot du Chat instead.

Mythic - I ultimately preferred the Olympus Tarot in the search for a Greek myth themed deck. The artwork on the Mythic is quite strange to me, with almost all the characters being spindly, pasty creatures. It was certainly a great idea to base each suit the story of one myth, but the artistic delivery really hampered it for me.
 

Tarot Orat

Robin Wood - ... that Wheel of Fortune which to this day reminds me of old ads for feminine hygiene products.

LOL....that is a PERFECT description! It was my go-to deck for a long time, but only after I colored in half the blondes' hair with a brown Sharpie. It's not so much that I regret it as that I've outgrown it.
 

JenWt43

Based on my experience, maybe you should just tuck it away and keep it. Some day you may decide to pull it out and be amazed by it. Like you, it made me ill to look at it, and now it's one of my favourite decks. I can't praise it enough, really.

This is exactly what I recently decided to do. Yesterday I ordered a set of larger Thoth cards, to investigate my reaction to them. There must be a reason why they make me feel queasy also, and I am ready to begin learning why...

As for decks that I wish I hadn't bought - anything that has a photograph of a human face "stuck" onto an illustrated body! That freaks.me.out. It seemed to be a trend several years ago, but I find it more frightening that any so-called dark deck. I managed to get over it with the Sacred Circle, that one has more going for it. But oh my, there were many others.
 

magpie9

Oh Carla l love my Osho Zen :p

l have just spent hard earned money on the Todays Journey Tarot. The blurb on the box says "everyday experiences come alive with the power of archetypal imagery" and "the 78 cards represents the true essence of tarot" To think l believed that! its badly drawn (IMHO) and the colours are wishy washy. l looked through the images and felt not a stirring of excitement or pleasure.
The only good thing is the box itself, very sturdy with a magetic closure and a nice little ribbon to open it with.
l will hang on to it for the collection, but use? oh no.

I feel exactly the same. HATED the deck. I felt totally ripped off. I managed to sell it on the trading forum, to my great relief!