incomplete decks; where do you stand?

Le Fanu said:

What's your take on incomplete decks as someone who collects?

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I would swap in a nanosecond my entire collection minus my Servants of the Light and my Granny Jones for one single original Visconti card. And no matter how arrogant I am about my abilities, I don't think even I could read with a one-card deck.

(though, now I think about it ...)

Le Fanu said:

...it will be very interesting to hold a deck this old in my hands, feel the cardstock and see the colours & printing up close.

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...and that is exactly why I would buy (and have bought) incomplete antique decks. I do not read nor shuffle (for fear of chipping the cardstock) my very old decks --I simply admire, compare (such as when I compared my Pam A, B, C with my other RWS editions) fondle, study and contemplate. Then, I carefully wrap them back up and put them away until the next time we visit.

Ok.. can you all help me out on this?

Yesterday, I was ambling around an Esoteric Fair and found a stall selling tarot decks.

They had a copy of one of the few Thoths I don't have; the Orbis/Fabbri/Lo Scarabeo edition (light blue box; Empress on the front, Knight of Cups on the side, 8-armed Magician on the back of the box). This was included in the 2001 series "El Arte del Tarot", which was a magazine series on the tarot.

It was one of those LoS decks which has the deck divided into three and each third shrink-wrapped seperately. One of the thirds had been opened, the others hadn't. The box was a little tatty so I asked for a discount and she reduced it by 5 euros.

Then I got home, opened it up and it has only 74 cards! Now the actual deck is the exact same edition as the AG Muller midsized Thoth (it even has this and the copyright on the back of the cards). The titles are in Portuguese (there was a Spanish, Italian and Portuguese edition) so no point recommending the Lost & Found thread. I have a Portuguese AG Muller edition at home, so I could just swap the cards, but it still means I paid 20 euros for an incomplete deck.

But I'm collector, I only bought it for the box...

I don't know whether I should go back today and complain. I have a way of making the deck "complete" with my other deck at home, but I want the box (and I don't want my other deck to be sitting incomplete in its box)! They'll think I'm mad if I go and ask for my money back but - Oh - can I keep the box? (which they wouldn't alllow and righty so!)

Maybe you could ask them to check their storage area and see if the missing cards are still around somewhere?

If you really love that box, I fear you are stuck with the purchase.