LoS Universal Marseille Lemon

I just received the Marseille deck with the Bursten book. The book is the reason I got this, as i had read, over and over, about how bad the deck was from many voices here at the forum. I thought that it couldn't be totally that bad, but now that I have it in my hands I'm shocked at the horrible quality of this Tarot.
The multilanguage titles clutter, the thin crappy stock, the lines and color shades, the fuzzy misprinted backs.

Bummer...

I hope the book makes up for it...

B.

I think it would be totally unfair to judge any publisher on the basis of one deck. Lo Scarabeo have pushed a good few boundaries, and incidentally, increasingly their decks have no titles in ANY language, partly because so many here complain about multilingual ones.

Their card stock, by the way, holds up a GREAT deal better than Llewellyn's. Yes this deck was not their finest hour, but it isn't THAT bad.Enjoy the book. And take a look at the Fey, the Sweet Twilight, the Sacred Sites - to name but a few.

I'd love to know what you think of the book.

BTW, I have the deck, and it doesn't seem that bad to me.

Hi Greg,
You're right. Maybe I'm being too critical, but I've gotten a couple of LoS decks and they always fail to capture me. And I think that the titles are a big reason for that. I'm glad to hear that that might change. This deck though, really, the cards are so thin! The print on both sides is very poor. The backs look like a copy of a copy of a copy. And the book, even though I'm really enjoying Lee's approach, is more of a panphlet than a book. I might be spoiled by the beauty of my other Marseille decks (Fournier, piatnik). I just wish I would have spent those thirty dollars on a better deck....

It's all good though. Enjoying the reading!
B.

I agree the deck is pretty dreadful as far as the colouring goes but I don't remember the card stock being bad. I love LoS card stock and can second gregory in saying that it holds up very well. LoS are a real mixed bag with their decks, some I feel are dreadful, trashy things but then there are the masterpieces as well. The whole Ancient series, the Ancient Italian being my favourite are wonderful. Also Dame Fortune's Wheel is an absolute must-have beauty. Don't give up on them or judge them by the Universal Marseille, which as gregory said was certianly not their finest hour. Hope you enjoy the book. It is fairly small but I found it a helpful start and really, in the absence of much else written in English for beginners using TdM, it's just good to have something.

sapienza said:

LoS are a real mixed bag with their decks, some I feel are dreadful, trashy things but then there are the masterpieces as well. The whole Ancient series, the Ancient Italian being my favourite are wonderful. Also Dame Fortune's Wheel is an absolute must-have beauty. Don't give up on them or judge them by the Universal Marseille, which as gregory said was certianly not their finest hour. Hope you enjoy the book. It is fairly small but I found it a helpful start and really, in the absence of much else written in English for beginners using TdM, it's just good to have something.

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I was looking at the ancient series, and you're right, they are beautiful! The Ancient Bologna and Lombardy are gorgeous! I guess I'm not gonna turn my back to LoS 180 degrees, but maybe 90…

Definitely, the best part of this kit is the written material, and I just noticed that in the back of the LWB, they couldn't even spell Lee Bursten's name right!!! (Instructions by Lee Buster?!)

BSwett said:

I was looking at the ancient series, and you're right, they are beautiful! The Ancient Bologna and Lombardy are gorgeous! I guess I'm not gonna turn my back to LoS 180 degrees, but maybe 90…

Definitely, the best part of this kit is the written material, and I just noticed that in the back of the LWB, they couldn't even spell Lee Bursten's name right!!! (Instructions by Lee Buster?!)

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Lee is aware and amused, the last I heard. I think this was part of a translation issue...

BSwett said:

I was looking at the ancient series, and you're right, they are beautiful! The Ancient Bologna and Lombardy are gorgeous! I guess I'm not gonna turn my back to LoS 180 degrees, but maybe 90…

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If you can still find any of the Ancient series around then try and snap them up. I believe they are officially all out of print so once they disappear, they'll be gone for good. Many of them are still easy enough to find but some are impossible to get a copy of now.

gregory said:

Lee is aware and amused, the last I heard. I think this was part of a translation issue...

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If I were Lee, I would seriously think about changing my name to Lee Buster. It sounds like a comic book character.

BSwett said:

The multilanguage titles clutter, the thin crappy stock, the lines and color shades, the fuzzy misprinted backs.

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I actually dug out my copy tonight and have to say that you are completely right. The card stock is dreadful. LoS card stock is usually my favourite but in this deck it is much thinner than their usual stock. Very bendy and, well, thin. The back are a little fuzzy as well.

I still stand by my advice not to judge them on this deck but it certainly is rather disappointing quality compared to what they normally produce.