Pebble Back Repro?

Essence of Winter

I agree the roses & lilies looks nicer than the dried mud. I'd just like to see a good reproduction of either one that has authentic colors and backs instead of cartooney colors or the eyesore that is the Original Rider Waite Pack. I don't want an original one bad enough to spend the kind of money it would take so a nice repro would be perfect alternative. Knowing US Games though they'd have to include copyright notices and ruin the whole thing. :laugh:

I understand that this deck is an authentic reproduction of the Pamela A deck with accurate colours:

http://www.loscarabeo.com/lang-en/tarocchi-esoterici/107-tarocchi-rws-pamela-colman-smith.html

The borders are the only part that are not authentic but it didn't put me off ordering one. The backs are the same as the Original Rider.

I love the Original Rider but I can see why some people don't like it.
 

Laura Borealis

Did Pixie also design the pebble and rose backs, or was that Waite or someone else?

I've seen similar pebble backs on other decks, on the World Web Playing Card Museum site (though I can't locate any examples right now). They seem to have been fairly common card back designs at one time (as were plaids).
 

truelighth

Oh, I was confused. I had thought that Pam-Rose and Pam-Pebble were the same Pam-A with different backs. I hadn't known the image quality was different.

The confusion is understandable. The line art of the Roses&lilies and the pebbled back is the same. And not many have had the priveledge to see and compare the two versions. I do and I also think they should be referred to differently. These days I call one the Pam-A and the Pam-roses&lilies.
The difference between the two is not just the back, but also the saturation of the colours, the images on the Roses&lilies are bigger and don't fit on the cards so well. For the pebbled back, they have cropped them to make them the same size. The card quality is different too. The pebbled back has a better quality card with smooth surface, even a bit shiny.
 

truelighth

I understand that this deck is an authentic reproduction of the Pamela A deck with accurate colours:

http://www.loscarabeo.com/lang-en/tarocchi-esoterici/107-tarocchi-rws-pamela-colman-smith.html

The borders are the only part that are not authentic but it didn't put me off ordering one. The backs are the same as the Original Rider.

I love the Original Rider but I can see why some people don't like it.

The Lo Scarabeo centennial is kinda weird. It is a reproduction of a Pam-A pebbled back, but with the Roses&lilies back. So that makes it not a true reproduction. Personally, even though they tried, I find the colours still too bold compared to a true Pam-A and not that different from a regular RWS.

Also, the did something else. They are not usung the original calligraphy titles and they have removed the numerals of the majors and placed them in a beam on top of the cards. On the Sun card, they have added three sun rays to fill the space of the numeral, so the squiggly sun ray is also gone.

So it is not a proper reproduction.
 

truelighth

I've seen similar pebble backs on other decks, on the World Web Playing Card Museum site (though I can't locate any examples right now). They seem to have been fairly common card back designs at one time (as were plaids).

There is an idea that the pebbled backs might have been pre-printed on sheets. It would make the printing process cheaper and explain why they changed the backs. It would also explain there are other playing card decks out there with the same back.
 

Essence of Winter

The Lo Scarabeo centennial is kinda weird. It is a reproduction of a Pam-A pebbled back, but with the Roses&lilies back. So that makes it not a true reproduction. Personally, even though they tried, I find the colours still too bold compared to a true Pam-A and not that different from a regular RWS.

Thanks for the info - it's interesting to know. It's still probably going to be as close as I get to a Pam-A :)

A number of different companies make accurate reissues of previous products so it would be nice if the same could be done with the Rider tarot. I imagine it would sell rather well.
 

truelighth

Hello Essence of Winter,

I actually edited my post to add more information.

In my opinion, the commemorative/centennial deck of US games is as close as you can get to an original, except for the backs. What some call muddied colours, actually helps to properly represent the colours of the Roses&lilies deck.
 

Essence of Winter

Hello Essence of Winter,

I actually edited my post to add more information.

In my opinion, the commemorative/centennial deck of US games is as close as you can get to an original, except for the backs. What some call muddied colours, actually helps to properly represent the colours of the Roses&lilies deck.

Thanks. That's also good to know because I have the US Games Commemorative deck on order as well.

Is that copied from the Pam-A version? I think I remember reading it was Pam-B but I can't remember for certain.
 

truelighth

Thanks. That's also good to know because I have the US Games Commemorative deck on order as well.

Is that copied from the Pam-A version? I think I remember reading it was Pam-B but I can't remember for certain.

That is a copy of the Pam-A Roses&Lilies deck, not the Pam-A pebbled back. The so-called Original Rider Waite is a copy of the Pam-B.