Lee I just pulled out the Noblet to look at the cards you pulled, to see the progressions, and the effect is not so pronounced as with the deck you used.[...[ I'm searching for my Hadar to look at the progressions of these three cards in that deck....I'm interested now to see how the images look. What made you choose this deck, and sorry to say I don't recognize it...what deck is it?
I'll reply to le_charior's post tonight when I have more time (so many readings, so little time, LOL), but I just wanted to quickly reply to Satori about decks.
I've been separated from my Noblet for over two years now (I'm living in another state, away from most of my decks, due to work opportunities), but it's being shipped to me now so I'm eager to take a look for myself.
As le_charior says, the deck I used is the Grimaud. The Grimaud was the only TdM available when I bought it in the early '80s in New York City. I never particularly liked it, but lately I have learned to love it. The lines are smooth and streamlined, the character-rich facial expressions are retained, and it has none of the silly additions of the "restored" decks. I used to dislike the overuse of the flesh color for non-flesh items, but now this doesn't bother me anymore, and I appreciate the simple, mostly red-and-blue coloring.
This particular Grimaud is from the early '70s with the super-thick cardstock and English titles. I originally wanted one with French titles but I was having trouble finding one. I got this one on eBay a few weeks ago and I love it. (My Grimaud that I bought in the '80s has bilingual titles, which I find distracting.)