DECKS where you only love a card or a few, but the rest of the deck, not so much

[GreatDane]

Sometimes we talk about decks where a card or several ruin a deck for us.  But what about decks we've seen where we REALLY like a few of the cards, but feel letdown by the rest?

 

Are there any decks you can think of where you really just liked one or a couple cards, maybe even ordered the deck based on a few cards, but then wished the rest of the deck followed suit (no pun intended)?

 

 

 

  

[Arania]

That's the case for many of the decks with no images on the lessers where they symbols are really just repeating without effort while the GA looks amazing.

[GreatDane]

Those decks are a disappointment to me.

[Misterei]

4 hours ago, GreatDane said:

Sometimes we talk about decks where a card or several ruin a deck for us.  But what about decks we've seen where we REALLY like a few of the cards, but feel letdown by the rest? ...  any decks you can think of where you really just liked one or a couple cards,

 

3 hours ago, Arania said:

That's the case for many of the decks with no images on the lessers where they symbols are really just repeating without effort while the GA looks amazing.

I have a different take on this. After a couple initial mistakes ... I learned to always watch full Flipthrough videos before buying any deck ... so it saved me from that dilemma @GreatDane mentions. I bought Pavlov deck purely for the Lovers card ... but I had seen flipthrough video so knew I would like the rest well enough.

 

@Arania I have an affection for Pip decks (TdM and Tarocchi) and also playing-card fusion decks like Keymaster. Sometimes I want that "blank slate". But I do read these decks differently than scenic pips decks

[GreatDane]

I agree, Misterei.  I do the same.  I look at flip through.  Earlier on, I didn't check closely enough, but early in my journey, I also had to distinguish oh pretty! from what a reader would be for me.

 

I LOVE flip throughs.  

[FindYourSovereignty]

Yes, I have had this happen on a few occasions, however, The Chinese Tarot by Jui Guoliang I purchased because of The Lovers card and then the deck arrived and, although the images are fine, but not my favorite. I also don’t really care for pip deck unless they are historical or historical reproductions.

[Arania]

1 hour ago, Misterei said:

 

I have an affection for Pip decks (TdM and Tarocchi) and also playing-card fusion decks like Keymaster. Sometimes I want that "blank slate". But I do read these decks differently than scenic pips decks

I am talking about very uncreative minors, if I want that I can use playing cards. I don't have the same issues with the Ibis Tarot, TdM or TdV for example. The Der-Jen Tarot is one such example wich I can't really make use of.

[DanielJUK]

I've moved this thread to the Tarot Decks section 😊

[Misterei]

3 hours ago, GreatDane said:

... I look at flip through.  Earlier on, I didn't check closely enough, but early in my journey, I also had to distinguish oh pretty! from what a reader would be for me.

Yes! That was my second lesson hard lesson about deck collecting ... some decks I LIKED the whole deck in the video ... but there was no chemistry when we met in person 😂

2 hours ago, Arania said:

I am talking about very uncreative minors, if I want that I can use playing cards. I don't have the same issues with the Ibis Tarot, TdM or TdV for example.

Ah. I guess I've been lucky so far ... but then again I mostly stick to historicals. My 3 playing-card fusion decks: KeyMaster,  Brut, Fernando Crippa ... I  knew what I was getting and found myself ok with it. But I was sceptical at first if I would feel as you describe.

 

Question: what is TdV?

Edited October 2, 2023 by Misterei

[Natural Mystic Guide]

I bought the Chrysalis Deck based on seeing some of the images.  I had even purchased the app.  It wasn't until I had the actual physical deck in hand and read the Guidebook cover to cover that I realized how much the basic structure of the Tarot had been tampered with.  It makes me angry and I cannot read with it.  Some of the images are lovely.  I really like the artist.  In my estimation, it is not a Tarot deck.  Disappointing.

[Arania]

6 hours ago, Misterei said:

Question: what is TdV?

Tarocco delle Vetrate. Probably not all that well known.

[Chariot]

The As Above, So Below by Barbara Moore.  The As Above Deck is Thoth-based, and I don't use it, although I look at it from time to time.  But the So Below deck has SO many useful cards in it ...contemporary depictions of the card meanings.

I love her Lovers and Death depictions ...both involving a 'house for sale' sign and a couple in front of the house. The Lovers are in the process of buying that house (making a comittment to each other,) while the people in the Death card are obviously selling their house and moving on.

These images are SO usable when it comes to a practical kind of reading, which are the readings I prefer doing.  It's Ms Moore's depiction of Death that sold me the deck.  It's not scary at all, but the meaning is clear.  It's over.  Move on.

But so many other cards in this deck are disappointing.  Not unusable, but just ...not saying much to me. Like these, illustrated below.  If I get my brain to imitate a pretzel, I can probably work out some kind of connection to standard tarot meanings for these kinds of cards, but it's not really what I want to be doing with my tarot decks.  "What WAS the creator of this deck thinking?" isn't the question I want to be answering during a reading. And no, the little white book that came with the deck isn't much help.  According to it, Justice means 'The consequences of your actions are at hand' and reversed 'unfair or unwarranted results.'  That's pretty standard—but what it has to do with a beautiful, self-satisfied-looking woman getting home late at night from some dressy occasion and massaging her feet after removing her uncomfortable shoes just isn't clear. Justice is certainly not the intuitive meaning I would give to this image.

 

Too many of the other cards in this deck are a bit on the wishy-washy side—at least in my opinion.  Fairies dancing in the air are used a LOT, for example.  As are nymphy-looking women dressed in flowing toga-things, which don't exactly evoke 'down-to-earth' contemporary situations to me.  Not sure what that's all about.  I do wish most of the cards were up to the standard of the ones I love, but I found the overall deck disappointing and difficult to use for contemporary issues.

Fortunately I did find what I was looking for in Poppy Palin's The Everyday Enchantment Tarot, when it comes to using contemporary scenes and people to depict traditional RWS meanings—so I'm happy.

Edited October 2, 2023 by Chariot

[GreatDane]

Ah Misterei, YES, sometimes what I saw in the pix didn't translate once in my hands.  I don't have a large deck collection now.  I tend to use just maybe five decks. Have some others I've been meaning to move just because I don't use them.

[Misterei]

13 hours ago, Arania said:

Tarocco delle Vetrate. Probably not all that well known.

OMG! I just ordered one from Bulgaria.

5 hours ago, GreatDane said:

Ah Misterei, YES, sometimes what I saw in the pix didn't translate once in my hands. ...

Yes ... I'm getting better at it ... but one can never really tell until you read with the deck. LOL the Tarocco delle Vetrate @Arania mentoined ... I don't even need the flip through. It's soooo me. I think Pip decks are easier. Scenic Pips there's more places to go "wrong".

Edited October 2, 2023 by Misterei

[Arania]

14 hours ago, Chariot said:

And no, the little white book that came with the deck isn't much help.

You will need the companion book. I love those decks.

[Arania]

2 hours ago, Misterei said:

I don't even need the flip through. It's soooo me.

It is amazing, and mine has a weird humor, especially when the question could have been asked better.

[Misterei]

4 hours ago, Arania said:

It is amazing, and mine has a weird humor, especially when the question could have been asked better.

Hmmm. I can't wait for it to make the long passage from Bulgaria! I think I like Italian decks the best. Maybe b/c Tarocchi is Italian. And it the original Tarocchis DID have a sense of humor baked right into the name itself.