What's the most disappointing deck you ever bought?

[Nemia]

I've had a few of those as well! 

 

The Jungian Tarot. Robotic figures, abstract minors that didn't do anything for me. The book was interesting, but I traded it and never regretted it. It had a cold, mechanical vibe to it that I found quite off-putting. 

 

 

The Art of Life Tarot. Very kitschy presentation frame - well, nobody forces me to use it, so I could go along with that. The deck itself was just a collection of nice reproductions; most of the art was Classic Modern, which I like, but for many cards, I simply couldn't discover the tarot connection. And then the cheesy quotations on each card! I let it go as well. (There is a very positive and interesting review by Benebell Wen with lots of pictures. This is one time where I have to disagree with Benebell - I found it shallow, but I'm glad Benebell liked it.) Pictures from Benebell's review:

 

      

 

The Hudes Tarot. I liked it at first, the Death card is really wonderful, but when I realised that the star maps in the background were just for decoration and had nothing to do with the cards, I knew that I couldn't live with it. I'm glad I traded it. 

 

  

 

There are some decks still in my collection that I never reach for, but still keep for the day when we might click. 

 

The Type Tarot - like the Art of Life Tarot, actually a great idea, but the word clouds seem so arbitrary. As though the artist simply fed a text into a graphic program, and then didn't emphasise the relevant words but simply let the program choose random words to print in big letters. 

 

  

 

The Wildwood Tarot - it's beautiful, and I understand the world it comes fro,m but somehow, it leaves me cold. I can't read with it. 

 

The Ethereal Visions Tarot - a true beauty, I love Art Nouveau, it's well-produced and visually stunning. However, I can't read with it. Nothing happens when I read with it. Maybe it's because the figures just look at us dramatically? They seem more like allegorical figures who don't really embody the archetypes but simply pose. Am I being unfair? Probably. It's too highly polished for me. 

 

The coloured Tarot of the Holy Light. The shrill, obviously computer-generated, graduated colouring cancelled out the original prints, and I couldn't work with it. I let it go, but replaced it with the black-and-white edition, which is wonderful. They should have coloured the original cards using watercolours, and it would have been perfect.  

 

 

Edited January 6 by Nemia

[Teemu]

For me, it is the Zerner Farber Tarot. The images looked very appealing, but it does not speak to me 😞

[Tanga]

Hmmmm - could be quite a few 🙃.

What do I care to mention...

 

Tarot Illuminati by Dunne & Huggens https://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/illuminati/

- I discovered it literally gave me a headache when I read with it.  Sad - because I loved it. Lol.  The next version of their deck was better for me - no headaches (Tarot Apokalypis).

 

@Nemia - I can't imagine having a practical liking for any black and white version of anything. I love colour - and - I absolutely love the colour in Tarot of The Holy Light.  (I can't read with it. It's not an RWS. But I do one card draws & contemplate the imagery).

 

Star Trek :The Next Generation Tarot for being soooooo boring and a pip deck. A Dummy deck.