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Unboxings and First Impressions


Raggydoll

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My Dark Mansion Tarot arrived today! It's so lovely, and the rose petal finish is great for feel. Such a fun, enjoyable deck. I also got the 4th ed. Jonasa Jaus tarot recently--I love it! I wish it hadn't sold out so fast, I'd have bought another copy to give to a friend.

 

(For all of you who've been stalking the Blood Moon Tarot, it should be available on her site soonish, to go by the progress in the Kickstart Updates. Join the mailing list, keep your eyes peeled.)

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Today I received The Painted Tarot by Sophie McKay Knight. It’s a really beautiful deck - love the use of colour!

A selection of cards and the card backs below:

 

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Hello, I just got a new deck, not a tarot (but it seems we share all kinds of systems on this thread and I have not found a similar thread for Lenormand cards...) but a Lenormand deck.

I have had my eyes on it for a while, the creator shared part of the process on her Instagram. Since I have a couple other decks by her and I really like her art, I picked this one this morning. Let me tell you, it did not disappoint! Here are a couple pictures of the deck. It has an indie deck vibe/quality to it despite being mass market. The only thing I don't really like is the cartomancy reference on each card. They are useful, but I feel like the design does not exactly fit in with the cards. Besides this detail, the deck is lovely, and I can't wait to give it a thorough try.

I have taken a picture with a card from my RWS tarot so you can get an idea of the size of those cards. For me, they are the biggest I am comfortable with reading Lenormand and especially Grand Tableaux.

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Venus Rising
2 hours ago, Remy said:

Hello, I just got a new deck, not a tarot (but it seems we share all kinds of systems on this thread and I have not found a similar thread for Lenormand cards...) but a Lenormand deck.

I have had my eyes on it for a while, the creator shared part of the process on her Instagram. Since I have a couple other decks by her and I really like her art, I picked this one this morning. Let me tell you, it did not disappoint! Here are a couple pictures of the deck. It has an indie deck vibe/quality to it despite being mass market. The only thing I don't really like is the cartomancy reference on each card. They are useful, but I feel like the design does not exactly fit in with the cards. Besides this detail, the deck is lovely, and I can't wait to give it a thorough try.

I have taken a picture with a card from my RWS tarot so you can get an idea of the size of those cards. For me, they are the biggest I am comfortable with reading Lenormand and especially Grand Tableaux.

 

 

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That’s a really neat looking deck, thanks for sharing it with us.  I’ll have to go have a look and see what else she has.  

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Woo! Prismatic Tarot arrived today and I cannot believe I was in any way slow to buy it, this deck is SO GORGEOUS:

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Available here for anyone else who'd like to snag it, the artist just restocked: https://www.etsy.com/listing/508640297/the-prismatic-tarot-formerly-the?ref=yr_purchases

 

Cardstock is linen, it's on the thinner side, about the same as a poker deck. I don't mind this, as I have more than enough super heavy stock decks. It's nice to have something easier for my tiny.hands to manage, in all truth. UGH I love it.

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I ordered the Wonder Walking deck by Amy T Won and it arrived yesterday. Didn't get a chance to do much more than check all the cards were there, but tried a reading with it today (with the Daughters of the Moon Tarot, just felt they'd work well together) and it's so beautiful!

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The Shimmering Veil Tarot by Cilla Conway arrived today. I'm very excited!!!

The box is nice and sturdy, the LWB is great, written by Cilla herself, one page per card major as well as minor and a little colour image of each card. The cards are on the bigger side, nice matte cardstock. There is no name on the cards, just little numbers and symbols in the bottom right corners. And oh I love the artwork! It's different to my other decks as most of them are all the same style and feel very uniform and consistent, but these cards have slight differences in style, technique? - apologies, I'm not an art person really. I love every single card. I'm looking forward to reading with them, the cards bring up all kinds of emotions when I look at them. I think The Moon is my favourite Moon card:

 

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1 hour ago, Rupicapra said:

I think The Moon is my favourite Moon card

That IS a nice Moon card. (But I do wonder why so many decks feature a cooked crawfish/lobster. Maybe just because the red looks pretty against the murky water?)
I like the card on the cover. The World, isn't it? It reminds me of Blake.

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!! I hadn't realized I could buy 2nd edition Intuitive Tarot from the same site. So. >.> Double thanks for posting this. 😄

 

I've been remiss in not posting a few things I received lately. First up, Cerise Tarot:

 

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It comes in a simple black velvet pouch, from MPC. Available here. I got the silver edged version, however I hadn't realized, MPC uses a matte gilt which tends to come off easily, unlike the smooth kind find on other decks. I have this same problem with my Ellis Deck; it gets glittery bits all over. I'm willing to tolerate it, but I'd suggest getting the un-gilt one even if it means supplying your own bag (you can go to the store via the link and pick the other deck type).

 

Britt's Third Eye, also an MPC deck:

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The benefit of MPC decks is being able to view the WHOLE deck before you buy it. I'd been wanting something in an anime theme for a while, but Mystical Manga doesn't really do it for me. This is a really nice deck, though, with simpler yet entirely functional RWS imagery. Came in a simple tuckbox.

 

I do with the images were a little larger on the card, but it's still a very nice little deck.

 

 

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My belated birthday package arrived! *Insert Happy Dance*. I was waiting on The Qabalistic Tarot Book, and the Zombie Tarot Deck. It was our first time ordering through Fishpond - so it was nice that everything was received in perfect order, despite the thin bubble wrap envelope and plastic it was wrapped in. Not a dent or crushed edge in sight! Winning.
And trust my husband to choose the 'gift wrap' option - we can't have him messing up such an important task! 😂

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Firstly, The Qabalistic Tarot Book was bought sight unseen - as I haven't been able to get out to find it in the flesh for a flick through (courtesy of the Rona). I also couldn't find any 'previews' online. I was hoping to get a peek of a few pages or a couple chapters to determine if it is suitable, like Google Books often provides. So it was a bit of a punt. For anyone thinking about purchasing it themselves, I added a few internal pictures, selecting a few with diagrams - so you might have more information going into it than I did! I haven't read anything yet - but it has a kind of 'textbook' feel - hopefully it wont be too dry reading. But it does seem quite extensive, so I'm looking forward to making a cup of tea later and curling up with it. You may not be able to discern from the images that the paper quality is akin to a cheap Mills and Boon novel - the kind that is likely to discolour to a dirty yellow as the years go on. But the hardcover is shiny and solid, and I bought it for the content more than the aesthetics. Hopefully it holds up well enough as time goes on.

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Now to the main event, The Zombie Tarot Deck! I'm going to tag @Kath here as I promised her to give my thoughts when it arrived. First impression is that it is very well presented. The box looks great and is made of nice thick cardboard, albeit on the unnecessarily large size. It could be more compact but I suppose that is a matter of personal preference. I'm not a fan of excess packaging, so it is a slight annoyance. The box holds a built-up felted plastic tray that while very attractive, almost doubles the required height. I wouldn't be throwing this deck into my handbag, and it will take up more room on my shelf than needed - but I must admit it looks great, and will make a good looking stay-at-home deck. 

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The instruction booklet is fantastic. The prose is in line with the imagery, and provides short but sweet descriptions of each card. It includes the usual preamble (in their own quirky way) about the 4 elements, and general meanings for the minor numbers. They have also thrown in a few funny spreads which I thought was hilarious, such as 'the broken heart' or 'the severed head'. I very much enjoy the last page of classifieds - advertising everything from survival training to bite proof under armour. I thought the whole shebang is very well thought-out and clever. 

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As far as the cards themselves go - I love the images. Some are a bit more gory than others, but I feel that the comical way they have been pasted together takes the edge off. I'm not usually big on guts and horror, and I love these cards! Obviously everyone has their own eek tolerance level, so results may vary! As to the card quality, I'm a little torn. The coating on the picture side is fairly matte and I can't tell if it has a coating on the back at all, as it feels a little too rough to me. I tend to shuffle overhand, and have smaller hands - so I like a little more slip than what I'm getting with these. They do have a good thickness though, which may be contributing to my shuffle woes. I'm sure I will adjust, it isn't the end of the world. But I do try and be honest, and the devil is in the detail after all! There are a few marks in the corners from the guillotine also. But the images more than make up for this in my opinion! It will be interesting to see how they read. I think these will be great on a gloomy day when you just don't want to take life too seriously and have a bit of a chuckle. They have a fun sarcastic vibe, yet still retain the traditional core messages in the individual cards. I'm very glad I bought them!

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Edited by Grace
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Your Zombie Tarot looks terrible! 😄

I like its vintage style, and the LWB is nicely done regarding that aspect. Creepy vintage deck in a lovely gift wrap!

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Yay! I'm so glad they arrived. I've found the Zombie tarot deck study thread on the old AT forum, and will start reading through it in the next day or two.  I'd be happy to exchange thoughts about the cards, if you like. 

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Oh, that Zombie deck looks incredibly fun.

 

And, at *last*:

 

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Zapatrax's Tarot du Crepascule, a Majors Only that I got in hopes of encouraging her to make minors to go with it. Incredibly gorgeous, gold foiling on the backs and the slipcase. Sadly her timeline was clobbered by Covid, but I'm happy to say that she's got US shipments heading out. Fingers crossed for a set of minors some day. 🙂

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10 hours ago, katrinka said:

Oh, dear. Poor C. Alexander.

I'm afraid that Alexander Conlin was facing some unfortunate and problematic issues in his life, we don't know everything... 😄

Edited by Decan
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43 minutes ago, Decan said:

I'm afraid that Alexander Conlin was facing some unfortunate and problematic issues in his life, we don't know everything... 😄

I would say the issues occurred post-life.

Just a guess. 😉

 

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😂 @Decan @katrinka... He has certainly seen better times. The undead are doing it tough these days. lol.

 

@Kath I would be happy to! I shall seek out the thread on this forum.

 

@Niobium That looks like a very nice deck! I hope the minors get made soon for you. I have often stopped short of buying a deck because it only offers the majors. Do you still read with them, or just enjoy them for their artistic or meditative value? 

 

Edited by Grace
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@Grace Thank you! Although I mostly meditate with them, I do read with them as well; often just simple 3-or 1-card pulls, because they lack the broader range of meanings I feel like I need in a bigger reading. I've often found them quite good as story telling guides, where the kinds of nuances the Minor Arcana give aren't always as necessary as some broad strokes.

 

The art is almost *always* why I cave on a Majors only deck. I only have 3 now; this one, the Undead Journey Tarot, and the Occult Ornithology Deck. Stunners all of them, so I was willing to buy. 

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@Niobium That makes sense! I was always afraid I may not be able to make them work, and missed out on some really stunning decks because of it.

 

You've inspired me to give it a try if I come across another gorgeous 'half-deck'. 

 

The Zapatrax really is lovely. I like the colour pallette very much, and the gold foil! Foil makes everything feel lux in my book. 

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@Grace It's an incredibly luxurious deck, I have to say. Fingers crossed for minors. >.>

 

So, the postman had a small surprise for me today. I'd not expected this for at least a couple more weeks.

 

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This is the Notes Taro, a new deck by Stren & Bagpipe, which you might recognize as the makers of the Broken Mirror Tarot. I thought in the initial pictures much of the art was the same, but it's really quite different. This deck is much more Medieval Europe/Tolkeinian with a hint of Greek, where-as Broken Mirror Tarot is much more Grecian in the Fourth Edition cards. It's a lovely little deck; I do wish the images were larger on the card, though. (Ah, the age old cry: WHY DID YOU MAKE THEM SO SMAAAAAAAAALL.) Still, quite happy with it. 🙂

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Received the Stretch Tarot today that i'd ordered directly from the artist's website: Stretch Tarot As well as the tarot deck they do a Lenormand deck too.

 

I love the deck already, probably because I love collage and digital art and play about with both myself - my skill level being far belo J. E. Stretch though 😂 The deck arrived quickly, safely and well packaged. The LWB can be downloaded from the website. I was a bit surprised to find both a male and a female Magician card but it will be nice to have the choice of which one to use. The quality feels good and they shuffle nicely.

 

 

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Edited by WildPlace
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So many beautiful decks here, my list has just grown, again!

Here's a deck that arrived today, the Jo99 Tarot de Marseilles. I had never seen this until a few weeks ago but I stumbled across it when I was searching through Google for interesting decks (as you do). I really love the colours in this.

 

 

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And another new arrival. Not strictly tarot and I have no idea how use it but it's gorgeous 

 

 

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And lastly this little beauty, the Tarot of Musterberg. The soft colours make this look old to my eyes.

 

 

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Edited by Danvers
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