Unboxings and First Impressions

July 14, 2019

My very subjective grading 1-5 (5 is best) of the first impressions on subjectly chosen qualities of my recently bought decks.

July 14, 2019

I've just opened my Tarot of the Hidden Realm that arrived yesterday. The artwork is majestic, hence I ordered it, but my goodness the cardstock is so flimsy! They don't feel hardwearing at all, and the cards are very shiny and slippery. It doesn't do the beauty of the deck justice at all, which is a real shame. Most of my other decks feel like they are made of much tougher stuff, and are far more pleasing the handle.

Edited July 14, 2019 by King of Swords

July 14, 2019

12 minutes ago, King of Swords said:

I've just opened my Tarot of the Hidden Realm that arrived yesterday. The artwork is majestic, hence I ordered it, but my goodness the cardstock is so flimsy! They don't feel hardwearing at all, and the cards are very shiny and slippery. It doesn't do the beauty of the deck justice at all, which is a real shame. Most of my other decks feel like they are made of much tougher stuff, and are far more pleasing the handle.

That's too bad. It is somehow easy to judge the imagery before purchasing but not cardstock. I really don't like shiny slippery finnish.

Katie

July 14, 2019

welcome to the forum, love your avatar!

You don't have a decklist in your profile, do you have any other Llewellyn decks? Their cardstock is often described as thin and flippy, but I think it has more to do with the size of their cards myself. I do think you will find it wears well without chipping or fluffing at the edges and stands up to shuffling well. If you find it doesn't Llewellyn is very good about addressing customer complaints.

again, welcome!

July 14, 2019

5 hours ago, AJ-ish/Sharyn said:

welcome to the forum, love your avatar!

You don't have a decklist in your profile, do you have any other Llewellyn decks? Their cardstock is often described as thin and flippy, but I think it has more to do with the size of their cards myself. I do think you will find it wears well without chipping or fluffing at the edges and stands up to shuffling well. If you find it doesn't Llewellyn is very good about addressing customer complaints.

again, welcome!

Thanks for the welcome and sharing your experience of the decks.

I don't think I have any other new Llewellyn decks. I have an older one - the Legend Arthurian deck (a bargain find on Amazon the other day) which arrived in the same haul of goodies, and the cardstock is thicker and sturdier.

Also - thanks for the heads-up about a decklist. I love a good list so will go and do that now!

Edited July 14, 2019 by King of Swords

July 18, 2019

No unboxing pics here but first impressions on Neon Moon tarot which I picked up today:

+

* nice sturdy box

* The ‘LWB’ uses a quote from each character on the cards to give you a sense of their meaning

* the artwork is clever - full of interesting detail and a whole world built through the imagery

* speedy delivery from the States to the UK

-

* cheap, flimsy cardstock with unfinished edges that are already scuffing without them being used

* one card has poor printing on the back making it obvious in the deck when shuffling

* colours are not as vivid as all the lovely pics on Insta and Etsy would make you think

* LWB consists of individual cards - 12 in total, which makes it pretty awkward to find what you want

* the font of the LWB is ridiculously small

Overall first impression: This is my first Etsy tarot purchase and I am now far more wary of them. I don’t feel I’ve got what I paid for, especially when this deck is compared to the other indie deck I own - the majestic Spirit Keeper’s tarot from Benebell Wen; hers is light years ahead in terms of quality and value for money, as it wasn’t much more expensive. The misprint has set off my need for new things to be ‘perfect’ which I’ve managed to let go of in many areas of my life, but in a tarot deck where the other 77 cards are identical, it’s a problem. I don’t feel much connection with the cards yet; I am hoping a replacement card might alter this.

Edited July 18, 2019 by King of Swords

July 19, 2019

Today I received the most lovely package containing three

decks by Jacqui Lovesey: The White Hare Wisdom oracle deck

plus two mini decks - Moon cards and Celtic festival cards.

These are all independently published and bought from the creators Etsy shop (located in UK): https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/JacquiLoveseyArt?ref=simple-shop-header-name&listing_id=683845358

This artist have also published several magical children’s books and it’s from that world that these cards borrow their imagery. I just love the amazing artwork. It’s so rich and colorful and it truly feels as if you are stepping into another world.

Everything was packaged with the utmost care and there were several extras included, like postcards and a card from her forth deck (Majickal familiars deck).

Some of the extras:

Her business card:

There are handmade pouches too.. this one contain the two mini decks (I bought them as a set but you can buy them individually as well). The fabric has a print from

the oracle deck.

Both mini decks still unwrapped.. There are tiny booklets/fold outs with information on each deck. It’s done in the most adorable vintage style ❤️

Here is the lunar deck. It’s perfect to put on your altar. One side has illustrated moon phases and the other side has beautiful artwork from the books as well as keywords. There are 9 cards in total.

Here are the celtic festival cards! They have keywords on the backs and there is an extra card (seen in the bottom left corner) to represent any special day or occasion in your spiritual practice.

And here is the oracle deck. It’s in a sturdy box.

The guidebook is substantial and here is also what the backs look like.

And here are some of the cards. There are celtic festivals included as well as magical tools and concepts. I am super excited about this deck and I can’t wait to start exploring it further. These pictures don’t do the artwork justice - it’s truly magical!

July 19, 2019

On 7/14/2019 at 12:57 PM, King of Swords said:

I've just opened my Tarot of the Hidden Realm that arrived yesterday. The artwork is majestic, hence I ordered it, but my goodness the cardstock is so flimsy! They don't feel hardwearing at all, and the cards are very shiny and slippery. It doesn't do the beauty of the deck justice at all, which is a real shame. Most of my other decks feel like they are made of much tougher stuff, and are far more pleasing the handle.

I love the Hidden Realm, but do find it hard to shuffle because it is so glossy, unlike, say, the older Llewellyn Tarot, though that was too large and I had to trim it 😅

Anyway, The Zillich arrived yesterday and it is beautiful - not too glossy, a nice size, handy tin. Very nice! I was planning on trimming it and using it as an oracle but I'm in two minds about it now. Will probably still go for it, but maybe I'll hang on a few weeks. I need a new corner rounder anyway so would want to wait until after I got one anyway. Considering the best way of trimming it as well given that I'd just be snipping the bottom off...

July 19, 2019

oh @Raggydoll I love them!!!! Thank you for sharing so many images! More decks for the wishlist hahah 😄

July 19, 2019

24 minutes ago, Venus Rising said:

oh @Raggydoll I love them!!!! Thank you for sharing so many images! More decks for the wishlist hahah 😄

😀❤️❤️❤️

July 19, 2019

Oh, that's what I call a true unboxing post @Raggydoll. Thanks for the joy of seeing this 😊

Katie

July 19, 2019

1 hour ago, Katie said:

Oh, that's what I call a true unboxing post @Raggydoll. Thanks for the joy of seeing this 😊

Katie

You are very welcome ❤️

July 19, 2019

@Raggydoll I like the look of the White Hare Oracle. Something about it reminds me slightly of some of Beth Seilonen's decks. It looks like it would have a sense of humour perhaps?

The Druid Plant Oracle arrived today and I'm very happy with it, I think I prefer it to the Animal Oracle. It's just the details, the extra plants on the cards, the carvings, the green face showing Blodeuwedd on the meadowsweet and so on.

July 19, 2019

@ilweran I definitely think it has a sense of humor. I’ll be able tell you more once I’ve gotten to know it better 😀

July 19, 2019

That is a gorgeous deck @Raggydoll thank you for all the photos.

I have to admit...I ordered SKT. I know, I know. But I was worried I would miss out on it, and my very first and most loved book of hers is the Holistic Tarot, and I DO actually have the time and desire to invest in learning the deck right now, so.....My hope is that it arrives right as my divorce is finalizing so I can call it a special gift to myself. after all I've been through, I deserve it.

I also don't know if I posted but I received The Fool's Excellent Adventure: A Hero's Journey through the Enneagram and the Tarot. Not sure if anyone is interested in my thoughts on this book, but happy to share somewhere if anyone is curious. SHe has a fascinating website as well.

July 19, 2019

@Halcyon Don’t worry, I have had it on pre-order myself since March and I hope to receive it soon 😁 So you see, outside of the de-enabling thread we’re all oh so bad 😋😈😇

July 19, 2019

2 hours ago, Halcyon said:

I also don't know if I posted but I received The Fool's Excellent Adventure: A Hero's Journey through the Enneagram and the Tarot. Not sure if anyone is interested in my thoughts on this book, but happy to share somewhere if anyone is curious. SHe has a fascinating website as well.

Hi @Halcyon, I had posted in one of the other threads that I was looking forward to the series you were planning on doing. ☺️ I haven't looked at the website yet.

@Raggydoll, the White Hare Oracle is really neat looking. Thanks for sharing the photos of her decks!

Jealous of y'all getting the SKT. 😝

July 22, 2019

On 7/19/2019 at 4:11 PM, moonglow said:

Hi @Halcyon, I had posted in one of the other threads that I was looking forward to the series you were planning on doing. ☺️ I haven't looked at the website yet.

I am still reading. I get some of her theories, but disagree with others. I feel at some points her attempts to reconcile the two systems are a bit of a stretch. But it is a very interesting read nonetheless, and I think it will definitely broaden my understanding of both tarot and enneagram.

July 23, 2019

Today I received a vintage copy of the Bambini tarot (also called Children Tarot). It’s from Italy and it has lovely unique artwork. It’s out of print and I believe it can be hard to find. I was lucky to find a copy that was very inexpensive.

True to it’s title, there are no harsh or difficult depictions in this deck. It can absolutely be used with children. It’s sort of marseille inspired with semi-illustrated pics. I haven’t studied it close enough to say for sure but I don’t think that the minors follow any pre-established system. The pamphlet is in German so it might take me a while to translate ☺️

July 23, 2019

3 hours ago, Raggydoll said:

Today I received a vintage copy of the Bambini tarot (also called Children Tarot). It’s from Italy and it has lovely unique artwork. It’s out of print and I believe it can be hard to find. I was lucky to find a copy that was very inexpensive.

True to it’s title, there are no harsh or difficult depictions in this deck. It can absolutely be used with children. It’s sort of marseille inspired with semi-illustrated pics. I haven’t studied it close enough to say for sure but I don’t think that the minors follow any pre-established system. The pamphlet is in German so it might take me a while to translate ☺️

This is so cute! The artwork is fabulous, playful, love it!

July 23, 2019

@Raggydoll that's a cool deck, and rare. Thanks for posting pictures of it.

Here comes the unboxing of DarkMansion Tarot. It came with one larger SUNs card, seemingly from the limitrd edition which is sold out. I am very "sensitive" about card stock and this is WOOOOW SOOO GOOD!!! I LOVE IT!! Bendy and matt finnish. The black edges of the cards are soo beatiful too. And the imagery. I just love this deck.

July 25, 2019

Hi, guys! I'm so so delighted that my holy grail of tarot decks is now in my possession, and I wanted to share the unboxing with you all! I was lucky enough to come into possession of a copy of the Minotarot! It's a French tarot deck based on the myth of the Minotaur, and it can be laid out as a traditional tarot spread or as an alternate tableau that tells an erotic narrative of Theseus and the Minotaur. it was published in 1982 in a limited edition of 2000 copies, and I fell in love the moment I first saw the deck and watched the auction for this deck on Ebay for 2 years waiting for my chance. Here's the unboxing, and I also photographed the whole tableau because I couldn't find any photographs of the whole thing online!

(Oh, and @Katie I also just love the Dark Mansion tarot! I haven't gotten a chance to read much with it since I got it a few months ago, but I love taking it out and looking at the intricate artwork!)

Edited July 25, 2019 by bookshop

July 26, 2019

@bookshop I’m thrilled to hear that you finally acquired the deck you wanted so badly! I hope you have an amazing time bonding with it ❤️

July 27, 2019

@bookshop That's a lovely unboxing series. Very special deck, I can see that! Thanks for sharing.

Katie

July 27, 2019

@Katie @Raggydoll Thank you both! It's a very exciting deck, definitely, and there's a whole 'choose-your-own-adventure' storytelling path laid out in the book (you can see it in the third LWB image above) that I haven't gotten a chance to play with yet!

However I'm back with more unboxings! I just got in 2 decks and I'm thrilled with them both!

The first is the Trionfi della Luna, which is the Marseilles deck by the makers of the Deviant Moon tarot (I think it was published last year but I only just very recently saw it for the first time!). I know lots of people love the Deviant Moon deck but it never really appealed to me. When I saw this deck, though, I fell in love on the spot, and this was such an eye-popping unwrapping! The card stock/finish are great and I can't say enough about the elegance of the design overall. The only thing was that the box was super tight/hard to open, even with the built-in creases, and I wound up bending the top flap a little trying to get the cards out, as you can see. Oh, well. Also, the title card tells you to download the LWB, but it's actually not done yet. When you visit the website, they offer a guide to the 10 extra oracle cards, instead; I have photographed them all, if you haven't seen them! The guide is here: http://www.deviantmoon.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/TDLORACLE1.pdf

I love those trump cards!!! Reminds me a bit of a Minchiate deck; are there other Marseilles decks that feature an entire extra set of trumps?

Next up is the Tarot of Shadows. I was expecting this book/deck to be much bigger for some reason, and I was surprised it came in such a small package. (Placed it next to the Trionfi deck, which is traditional RWS-sized, for comparison.) The box is very sturdy and has a magnet clasp which is nice. The card stock is flimsy, but that's fine with me. The design is really nice, and I kind of wish the cards were bigger just so the detail was easier to see, but just from these photos I think you can get a good idea what this deck is like. It's obviously more of an oracle deck, but this book is very detail-laden and thorough so I'm looking forward to seeing how her system aligns with / veers away from traditional tarot.