GreatDane Posted March 5, 2019 Posted March 5, 2019 EVER had a deck that the cardstock was the deal breaker? You liked the deck, maybe loved it, but either were afraid to shuffle it or had trouble shuffling? I just had one that the cardstock was the deal breaker for me and I thought it was a GREAT deck. The Star Tarot by Cathy McClelland. The original Majors deck. BEAUTIFUL and, while the cards are HUGE, not what made me move it along. In fact, they were so gorgeous in the large size. The cardstock was pulling apart along the edges and that was just me going through them a few times and LOOKING at them, not shuffling. It would never had stood up to being a reading deck for me.
Flaxen Posted March 5, 2019 Posted March 5, 2019 Mary-el - beautiful art but the cards are very sticky and plasticky. I’m very wary of Llewellyn decks as the cardstock feels so thin to me. I can’t relax using them.
Little Fang Posted March 5, 2019 Posted March 5, 2019 My favorite cardstock is my Wild Unknown tarot, even if it's a little thick. I'm very tactile and it just feels SO NICE! My second favorite is Lo Scarabeo. Thin enough to riffle, but strong enough to last for years.
River Posted March 5, 2019 Posted March 5, 2019 My favorite cardstock is my Wild Unknown tarot, even if it's a little thick. I'm very tactile and it just feels SO NICE! Which edition do you mean?
moonglow Posted March 5, 2019 Posted March 5, 2019 I find it to be quite important. I have two decks where I really dislike the card stock, but thankfully they aren't tarot cards and not even cards I actually need to shuffle. My Mixed Emotions deck had such thin card stock that I decided to try sleeving the cards, but they were just too unruly then. :( Mary-el - beautiful art but the cards are very sticky and plasticky. The second deck is the Caroline Myss Archetype Cards, and it sounds like they might be similar to your Mary-El? I just got them though, and I'm still hoping they'll "break in". It also looks like they'd be the type of card to chip/spilt, so I'm glad I don't need to shuffle them. Maybe they'd actually hold up fine - I just don't want to find out. As aside, can anyone tell me if all/most decks published by Hay House use the same type of stock? I don't intend to buy any more of their decks, but I didn't think I'd be buying any, so... ::) On the other hand, the card stock on my mini & full-size Smith-Waite Centennial are working really well for me. Our two Lo Scarabeo decks are a bit thin in comparison, but I think they'll hold up okay. I have yet to be able to riffle shuffle, but I can see where they might work better for that, Little Fang.
Little Fang Posted March 5, 2019 Posted March 5, 2019 My favorite cardstock is my Wild Unknown tarot, even if it's a little thick. I'm very tactile and it just feels SO NICE! Which edition do you mean? The self-published one, I don't know how the newer one feels, to be honest.
sandrang123 Posted March 5, 2019 Posted March 5, 2019 Very important to me. I love the cardstock for The World of Tarot: Alchemist Tarot by Londa Marks. Museum quality giclee printed. Lo Scarabeo is a close second.
GreatDane Posted March 5, 2019 Author Posted March 5, 2019 On the flip side of my worst cardstock experience, my favorite cardstock of my small collection of decks includes the Pamela Colman Commemorative, my Aquarian and Universal Waite (but they are both older decks and have that great cardstock from the Belgian printings of the US Games decks, like butter!) and the original Bohemian Gothic. Love the feel of them and how they shuffle. The pocket Morgan Greer is great for what it is. The stock is thin, easy to shuffle, but not my favorite from a tactile standpoint like the above decks.
Guest Night Shade Posted March 5, 2019 Posted March 5, 2019 The Selena Lin Manga Tarot is a cute deck, but unfortunately the extremely thick cardstock makes it very hard to use (in fact, the guidebook says to swirl the cards around on the table, so I guess they knew their cardstock was bad when they made it). The World Spirit deck is hard to shuffle too, but I love it so much I use it anyway. Lo Scarabeo decks seem to have good cardstock in general, and the Dark Angels and Ludy Lescot decks seem to shuffle especially well. The Mystical Manga cardstock seems pretty thin, but it shuffles well, and seems to be holding together.
Raggydoll Posted March 5, 2019 Posted March 5, 2019 My favorite cardstock is my Wild Unknown tarot, even if it's a little thick. I'm very tactile and it just feels SO NICE! My second favorite is Lo Scarabeo. Thin enough to riffle, but strong enough to last for years. Yes. I so agree with you on the Wild Unknown! I have the self published one and it’s wonderful. I really appreciate nice cardstock and I can’t stand thin or overly laminated/glossy cards. If I could chose then I’d go with matte thick cardstock every single time <3
GreatDane Posted March 5, 2019 Author Posted March 5, 2019 UGH, right, RAGGYDOLL! THE LAMINATED to within an inch of it's life kind! And I have had laminated that just....reeked of chemicals...like it was ingrained in the deck. Liked Medieval Cats, stock wasn't bad, it was pretty laminated, but the deck I got just REEKED, so I guess that counts re cardstock...when it SMELLS! And not in a papery, nice way!
sandrang123 Posted March 5, 2019 Posted March 5, 2019 There's nothing worse than when you place your stacked deck on a table and the cards want to slip all over, or when you lay cards for a client and the cards slide on a wooden table. Oy! :bugeyed:
DarkeyedRaven48 Posted March 5, 2019 Posted March 5, 2019 Card stock is very important to me now, I think because I have gotten a taste of some good indie decks.. my latest which was purchased for me Healers of the earth oracle... it’s beautiful, card stock is good and the matte finish feels really nice.. I do love 350 gsm & up Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
PathWalker Posted March 5, 2019 Posted March 5, 2019 As it was an open question I'll jump in - I don't care about card stock at all :) I'm an overhand slow shuffler, and although very big cards are a bit of an issue with the arthritis, the card stock itself doesn't bother me at all. PW
GreatDane Posted March 5, 2019 Author Posted March 5, 2019 I do an over/under GENTLY as well, PathWalker! I still had a prob with the Majors Only Star Tarot pulling apart at the edges. Just LIGHTLY going through it, it was peeling apart. Could just have been mine... PathWalker, so ANY cardstock is good for you as long as you like the images?
PathWalker Posted March 6, 2019 Posted March 6, 2019 PathWalker, so ANY cardstock is good for you as long as you like the images? Yes exactly - if the artwork works for me, then I'll keep and use it, whatever :) I guess I'm a very visual person.
Jewel Posted March 8, 2019 Posted March 8, 2019 I am not that picky about card stock so when card stock bothers me it is a rarity. I would say the card stock that bothers me the most is when it is hard and the cards stick together. I have spend countless miserable hours shuffling the deck to eventually get it to be somewhat OK and I tend to use the decks less. I am pretty comfortable with US Games, Llewellyn, and LS card stock, but my favorite card stock has always been Magic Realist Press card stock. It is flexible and durable (I riffle shuffle), and just feels so nice and pliant, yet I know it is also durable so I have no qualms using my decks. They all still look brand new despite a lot of use.
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