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I seem to have acquired a number of Rider-Waite decks. This one is my favorite.
Sometimes beginners' luck is a real and wonderful thing. I began my collection by buying the Londa (click "more samples") and the Aquarian (click) decks for myself. But the Rider-Waite is a classic, and I thought I should probably have a R-W deck for study. It didn't actually appeal to me visually and I felt I'd be satisfied with a used deck. I was casually cruising ebay, and ran across the University Books edition. Packaged in a brown slipcase box, the card backs feature wavy pink stripes on white, centered with a dark pink rectangle surrounding a pink ankh. Eight bucks and shipping, and it was mine.
That's the slipcase on the right, up there in the first pic. The card on the reverse of the slipcase was missing, but some research showed it was supposed to be the Empress. A friend scanned the Empress card from this deck and printed it onto card stock for me (made a couple of copies--more later), and I trimmed it, using the original card as template, and glued the copy in place on the slipcase.
The cards were in pristine condition, showed absolutely no wear, as if they'd never, or rarely, been used. The only damage to the slipcase, other than missing the Empress card, was normal shelf wear.
A few cards from this edition--shown with a regular style box.
A while later, I bought a one of a kind designer tarot bag from an online vendor, and was surprised to find a used R-W deck inside. "For crafting," the designer wrote. In case I wanted to cut or glue the cards to a craft project of my own, since it was an incomplete deck. I went through the deck, obviously worn, but cared for, as it was slightly "soft", but not dirty or stained. And the only card missing was...the Empress. So I scanned the blue-black hatched plaid design on the back of this deck, and carefully cut and glued it to the extra copy of the Empress card my friend had made me, et voila! Another complete R-W deck.
Over time I accumulated a Universal Waite deck, a Giant Rider-Waite, a mini R-W, and even a Tarot of the New Vision, which is the R-W images, viewed from the back of each scene. And then another friend who has an ebay store gave me a boxed R-W she had found somewhere, again as "scrap", an incomplete deck. I checked carefully--all the cards are there. A little cleaning where needed, a little mending and reinforcing of the box with clear tape, a little cleansing of this deck and the surprise bagged deck, and my three "used" Rider-Waite decks are home and happy. I may find other, newer, better homes for the last two eventually. But the UBooks edition stays with me.
(pictures are not mine, as I am lazy and these are public domain)
Sometimes beginners' luck is a real and wonderful thing. I began my collection by buying the Londa (click "more samples") and the Aquarian (click) decks for myself. But the Rider-Waite is a classic, and I thought I should probably have a R-W deck for study. It didn't actually appeal to me visually and I felt I'd be satisfied with a used deck. I was casually cruising ebay, and ran across the University Books edition. Packaged in a brown slipcase box, the card backs feature wavy pink stripes on white, centered with a dark pink rectangle surrounding a pink ankh. Eight bucks and shipping, and it was mine.
That's the slipcase on the right, up there in the first pic. The card on the reverse of the slipcase was missing, but some research showed it was supposed to be the Empress. A friend scanned the Empress card from this deck and printed it onto card stock for me (made a couple of copies--more later), and I trimmed it, using the original card as template, and glued the copy in place on the slipcase.
The cards were in pristine condition, showed absolutely no wear, as if they'd never, or rarely, been used. The only damage to the slipcase, other than missing the Empress card, was normal shelf wear.
A few cards from this edition--shown with a regular style box.A while later, I bought a one of a kind designer tarot bag from an online vendor, and was surprised to find a used R-W deck inside. "For crafting," the designer wrote. In case I wanted to cut or glue the cards to a craft project of my own, since it was an incomplete deck. I went through the deck, obviously worn, but cared for, as it was slightly "soft", but not dirty or stained. And the only card missing was...the Empress. So I scanned the blue-black hatched plaid design on the back of this deck, and carefully cut and glued it to the extra copy of the Empress card my friend had made me, et voila! Another complete R-W deck.
Over time I accumulated a Universal Waite deck, a Giant Rider-Waite, a mini R-W, and even a Tarot of the New Vision, which is the R-W images, viewed from the back of each scene. And then another friend who has an ebay store gave me a boxed R-W she had found somewhere, again as "scrap", an incomplete deck. I checked carefully--all the cards are there. A little cleaning where needed, a little mending and reinforcing of the box with clear tape, a little cleansing of this deck and the surprise bagged deck, and my three "used" Rider-Waite decks are home and happy. I may find other, newer, better homes for the last two eventually. But the UBooks edition stays with me.
(pictures are not mine, as I am lazy and these are public domain)
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I found the second Vertigo deck for cheap, never used. The cards are so intricate, but the cards themselves are small and difficult to study. I knew I'd never find one of the original Vertigo sets, with the big white box, hardcover books, etc. But I did find a set of the cards only, well used, but larger, so I can see the imagery better. And I paid less than $10, including shipping. Again, not collector material, but it works for me.
Others I bought cheap, new: Londa, Buckland Romani original ed., Norse, Bohemian Gothic, etc. and their price has increased on the secondary market. I sometimes consider for a moment selling the Petersen or the Greenwood, but I love those two too much to do that unless things get desperately tight.
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I also have a mini- R-W, which is *tiny*.
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My first deck was the Morgan-Greer, which I still have. The one I used the most at first was the Hanson-Roberts (also still have). Now I move through using different decks as the mood dictates. Today's deck was the Steampunk Tarot (Barbara Moore). Love it!
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I's kind of confusing how many Steampunk decks there seem to be. I know a couple looked disappointing from the pics I've seen online. But a couple of them did look intriguing.
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I didn't choose the Morgan-Greer deck--my husband did. He was going out shopping, and I asked him to find me a tarot deck and a beginner's book. There were no Rider-Waite Smith decks where he was, so he brought me the Morgan-Greer and a book. I liked the deck at first (1990), but now the "porn 'staches" are a bit much. :-p I compare this deck with Kat Black's Touchstone Tarot: lots of close-ups--nice to look at, but harder to read intuitively, I think.
I only have the Barbara Moore Steampunk Tarot in physical form. I have the Matthews one as a app on my iPod Touch, but it's pretty complicated. I love the Barbara Moore one!