incomplete decks; where do you stand?

Le Fanu

OK, this is a question for those who like to collect, or just buy for sheer love of tarot...

What's your take on incomplete decks as someone who collects?

I know that there is no value in a deck which is missing - let's say - 10 cards, but would you ever buy a deck which wasn't complete even if it was cheap?

Or maybe I'm wrong, maybe there is a certain value in an incomplete deck?

If you had 20 cards from a Pamela A, would it have any (non-monetary) worth to you?

I ask because I have an incomplete Papus deck which I bought for next to nothing and I'm actually quite glad I did. I know that I like it, but I also know that I wouldn't read with a complete Papus deck, but it is enough for me - as a collector - to see and admire the cardstock, the colours, the artwork of the cards which remain. Plus it has a LWB so that's quite interesting to read. I see complete versions on ebay and don't feel the urge to spend all that money.

I have also just bought an incomplete Thompson-Leng from 1935. This is a deck which has always fascinated me, but each time I try to bid on ebay it goes into the hundreds range. I have just bought an incomplete one and I am hugely excited about it, simply because I know it isn't a deck I shall read with regularly (I have so many others I like to read with) but it will be very interesting to hold a deck this old in my hands, feel the cardstock and see the colours & printing up close.

And you don't need the deck to be complete for that, do you?
 

roppo

If I have a chance to buy incomplete Pam-A, I'll definitely buy it. Some cards shall go through hard analysis such as peeling the layers or pigments. The rest cards will make a backup pack for the future Pam-A.

Classic car fans often purchase a junk car just for getting the parts. I believe it's OK to buy incomplete decks when it comes to the antique decks.
 

Silver Crow

If it's a deck I could never get any other way like a Pam A - for sure I would, as I would if it's a deck I'm unsure about but what to hold in my hands, yes also. If it's a deck I plan on reading with, probably not.

Before I lost my house in a fire I had 10 rare tarot cards I had in small matted frames. I got them at this strange California party where people had to bring something "occult" and drop in in the bowl to get in, after the party the bowl was just sitting there and I was allowed to take some of the cards that people threw in. This was back in the 80's and was a lot of fun! I miss the strange things people did in Palm Springs. LOL
 

greycats

Partial, maybe, but not a card at a time

Actually, rare or not, sometimes I'm tempted to buy partial decks if they are inexpensive enough. To this point I haven't, but I've thought about it. Like yesterday on ebay I saw a Flournoy Noblet going for $15 that was missing a 4 of swords. If I could have bought that deck for $15, that's like a cheap back-up for my own, happily complete, Noblet. Passed on it this time, but one day I probably will bid on something like that.

As to a partial Pam-A, of course I'd go for it if it were within my means.

All of this reminds me of certain erstwhile merchants on ebay who used to sell high-demand decks one card at a time. I was never, ever tempted by that ploy.

greycats
 

FaireMaiden

I don't like incomplete decks. Don't ask me why, I just don't, *lol*.

I bought a 'Healing Earth' deck and book set at our local used bookstore for $12-bucks a couple years ago. I didn't know anything about it at the time... didn't know it was popular, or that it was a First-Edition. I just liked the colours and pictures shown on the box. When I got home, I discovered that it was missing two cards. It really pissed me off. I called up the bookstore and gave them hell for not making sure it was complete before they put it up for sale; they said I could bring it back for a full refund.

I figured I'd return it, but then came here and, lo & behold, the deck has some OOP value; so I decided to keep it. But I still don't like it being incomplete, *sigh*. I would never buy an incomplete deck on purpose. It's like buying a book with pages missing... grrrr.

Healing Earth... http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/healing-earth/
 

Glitterbird

If that was the only way I could get a deck. Absolutely! If i could get 1 single card from Pamela A - I would buy it and be thrilled!!
 

gregory

I have a greenie Thoth which (now) has two cards missing. It is SO green I would NEVER get rid of it. It has no value as such - but I love it.

That is how I would be with any incomplete deck - it would be better than nothing, if I had no other copy, and it would be loved, but not looking to the MONEY side ! not that I do anyway ! But I wouldn't pay a lot for one.
 

SphinYote

If I see an incomplete deck for a few dollars, I'd probably get it....not so much for collector's value (well, if it were really old, yes), but for art and craft value, carry around, leaving cards in random locations for people...
 

Aulruna

I have an incomplete Folchi's Felicitá (it lacks the HP, so it's practically maimed! and two minors), and despite having a complete one now too, I treasured the other one for years ... still very attached to it.
 

Le Fanu

I certainly wouldn't make a habit of it. My dream is to buy a few original cards of a Conver or Vieville or Dodal or Noblet, maybe two or three. It would be so wonderful to have the first editions of a historic Marseilles deck but I suppose this is more a question of antiquities rather than the question of the full deck.

There's an antique shop here in Lisbon which specialises in papers and documents and they have a box which has seriously antique playing & tarot cards (we're talking, like one Queen of Cups from an 18th Century Tarot decks, or two pip cards from a deck, and they cost a fortune.) But I'm thinking here of tarot decks which have maybe 73 cards or 68 or 61 cards.

I think it would be interesting for anyone to have a few cards from a Pamela A or B or C just to feel the cardstock up close, sense the history. I think it would have to be a deck like this or the Sangreal Thoth to make it worthwhile. I think the Thompson-Leng is a deck of historic significance; better to have 61 cards, with a nice selection of Majors & Minors, than nothing at all. And I didn't pay a huge amount for it.

Is an incomplete deck technically worthless in monetary terms? A Greenwood missing 6 cards? What would it be worth? Five dollars?