Whats important in a tarot collection

Hi everyone,

After being a psychic for 10 years and watching way to many antique shows lately lol, I have just begun collecting tarot decks.

I would like to ask, what all of you think is important when buying a tarot deck for collecting reasons?

I have recently purchased a 1st edition Robin Wood and Gill decks. Also spent lot of extra money on the new JOIE DE VIVRE TAROT deluxe addition to include a hand drawn picture and signature and bla bla bla

How truly important are these factors to collectors of tarot decks. Should I just be buying them on amazon or keep doing the extra research to get that extra importance?

Looking forward to your ideas

There is only one reason; that you like it. Nothing else matters, though, under exceptional circumstances if I see a massively rare but ugly deck dirt cheap, I'd buy it of course. But generally speaking - and true of any collection - rule number one is simply "love it."

You buy what is important to YOU. It doesn't matter at all what anyone else thinks and there is no "should" about it.

I tend not to buy the LE ones unless they are by someone I PARTICULARLY like. Then I buy because of who the creator is, NOT for any "collecting" reason. If you are thinking about your decks appreciating value - don't bother. It doesn't work. Tarot collecting will not make you rich; it is not worth looking on it as an investment. Believe me - I know this.

I do have SOME that I bought up to 40 years ago that are now alarmingly rare and could fetch serious money - things like a handpainted Elisabetta Cassari - but the LE ones coming out now - I really don't think they will qualify. Even the Greenwood, which fetches a fair bit at the moment, will probably fall out of fashion in the end. And I didn't buy what I have as an investment - I collect for the love of it.

Collect for enjoyment. If buying the extras makes you happy - go for it. But there's no "is it worth it" about it.

Welcome to the wonderful world of deck collecting.

I must say, though, that your question makes me realize that I never set out to become a collector. I simply did what Le Fanu said: buy what I like. Or rather, in my case, buy what I feel like--simply because I feel like owning another tarot deck and having 78 new pieces of art to explore.

I suppose on some level, I did have an intention of a kind, at least in the first few years: to find The One. And maybe that was always at the back of my mind and secretly fueled 90% of my purchases. That's why I never, in those early years, bought decks that weren't immediately appealing to me on SOME level. I didn't buy things thinking, "Hmmm, this is terrifically ugly but maybe I'll one day glean some deep knowledge from it."

But after a multiple-year hiatus from all things tarot, I returned to deck-collecting with a different perspective. Suddenly, perhaps in part due to storage space and spare cash concerns, I wanted each deck I added to my collection henceforth "to count." I wanted each one to fulfill a certain need, and I wanted to avoid buying decks that I knew from the start wouldn't fill a specific need.

And I didn't care so much about visceral aesthetic appeal; I could handle "not very attractive" if it had something that was increasingly more important to me: interpretative depth; an imaginative non-cloney approach; fresh fodder for the intuition. That's how Lo Scarobeo decks went from lowest in my estimation (pre-hiatus), to top of the list (post-hiatus).

Well.

It's more complicated than I first thought, the personal philosophies behind deck collecting.

Thank you for the wonderful ideas!
The situation is, I am bad at keeping my cards organized. I go through decks constantly, throwing them out when missing a card, which happens a lot. I would often stick to the Robin Wood because I found it the best to read with.
Recently I was researching new decks and learned that the new “zombie” deck is by the same people that came out with the “housewives” deck. I remember buying it way back and loving the art but eventually misplacing the deck due to the fact that I could not read with them and never used them.
Back then I guess I bought decks based on ways to improve my readings, but being reminded of that housewives deck gave me a bit of nostalgia, making me realize sometimes there is more to tarot then just readings.
I also love the idea of my Great Grandchildren being told the legend of “psychic grandma” and finding a chest full of psychic stuff in the attic that could be worth something. lol

Pretty much what everyone else said - I will only buy decks I like. I don't care how much they may or may not be worth in the future. Tarot prices fluctuate. Madly. I am not an investor.

I have a few artists I collect because I like their artwork. I will only buy limited editions of decks if I already like the artist or the art.

Many collectors will buy extra copies of a deck and keep them sealed, but that is so not me. All my decks are for use - even my limited edition signed copies.

If I were to buy all decks that I like, I've to slog 24hrs at my freelance job. So I'll sit on my likings for about a week or so, and if the images still haunt me lovingly, I'll buy it! Very effective for fickle creatures like me.

plidia said:

I would like to ask, what all of you think is important when buying a tarot deck for collecting reasons?

I have recently purchased a 1st edition Robin Wood and Gill decks. Also spent lot of extra money on the new JOIE DE VIVRE TAROT deluxe addition to include a hand drawn picture and signature and bla bla bla

How truly important are these factors to collectors of tarot decks. Should I just be buying them on amazon or keep doing the extra research to get that extra importance?

Click to expand...

Signed, dated and/or numbered decks are great. Limited edition decks are also great - where a creator might self-publish and do a print-run of so many copies, then get picked up by a publisher. Small art-house publishers are great - I'm thinking people like Adam McLean and the MRP folk, and others like them. Decks from countries which don't produce a lot in the way of Tarot are great - I have decks from Bulgaria, Finland and other such places which I treasure.

But the decks I like the most are those which have been loved and used a lot, even badly battered by decades of loving use. I'm fortunate to have a few of those, now, and they are real stand-ouots in my collection.

I notice you don't say anything about their investment-value, their possible appreciation in price through time allowing you to sell off decks for profit. I have mentioned the things that make a deck important in my collection for collectible reasons, not reasons of being a reader or investment reasons.

Mmmm I dont own a lot of decks considering Ive been studying the Tarot since the early 70's...I suppose Ive ended up with a collection, but that wasnt my intent. I buy cards for the simple reason of finding the perfect deck for me. I can only repeat what others have said go for limited editions, rare decks, signed decks etc. A Collection presumably must have a basis...is yours investment ?

I bought one. Then I saw another I liked and that was very different. Then I saw the Thoth which again... THEN I found this store where there were a lot of things that were interestingly different... THEN I was lost

I never ever intended to collect, nor was I ever at any time looking for The One. I was just fascinated and one thing led to another !