Fake Seal On Cards

Occasionally I see listings on eBay for old, vintage tarot decks that claim the cards are still factory sealed. While this is not impossible I suppose, I am a bit skeptical. Does anyone know how difficult it would be for a person to do this themself, and if there are clues to look for that can tip you off to phonies?

Thanks

-fof

It depends on how they are sealed.

If they just have that plastic film around them, then it's just a matter of getting the stuff, folding it neatly around the cards and gluing it with the right sort of glue.

But, if it's the sort of plastic that has that strip imbedded in it, that you are supposed to pull to open, then that would be a lot harder to get hold of.

I have never heard of this being done, and I know for a fact that stuff turns up that my husband calls 'new old stock', stuff that has been lurking at the back of a warehouse for years, never been sold, still in it's original packing, etc. Usually in his case it is parts for engines and stuff, but I am sure it happens with tarot decks too.

Lillie said:

It depends on how they are sealed.

If they just have that plastic film around them, then it's just a matter of getting the stuff, folding it neatly around the cards and gluing it with the right sort of glue.

But, if it's the sort of plastic that has that strip imbedded in it, that you are supposed to pull to open, then that would be a lot harder to get hold of.

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That makes sense.

I have never heard of this being done

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I guess a person would have to be crazy to try it very often.

Well, until recently I would have said that no one would go to those lengths.
But I would also have said that I didn't believe anyone here in Britain would be printing and selling pirated copies of a deck from a major publisher.
I would have said that things like that only went on in other countries where they don't have copyright laws like ours.

But then I bought that pirated vacchetta deck.
And I tried to think of any excuse I could for it's existance, rather than to think it was a pirated copy made here in Britain.

But it was.

I don't know if I have just been naive or what. But suddenly I feel very suspicious.

They were all sealed up in plastic wraps, nice and professional looking.
I don't know what kind of volumes would make it worth getting the stuff together to do this.

People, eh? You can't trust them!

I wonder how many people even notice nowadays
when the buy a Rider-Waite Tarot from USGames
that the image of the Magician shown on the box
doesn't match the same card they get inside of it?

Yes, I have noticed that Fulgour, and not just with the RWS, but with a lot of decks. The El Gran Tarot Esoterico is one example. In the newer versions, the picture on the box is rich and nice-looking, but inside the cards are bland and not nearly as nice-looking as the box.

I'm getting to where unless I know a deck is actually vintage - from the 70s or before - I'm not interested. Most of the stuff that's being cranked out nowadays is simply deplorable - IMO.

-fof

Fulgour.

I do not have a modern RWS.
How don't they match?

Is this the font? It's handwritten on the box but the typeset font on the cards?
Or is there something else?

It's a bit of a con, isn't it?
The box ought to show what is inside, not something else.

Take food for instant.
Buy an instant meal and it looks lovely on the packet.
But when it's actually on the plate it seems to have turned into dog sick.

Weird, isn't it?

What You See Ain't What You Get

Every ten years or so USGames does something
to the images in order to perpetuate their claim
to a copyright...sure they have a copyright but
it's on the LWB and the Box and other things...
not the cards created by Pamela Colman Smith.

So here is their new box~maybe it's a "typo"

fools_fool said:

Does anyone know how difficult it would be for a person to do this themself, and if there are clues to look for that can tip you off to phonies?

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It's actually really easy. All you need is shrink-wrapping equipment, which can easily be bought (although not exactly inexpensive). It's really simple to use too; I used to work in a video store and had to shrink-wrap boxes all the time.

Only advice I can give is to check the feedback on the eBay seller. If there are any negatives, see what the issue was and whether or not it was corrected (since they don't let you change your feedback later).

Lillie said:

I have never heard of this being done, and I know for a fact that stuff turns up that my husband calls 'new old stock', stuff that has been lurking at the back of a warehouse for years, never been sold, still in it's original packing, etc. Usually in his case it is parts for engines and stuff, but I am sure it happens with tarot decks too.

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Yeah, it's done all the time. Movies, books, video games, etc... Stuff that gets lost in the backs of warehouses, found and then sold... or overstock they just want to get rid of. Sometimes the item was a gift that was never opened and the person just decided to make some money off of it.

CalypsoTea said:

Only advice I can give is to check the feedback on the eBay seller.

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This is what I used to think. Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed how difficult it can be to get a clear picture of someone from the feedback section on eBay? For example, one seller, chosen at random, shows "All positive feedback received: 75", but "Members who left a positive: 60." What's up with that? On top of this, sellers can hide negative feedback if they want to. It still shows up as "Members who left a negative:" in the left-hand column, but it doesn't appear as red in the "negative" row in the right-hand column, and you can't read the feedback in the "Comment" list.

-fof