Clamp: X Tarot

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 23 Aug 2001, and now archived in the Forum Library.

cj	23 Aug 2001
Hi everyone, I'm looking for an easy way to purchase the Clamp: X Tarot deck. Any suggestions? CJ

.dc	24 Aug 2001
cj, good luck on that. it's fairly impossible to find as other kewl japanese style decks. i actually got lucky and got a bid on a miracle tarot. it came in the mail yesterday and DROOL. i got soo lucky as there is another deck on ebay for $60. and i paid half that for the one i got. not to mention, my new badtz maru backpack...he's nifty too. good luck in finding the deck! .dc

isthmus nekoi	27 Aug 2001
In a word: Chinartown.... I've seen it there, but I'm suspicious... The X manga hasn't finished yet, and each release features a new card in the cover.... they've only gotten up to X-16 (I think)... I believe each collected issue is released twice a year...

cj	27 Aug 2001
Thanks for the info. We go to NY china town a few times a year. I will look there. As far as not finishing the series, I just like the artwork - as long as it is a full 78 card deck I'm buying. cj

anri k.	27 Aug 2001
Look around on ebay -- every once in awhile, it shows up. By the time it ends, though, the price is waay high. >__< But sometimes it has the "Buy it now" option, so it's best if you have a credit card, you can get it while it's cheap. I wondered about how they would have a full deck when the manga isn't finished yet.. O.o Maybe they did all the cards in advance.. Also, is it only available in chinese? That's what I always find, the instructions are in chinese. Maybe the japanese version will come out when X is finished(whenever that is..). I wonder if the minor arcana are like all the other japanese decks I've seen so far, pips.. I hope it's not, CLAMP is better than that.. O.o There's a site with the first 14 cards up -- It's at http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Studios/3142/xtarot/ My favorite so far is the Fool, it's the prettiest card by far.. ^-^ Wow.. Enough rambling. anri.k.

isthmus nekoi	28 Aug 2001
The instructions are in *Chinese*?!!! That seriously screams bootleg to me. As for the manga, CLAMP hasn't released one w/The Fool yet. Readers like I, suspect that it will come at the end of the series (which will still be years to come, since we're only at The Tower). I've seen the CLAMP deck every time I go to buy manga at this place in Chinatown (Toronto's main one - we have a few :P) but maybe I should check it out. If it's printed on cheap stock, and isn't reasonably expensive you can bet it's not the real deal (if that matters. It'd still be pretty cool to have a CLAMP deck, even if it wasn't official!)...

purplelady	28 Aug 2001
Those are really beautiful! Thepictures took quite awhile to load , but it was worth it 8) .

Alaya	29 Aug 2001
There is 1 on Ebay with buy it now $30 http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1184479752

.dc	29 Aug 2001
i am now also bidding on a clamp x tarot... hopefully, i can get that. who knows, maybe i'm willing to trade the miracle for a clampx. blessed be, and wish us all luck .dc

Alaya	29 Aug 2001
.dc, You didn't take "buy me now" option! Wish you luck!

.dc	30 Aug 2001
alaya, i never take the buy now option... don'twanna spend $30 on that anyways. so far *knocks on wood* ive been lucky with bids...but we'll see. good luck on yours... .dc

Alaya	30 Aug 2001
dc I didn't bid on that one. I have seen them around in Hong Kong. I believe it is made in China or Taiwan?. I just started to learn tarot 2 months ago, and I have already 21 decks(from Alida, Amazon, B&N and Ebay). I have to stop myself from buying anymore decks, which I find is very difficult - so many temptations on the net. I can easily become obsessed with things so I have to control myself.

isthmus nekoi	30 Aug 2001
cj/dc> If you guys have trouble w/the bids, I can check out the manga place when school starts... If it's cheaper there than $30 US (approx $45 CN), I'll post a msg here -and maybe we can work out a more financially pleasing situation over at ebay :) (Even if it's all bootlegged would you still be interested?...)

.dc	31 Aug 2001
isthmus, i'm game... so far i'm still top bidder on my deck and i see that there are a few more clamp x decks on the listing. i do have a Miracle Deck (instructions in japanesse) but with the minor's looking like normal cards (anyone know what the clamp's minors are like?) i'd be willing to trade it for a clamp deck. i am very picky at my decks...only have about 7 or so. i dunno... guess i'd rather use than display mine. blessed be, .dc

anri k.	31 Aug 2001
*sigh* I'm almost positively sure that the minors will be exactly like the Miracle deck's(I have that one too). It's seems like most japanese decks(especially manga-styled ones) make NO effort in minors. While it's pretty obvious CLAMP has an interest in the occult, I'm not sure how research they've done in tarot. Certainly enough to connect each X character with a major arcana card. But minors? Mostly likely they crapped out on those. *is sad* >_< But CLAMP just don't seem the type to do that.. I'm hoping that they will put effort in the minors. I'd like a manga-style deck that I can actually USE and not just look at the pretty pictures(as is the case with the miracle deck).. anri.k.

isthmus nekoi	31 Aug 2001
Well, I haven't had time to see the deck so hopefully the ppl in the store will let me have a look at it (if they still have it!!!). I suspect that CLAMP has no official involvment w/the deck and that the minors won't be anything special. I think CLAMP is too busy to release an official deck :( It would be soooo beautiful. *sigh* I'd like to use the cards as well... but I think I'd concentrate too much on the characters - how I feel about them/what has happened to them, as opposed to what they represent! For this reason, I find the characters are distracting (strange, but for some reason I don't get this w/the Vertigo deck). p.s. Just reread my first post in my thread, realizing I sound terribly pretentious! Pls don't think I'm a CLAMP snob! But are there any manga fans in here?....

MeeWah	31 Aug 2001
I like what I've seen of this deck--I like Japanese anime & Japanese decks. I have The Miracle Tarot deck, thanks to a tip from a member of the Forums before the old board went down. The deck is in English, the book in Japanese--I wish I could read it! I am disappointed the minors are not distinguished from regular pip cards but I still like the deck though I haven't tried to read with it yet. I think the minors can be read relying on intuition & imagination or what one knows of minors. Their position in a spread may help determine their meanings. Also, anyone who has read with a regular deck of playing cards may be able to apply the same techniques.

anri k.	31 Aug 2001
Nekoi: Heheheh.. *raises hand* I am one! ^.^ Though I personally don't like X as much as other manga series, too much angst-angst-end of the world, etc.. ^-^;; My new favorite at the moment is Clover, which is, incidentally, done by CLAMP. MeeWah: Hmm. O.o That's weird. I think I was the one who told you where you could get it. I had a different username then. Weeeird.. It feels as if a different person did it. I remember translating a spread from the Miracle deck book, it took me hours of searching up kanji to understand what position stands for what. O.o Makes me wish I was fluent in japanese. I'm watching the various X tarot decks I see popping up on Ebay, waiting for when they're nearly over to bid.. [yes, i'm a shameless sniper.. ^-^;;;] It's weird, all these decks are being aunctioned by the same person. He musta bought a ton of duplicate decks. O.o anri.k.

MeeWah	31 Aug 2001
Anri K: So it was you--a belated thankyouthankyou, then :) On the old board, you mentioned not being sure of the translation of the spread but you thought it was close. BTW: Names have power. A different name confers a different "power" or essence.

Jimilyn	01 Sep 2001
anri.k, thanks for sharing the site with the pictures from this deck. I just spent quite a while looking and reading. I'm not at all familiar with the shows, characters, etc.; however, I loved the artwork. After reading about each card they have, I can now understand the keen interest that so many people have in them. I thoroughly enjoyed my visit into Japanese anime. Jimilyn

anri k.	01 Sep 2001
Heheh.. Welcome. ^-^ I was just looking over the cards again on the site, still love the Fool and the High Priestess. I noticed I didn't like the choice for the Death card--The character, he's just plain creepy. O.o I never liked him.. Of course, I AM a bit partial to the death card. *shrug* Note: 'anime' is the term for the japanese cartoons, 'manga' is referred to jpn comics. ^_^; Heh. Sorry, I'm too obsessed on that subject.. *LOL* I'll shut up now. anri.k.

Jimilyn	01 Sep 2001
Ahhhh! I wondered what magna was. :p So these are comics rather than cartoons? I feel rather dense. hehehe There I was reading about characters I knew nothing about. Angels of Earth (I think it was angels but may have been something else) and of Heaven, magna. I felt like I was reading something written half in English and half another language. :D I knew a little about Japanese anime from some of my students who watch it. I loved the Fool card, too. Exceptionally beautiful. It was the first one I looked at and it grabbed me immediately. :) Jimilyn

isthmus nekoi	02 Sep 2001
anri k> hee.. I think I got so sucked into X b/c of Subaru and Seishiro! (*grumble* Too bad Tokyo Babylon doesn't have hirigana - such a pain!) Meewah> regarding the names, I totally agree! But I don't think the CLAMP deck has changed any of the names... You could get an interesting reading w/ the CLAMP deck taking into account the characters' characters :P We've had Kamui explained how many times? ^_^

anri k.	04 Sep 2001
Jeez.. O.o I was looking at yet another X deck that popped up on Ebay (this time from somebody OTHER than yesanime.com) and this person gave specifics to the size of the cards, which were: 6" x 2 1/2" AGH! Isn't that horribly huge? What is the size of the average deck anyway? The Miracle deck was at 4 13/16" X 2 3/16" and THAT hurt my hands to shuffle it. But 6 inches? O.o ... I still want the cards and I'm still gonna get them, but shuffling my normal way("riffling", as named from another thread) will be virtually impossible. O.o *sigh* anri.k.

.dc	04 Sep 2001
well, i lost the bid. but i am still game to get the deck. any suggestions? blessed be, .dc

isthmus nekoi	08 Sep 2001
I posted something long here awhile back, but it looks like it didn't work! My sis needs to use the computer so I'll be quick! I went back to the manga shop and asked about the deck and found out it comes from HK and the supply is erratic - the manager couldn't tell me when they were getting more decks but apparently it's very popular so he's always requesting it... I also asked the goth shop that carrries a lot of decks - they couldn't help me out.... Really sorry, but it looks like I'd have just as hard a time locating this deck!

.dc	08 Sep 2001
isthmus, no worries. thanks for the attempt and yes, i can see that it will be very hard deck to procure. i'm shocked that i was able to get the miracle for as cheeply as i did. have a good weekend. blessed be, .dc

isthmus nekoi	24 Sep 2001
I bring ambiguous news for those still interested. Decks at the manga shop are $27 CN imported from Taiwan. That's $16.20 US verrrrrrrrrry cheap. However, I talked to the manager of the place again and he said the regular supply stopped mid-summer and he doesn't know when the next shipment is due (such is the price we pay for not so legal goods) T_T Actually all shipments have been messed up due to tighter security etc. b/c of the US bombings T_T

isthmus nekoi	24 Sep 2001
how convenient - I can just use my double post spot here.... Just checked out the CLAMP deck on ebay. After seeing it, I don't think CLAMP has *anything* to do w/it... It's a shame, knowing how much CLAMP hates having their work used w/o their permission T_T The Devil card features Fuma, but in the manga, it's Yuuto. Also, CLAMP's majors are heavily influenced by imagery of the RW deck whereas in this deck, the Devil image has nothing in common w/more traditional images (Yuuto sits on a chair with two chained bodies at his feet).... And since we were speculating about the minor arcana... They actually feature different illustrations by CLAMP, but it doesn't look like the images are related to the suit/number....

The Clamp: X Tarot thread was originally posted on 23 Aug 2001 in the Tarot Decks board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Tarot Decks, or read more archived threads.