Earlier edition of Robin Wood Tarot deck?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 10 Apr 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Kiama	10 Apr 2003
I was in the pub with a friend of mine, who was going through my Robin Wood deck. He's had a copy of this deck for years, possibly since it was first printed, and as he looked at the deck, he became more perplexed... He lay down the Wheel of Fortune card. 'It's different!' he said. He then went through the deck again... 6 of Pentacles, Tower, the Hermit... A few other cards too, oh, Ace of Cups... He said that he could swear that his deck had different images for these cards. I won't find out the answers about whether his deck is the same as mine or not til tomorrow night, but as you can probably tell, I can't wait til then! Does anybody know if there was a different edition of the Robin Wood printed? Possibly an earlier printing, considering the deck's been in print for more than 10 years this is a possibility. If there IS a different version of this deck, I want it! Kiama

Dee	10 Apr 2003
yeah - i'd want it too considering this is my favorite deck!!!! please let us know as soon as you find out.

Lee	10 Apr 2003
I know that before the deck was published, there was a black-and-white coloring book with the card images, which were re-drawn for the deck, so they're somewhat different. Perhaps it's this that your friend was thinking of...? -- Lee

Woodsong	10 Apr 2003
I believe you can see some of this original Robin Wood deck in Stuart Kaplan's "Encyclopedia of Tarot" Volume 3 (which of course is the hardest one to find). I don't think it was ever published as a deck, just as a black-and-white coloring book.

HudsonGray	10 Apr 2003
I got mine in 1993 at Gencon, when she was selling them at a table there at the Milwaukee convention. She was quite proud that they'd been finally released, signed the Fools card for me & I remember that she had said this was the first time the deck was available. I'd seen her entire deck posted online, and never noticed any differences in those cards and mine. However, her book does mention redoing a few cards but I don't think it was done as a 'mass' printing prior to release of the deck we all have. BUT, you can contact her directly through her web site, you know! I'll be seeing her at Pennsic War in August, so can ask her there, but if you contact her via her web site I'm sure you'll get a quicker answer.

wavebreaker	11 Apr 2003
I wanted to scan the page from my Encyclopedia, but my scanner doesn't work properly anymore. So I took a few pictures using my digital camera... ;) The Emperor The Hierophant The Lovers The Hermit The Tower

Silverlotus	11 Apr 2003
I definately like that Hierophant better then the one that is in the deck. Thank you for posting the pictures.

Phoenix	11 Apr 2003
Tarotlady, thanks! The hierophant in my deck has two children praying infront of him, and the man on the lovers card you posted has a more realistic....umm, you can fill in the blank.

HudsonGray	12 Apr 2003
In her book I found that particular lovers image-she had 4 different trial images for "The Lovers" & this one is the one she used for the coloring book. It was her 3rd incarnation--she did a little painting for version #2 after the initial sketch. She modified it after #3 for a magazine illustration & then based the final official deck card on that magazine illo. So the final result is #5. The other cards, though, weren't pictured in the Appendix E of her book so I don't have a clue about the Emperor, Hermit, Tower or Hierophant.

Kiama	12 Apr 2003
My friend confirmed in an email that yes, his deck does have cards which are different. He only got the deck 2-3 years ago though, which is the same time I got mine. I want a copy of HIS deck!!!! Kiama

Emily	12 Apr 2003
Hi Kiama, Did you ask him what date is on his deck. I've just checked mine, just the normal Robin Wood and its dated 1991 on the back of the box at the bottom, I bought them new from Amazon about 10 months ago. Did he buy it new? If not where did he get it from, maybe it was an old 'bootleg' copy?

HudsonGray	12 Apr 2003
OR ask him if it was the Spanish version deck she just had issued. It came out in Spanish just recently (and here I thought she'd go for German first).

HudsonGray	12 Apr 2003
HEY GUYS! I e-mailed Robin Wood herself (via her web site) this afternoon and got an answer back in under 6 hours. Here it is from the horse's mouth, right from the artist herself! ------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks for asking me, instead of just speculating! The cards shown are from the first trial run, which I sent to Stuart Kaplan years before the final deck was done. Some made it into the coloring book just as you see them there, although I'm not sure at this point what got changed and what didn't. The coloring book, by the way, wasn't the same as the black and white "Meditation Deck" which we occasionally print. The deck has never been printed with different designs. Even the Spanish deck has exactly the same pictures on the cards. The colors, on the other hand, vary widely from printing to printing. Not something I'm happy about, but not something I can do anything about, either. I find it interesting that some of the readers on the forum like the earlier versions better. I didn't, obviously, which is why I changed them. I added the two kids to the Heirophant because I wanted to add the symbols for keeping the "flock" as children. There's a lot of that, even though a little thought shows that adults are much more likely to make sound decisions than children are. However, those in power seldom want people to make sound decisions. They would much rather keep them in a position of "received knowledge" (keeping silent, or repeating what they have been told.) Also, I wanted to add the smiling and frowning to show that the whole thing smacked of the theater. I added the whole thing about the balance to the Lover's card. Sorry that, in the process, I wound up losing some of the detail of the, uh, "person" of the guy. It wasn't intentional. I just don't have much experience in that area. I would love to see the cards which are "different." I'd also love to know who printed that deck, if they are, indeed, different. The only legitimate decks have been printed by Llewellyn. Llewellyn is the one who decided to bring it out in Spanish. All I can do is refuse it. Once again, I have no control over that. (Or the size, or the cost, or anything else, really. I can't even get them to consistently leave the blank card in there.) And before anyone asks, no, I can't do another deck. I signed the wrong contract, and can't do anything, ever, that would compete with this one. (Well, not for the length of the contact, anyway, which is the length of copyright plus any extensions to it. Since copyright is my lifetime plus 70 or 75 years (I'm not sure exactly how long; they just changed it,) that's equivalent to "ever.") No one is sorrier about that than I am. Hope this answers your questions! Take Care! Robin Wood http://www.robinwood.com

Astraea	13 Apr 2003
What a gracious and informative reply from Robin Wood. I am so saddened to read about the contract she signed with Llewellyn, essentially forbidding her to create another deck! :( That is just so sad, as she has a great talent and I was hoping to see another deck or two from her. Thank you so much for sharing her e-mail.

HudsonGray	13 Apr 2003
I'm not sure if that's an enforceable clause or not, but it's up to her to challenge it. Thing is, Llewellyn is big enough to get the lawyers that can drag it out forever. Several artists have done multiple decks, I'd like to see another one from her. But it's up to her to challenge the contract. Kiama, can you get your friend to send Robin some info on his particular deck? She sounds like she wants to follow up on it. He'll be able to keep his, I think she just wants the info. Like if it came with a box, who 'published' it, what year he got it & if it was bought in a store or at a convention or such, what exactly the cards look like, etc. Would he be willing to give her the info?

Kiama	13 Apr 2003
HudsonGray: I've emailed my friend about this, asking him to send her: 1) Who published the deck 2) The date on the box 3) Scans of the 'different' cards. Hopefully he'll reply soon. *Fingers crossed* HudsonGray: Thankyou for emailing Robin Wood for us. We'll try and help her out on this one as much as we can. :D Kiama

Kiama	13 Apr 2003
Ugh... There's been a big mistake! Blame my tiredness when I read my friend's first email to me, but then again, his email wasn't exactly clear. What happened was he could have sworn when he was going through MY deck that he had never seen 6 of the cards I had in there, and he could have sworn that his deck had different ones. He went back to his place, looked through his deck, and the cards were the same as normal ones, but he then babbled on for a long while about experiencing alternate realities, which is his explanation for his 'I don't recognise these cards: Mine are different' experience. Unfortunately, he did not make this clear enough in his email, and I thought what he wrote ws 'yes, they are totally different'. Sorry for the false alarm guys. *This is me feeling stupid* Kiama

Mysti	13 Apr 2003
This is really fascinating. I also love the Robin Wood Tarot, and it's my current favorite for readings. I find it very easy to read with and I also like the pagan representations. I would love to have the other deck myself. If you learn how to acquire it, will you let us know? Thanks Mysti

HudsonGray	14 Apr 2003
Hi folks, I let her know it was sorta a false alarm, just so she's updated. But I did mention to her that my sig. other says a clause like that in a contract is 'unenforceable'--though she'd need a lawyer to get the thing back into her court so to speak. Here's what she posted back to me: ------------------------------------------------------ (From Robin Wood) Yeah, there are a lot of things in that contract that are illegal/unenforceable. Thing is, if I did decide to fight it, the deck would probably be unavailable for an extended period of time while it went through the court system. Given the number of people who have written to me telling me how much they depend on the deck, and given how quickly the things wear out, I'm not willing to do that. I've had people tell me to just let them know, and they'd all buy decks ahead so they could last through it, and I've had offers of help for the legal end. But it would be a long case, given how well financed Llewellyn is, and most of the time I can't help but feel that my energy is better spent elsewhere. I may change my mind some day; but not today. Thanks for your concern, though. And thanks again for letting me know how it all turned out! Take Care! Robin Wood

raeanne	14 Apr 2003
Hi all, I was hoping there was a different version of the Robin Wood tarot. I just laugh too much every time I look at the "banana" on the Lovers card. The earlier version of this card was so much better! Wish I had that card instead. :-)

wavebreaker	14 Apr 2003
Quote: Originally posted by raeanne I just laugh too much every time I look at the "banana" on the Lovers card. The earlier version of this card was so much better! Wish I had that card instead. :-) Well, thanks for putting that image into my head, I'm pretty sure the Lovers card will remind me of bananas too from now on... ;) I too prefer the earlier version of the Lovers card.

Mysti	15 Apr 2003
When I posted before I had apparently missed a good portion of the thread. I'm not sure why, but then I'm not completely accustomed to this forum yet. As much as I enjoy Robin Woods deck, I do hope she continues with more. Thanks Mysti

HOLMES	21 Apr 2003
LET US MAKE A PETITION FOR LLEWYEN TO LET HER MAKE ANOTHER DECK . IT MUST BE DONE HER ARTIST CREATIVELY MUST NOT BE STIFILED. (WALKS OFF ) comes back umm , if she makes it with another theme, and makes it with lleweylen,, wouldnt' they have to let that part go. i mean l "sorry robin wood we can;t accept that deck however awesome it may be due to the previous liscence you signed despite the tremendous amount of money you would make us " i cant see it..

Ravenswing	21 Apr 2003
Great idea Holmes... I was thinking about that word 'compete' in the contract. If there were to be a second deck that would be sold either: 1) to people already owning the Robin Wood deck, or 2) in package with the Robin Wood deck, then said deck would not be in 'competition against' the prior deck, but would work 'in concert with' it. At least that what it seems to me... Any lawyers on-line??? fly well stiffle not Raven

The Earlier edition of Robin Wood Tarot deck? thread was originally posted on 10 Apr 2003 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.