Collect more or downsize??

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 24 Apr 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Summerdream	24 Apr 2004
Lately I've been noticing a lot of posts about members downsizing their collections. For those of you that have a large collection, what made you decide to fine tune your collection? I was just wondering if at some point I will think I have too many decks and want to make it more manageable. I currently have around 76 decks. I find myself lately being drawn to the more rare or oop decks as opposed to the readily available ones. Are there any of you that try to keep your collection at a certain number, say ex. 25 decks and if you buy one it means you have to let one go in it's place? I know there are some of you with huge collections and others that used to have big collections but decided to trim it down, I was just wondering what was the motivating factor? Edited to add: I'm not thinking of downsizing my collection, just curious about the ones who do!!!:) Momof3girls:)

MuffinTops	24 Apr 2004
I was trading and buying, for awhile. I have about 25 decks, and I have reached my saturation point. Meaning; I don't think I'll be buying or trading for quite awhile. To me 25 decks is alot. I need to work with these before I start drowning in decks...

Cerulean	24 Apr 2004
I was changing hobbies and storage and my tarot study slants. I do this with art and writing topics, do a change each quarter/season. Best wishes! Cerulean Mari

northsea	24 Apr 2004
Last month I would have said collect more :), but now I say downsize :( because I got a few too many. I'm a bit impulsive sometimes.

Shalott	24 Apr 2004
Yeah, there's one or two I have that I wouldn't mind trading or selling. Kind of a question of lack of storage space, and there are a couple out there that I REALLY want, so I'd rather use the space and spend the money on those than keep some around that are fated to just collect dust...

crystal cove	24 Apr 2004
I'm at a point in my life in which I don't want to keep things around that I don't use. The conspicuous consumption thing isn't working for me anymore. It's getting old. I just went through my bookshelves today and thinned them out. I had several tarot books that basically had the same information in them. I almost can't get rid of them fast enough. As far as decks go, I'm down to 37 and I have about 9 or 10 that I've looked through a few times and have never even done a reading with. Plus, I haven't really spent the time with the remaining decks that I should. I'm very choosy about the decks I buy now and I'm into quality, not quantity.

laura_borealis	25 Apr 2004
I want to keep my collection small. I don't want more decks than I will use. I've decided to let at least one or two current decks move on, since I have a new one coming soon (Prague), and at least one that I want to get when it comes out (BBCats). I definitely am going to pass on my Tarot Nova, and I'm undecided about Rohrig. I don't read it at all, but I do like some of the art... I guess for me, keeping my collection small is part of my ongoing attempt to stop being such a packrat. I'm in the process of purging my belongings (I have an entire room stuffed with boxes from the last move!) I want to pare down all of the stuff I have, only keep what is truly useful or meaningful and beautiful. So, no decks unless I feel they are going to be exceptional -- and let the ones I don't use go to people who will use them.

northsea	25 Apr 2004
Collecting has its upside. A lot of decks go out-of-print, and become very valuable. The only bad thing is if you're short on cash because of it. Actually, many decks cost less than new music CDs, and most people think nothing of having over 50 CDs. There's some perspective, huh.

BlueLotus	25 Apr 2004
Quite honestly, I would keep on adding to my collection ( I own about 40 tarot decks so far ), if I didn't have to worry about my budget, and shipping expenses, and the agony of having to wait for the ordered decks to arrive; unfortunately, many of which have been lost in the mail. However, at the time being I am quite satisfied with my collection, and viewing decks' images even doing further readings online and there are a few decks in my collection that I need to get re/-aquainted with.

Nycelle	25 Apr 2004
I have a few decks I could get rid of, but as such a novice I don't want to let any of them go until I have studied each card image thoroughly and journalled about it. I want to suck every deck dry before I say goodbye to it!

Silverlotus	25 Apr 2004
There are a few reasons why I have been clearing out my collection. First, I've been trying to get rid of a lot of stuff. I've moved three times in the past three years, and I am tired of moving things tha I don't use or don't need. Tarot decks are small, but they still take up space. Second, I was finding that I had so many decks I couldn't figure out which one I wanted to work with. I was getting a little overwhelmed. So, I traded away the decks I wasn't using or didn't like for ones I did want and knew I would use. Overall, I am pretty happy with my decision. At first it hurts, but the pain dulls... eventually. :)

crystal cove	25 Apr 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Tommy Collecting has its upside. A lot of decks go out-of-print, and become very valuable. The only bad thing is if you're short on cash because of it. Actually, many decks cost less than new music CDs, and most people think nothing of having over 50 CDs. There's some perspective, huh. Yes, but the odds of making alot of money on Tarot cards is a longshot, due to the large number mass-produced. Plus, most decks do not go OOP. It's only the ones that don't sell well for the publishers, unless of course its a limited edition deck. The OOP decks worth some money are generally the ones produced before the current tarot craze. I highly doubt that there are many decks produced in small numbers these days.

Imagemaker	25 Apr 2004
After joining AT and briefly getting manic over all the variety and fascinating decks, I decided to focus on RWS as most beautiful and compatible with my way of using tarot. And of those, I use and rotate about 10 decks regularly in study and reading. I'm happy with those choices for now. Accumulation without meaningful action kills tarot for me. I like it to be an integral part of my intuitive process.

diane drizzy	25 Apr 2004
In the land of Perfect, I'd like to own one Perfect deck (LOL). I have been Spring cleaning though and have given some of my cards to good, loving homes.

Emily	25 Apr 2004
I have, I think, around 34 decks now. I did try to cut my collection down but I've only been able to let one deck go lol and I have another I don't really want. I do find it hard to trade decks on, usually I only buy decks that I think have called to me or I like the artwork. I sit down with the decks I should trade on then find good reasons why I can't let them go. I'm a bit of a packrat and natural born collector anyway. :)

Jewel	30 Apr 2004
I am one of those with large collections and am currently downsizing. Why? it just feels right. I probably had close to 120 decks and am now down to 76 and still downsizing. Something just hit me and I decided to let go of decks that I was not using, I thought it would be nice for them to go somewhere where they would be more appreciated than they were on my shelves. It is not that I no longer like the decks I am sending to new homes, it is just that I felt it was time for them to move on. Very strange as I never thought I would be able to part with any of them, specially the OOP decks. But I am pretty excited about the whole process actually, it is really rewarding to see how people who have wanted certain decks for some time finally get them, and that I get to be part of their acquisition process. Now I hope to do full reviews of the decks I choose to keep and then perhaps pass some of them on as well. Who knows. It all comes down to personal preferance. Perhaps I am becoming more directed towards my areas of interest, and letting go of decks related to interests that have waned. I have no set number of decks I am fixated on, but I think when all is said and done I will probably end up cutting about-thirds of the collection or close to that amount.

faunabay	30 Apr 2004
My reason for collecting in the first place was to experiment and find out which type of decks work for me. I couldn't tell from looking at pictures on the internet I had to have them in hand, work with them awhile, then decide. And of course I had to try out all I possibly could. hehe I just have found the types of decks that work best for me and wanted to get the others to people who want to try them out. Now I only want decks I actually use. Of course there are still a few I have to keep......just because! :D At one time I had a total of around 90 decks. I'm now down to 37, but just put a few more up for trade or sale. So I'm hoping to get that down to 30! It also just feels good to get rid of some of the clutter!!

Aure	01 May 2004
I'm really not the right person to answer this one... I used to have two decks gathering dust in my drawer until I became newly fascinated with tarot and found my way here... The result? I have seven decks and five books (two of the books I don't use that much, other one is a very weird finnish one and other is Ziegler's which I might use with Thoth some day)... :D I have now managed to calm myself a little and have decided to stop collecting for a while. Ofcourse I cannot promise I won't go totally bonkers if something spectacular turns up...

The Collect more or downsize?? thread was originally posted on 24 Apr 2004 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.