Tarot of the Dead is out

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 26 Aug 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

contrascarpe	26 Aug 2004
And I am soooooo disappointed. Was at Taproot today (the bookstore I read at) and lo and behold, there it was. I picked it up and while sitting in traffic, opened up this little beauty. I loved the majors, each one bringing me a bit more glee than the last. Then four of the courts followed and I was in heaven. But those pips! Now, even though I am not a big fan of non-illustrated pips I can usually stand them. These IMHO lacked imagination. Maybe I will get used to them, but after seeing how beautiful the majors and the courts were, this left me a bit empty. Also it appears that Llewellyn is going to package all their new releases the same way they did with the Gilded - including that annoying little punch-out box along with the mosquito netting substitute for a tarot bag. The card stock looks much heartier on this deck for some reason - it is almost as if they used the extra money for the Gilded's colors and skimped on the stock, while with TOTD, they were able to have heartier stock (and larger cards) because the colors were more muted. Dan

tao51	26 Aug 2004
I love the suits. (Wands-pens, Swords-pistols, Pentacles-reels, Cups-coffins) I was able to use the deck immediately. I did several spreads for someone feeling anxiety over a situation. They were useful in deducing the reason. I like the unillustrated pips. I read intuitively and these are easy to read. The majors and courts are very well designed. --Tao

Soapwench	27 Aug 2004
Hi, I noted the observation about the card stock for the Gilded Tarot and the Tarot of the Dead. The card stock is the same for both. The difference you notice could be: a) the printing company used different lots of the same paper (I don't know that there can be variances between lots, so that's just a guess) or b) the difference in the card sizes effects the way the paper feels. I think "b" is probably the actual answer. As for putting more money into color and less into the paper, we don't do that. For some years now, the card stock is all the same. And our Art Dept. puts in as much time/money as necessary to make sure the colors for each deck are as good as they possibly can be for every deck. And as for the card size difference, that is often determined by the art provided (the dimensions) by the artist and the final card design. The art for the Tarot of the Dead was sent in already completed, so we either worked with the dimensions of the art and use a different card size or not do it. We loved the deck, so we did what we had to do to make it work. Just thought I'd chime in, Barbara (acquisitions specialist, tarot, for Llewellyn)

contrascarpe	27 Aug 2004
Barbara - Thank you for the explanation. They still feel different to me. The Gilded I find to be very close to the Shapeshifter in the card quality - and the Shapeshifter is by far my least favorite mass-market card stock. The TOTD feels stronger. Dan

dolphingirl	27 Aug 2004
Does anyone know if there were any changes to the deck made between the self published version and the new one? Thanks Sam

SongDeva	27 Aug 2004
Quote: Originally posted by dolphingirl Does anyone know if there were any changes to the deck made between the self published version and the new one? Thanks Sam Yeah, about $100. hehehehehe

jlbvt	27 Aug 2004
I just wanted to add that I have the original (haven't seen the Llewellyn deck in person though) and the (self-published) original colors are very muted and soft. Also, the original card stock was very thin . I am wondering whether the dimensions were kept the same, since in the original printing, the cards are somewhat shorter/wider than most standard decks. I like them that way, because they fit my hands better than the average deck. Joan

BlueLotus	28 Aug 2004
Although I have not yet received my copy of the deck, I think ( wishful thinking ) that the card stock is sturdier, and that there is a booklet that is included with this deck. I prefer the standard size for my decks, thus I hope that this is the size that this deck comes in.

Astraea	28 Aug 2004
I like these cards a lot. The muted colors seem symbolically apt, and the card stock is sturdy enough to hold up to a lot of use. I haven't measured the cards, but they seem to be of (or close to) standard size. Soapwench, if you are the Barbara who sometimes answers customer service e-mails at Llewellyn, I wish to thank you once again for your helpfulness in that area. I've written to Llewellyn a couple of times with questions about the cards, and once when a card was flawed, and received very timely assistance. Welcome to Aeclectic!

Soapwench	30 Aug 2004
Hi Astraea, Yep, I am the only Barbara at Llewellyn :-) And sometimes I do answer Customer Service questions. Sometimes our Customer Service department does. And you're welcome. We do try to please whenever we can. Thanks for the welcome. I've been reading for a while now. I like to know what the tarot community thinks--about our products, about other products, what they'd like to see, what is or isn't of interest. Barbara

dolphingirl	13 Sep 2004
I just thought I would post to let people know that the new Lewellyn version of this deck is quite a bit larger than the self published version. I haven't had a chance to check to see if there were any differences in the artwork yet but will shortly. I do have a major grumble for Llewellyn that they packaged it in a large box (big enough for a deck and book set) and they didn't give us a box that fits the deck alone but one of those irritating generic boxes that leave a ton of room for the deck to rattle around in and get banged up. GRRRRRR

BlueLotus	28 Sep 2004
Quote: Originally posted by dolphingirl I just thought I would post to let people know that the new Lewellyn version of this deck is quite a bit larger than the self published version. I haven't had a chance to check to see if there were any differences in the artwork yet but will shortly. I do have a major grumble for Llewellyn that they packaged it in a large box (big enough for a deck and book set) and they didn't give us a box that fits the deck alone but one of those irritating generic boxes that leave a ton of room for the deck to rattle around in and get banged up. GRRRRRR My deck comes with a mesh bag ( don't they all ? ), and the LWB is quite interesting in that it is in 2 languages ( Spanish and English), in opposite directions. Yes I didn't see why this deck was packaged in such a relatively large box, but it is ok with me, as long as I had received my deck intact. I am yet to look at the cards more closely, but my first readings were impressive , although I need to get used to the different suits. But the card stock is sturdy, and the cards, although larger than the standard size, and a bit more slippery, are quite easy to handle.

SongDeva	29 Sep 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Feebie My deck comes with a mesh bag ( don't they all ? ), and the LWB is quite interesting in that it is in 2 languages ( Spanish and English), in opposite directions. Yeah, when I bought it, I think the title was Tarot de los Muertos or something, and when I opened it, I happened to open to the Spanish part. I was like "Well, sheesh! It's a good thing I speak Spanish! I thought I ordered the English edition." Then I turned the booklet around. Duh.

Umbrae	04 Oct 2004
Deck rocks. Packaging blows. But a person has to thank Lewellyn's for publishing it anyways (reagardless of the packaging). I watched folks walk by the deck thinking it was a 'dark deck'...had one lady say, "I don't like the dead"...felt like saying "they don't like you..." Well...my holiday shopping is done...so to all my friends...both of you know what you're getting!

SongDeva	05 Oct 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Umbrae Well...my holiday shopping is done...so to all my friends...both of you know what you're getting! Well, Umbrae, I already have this one, and the Hadar too. You'll have to get me something else, or send it with the receipt. Sd

sassygirl3124	11 Oct 2004
I just got this deck the other day and I have done a couple of readings with it. I love it. I think it is a great deck and I plan on doing a lot of readings with it. Also I think the packaging is just fine for this deck. Besides it is not the package that makes the deck, although I have to admit it really does help for advertising purposes. Anyways just my two cents worth. Julie

Nevada	11 Oct 2004
Thanks so much for letting us know this deck is out. I've been waiting for it. I've always loved the Day of the Dead celebrations and ornaments. This is terrific! Nevada

The Tarot of the Dead is out thread was originally posted on 26 Aug 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.