University Press R/W/S Tarot. Circa 1970's, pre 1971 Info needed..

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 18 Oct 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

dancer	18 Oct 2004
Hello, I have been asked by a friend to help in placing a $ value on a deck he has had since 1970. It was been seldom used, stored away, forgotten about, and has recently resurfaced. The deck is a University Press R/W/S Tarot. Circa 1970s, pre 1971. The date was designated by the design of cards backs... http://home.comcast.net/~vilex/Cardbacks.html http://home.comcast.net/~vilex/ShipofFools.html The cards show some wear, but are in very good condition. But the deck does not come with original or any other Box. It also does not include the LWB. It is just the cards themselves. Any ideas of the $ value of this deck would be greatly appreciated. Thank u dancer sorry no personal e-mail addresses allowed in posts

Jeannette	19 Oct 2004
Although the colors in the University Press edition appear -- to my eye, anyway -- to be a bit darker than those in the standard USG edition, there's never been a real interest in this particular RWS deck. Other than the back and the minor color nuances, there's not really much there that distinguishes it from the USG version. If you look at some of the OOP RWS editions that have been bringing the higher prices on the collectors' market, you'll see that they have some very significant differences when compared to the common USG release -- the Hoi Polloi and the de Laurences, for example. But as far as I've been able to tell, the University Press decks don't bring any higher prices than your garden variety USG deck. -- Jeannette The Tarot Garden

dancer	24 Oct 2004
Jeanette, I wanted to say thank you for the info. What I have found out is that the deck, with out the book or slipcover/box is probably worth around $5-$10. I forwarded yours and ohers replies to my friend. Thank you... dancer

Rusty Neon	24 Oct 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Jeannette If you look at some of the OOP RWS editions that have been bringing the higher prices on the collectors' market, you'll see that they have some very significant differences when compared to the common USG release -- the Hoi Polloi and the de Laurences, for example. But as far as I've been able to tell, the University Press decks don't bring any higher prices than your garden variety USG deck. -- Jeannette The Tarot Garden Jeannette or anyone else ... If you run across one, I'd certainly be interested in buying a University Press edition in its little box in that price range. I'd also look seriously at one without a box. Thanks! I thought that Hoi Polloi decks weren't going for much more than around $8 to 15 U.S. I got the deck, in its carton, for $6 U.S. [rusty neon mutters to himself: "i am not a collector; i am not a collector; ...."]

Jeannette	24 Oct 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Rusty Neon I thought that Hoi Polloi decks weren't going for much more than around $8 to 15 U.S. I got the deck, in its carton, for $6 U.S. There are certainly bargains on the Hoi Polloi to be found, if you watch for them carefully enough. It's not an uncommon RW variant, even though it's OOP. But if you watch with a keen eye, you'll see that it sometimes goes up into the $40+ range. Actually, the edition may have something to do with it -- there were several different runs of the Hoi Polloi, and there were certainly some differences in the packaging. I'm not sure about differences in the card printing or images; I've never checked them that closely. In any event, when eBay gets flooded with several copies all at the same time, it does tend to push the price down a bit on that venue. But a good, clean, complete copy of the Hoi Polloi is certainly worth more than $15 on the overall collectors' market. -- Jeannette The Tarot Garden

The 78th Fool	27 Oct 2004
It's a shame that the University books edition doesn't seem to attract that much interest as it's a really lovely variant. I use it more than any of my other RWS decks now. The colouring of the deck differs little from the standard but the colours are subtly richer and more vibrant. Apart from anything else - Mr Kaplan could learn quite a bit with regards to more tasteful back designs from this edition!! It's worth the cost for this factor alone! Chris. xx

The University Press R/W/S Tarot. Circa 1970's, pre 1971 Info needed.. thread was originally posted on 18 Oct 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.