Merrimack/Shackman or...?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 19 Apr 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Fulgour	19 Apr 2005
I have two decks that are basically identical, but old and new. Holly Voley identifies this style as the Merrimack/Shackman. Does anyone know more about their "particular" differences? Complete set of Tarot Cards Harlekin Geschenke GmbH 62 Wiesbaden-Erbenheim WandersmannstraBe 60 West-Germany No. 1961S Printed in Hong Kong --and-- © B. Shackman & Co., Inc., 1-800-221-7656 No. 1961S Printed in China :) Thanks!

Ilithiya	19 Apr 2005
As far as I know, there's no difference. I have the Shackman and its only difference (that I've ever seen) from the standard Rider-Waite is that it has the keywords printed at the bottom of the cards. If there's a color difference, it's simply a shift because of their particular inks and printing process. Your Shackman must be a newer print than mine because of the 1-800 number, but other than that... the stock numbers are the same, and I would assume that's the printer's stock number, and that they're simply putting their distributor's name and address type info on the flap rather than their own. Do you have both these decks in hand? Illy

Fulgour	19 Apr 2005
It is a faithful version of the "Rider-Waite" decks that we see, and the differences really seem like part of the deck's charm. My older version is in good shape, but the box is a bit worn, and the boxes for both are just alike except for the addresses.

The Merrimack/Shackman or...? thread was originally posted on 19 Apr 2005 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.