Save the box?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 21 May 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

WooMonkey	21 May 2004
I once read somewhere that if you transfer your deck to a bag or storage box, that you should also keep the original box it came in. I don't remember where I read this, but they never explained WHY it should be kept. Being a good girl, I kept the boxes, but now they are kind of piling up! What does everyone else do? If I've got a lovely bag for a deck that I plan on keeping, do I REALLY need to keep the original box...? :confused: Thanks! --WooMonkey (looking for more storage space)

yve	21 May 2004
i think it has to do with future tradeabilty/saleabilty of the decks. Their potential value is more if the original boxes are kept with them. I realize that you aren't thinking that far ahead, but who knows, one day you might want to do a trade for a more desired deck, and the value of the deck is increased by having the original box. I have a big box that I use just for storing my deck boxes. Mark it, store it out of the way, but at least you still have the original boxes for future need/use.

_N_	21 May 2004
I toss em. I can't see myself trading off any of them and besides, I have a policy that keeps my house from getting cluttered - no clutter allowed :D Seriously though, I have the "horder" gene and I have had to develope a program to keep me from keeping every plastic butter tub and plastic bag LOL. Every 3 months or so I got through the house, anything that hasn't been used in the past 3 months I ask myself the questions, "will it be used in the next 3 months?" and "will it ever be used?" if I answer no (honestly) to both questions, it gets given away or pitched out. N

Melissa`	22 May 2004
I tend to lean towards what yve does with her boxes. The decks that I actually use and have stored in bags, I keep their box. I just break them down so they are flat and store them with my collection of unused dekcs in a rubbermaid container. As of right now I don't see myself trading the decks I do this with, but one day you never know. Then I'll have the original box to pop them back into. :) Blessings, Melissa

laura_borealis	22 May 2004
I'm with _N_ in the "it's just clutter" camp. Mine go into the recycling bin. If there's a pretty picture on the box, I might cut it out first.

Dakota	22 May 2004
LOL! I think I fall into the "decluttering" camp but I keep my cards inside their original box and then inside the bag I have chosen for them. I figure it just protects them better. I DO have a pile building up of the boxes that book and deck sets have come in; keeping them for now if they are in good condition mainly cuz I can't decide if I SHOULD be keeping them or not. I don't want to regret tossing them later but need to come up with a "policy" on this before the pile gets too high. :D

Island Dreamer	22 May 2004
I'm in the 'save the box' camp, but then I only have about ten decks and some of them live in nice slipcase boxes anyway so I don't have many to store. I can't imagine the heap of boxes that must build up from a collection of fifty or more decks! :eek: Dreamer

Silverlotus	22 May 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Melissa` I just break them down so they are flat and store them with my collection of unused dekcs in a rubbermaid container. I keep my boxes too, but I have a small collection. Right now the boxes are being stored in a large chest of drawers and taking up a little too much space. Why did it never occur to me to break down the boxes? *sigh* Thanks for the reminder. :) As for why I keep them, there are two reasons. The first is just in case I decided to trade them later. I'm trying to get out of the habit of assuming that I will trade a deck, because it is making it difficult for me to ever really make the deck my own. (There is another thread about this right now: Buddha and the Hot Fudge Sundae (or: Living in the Moment). The second reason is that I have recently discovered that I am a perfectionist, and having things right seems to go along with this. To me, a deck isn't right unless I have the box somewhere. Pretty silly, eh? So, I say keep 'em if you like the boxes or think you might use them. Throw them away if you are keeping them only because you think you should. As for me, I will continue to keep them, but I will be breaking them down.

SongDeva	22 May 2004
I just had an epiphany on this subject, here: http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=26412 However, I will get rid of the big "set" boxes the sets come in. I've found that if you keep cards in their individual boxes in their bags, it keeps them from getting that 'bowed' shape. A lot of llewellyn sets don't have a smaller box for just the cards; they come loose in cellophane. However, I bought the Fey from LS, and even their deck book set has a smaller deck sized box, which I'll keep. The rest goes! Sd

Imagemaker	22 May 2004
There's a difference in being a collector and a user--and some decks I use hard, so throw away the box aftere I decide that. For decks I collect and may trade someday, I keep the box. Moderation in all things!

laura_borealis	22 May 2004
I realized that we may be talking about different kinds of boxes. I meant the big boxes, that kits come in. Those I recycle. If a deck comes in a small slipcover box, I tend to keep it, with the deck in it.

hedgecub	22 May 2004
I once threw away a box because I thought I wouldn't need it anymore as I had a nice new home for my deck. Now that the deck has fallen out of grace with me (it's the Lord of the Rings ;p ) I've evicted it from its former home in favour of better decks, and I'm wishing I kept the box so I wouldn't have to keep it together with an elastic band... So I've decided on a 'keep the box' policy :) Just in case :) And I didn't even think of unfolding the box and making it lie flat - that would definitely save a lot of space and would make keeping the boxes easy enough even for large collections :D

Staramber	22 May 2004
The kit boxes I keep, just to keep everything in the same bit and if I need to transport it. However if the box the cards are in is attached to the box I'll take my scissors too it and cut the box off. That way it looks neater on my book shelves. The small 'deck only' boxes I keep with the cards but I have two decks without the boxes and I'm sure I have the boxes, and my bedroom is really small so they couldn't have gotten far…

hedgecub	22 May 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Staramber The small 'deck only' boxes I keep with the cards but I have two decks without the boxes and I'm sure I have the boxes, and my bedroom is really small so they couldn't have gotten far… As you may know, the space in a bedroom is heavily warped, so that certain areas (such as under the bed and at the back of the closet) are actually larger than they appear, and have gravitational properties like that of a black hole. This explains many difficult problems in modern bedroom physics, including the Missing Sock problem and the Disappearing Biro problem. I don't doubt it explains your Missing Boxes problem as well ;)

dolphingirl	22 May 2004
I would def be interrested in taking any single deck tarot boxes off of anyones hands. One of my pet peeves is I want boxes for all of my decks. (I really hate the tarot sets that done't have a box for the cards themselves) :) Samantha

VGimlet	23 May 2004
Even though I tend toward keeping my favorite decks in bags, I keep the boxes too. One reason is that if I decide that deck is out of favor, and I want to put a different deck in it's bag, I'll still have some kind of protection for it. I am unlikely to trade or sell any of my decks - but I won't say never. I am not normally a box-keeper (just ask my husband - there have been a few times I threw out a box, and then we needed to return the item - NOT GOOD! :P) I do try to keep the boxes for anything that might be collectible.

WooMonkey	23 May 2004
Thanks everyone for all the ideas. It seems that so far the "keepers" are slightly ahead of the "tossers". In my original post, I WAS talking about the little single deck boxes. I have been flattening them, and putting them in a bag. I can get compulsive about things, so I thought maybe just recycling them could be a "set me free" kind of experience. :D I am intrigued by laura_borealis' suggestion about cutting out pictures that I like, before recycling. It seems like a good compromise, less wasteful, and I could use the cut outs as a teaching aide. In truth, I would like to keep all my decks stored in their original boxes, but they do get ratty after a while if I use them a lot. Also, I am more positively disposed towards the Lo Scarabeo type box rather than the US Games style. I have an easier time getting the cards and LWB back into the LS boxes. Does this make sense (anyone know what I'm talking about)? Thanks again for all the replies! :)

lark	23 May 2004
Quote: Originally posted by WooMonkey Also, I am more positively disposed towards the Lo Scarabeo type box rather than the US Games style. I have an easier time getting the cards and LWB back into the LS boxes. Does this make sense (anyone know what I'm talking about)? I know what you mean Woo... It's because the Lo Scarabeo box bottom is folded different than the US Games box bottom. The US Games has that flap that the LWB gets caught on when you try and put everything back in the box. LSB is folded so there is nothing inside of the box to snag on the cards or LWB. I keep all my boxes folded flat in a big Rubbermaid container in the closet. There have been decks I thought I would keep and then I decided to trade and I was glad I still had the box.

HudsonGray	24 May 2004
I keep the boxes - but you know, I'm reading all the posts & the only thing I can think of is all those old SOFTWARE boxes down in the basement laying on any flat surface we have. Every disk we ever got for the computer still has its box down there somewhere.

Sillanza	26 May 2004
I'm a box-bagger, mostly to preserve the decks and to keep them contained if we go on the road. I only keep my current favorite reading decks in the bag, the rest are on a shelf with my books.

Flavio	28 May 2004
I keep the small boxes even if I decide to put the deck in a bag, as for set boxes (deck+book) I keep it away, the book to the bookshelf and the deck to a bag. I love to keep lots of things so it is natural for me to keep the boxes even if I do not plan to use them in the future for trading or giving as a present.

InvisibleSoul	30 May 2004
I save all of them just cause I'm part pack-rat and save the packages to a lot of things I buy... y'all should see my closet!!! :D

Nitewindz	01 Jun 2004
I keep all the boxes. If the original box is small and holds just the cards and a booklet, I leave the deck in the box, and put the box in my bag. If the deck came in a big box with a book, I keep the book in the big box, on my library shelf. Yve mentioned tradeability, my husband loves vintage collectables, especially toys. I've seen collectors pay more for *empty boxes* than for the toys that came inside!! So you might consider selling or trading those empty boxes instead of just tossing them in the trash. Selling empty boxes is my favorite way to recycle .

Shade	01 Jun 2004
For some reason I have been keeping my fey in its box wraped in a spreadcloth ina pouch... why I still have it I do not know, will probably tos it this evening when i clean. For any deck I use fairly regularly I transfer to pouch and dump the box and the two extra cards that come with the deck. I usd to hang onto those cards but they were just a pain in the neck. Sometimes the become bookmarks n my tarot journals.

janstar17	01 Jun 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Melissa` I just break them down so they are flat and store them with my collection...Then I'll have the original box to pop them back into Melissa...flattening the boxes is brilliant!! Thanks so much. I have been keeping all my decks in their boxes but since I am now actually starting to read and study the tarot, I have a few of my favorites in pouches and didn't know where to keep their boxes. I'll just flatten those little guys out and tuck them behind the all those decks and tarot books on my bookcase. :-)

sleepygrl	01 Jun 2004
For some odd reason I have hung on to my box. I dunno why figured it couldn't hurt. Well actualy it's because I'm a pack rat :) so it's hard for me to throw anything away...but flattning the box makes so much more sence!!!! Good call :) Nikki

MeeWah	02 Jun 2004
Over time, some of my boxes wore out or are very beat up as I have carried decks in their boxes. Still do, actually, in lieu of a bag or in the absence of a bag as usually easier to grab the deck as is.

lunakasha	02 Jun 2004
Well..... I used to toss the boxes (especially those horrid Llewellyn boxes which contain the deck/book but have no smaller box for just the deck).... But recently I decided it might be a good idea to save them, just in case. It does get awful cluttery though!!! :laugh: :) Luna

cleung	04 Jun 2004
I keep them all. Just for organization sake. I don't use any black silk pouch since I found that my reading tends to be equally accurate with or without silk pouch. I don't like to pile up stuff that I don't need. So for those that I don't use I would sell them through ebay... that's why the original box will comes in really handle on making a sell :D hehe

13thFaeChylde	04 Jun 2004
I've got every box for every deck, unless they came to me via trade w/o the box. Flattening them is a good idea! I think I'll do that this evening. And put all the little boxes into a plastic container and hide it under my bed.

The Save the box? thread was originally posted on 21 May 2004 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.