Yucky LS backs!

connegrl

I got my Tarot of the Master in the mail yesterday. Really lovely deck! Except the bloody back! Why do they cut corners like that? And they couldn't even pick the most striking image. They did a terrible disservice to the original art. It really deserves better. The key words don't bother me...mostly because I need my glasses to read them! LOL But when I did read them, I got a great big 'Huh?'. Some of them make so little sense. I'll be working with this deck to see it it really helps me. If I like it, I'll put it aside and buy the Il Meneghello version. I'd been thinking of buying the Vikings Tarot, but its gone to the bottom of my short list since its a LS deck. I just know that the back is going to really bug me. Really, what is up with those backs?

Jen

who is done ranting!
 

Little Baron

I agree. A simple design would be effective enough for me - even as simple as the blue RWS backs. The mish-mash backs I see on a lot of them do cheapen the feel of the deck. It always seems like an after-thought.

LB
 

Apollonia

You should see the backs on the Secret Tarot! For some reason, they used one of the most bland cards, and then somehow squashed the image, so what seems to be a globe that the person is holding in the Two of Wands looks more like he's contemplating a potato. I love this deck, but the backs are just embarrassing.
 

Little Baron

Apollonia said:
looks more like he's contemplating a potato

I nearly spat my coffee out, reading that. :D

LB
 

Apollonia

LittleBuddha said:
I nearly spat my coffee out, reading that. :D

LB
Then my job here is done.
 

rachelcat

LittleBuddha and Apollonia, I'm laughing at you two!!!

I don't really mind the backs of the Master, but the backs of the LS Visconti is a horrible PUKE GREEN. Not really green, not really yellow . . . you get the idea. With such beautiful fronts, gold leaf and all, it just makes me go duh. What were they thinking?
 

Abrac

Funny you should mention this connegrl. I've been thinking the same thing.

The first deck I ever ordered from LS was the Visconti Tarots. I took a look at the backs and thought: "what the...?" But the fronts are so beautiful I quickly forgot about the backs. Then I bought the Sola Busca and found that the backs had been changed from the enigmatic and powerful 4 of Wands to a smaller 4 of Wands surrounded by frilly artwork in a greenish color. Completely incompatible with the deck in my view. Since then I have been paying closer attention to the LS backs and many of them I would have to agree are a bit...yucky.
 

Nydia

I ordered Tarot of the III Millenium from the $5 sale. I don't have it yet, but I looked up all the cards at Taroteca. The card back earns a place in this thread! For a few days I was kind of dreading getting the deck. The back is The Fool, but different. The back one has more clothes and he is somehow even more ugly that way than he already is in the major arcana. It's a shame LS or the artist chose this for the card back.
 

NightWing

Lo Scarabeo "Backs"

I own quite a few Lo Scarabeo tarot and oracle decks (60+). And I have to agree that one weak spot in their deck design, especially in recent years, tends to be the card backs.

They probably save some money by doing it this way, with the "retread" of one of the card front designs. But I wish they would stop it, or at least use it only rarely. Overuse of the approach makes the decks look a bit shoddy and less than fully creative.

It is really a shame, given the LS card stock quality, general printing quality, etc. I hope they make some changes for their line of decks for 2007!
 

SilverCloudedWolf

The Ramses deck has the Emperor on the back, but the Atlantis has some weird semi-circle and circle design that reminds me of fruit segments. Simple, but it makes me feel odd looking at it. I prefer the mirror image type backs over something original that feels like that.

Silver