didnt get the Thoth I ordered, should I keep it anyway?

I have a swiss *blue box* copy of the Aleister Crowley Thoth deck. I got this deck last year sometime. It was interesting because when I first saw the Thoth deck I did not like how it looked. Then one day I saw some pictures of a Thoth deck online somewheres that had a really cool shade of green on the boarders and a green tint to the pictures. Im not a huge fan of green but there was something about the way they looked that to me just made the artwork POP and I fell in love with the deck.

So Ok I ended up with the grey bordered swiss copy instead. That was ok. Once in my hands I found that I liked them but I was always searching for the green bordered Thoth. Of course in my research I found out they were misprints, the 'Greenie/Greene' decks and some people hated them and some loved them.. to each their own.

I found an auction on eBay that had the Thoth white box C and everything in the description told me from what I had researched that this was the infamous 'greenie' deck so I hit BIN on a copy (they had multiples). They were listed as new/sealed (to all appearances 'dead stock') and the price was for what a present deck would go for. *shrug* hey there are people that dont know what they are selling on eBay so who was I to look a gift horse in the mouth?

I got the deck in today. Its the US Games green bordered /box/, GIANT cards instead, sealed and copyrighted 2006. Not at all what they advertised. Nothing close to it. I had considered getting a giant thoth deck for study/meditation and such but this is not what I was led to believe I was buying and not really what I wanted, at least right now. Oddly enough I also got in some velvet bags I had ordered that by chance fit this deck perfectly....

Maybe Im grasping at straws here but I gotta wonder just /why/ I got the deck I got (besides a shifty seller)... should I keep it or send them back for a refund and just suck it up one of these days and fork out the $$$$ most people want for a Greenie deck? Just curious on thoughts and opinions on this.

If you're going to study the Thoth, you really need a large deck to appreciate the details. I'd say keep the deck, but give the seller negative feedback for his misrepresentation. And continue to search for the perfect greenie.

This is a hard one to call, if you take to the Thoth then you would probably have ended up getting a larger Thoth and the greenbox Thoth is a nice one but you and presumably others who bidded thought they were getting a white box greenie. I would have been very disappointed especially as the description was of the white box greenie.

Have you got in touch with the seller yet? He must know that he isn't selling the white box greenie, the colour of the box would have given it away LOL And the fact that he had so many of them sealed, you'd probably search for years and not get one sealed.

I was lucky to stumble across mine in a second hand shop quite a few years ago and I didn't know what I'd got, except all the pics I'd seen of the Thoth online made it out to be a lot more colourful with no green tinge - so I had to research then found out what it was.

I suppose you could always report him. You bidded and paid in good faith and haven't got what was described.

I think you answered your own question:
"not really what I wanted"
You were mislead, so go through the trouble, and contact the seller.
If you have mixed feelings about it, you'll always look at the Deck as the wrong Deck , that it was supposed to be the other one.

I see you say they had multiple copies. Others may fall into the same trap. Tell us here who the seller was (so nobody else makes the same mistake!) and put it in the feedback on ebay. Worst thing you can say; item not as described.

I have noticed that it is not uncommon to find Thoths in different boxes on ebay. I've seen this more than once. I have seen Thoths with (back)borders in Weiser A boxes when they really shouldn't have borders on the back etc etc.

AAAAhhhh I tried to stop myself lol - but couldn't - its a good job I don't order from a certain American auction site - they have a few White Box C greenies and one that is a lot older than that - didn't realise they were that expensive, you must have thought you'd got a bargain.

So your seller probably knew he wasn't selling an original White Box C greenie.

I would just like to add this for anyone who wants a 'white box C' because it's green.

They are not always green.
Some are greener than others, some are not green at all.

So, even if it's in a white USG box and has borderless backs, it's not necessarily green.

I have one like that.

It's quite early judging from the box and the card stock (no LWB came with it), but the borders are grey. Not a hint of green anywhere.

I must say that although I prefer the green borders the colours of the images on the 'Non green Greenie' (as I like to call it) are the brightest and most beautiful of any Thoth I have owned. Which is a few.

If you are looking for a specifically green one you need to be aware of this.

Lillie's right. ALWAYS ask to see a scan of the cards if you are after a greenie.

At this point I would keep the large one, contact the seller and leave negative feedback for it being the wrong item (or see if they will at least give you a discount for their mistake) and look for a greenie on the trading post and ask for pictures before committing to it. I have seen them up there, so just keep your eyes peeled. You can always contact Tarot Garden, as well, and see if Jeannette can scurry one up for you. She is very good at that!

Thanks for all the replies! I did contact the seller and heard back pretty fast. I mentioned in my email that they can not just put any stock thoth deck pic and copyright up in their auction and then just send out what they have. Without going into detail I explained that there are several different 'runs' of this deck and some are different from others. (I know I am no expert with the different printings of the Thoth, thats quite a topic from what little Ive seen ^_^ but even I knew what they did was wrong. I kept my comments in my email rather neutral in that regard though). They said I was right, apologized and they would be happy to refund me upon deck return.

I think that is the way I will go (though I suppose $26 and some change (shipping included in price) was an ok price for a sealed giant thoth hehe)... It not being what I wanted and the comment about it always feeling like the 'wrong deck' was dead on the mark with me. I want to get to know my present Thoth before I make the commitment to a giant meditation deck I think before I end up with one.

Now in all fairness the seller didn't say this was a greenie deck. But the box they showed indicated that it was. They had I think 8 copies and I doubt I was the only one who felt it was a greenie. All 8 copies sold ASAP and one poor bidder bought 3 copies of it. And there really are sellers who dont know what they have on eBay. Its not so much the case anymore but it still happens. I got a book valued $250 dollar (book value in 07) vintage Taxco ring for $12 two years ago because the seller just didnt know what they had. And it was genuine.

And to comment on remarks about different shades of green. I discovered that too in my seach on eBay (that led me to the misrepresented auction). There was one deck the seller described as a real vivid green and then another auction that had them a rather pale green. The deck I saw online last year showed cards a rather vivid deepish green. That is the color Im trying to track down. I think that will make my search even harder I suppose LOL

Here is the auction I and a few others got duped on:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130389394333&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

The deck came from an american business/location though.

I was also not aware that not all decks in that box were green!!! Oiy!! I think I will forgo trying to get a sealed one and definitely make sure I see scans of the cards before I make a future commitment to a 'claimed' Greenie thoth deck! It was an adventure getting the one Swiss copy I do have of the thoth and then this happened. For some odd reason this deck seems to be very difficult for me to get but yet this giant one just came to me no problem...