Dame Darcy Mermaid ver. 3

Madrigal

I just watched the video and didn't see enough cards to warrant buying the third deck. In fact I think I prefer the second one to this newer version.
 

auntie

I bought the third edition and compared the cards side by side. I think the new version is better! I find all the art in the 22 new cards improved - richer, more original and still specific in illustrating the traditional meaning of the cards. There was maybe 1, possibly 2 cards at most where I was torn for a minute over the new art. A lot of the new cards incorporate mixed ethnicity and add some more color but I like how they mix in. And I'm perfectly happy not to see all white mermaids with the same big gratuitous boobs. I barely see a negigible difference between what people are calling this new "sepia" tone, and the old. It's most prominent on The Fool - the 2nd edition Fool was slightly whiter, but it seems she's evened out the tone over the whole deck, which works nicely.

Whoever says that some of the old cards are "blurrier" in this new edition doesn't have the 2nd to compare it to - they were like that then. It never bothered me, as it evokes photos of tattoo art - and while I was never bothered by the borders being uneven in the old edition - perhaps it's because they're hand drawn - I'm perfectly happy she's evened them out. The titles, numbers, and signatures on the cards are also hand drawn, in different places, within the artwork - she put them where she wanted to aesthetically, and I appreciate that. In fact, I far prefer it to the uniform borders and computer font titles the big publishing companies use. And what's really nice, is that if you have both editions and you prefer some cards to others, you can mix from each deck - the backs on both editions are the same.

I have many many Tarot decks, but Rider Waite Smith is my go-to, and in my opinion this deck is one of the best clones ever for the combination of beauty AND USE. I think $38 is really a fair price. And I take no issue with Darcy having redrawn some images from the LoScarabeo deck in her past editions, probably for the same reason LoS had no problem. This is technically NOT copyright infringement - because she redrew them by hand and changed them. I imagine she had a LoS deck and thought "yuck, I could do better than this" and that may be how this deck came about. And those same LoS images are mostly just reinterpretations of the Rider Waite using mermaids in their usual style.

I have all 3 editions of this deck, and I'm now happily moving from using the 2nd edition to the third, and I if I pick up a "back-up," it will be 3rd edition - that's how happy I am with it. If you want to see the 2 decks side by side, just watch the youtube video, but be aware that the difference in lightness or brightness of overall tone in the two decks is probably due to poor lighting. I think she must have a lamp on the left side because I looked at mine in broad daylight and there's no difference, for instance, between those 2 Emperor cards. Or perhaps there were several printings of the 2nd edition and hers is lighter than mine? Anyway, for whatever reasons, Dame Darcy decided to redraw the cards she wasn't happy with for this edition, and I think it's an improvement.
 

Sigrdrifa

Thanks for writing this comparison!

Whoever says that some of the old cards are "blurrier" in this new edition doesn't have the 2nd to compare it to - they were like that then.

It's true, I don't have the 2nd version. I didn't mean the whole deck has become blurrier. I meant the 22 (or is it 21?) redrawn cards look crispier, with sharper lines, and compared to those the cards with 'old' artwork seem blurrier.

I barely see a negigible difference between what people are calling this new "sepia" tone, and the old. It's most prominent on The Fool - the 2nd edition Fool was slightly whiter, but it seems she's evened out the tone over the whole deck, which works nicely. [...] If you want to see the 2 decks side by side, just watch the youtube video, but be aware that the difference in lightness or brightness of overall tone in the two decks is probably due to poor lighting. I think she must have a lamp on the left side because I looked at mine in broad daylight and there's no difference, for instance, between those 2 Emperor cards. Or perhaps there were several printings of the 2nd edition and hers is lighter than mine?

Again, I only have the 3rd version. When I compare the cards I have to any picture of the deck online (which are all pictures of the 2nd version) those pictures show whiter cards. I had thought too it could be a light thing, until I saw the video. Emperor is a dark card to begin with, but look for example at the Star, the 7/pents and queen/swords. Background blues seem less bright.

Overall I'm very happy with my 3rd version. My initial slight diappointment came from expecting a whiter, less blurry deck, but now I've worked with it I see it reads like a dream ^^
 

mydearruby

here are some cards from 3rd (left) and 2nd (right) editions for comparison for those who are interested. I don't know if Dame Darcy used a home printer or not. But I have two copies of the 2nd editions and even their colors come out differently.
 

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G6

Hmm, I was wondering about the 3rd edition. It's an improvement that the yellow aging filter on top of the art seems to be gone, but the borders still look messed up like some cards have a full white border with black outline and some don't. That's something that bugged me in the 2nd edition. As a result I had to trim the whole deck, which made it rather ununiform in size, and unfun to shuffle. Oh well, maybe a publisher will pick it up and do a better job with the printing.
 

G6

here are some cards from 3rd (left) and 2nd (right) editions for comparison for those who are interested. I don't know if Dame Darcy used a home printer or not. But I have two copies of the 2nd editions and even their colors come out differently.

From her Etsy account it says this about the Edition #3:

"This is Edition #3 with 22 brand new illustrations and an added limited edition water spell card! After 4 years of selling this deck there were a few things we wanted to update. This new edition includes even more diversity than the last! We've also fixed a few bleeding border issues with the last print so all the frames are exactly the same size, thin, AND the same color!"

ETA: Looks like new Edition #3 is on the left.
 

G6

I like the new cards in Edition #3 better and even borders YAY! Not crazy about the aging filter. Always seems like a cheap trick that degrades the original artwork. Guess you can't have everything. I will likely get Edition #3 at some point because right now I'm using my 1st Edition. I had to trim my 1st Edition to remedy uneven borders, which made for a pretty uneven deck to shuffle.
 

delinfrey

I just received my copy from Little Red Tarot.

The printing quality is seriously horrible. If the Etsy page says that previous printing quality issues have been fixed, I don't even want to know what the previous editions were like.

I have a very poorly printed Chilean deck, and this one is even worse. The images are grainy to the extent that they are blurry, it looks like a cheap bootleg deck. Even the backs of the cards are grainy and blurry and pixelated!

I was really looking forward to getting this deck, and I love the artwork, but oh my god it is completely unusable with this quality...
 

gregory

Hm. The etsy page is all about the 3rd edition ON PREORDER. Does this mean it has changed AGAIN ? SA in there are TWO third editions (Little Red still has the 3rd edition in stock... so what does she have there ?)
 

delinfrey

gregory, I've ordered what was supposed to be the 3rd edition - if they have fixed something, I expect them to send a replacement copy for those who have the current one. This is very subpar for any deck, but particularly a crafted indie deck. I will try to post pictures of HOW blurry it is later...