Morgan Greer, glossy Italian printing

[1Eleven]

My deck is from Amazon and has the Queen of Swords on the front of the box and Chariot on the back - it's a matte finish. The copyright on the box and lwb is 1979, 2010 U.S. Games. Made in China. I'm not sure if this helps but want to point that out in case anyone is ordering from Amazon.

Jon

[Bhavana]

Originally Posted by Tarotwolf

All the new decks have what you refer to as a glossy finish. The vintage decks printed by Morgan Press have the silky smooth matte finish (IMO the best finish by far). Keep an eye on E-bay and you can get a nice used copy for $20 or so. I have 6 or 7 different versions of this deck and most of the variations are simply in the boxes.

yeah, I been keeping too many eyes on ebay. I am out of control. This is the 4th deck - no wait, the 5th - I bought this week - and only one of them was actually on my current wishlist.
....somebody stop me!!!......

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...ht_1007wt_1185

I just hope "good condition" means what it sounds like.

As for the new decks, Tarotwolf, yes, they are ALL glossy compared to the older Morgan Press decks - but there is a difference in the glossiness, some is all out mirror like - I mean, you can practically see your reflection in the cards. And some is more like a satin-matte. The latter is what I prefer. But I am excited to get this Morgan Press edition. I haven't seen any for this low of a price, though - not for $20, anyway - so I thought I'd jump on this one. Maybe the cards are better than "good" condition. The box in the photo looks better than some new deck boxes I have!

[Bhavana]

Originally Posted by 1Eleven

My deck is from Amazon and has the Queen of Swords on the front of the box and Chariot on the back - it's a matte finish. The copyright on the box and lwb is 1979, 2010 U.S. Games. Made in China. I'm not sure if this helps but want to point that out in case anyone is ordering from Amazon.

Jon

this is the one I have, Jon, which I got from the BookDepository....so it's safe to say that in the past year, this is the version both of them are selling.

[Winterchild]

I just googled and found this:

http://www.astroamerica.com/t-morg2.html

This seems to be the Italian printed deck.... my deck is about ten years old and I would say has a satin finish, it was printed in Belgium and has much brighter colours than this one shown on the above link. The author of the article says the colours are accurate though for his deck. Mine too says copyright 1979 US Games, so I guess this is when it was first introduced.

[Bhavana]

Originally Posted by Winterchild

I just googled and found this:

http://www.astroamerica.com/t-morg2.html

This seems to be the Italian printed deck.... my deck is about ten years old and I would say has a satin finish, it was printed in Belgium and has much brighter colours than this one shown on the above link. The author of the article says the colours are accurate though for his deck. Mine too says copyright 1979 US Games, so I guess this is when it was first introduced.

And this may be the Italian in video - not only is it glassy shiny, it also appears that the cards are much thinner - more like the newer RW and Universal Waite, and all of the other Italian printed USG decks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8ux5QhvSF0


and here is a 1st edition for sale in Australia --
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Morgan-Greer...#ht_2411wt_905

[Chiriku]

Jon, thanks for the info.

Originally Posted by Bhavana

And this may be the Italian in video - not only is it glassy shiny, it also appears that the cards are much thinner - more like the newer RW and Universal Waite, and all of the other Italian printed USG decks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8ux5QhvSF0

Well, that solves the mystery of the box: it's The Chariot on one side, Queen of Swords on the other.

And that's just the level of glossiness Le Fanu's posts have led me to expect (speaking of which, LF, thank you kindly; I ordered from Amazon this morning and shall keep the thread abreast of which incarnation of this deck appears in my figurative postbox.)

[Le Fanu]

Originally Posted by Chiriku

And that's just the level of glossiness Le Fanu's posts have led me to expect....

Oh please don't blame me for any disappointment...

[Chiriku]

I never blame you. Those who have such facility with language and with the imagery of words that they can make the very idea of a deck (or a book or a song or a wallet or any other thing) come alive for me, get an automatic free pass from post-enabling blame.

To paraphrase Eliza Doolittle's father, I'm waitin'-ta be enabled; I'm wantin'-ta. Those who rise, beautifully, to the challenge, shall never suffer for kindling that want in me.

In fact, the best quality enabling can not only turn me sweet on something that I otherwise wouldn't have given a second thought to; it can also keep me sweet on it, even long after I've experienced the thing for myself and found it otherwise lacking. Such is the power of words, wielded well. To those who are receptive to them, anyway.

[Chiriku]

And anyway,

It's cowardly to blame anyone for having been an enabler. People want to be enabled; don't let them lie to you or themselves after the fact. Anyone who has been successfully enabled was already halfway there to begin with; they were just waiting for the final push. We are wantons.

[Chiriku]

Amazon.com delivered to me a decidedly non-glossy Morgan Greer. I would even go so far as to call it downright matte. The cards in that video Bhavana linked to were most assuredly glossier than these.

I purposely used flash in one of the photos to demonstrate how no hint of sheen or glossiness causes the light to ricochet off the surface of the cards. Also, observe how saturated are the colors in the glossy postcard I provided for reference, as compared with the matte cardstock of the MG.

It was printed inChina; I have provided a picture of the ISBN. Also, please note that the box was indeed the dual-sided Queen of Swords/The Chariot one.

Ironically, the box is the glossiest I can remember seeing on a tarot box in a good while, if ever.