I like the look of the large size edition !
I have the small edition of this deck, and I like it a lot. I like the dominent blue, that gives a calming effect in a spread, and the joyous, almost frivolous feeling of this deck.
I agree with what many people said earlier in the discussion : the Distant past is not a rival to the Touchstone tarot even if both are born of a similar technique. The two decks have a very different energy to them : the Touchstone is more static, immobile, indoor, earthy, brown.... whereas the Distant Past has an outdoor feel to it, more breezy, more light, and so blue.
The Touchstone reminds me of paintings from Georges de la Tour, and the Distant Past reminds me of paintings from Vigee -Lebrun.
I have several decks that are based on portraits like this one (the Golden tarot, the Touchstone, the Distant Past, the Timeless tarot, the Decadent Dream tarot) and I feel like all of them have a different energy. I like the Timeless tarot because its energy is well balanced (a little like if it were the child of the Touchstone and the Distant Past !), but the light, airy, blue feeling of the Distant Past is unique.
Also, I love that the Distant Past tarot is so easy to read. The cards are very representative of the RWS magery, and It is obvious at a glance what card you are looking at, whithout having to read the titles - which makes it very comfortable to read for someone who is used to the RS system.
It is also handy to use when you read for people who are not acquainted with tarot, and who might get freaked out by "scary" cards, because in this deck, no card is downright terrifying (The artist says that she make it for her child, that makes total sense) It is nice to have at least one deck like that in a collection !
Sometimes I like decks that are less obvious and give me more of a challenge ; but other times, a comfortable deck, fresh and light like this one, is very nice.
I only have the small version (the only version that was available at the time I got the deck) but thanks to this thread, I see that it now comes in three sizes !
I am very tempted to get the large format, the images must be stunning in large size - though I feel guilty of overindulging myself here, since I already have a version of this deck... and also the shipping costs to France are high...
I would love to have the opinion of people who have the large size : how is the cardstock ? I am a little crazy about cardstocks, I love good cardstock, especially thicker and mat cardstock. If this large edition has a very good cardstock, it can become a serious temptation to me.... on the other way, if the cardstock is barely "normal", that might help me resist !
And for those of you who have it in two sizes, could you tell me which one you use most ?
Thank you !