Are there any cards you check before getting a deck?

SashaCY

Annabelle said:
I like to see at least a few of the minor cards (any suit), in order to tell if the minors are scenic. Sometimes a deck's description and packaging is deceptive in this regard -- showing some of the majors and courts, and conveniently leaving out the fact that the minors are very plain.

Otherwise, there's no specific card that I "must" see before buying a deck. I prefer to leave myself open to being pleasantly surprised by an artist's talent and vision .

One thing that will put me off a deck, though, is if I see a lot of blood and violence in multiple cards.

Yes.... I love minors that are descriptive too. I love to see stories unfold in front of my eyes

SashaCY

nisaba said:
No. In fact, I find that a bit princessy. What, a given card has to be just right, for you to like a deck?

Back in the Bad Old Days of the 1980s when I started buying extra decks, there was no such luxury. You got to see the cards they reproduced on the back and front of the box, and a few decks reproduced some cards on the sides, too. That was it - the decks would be shrink-wrapped.

Buying Tarot was more fun, then. Now, you've seen all the cards that matter to you before you buy the deck, so it's pretty ho-hum. Back then, you'd buy a deck off the shelf, and take it home, peel off the shrink-wrapping, and almost every single card would be a lovely surprise.

We really enjoyed buying back then, and no deck was a disappointment, just delighted surprise. In this day of people poring over scanned images of many of the cards before buying, people complain that they are disappointed all the time.

Princessy... Loved the word!!!

RiverRunsDeep

I have a few favorite cards (Hermit, Death, Moon), but I don't usually
check them until AFTER I purchase a deck. I don't buy decks because
of certain cards, I buy them because of their theme, artistic style, personal
appeal, etc.

And I ,too, miss the days of buying decks from bookstores and catalogues.
Yes, actual paper catalogues! :bugeyed:

Not knowing what all of the cards looked like was a part of the "mystery".

Padma

SashaCY said:
Before i get a deck I love to check some cards... I used to be very impressed by death and the tower so I liked tarota that wouldn't be too scary when it came to those two cards.
Now I check also the lovers... I like the lovers to be enchanting...
Are there cards you check before choosing a deck?

All of them

I am picky, so I need to be able to relate to most of the cards in a deck. The Majors though are more important than the minors.

INIVEA

Le Fanu said:
Yes, nisaba, most definitely yes.

I am quite amazed at how often we get people specifying exactly how cards must be. Whatever happened to an artist's vision, and trying to understand a given slant which might be a bit alarming at first sight? I check cards but often buy decks anyway just because I may come round to what the artist is trying to convey. It may depict an aspect I had never thought of.

I think it's pretty symptomatic that many/some people want cards to reflect exactly what they already think. Isn't that odd? I have been guilty in that I don't like touchy-feely/ rainbow pinky lovely-dovey Death and 10 of Swords cards - but generally, if a card has been revisioned, I'll work at it. It's very very rare for me not to get a deck because of one card. I certainly wouldn't expect to see all cards before buying.

I agree. There was this deck that I viewed many years ago, wish I could remember the name of it. anyways the 3 of swords, depicted a person walking down a path or stairs with the swords aligning the path.

for me my favorite cards are the 3 of swords, 9 of swords, 10 of swords, the hierophant and the 2 of pentacles.

Lareia

Le Fanu said:
Yes, nisaba, most definitely yes.

I am quite amazed at how often we get people specifying exactly how cards must be. Whatever happened to an artist's vision, and trying to understand a given slant which might be a bit alarming at first sight? I check cards but often buy decks anyway just because I may come round to what the artist is trying to convey. It may depict an aspect I had never thought of.

I think it's pretty symptomatic that many/some people want cards to reflect exactly what they already think. Isn't that odd? I have been guilty in that I don't like touchy-feely/ rainbow pinky lovely-dovey Death and 10 of Swords cards - but generally, if a card has been revisioned, I'll work at it. It's very very rare for me not to get a deck because of one card. I certainly wouldn't expect to see all cards before buying.

Wanting to see all cards before buying != wanting a deck that only comforms to how you see the cards.

I am on a very tight budget. Buying a tarot deck almost certainly means that I will not be able to buy other things I would like. Why, then, should I buy a deck blindly risking that I won't like it or won't want to read with for whatever reason? I don't want to have to go through the hassle of selling it to recover my money. So what's the point of buying blindly when a preview option exists? That feeling of pleasant surprise nisaba mentioned? I have no need for that. I'd much rather avoid bad surprises.

And yes. I have dealbreakers. That doesn't mean I want all artists to just depict my interpretation. I want an interpretation of those cards that I can relate to because they have personal meaning to me. I imagine it's like that for many other people with dealbreakers as well.

nisaba

SashaCY said:
Princessy... Loved the word!!!

My spellchecker didn't. It kept trying to change it on me, about four times.

nisaba

Lareia said:
So what's the point of buying blindly when a preview option exists? That feeling of pleasant surprise nisaba mentioned? I have no need for that. I'd much rather avoid bad surprises.

But that was just my point. Back when you didn't have an option to look inside a deck unless you had X-ray eyes, there WERE no bad surprises at all. Even decks that I no longer use were exciting and delightful to open, every single one of them. And no, I didn't buy every deck on the shelf - you could tell quite easily from the artwork on the box whether you were going to like the creator's artistic style. Two pictures is plenty, for that.

We've since been spoilt.

SwordOfTruth

My current tarot purchase I just chose it based on the box, which depicts five of the cards, all minors and one major. It was enough for me to realise I liked the artistic style of the deck. I didn't bother googling the deck to see them all before purchasing. I waited until I got home to check each card out in person. I wasn't disappointed at all.

Le Fanu

Lareia said:
I am on a very tight budget. Buying a tarot deck almost certainly means that I will not be able to buy other things I would like. Why, then, should I buy a deck blindly risking that I won't like it or won't want to read with for whatever reason? I don't want to have to go through the hassle of selling it to recover my money. So what's the point of buying blindly when a preview option exists? That feeling of pleasant surprise nisaba mentioned? I have no need for that. I'd much rather avoid bad surprises.

The original post - and certainly my response - was to do with a decision based on imagery and artwork and the respective choices. If it's a money question, that's another debate entirely. Of course, if you don't have much money, you don't buy so many decks. I get that.

Are there any cards you check before getting a deck?

SashaCY

SashaCY

RiverRunsDeep

Padma

INIVEA

Lareia

nisaba

nisaba

SwordOfTruth

Le Fanu