Best cardstock ?

Carojulie

Hi,

I love, love good cardstock. Good cardstock can make me fall in love with a deck, and a bad or mediocre cardstock can be a deal breaker for me even if I like the imagery.

My favourite decks cardstock-wise are :
The Fountain tarot
The Bohemian Gothic tarot 2d edition
The Wild Unknown tarot 1st edition.

All three have thick, mat cardstock that are a dream to handle, like mat velvet butter..... and the cards even emit a soft "shh-shh-shh" sound when shuffling, like they are wispering for me, I love that. Pure bliss as far as I am concerned.

Further more, this kind of mat cardstock photographs beautifuly, and seems quite resistant to time.

If these three tarot decks are amongst my all time favourites, it is in a significant part due to their stunning cardstock.

This type of cardstock is a little too thick to riffle shuffle, so for those three decks I use overhand shuffle, but that is not a problem for me.
Overhand shuffle is my favorite way of shuffing tarot cards any way, because tarot cards are usually too large for riffleshuffling with my small hands, and also I fear riffle shuffle will damage the cards in the long run. So I reserve riffle shuffle for playing cards, usually.

I bought the 3d edition of the Bohemian Gothic as a "back up", but as much as I enjoy the new lighter version of the images, and as much as I love all decks from Baba Studio, I was immensely disapointed with the new cardstock. Immensely.
Not that the new cardstock is bad (it is actually quite good as thin cardstocks go, and I bet some people will prefer that because it will shuffle better maybe), but I miss so much the luxury feeling that the old cardstock gives me when I handle the cards.

What about you ? what is your favorite type of cardstock ? is cardstock a dealbreaker for you ?
And, for my information, do you know of any other deck with cardstock similar to the three I mentionned ? i would love to know !

Thank you ! Good evening !
Caroline.
 

delinfrey

Best cardstock:

Zirkus Mägi, Limited First Edition
Lynd Ward Tarot
Pagan Otherworlds
Holy Light Tarot

Fountain is also good, and Wild Unknown, but I still find them a bit tricky to shuffle.

There's the Thoth as well...Archeon is wonderful from the mass-produced ones, also Haindl.
 

starlightexp

The Pagan Other Worlds has an amazing card stock

I also love Osvaldo Menegazzi's stocks

The Tyldwick also is swoon worthy


annnnnnd I do love the stock US Games did for the Pixie Lenormand
 

Michellehihi

Vachetta Il Menghello

I've said it before and I am glad to be given another opportunity to share: the Vachetta by Il Meneghello is the best on this whole planet! Really! It is like if you were shuffling whipped cream. I'm not even exagerating, try it! And if you don't have this deck, buy it! The cards are light, light as feather!
 

nisaba

My favourite decks cardstock-wise are :
The Fountain tarot
The Bohemian Gothic tarot 2d edition
The Wild Unknown tarot 1st edition.

I have the last two of these, and I have other decks with what feel like better cardstock to me: my newest deck has Linen-type cardstock with a very thin laminate and quite sharp edges, took a bit of getting-used-to, but I absolutely love it.

I have nearly 200 decks, and by far and away the best cardstock of ALL of them is the Lebanese deck. I take it to Tarot meets all the time, with other decks that are famed for cardstock, and every single person whol touches it, comments on it and it reluctant to give it back just on how it feels: no other deck has ever been as universally loved just for its feel. :)
 

Citrin

Cardstock is never a dealbreaker for me, but of course I do like nice cardstock!

My favorites are:
Fountain Tarot
Prisma Visions Tarot
Serpentfire Tarot

My all time favorite would be the cardstock of an oracle deck, the Animal Kin. :) It's amazing.

I prefer a bit of a thinner cardstock, and really liked the older Llewellyn cardstock (which I know many people disliked hehe), their new one is way too dry and cheap feeling! :(

I know a lot of people love thick cardstock, but I really dislike it. The Starchild Akashic, Wild Unknown first edition, and Lumina Tarot first edition, are all horrible and make my hands hurt. :( They seem luxurious, but to me they're not practical.
 

Sigrdrifa

I really do not like the card stock of Fountain, Wild Unknown, Starchild etc. The deck needs lots of shuffling to break in, otherwise cards keep somewhat sticking together. Also the thick cardstock makes it a big package, which isn't easy to handle with my small hands. I see the paper is of great quality, but I just cannot work with it properly. I prefer Pagan Otherworlds: smooth, not too thick. Regular LoS stock works fine too.
 

Beanfeasa

Pagan otherworlds card stock is amazing, it can survive been vomited on and the subsequent cleaning and disinfecting. Only two backs effected and a couple of fuzzy sides, otherwise, a perfect deck, well it was after a lot of incense.
 

The Happy Squirrel

Bonefire Tarot (self published)

Perfect combo of thickness, size, and matte lamination. Perfect for overhand shuffling especially if you hands are small!

Pagan Otherworlds:

On first sight it looks like an ordinary linen laminated cardstock but as I riffle shuffled it (and I am not a very good riffle shuffler), I can feel how amazing the cardstock is. Not only are they flexible enough they also bounced back resulting in NO bowing or bending after several riffling. I am guessing it is something in the core of the cardstock that makes this difference. Just amazing.

Starchild:

I am not a fan of the deck, but the satin matte lamination, the thickness, the antiqued gold gilding... The gilding is not technically the cardstock but there it is

The Wild Unknown:

A bit weird to shuffle with as it makes that hshsh shshs sound and feel but once you get over that, the first cardstock of its kind and it is still reigning high on lists of amazing cardstocks.

Tarot of Prague (2nd ed? The latest one):

Satin matte finish, great thickness, great hand feel, great to over hand shuffle (I will never riffle this). It feels luxurious. Very close to Starchild maybe not as thick?

The Urban Tarot (self published):

Wonderfully slippery and smooth against each other amazing to fan out, but matte at the same time and of the right thickness to shuffle anyway you want.
 

Carojulie

Best cardstock:

Zirkus Mägi, Limited First Edition
Lynd Ward Tarot
Pagan Otherworlds
Holy Light Tarot

Fountain is also good, and Wild Unknown, but I still find them a bit tricky to shuffle.

There's the Thoth as well...Archeon is wonderful from the mass-produced ones, also Haindl.

Hi, I have my eye on the Lynd Ward tarot ! It looks like a stunning deck !

I already have a deck from Duck Soup productions, it is the Arthur Rackham oracle (I love it).
From the shop description, it seems like the cardstock is the same than the LyndWard. I like my Rackham oracle cardstock (thin but strong, linen-like, shuffles very well, good for riffle shuffle - but cards are a little to large for riffle shuffle for me)
I do like that kind of linen cardstock, but I admit that my favourite cardstock is much thicker.
Thick but very fine, if that makes sense. Like the Wild Unknown 1st edition. I know some people do not like it very much because it is not the best shuffler, but to me, the feeling of soft luxury that it gives me... it is really my favourite.