What Thoth deck to buy?

If you want a reading deck, I will agree the standard lavender box issue is probably the best for many people.

If you're like me, and like larger cards, or are doing an in depth study, I'd get the AG Muller, or a NEW US Games, after what I've been hearing. (I just got the AGM this week - I've been using the icky green, and the colors are SO much better.....)

I have both, just because I might use the Thoth as a reading deck with others, and most people don't like using such large cards.

VGimlet said:

If you want a reading deck, I will agree the standard lavender box issue is probably the best for many people.

Click to expand...

I have that one too. Very nice! Although, I would very much like a larger copy. There is so much detail in these cards!

Emily said:

Rusty Neon,

The large cards you mention the new version green US Games box with AG Muller cards inside - is this the Weiser publishers?

I have the new green box, the cards are as vivid as the standard lavender box Thoth but the cards have AG Muller on the backside and the LWB is published by US Games. These cards are at least £10 pounds cheaper than the blue box AG Muller version but the colours are so bright and clear. I'm not sure which version deck I have.

Click to expand...

I have the new green box US Games as well. The cards have "(c)1996 AGMüller" on the back and the LWB is published by Carta Mundi / Urania / AG Müller and not by US Games. (On the other hand, the LWB with my lavender US Games box is by US Games and includes the Harris museum exhibit brochures contents.) If you got the AG Muller copyright cards but the US Games LWB, perhaps you have some 'intermediate' new stock green box US Games version, i.e., AG Muller cards but with US Games still using up the US Games LWBs that were still left over??.

Here's a chart:

This gives descriptions:
http://www.learntarot.com/acdesc.htm

Maybe this helps? If you give us the ISBN of the two editions you are looking at, we can check our boxes and report back.

There's several printed versions out there and I'm afraid a first time buyer can be very confused, especially since sometimes even the nice new age stores have sample boxes of old editions.

My very first Thoth was the one reported by Tarotpassages.com and it has by far the best printing, best gray borders, front and back and titles and everything. It comes in a blue box. I noticed on Amazon.com, there is used edition with 'like new' available by Awesome Books available for $15.00

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0880794690/ref=nosim/aeclectic/

You can email the vendor and ask them if it is the blue box, if that is what you want. The more expensive option to me is to buy the set with Gerd Ziglar's book and use the deck...if you were new to Thoth, it's kind of nice to get the meditative slant of Ziglar's book first. Some people seem to have been affected first by hearing bad press or similar unfortunate experiences...and when they get a funny printed edition, they're even more spooked.

I have other editions as well...but collecting different sizes or colorings for creative readings or travel is different if you are just looking for a nice set to start.

Best wishes,

Cerulean Mari

P.S. to my last post:

I just noticed that there is an ISBN noted on AG Muller LWB that came with the AG Muller cards in the new-stock green US Games box. The ISBN on the LWB is different from the one on the box, and in fact, my google search shows that the ISBN on the LWB corresponds to the ISBN of the large size blue box AG Muller Thoth deck.

My word!

I was hoping for a simple answer, with a clear choice evident so I myself did not have to think too much. Sadly I knew (good old subconcious) that I'd end up with quite a job on my hands at the end desciding on what deck to get.

Many thanks for all your help and thoughts, as there is not better information than that given by the very people who use these tools in their own lives.

How about I make this easy for you? Buy both the Green US games version and the Lavender US games version. I only bought the Lavender version because my income is limited (I am 15, what can I say?). But, If you have to buy one before the other, just find which one makes more sense to you.

I am going to take my own advice and buy a second larger copy of the Thoth deck. I can only order online throught barnes and noble, so I was wondering, is this a deck that resembles the large US games version? (NON-Icky green, Large)?

The link is:

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?ISBN=0913866156&pdf=y&userid=UM7ppLd9If

That could be it Rusty Neon, Maybe they were just using up old stock LWB's.

The cards do have 1996 AGMuller on the back, the LWB is US Games, like yours, with the essays and footnotes by Stuart Kaplan, the ISBN is different to the box.

The box has Samuel Weiser, Belgium on it - no mention of either US Games or AG Muller lol - But I do know that I had to search for this green box edition on Amazon UK because the picture they have is the white box version. I ordered it because for a large deck it was alot cheaper than the blue box AG Muller version.

I feel lucky now that I ended up with a none-green vibrant deck lol

Hi TaranRavenFrost,

Just followed that link to Barnes and Noble and they have my large Thoth there for $18.00. I've only ever seen my none-green version, my large green version (white box), the lavender standard version and the pocket Thoth. I'd love to know if the US Games version is any brighter or vibrant than the Weiser edition.