Technical Aspects of the Gothic

Alissa

This is interesting, it's the first time I've heard of this deck being on a thick stock. I remember reading others speak of thin cardstock in the past. When *did* you buy yours, U?

Mine do *not* crease while shuffling.

I do hope others will offer their own Gothic deck descriptions to the discussion.
 

Umbrae

Side note: I love my deck, and you can have it (when you can pry it from my cold dead fingers...).

I got my deck on May 9th 2003.
 

Alissa

You bought yours appr. 7 months before me. Could very well have been another run done in that time, such as it sounds.

I think you have a "rare" original version of the deck, U.
 

schuldich_sunde

heh, fascinating stuff. i'm due to get my deck in maybe...2 weeks? so when i do, i'll describe the deck for you. most likely, it'll be Alissa's type so it's not like you all have to wait in suspense for the answer. :p

thanx for the technicals though~ has made me thought of getting a back-up deck of gothic just in case ^_^
 

schuldich_sunde

heh. did i say 2 weeks? actually i got them today!!! :p i agree the cardstock is a lil thin and they tend to shuffle in like small clumps of 5 cards. -_-' big for my small hands but i can manage without looking too much like a fool. they all look pretty good except for a smidgen here and there. but that can be easily covered up with black marker. the only thing that really bothers me is the factory smell which is really strong. >.< bleh. i'm keeping some incense near the cloth i wrapped them with to try to get rid of the smell.

so anyways, i'm very excited to actually be able to contribute to the gothic study group~~ ^_^
 

Alissa

So glad you got your cards so quickly! They're worth the wait... but less of a wait is MORE time to spend shuffling your lovelies.

The factory smell will go away quickly. I don't even remember mine having an odor, so I'm sure as you air it out, and a little incense is nice, that will help with any chemical smells.

I think we've discovered that there was an early run of this deck with thick cardstock, such as Umbrae has, and that this was replaced with a thinner cardstock, as an improvement on the creasing and shuffling issues, for future runs.

I wish WolfyJ was here... she could tell us when she bought hers and what hers are like.....
 

WolfyJames

Sorry for not replying sooner, but I've been busy as a bee lately. I got my Vargo in November 2003, almost a year ago. My deck did stink for months when I got it. The stock is thin and fragile, but obviously thicker than paper. I'm always worried I might fold one card accidently. The cards do wear off, but maybe it's because the cards are black and the scratches show off more easily. I don't use The Gothic as often as Alissa though. I got Madame Eudora's Fortune Cards and the deck at the same time and the cards are the same as The Gothic. I did check the thickness and it's a bit less than 3 cm large.

Because of the deck's fragility, and my love for it, and also because it's an independant and small company that might not sell the deck for years and years like a big one, I bought a second deck a few months ago. As for the new deck, it stinks like the one I bought almost a year ago. It has the same stock as the one I have, thin 3 cm large. I don't see any difference between my deck and the new one I bought.

And yes, my advice for those who love The Gothic is to buy a second deck while they are still selling them.
 

6 Haunted Days

WolfyJames said:
Sorry for not replying sooner, but I've been busy as a bee lately. I got my Vargo in November 2003, almost a year ago. My deck did stink for months when I got it. The stock is thin and fragile, but obviously thicker than paper. I'm always worried I might fold one card accidently. The cards do wear off, but maybe it's because the cards are black and the scratches show off more easily. I don't use The Gothic as often as Alissa though. I got Madame Eudora's Fortune Cards and the deck at the same time and the cards are the same as The Gothic. I did check the thickness and it's a bit less than 3 cm large.

Because of the deck's fragility, and my love for it, and also because it's an independant and small company that might not sell the deck for years and years like a big one, I bought a second deck a few months ago. As for the new deck, it stinks like the one I bought almost a year ago. It has the same stock as the one I have, thin 3 cm large. I don't see any difference between my deck and the new one I bought.

And yes, my advice for those who love The Gothic is to buy a second deck while they are still selling them.

I know this comment is coming from like 2 years in the past, but I just wanted too add that I ordered mine about 3 weeks ago from Monolithic Graphics and it took this long because they were doing another print run. So years later still more runs, which is good. Obviously this deck has been very well recieved!
 

yaraluna

what if when i get the deck i get it laminated. it sounds like this deck is very similar, if not the same, in stock as my mythic deck.

do you think the lamination would be good and would help?
thanks
 

Alissa

I've never laminated a deck, I'm not sure how it would effect shuffling, etc.

Once upon a time, many years ago, Umbrae and I joked that we were going to manufacture the first set of Tarot cards designed for hot tub use... and that we'd laminate them. :)

To my knowledge, there are no immediate plans to dscontinue the production of the Gothic Tarot deck. I believe they have had about 5 runs (?) thus far, and will most likely continue to produce the decks for many years.