Do they still sell uncoated decks?

santasser

My mother had a deck of tarots in the 70s, the standard RW, but the cards were not coated. It was simple card stock. I would like to have a deck like that because I want to distress (falsely or cosmetically age) it.

The ones they make now are laminated with a glossy finish, which is great for shuffling and longevity. But I feel that an aged deck lends a certain "antiquity" that bolsters the authenticity of the reading. (I know others prefer their decks to remain in brand new condition)
 

Grizabella

My decks don't stay pristine because I use them so much. I don't think I'd want to distress one to appear to read more than I do. I think my reading skill should speak for itself. I'm glad for the finish they put on decks now that help them stand up to lots of use because even with that, mine show plenty of use. If they weren't made so well I'd probably have to try to replace them a lot and I can't afford that.
 

3ill.yazi

I still have my first Tarot deck, an RWS purchased around 1980. I cherish it, but I bought a new one because it's pretty had to shuffle without damaging the edges. It feels almost fuzzy to me. I love the lamination of the new ones. The old one doesn't look more professional, but that may be because the aging was done at the hands of a teenager, eg soda and Doritos stains and maybe some, um, faint aroma of, well, I don't think that was sage I was burning.
 

Laura Borealis

My mother had a deck of tarots in the 70s, the standard RW, but the cards were not coated. It was simple card stock. I would like to have a deck like that because I want to distress (falsely or cosmetically age) it.

The ones they make now are laminated with a glossy finish, which is great for shuffling and longevity. But I feel that an aged deck lends a certain "antiquity" that bolsters the authenticity of the reading. (I know others prefer their decks to remain in brand new condition)

If you want to distress a RW, you're probably going to need a vintage one. Fortunately these are not too hard to find on eBay and other places, with a little effort. You have to know what to look for in the listing, because a lot of sellers will cite the 70s copyright date even for more recent decks.

If you don't need it to be a RW, I bet you can find something that would work. I haven't tried to distress one, but the Gamecrafter decks seem to have just a light varnish, and might work for aging. https://www.thegamecrafter.com/tarot

I tried aging a deck once, but it was laminated, which as you've already noted is not suitable! I have a recurring fantasy of just printing out my own on uncoated stock, but till I get a printer that isn't going to happen.

What methods are you planning to use? Aging inks, sanding, tea dunk? This topic always fascinates me. :D
 

VioletEye

well, i remember reading a thread about the abuse one person inflicted on a RWS deck, with impressive results. the deck was dipped in tea, tumbled in a clothes dryer, and run over by a car, if memory serves. and the result was pretty amazing!

http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=158438

though - from the pictures, it does look like it wasn't one of the new new decks, because the cards titles still have the original fonts. but you can pick one of those up on ebay inexpensively.

good luck, and post pictures of your deck!
 

Laura Borealis

I'd forgotten about that one. What fun!
 

Barleywine

well, i remember reading a thread about the abuse one person inflicted on a RWS deck, with impressive results. the deck was dipped in tea, tumbled in a clothes dryer, and run over by a car, if memory serves. and the result was pretty amazing!

http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=158438

though - from the pictures, it does look like it wasn't one of the new new decks, because the cards titles still have the original fonts. but you can pick one of those up on ebay inexpensively.

good luck, and post pictures of your deck!

I had forgotten about this one too, so I went back and took another look. Reminds me of something you'd find under the sofa in Krook's "rag-and-bottle" shop in Dicken's Bleak House.
 

santasser

I tried aging a deck once, but it was laminated, which as you've already noted is not suitable! I have a recurring fantasy of just printing out my own on uncoated stock, but till I get a printer that isn't going to happen.

What methods are you planning to use? Aging inks, sanding, tea dunk? This topic always fascinates me. :D

I use Tim Holz distressing ink, Vintage Photo color specifically. I watched a few videos on youtube to learn how to do it, it's prette easy. I found a site that sells entirely uncoated facsimile decks from the 1600 (regular playing cards), and they re awesome. It's just thick playing card calibre manila paper. I distressed one of the decks and it came out awesome if I do say so myself. But I would really really like to distress an uncoated marseliles deck. I have no idea where I'll find those.

Distressing makes them difficult to shuffle though. You can forget about fanning or any fancy stuff. they are almost useless for playing a real game.
 

Sulis

You can still get those old, unlaminated Rider-Waite-Smith decks on ebay, they come up all the time.
Look for 'Blue box Rider'.. They're lovely.

Note and edited to add: It's not the 'Original Rider Waite' that also comes in a blue box, I'm talking about the '70s version published by Rider and co.. I've added a picture of the box.
 

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santasser

You can still get those old, unlaminated Rider-Waite-Smith decks on ebay, they come up all the time.
Look for 'Blue box Rider'.. They're lovely.

Note and edited to add: It's not the 'Original Rider Waite' that also comes in a blue box, I'm talking about the '70s version published by Rider and co.. I've added a picture of the box.

This is the information I needed. But they're not cheap, at least the ones I've seen.