[liveandbloom]

Originally Posted by painty

Ahh, this looks like just what i was searching for! I really wanted a deck that stays as close to the RWS but with clearer lines and closer to the original colours. Thank you so much! I had never heard of this version and doesn't really show up in searches for the RWS.
I have now ordered and am looking forward to learning with them

I was distracted by shoddy coloring and line work, too, and this is the deck I settled on. I am happy with it. Hope it works for you.

To note, the card stock is heavy, and I find it a little hard to do a clean riffle with them, so I tend to do washes or gentle weaves.

[painty]

Originally Posted by liveandbloom

I was distracted by shoddy coloring and line work, too, and this is the deck I settled on. I am happy with it. Hope it works for you.

To note, the card stock is heavy, and I find it a little hard to do a clean riffle with them, so I tend to do washes or gentle weaves.

Thank you. Deck delivered today. Just went through, comparing with my original rws. All i can say is WOW! These cards are so much clearer. The colours are a lot smoother and subtle which i love. I hadnt noticed before but my original rws colours almost make it look cartoony in comparison. The centennial colours are definitely not as bright but this adds to the quality of the deck, giving it a real old school feel to them.
The cards that annoyed me before (mainly pentacles) are so much clearer and lines better defined. Love this centennial deck already!

[blueeyetea]

I have all three RWS decks, and although I learned with the Universal Waite, I later got the RWS in the yellow box, for the main reason that some of the facial expressions are not the same. The lines were redrawn in the Universal and Radiant, and some expressions were softened.

One example is the King of Swords. In the original, you know this king will not take accept any bull. The Universal, his expression is very bland. Another is the 4 of cups is another one where I think the subtlety got lost in later versions. In the original, he looks like a spoiled kid. The Universal, he looks like he's just sleeping.

[Richard]

Originally Posted by blueeyetea

I have all three RWS decks, and although I learned with the Universal Waite, I later got the RWS in the yellow box, for the main reason that some of the facial expressions are not the same. The lines were redrawn in the Universal and Radiant, and some expressions were softened.......

Yes, indeed. Hanson-Roberts did a beautiful job redrawing the RWS images for the Universal, but there is a certain blandness about it that becomes boring to me after using it for a week or so. The original RWS images have a directness and incisiveness that I think make it a more exciting deck to use, and I have been using it for some 45+ years. I especially like the Smith-Waite Centennial because of the careful printing job and the colors, which seem to be fairly close to those of some of the early RWS decks.

[Aunty Anthea]

Originally Posted by decan

I didn't know also that there was a Waite-Smith Centennial Tarot.
It looks better than the Original. Nevertheless I must say that I like my Universal Waite.

Below, if folks are interested, I found a video which compares all the Waite decks!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVUMoChbY8A

Rider Waite just seems to be a money making machine

If I had seen this before I bought my Tarot in a Tin, I would NOT have bought it

[Yelell]

I prefer the plain ordinary RWS, but I find the other variations have value too. There are times when details just aren't as clear as I'd like them to be, and often looking at the Universal or Radiant makes certain things stand out.

[Richard]

Originally Posted by Yelell

I prefer the plain ordinary RWS, but I find the other variations have value too. There are times when details just aren't as clear as I'd like them to be, and often looking at the Universal or Radiant makes certain things stand out.

It can be a lot easier to make out the details on the Universal. However, sometimes when the details of the original are not clear to the artist, they just make up something which may not be true to the original.

In the attachment, a selection from the Universal Temperance is on the left, Smith-Waite on the right. On the Smith-Waite the Hebrew letters of the Tetragrammaton are clearly visible above the square and triangle. On the Universal, it is not at all clear what the marks represent. It looks as if the artist didn't recognize the Tetragrammaton and just made up some marks that looked similar to those on the Smith-Waite, but they are not at all recognizable as the Tetragrammaton unless you know beforehand that that's what they are supposed to be.

[Richard]

Here is another example: the Magician. Universal on the left, Smith-Waite on the right. On the Smith-Waite, slightly to the right of the cup, there is a mark on the wand which looks like the Hebrew letter Tzaddi (which may or may not be significant), but it is not recognizable as such on the Universal.

[decan]

I knew there are these letters on the chest of the Temperance card, but concerning the letter on the wand of the Magician I didn't know.
These are little details, maybe significant, but perhaps more for purists or for people in the Golden Dawn.
In any case I think that it could be better to buy the large centennial Waite deck to see clearly all these details on each card.
The advantage concerning the Universal deck is the clarity of the pattern, even though some details aren't there.
Interesting thread!

Edit: I checked the sizes concerning this deck (the centennial version) and it isn't larger than the modern Waite deck, but there is a version in a tin which seems smaller.
A version a bit larger than the modern Waite would be nice, to see all the details.

[Richard]

Originally Posted by decan

I knew there are these letters on the chest of the Temperance card, but concerning the letter on the wand of the Magician I didn't know.
These are little details, maybe significant, but perhaps more for purists or for people in the Golden Dawn.......

Sorry for mentioning "little details" in the original Rider-Waite. The important thing is the Universal and the Radiant. Waite is a bore, and the Golden Dawn as he knew it has been dead for well over a hundred years. Purists are insignificant insects.