"antique" Rider Waite deck

Bhavana said:

There
Hopefully I will come across a more affordable version, without having to get into a huge bidding war on ebay - I rarely win those!

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Hi Bhavana,

You know unless you REALLY want an old Albano deck that's exspensive I suggest buying the current version available readily for $18-20 on Amazon from US Games. I know some may cringe at the thought of the heavy lamination that smells a bit plast-icky, but I have one that I've stored in my incense drawer and the laminated smell dissapates pretty well. This newest version printed in Italy is VERY bright, vibrant and well--really beautiful. You might find that you really like it without having had invested a lot in it. It's actually one of my favorite decks. Plus, all of the Albano's regardless if they are US Games version or not, don't have the souless copyright statement on the cards. Just a thought. Heck maybe you can find one on sale at a Borders store that's closing. I saw on the other day for about $16!

laura_borealis said:

The Etsy seller has added pics of the backs.

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yes, she has - they are the cream/white with the gold sun which I think is the 1968 deck according to Holly's RW site. The card back pictures show even more so that the deck is in excellent shape....but, for $280? Unless the Tarot Card Fairy leaves a few hundred bucks under my pillow tonight, it ain't happenin'.

Terrapin said:

Hi Bhavana,

You know unless you REALLY want an old Albano deck that's exspensive I suggest buying the current version available readily for $18-20 on Amazon from US Games. I know some may cringe at the thought of the heavy lamination that smells a bit plast-icky, but I have one that I've stored in my incense drawer and the laminated smell dissapates pretty well. This newest version printed in Italy is VERY bright, vibrant and well--really beautiful. You might find that you really like it without having had invested a lot in it. It's actually one of my favorite decks. Plus, all of the Albano's regardless if they are US Games version or not, don't have the souless copyright statement on the cards. Just a thought. Heck maybe you can find one on sale at a Borders store that's closing. I saw on the other day for about $16!

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Oh, I wish I was near your Borders!!!....mine is pretty much cleaned out, mostly by me, I think!! I picked up a few decks at 25% off - Revelations, the USGames Faerie Tarot, pocket Goddess, Llewellyn, and the regular Rider Waite, Italian printing. If I'd seen the Albano, I'd have grabbed that one too. I don't care for Revelations at all, and now I have two Llewellyns, so those will be going up for trade when I get around to it.

I really don't mind the heavy laminate on the USGames decks, in fact, I like it. I find the decks stay nicer and newer looking for longer, especially the ones I use a lot. And funny you should say to just go for the new decks, because I thought the same thing after looking for a while at this overpriced Etsy deck, and another blue box never version (the Orig. RW with the Temperance card on the box) Though I'd love to have an older one in excellent shape, it isn't in the budget right now, and I probably will just get the newer deck. Maybe someone here will go for the Etsy 1968 deck.

If you do buy the newer Albano let me know what you think. I used to have an older, printed in Belgium version of this deck and honestly I lilke the newer version better.

The USG version isn't a patch on the original, so if you get a chance to get one.....

gregory said:

The USG version isn't a patch on the original, so if you get a chance to get one.....

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what do you mean by this, that the new one can't hold a candle to the old? Of course I would love an older one, but I would want it to be in excellent condition, as the Etsy deck is - but I'd never pay what the seller wants for it....I will, however, keep an eye out for a better bargain. What do you all think is a fair price for an older one in great shape? I was thinking maybe $100, or somewhere in that area. It isn't like they are extremely rare, there are still quite a few out there - it's probably finding them in practically brand new condition, as this one is, that is the hard part.

The USG one a) has distorted the cards to fit their standard b) the colours are garish by comparison and c) the lamination - well, USG lamination is famous....

But a USG one is a lot better than none.

Terrapin said:

......You know unless you REALLY want an old Albano deck that's exspensive I suggest buying the current version available readily for $18-20 on Amazon from US Games.......

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Amazon.com now has it for $12.24, last time I looked. I don't know how much the shipping costs.

gregory said:

The USG one a) has distorted the cards to fit their standard b) the colours are garish by comparison and c) the lamination - well, USG lamination is famous....

But a USG one is a lot better than none.

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I find that the colors in the regular RW are pretty garish as well....but, as I mentioned somewhere above, I like the lamination. It seems the only RW deck that is easy on the eyes by USG is the Universal.

gregory said:

The USG one a) has distorted the cards to fit their standard b) the colours are garish by comparison and c) the lamination - well, USG lamination is famous....

But a USG one is a lot better than none.

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Gregory, do you think this deck is overpriced? Even with the like new condition? It's been up for a while with no takers, possibly I could ask for a discount, or layaway....might take me till 2025 to pay it off, but what the heck...