1987 Albano-Waite

Here is an accurate scan of Judgment in my 1968 mini.
http://home.windstream.net/rlsaylor/XX.jpg

Thanks for the scan LRichard! There is definitely more detail in your card than my USG mini. I hope to find a '68 mini for sale someday, they seem to be scarcer than hen's teeth, tho!!

I agree with Kid Shamrock about the difference between the large and mini USG Belgian print.

I have the mini USG - it was only ever printed in Belgium, I'm pretty sure, and is now OOP but still findable if you're willing to be patient - and I've had in the past the 1968 and the USG large printed in Belgium.

I was so excited about the large Belgian, until I received it. The printing seemed so much blurrier, almost more careless. I wondered if Kaplan et al had reproduced from the mini '68, and the issues are from enlarging details? I was disappointed in the large USG and didn't keep it. I only sold the large 1968 for financial reasons. But the mini USG is my go-to deck. I connect with those pictures like you wouldn't believe, and I don't normally care for mini decks!

Never seen the mini '68 in person, so I can't comment.

Freddie said:

Hi All,

I found nine cards in my deck that I feel have an issue.

US Games fault ? :

Pentacles court cards - Missing deep purple colour and sky may be too muted.
The Queen is the best of the four.

Eight of Cups - Out of focus and slight measles.

Eight of swords - Same as 8 of cups, but not as bad though.

Frankie Albano fault ? :

Five of cups - Painted with wrong color background.

Knight of cups - Horse is almost same colour as sky

Page of cups - His tights same colour as sky, his boots same colour as floor.

I don't have any pits, bad lamination or cardstock issues. The other cards in the deck do not have any flaws that I can detect.

Freddie

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I recently obtained a Belgium printing for $5! I've been waiting for one to come my way without having to go the ebay route. It came in a tattered sun box that had the original price tag $12.95. Anyone know if that price tag is what one would have paid in the late 80s early 90s?

Freddie, I checked my cards with yours and mine have the same issues, though I'm very pleased with them anyway. The 1968 deck really does pop out at you! They look lovely but I really like the way the Belgium deck looks (at least mine). It's been well loved and used over the years and the muted colors goes well with the soft, off-white, shuffled look.

I'm super curious about this Frankie Albano character. What the hell?! Was he a real person? Or did he just go off the radar? Is he still alive? Like The Crowned One, I've come up with nothing.

I like my 1987 standard sized Belgian-German Albano much better than my first edition 1968 mini, which seems a bit drab and muddy by comparison.

Whoever Frankie Albano is/was, it seems likely that s/he was a member of B.O.T.A. That organization may know more about this individual, but I should expect that personal information about members would be kept confidential.

LRichard said:

I like my 1987 standard sized Belgian-German Albano much better than my first edition 1968 mini, which seems a bit drab and muddy by comparison.

Whoever Frankie Albano is/was, it seems likely that s/he was a member of B.O.T.A. That organization may know more about this individual, but I should expect that personal information about members would be kept confidential.

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I'm sure you're right about the confidentiality, LRichard. That's interesting, is it likely that Frankie was a member because of the colors used in the deck? I wonder if Frankie Albano is a pseudonym?

Is your Belgian-German Albano different from the printed in Belgium decks published by US Games? ETA. Besides the titles being in German?

ladybird said:

I'm sure you're right about the confidentiality, LRichard. That's interesting, is it likely that Frankie was a member because of the colors used in the deck? I wonder if Frankie Albano is a pseudonym?

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Yes, the colors used in the Albano-Waite are the same as those prescribed by P. F. Case for coloring the B.O.T.A. deck, insofar as this is possible. The colors are from the King and Queen color scales used by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn for the Sephiroth and Paths in the Qabalistic Tree of Life. The Tarot is a model of the Tree of Life as interpreted by the Golden Dawn, and therefore it inherits the colors of the Tree.

Is your Belgian-German Albano different from the printed in Belgium decks published by US Games? ETA. Besides the titles being in German?

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I don't know. I haven't seen the USG Belgian deck. I would guess that they are the same.