Hey! Deck publishers!

baylys

I'm good with words and happy to write the script if someone else can set up the polls. I'm also happy to tally things up at the end. If that helps.....
 

baylys

Me too! I like borders. Sometimes good art looks even better with a good frame :).

I do like the borders generally, but when a border takes over the image, then that makes it a whole different story.
 

greatdane

Can't argue with that!

it's probably not borders in and of themselves a lot of us mind, it's the borders at the cost of the image. My perfect border, if a deck isn't just borderless, would be the Anna. K. The borders are there, yet they're understated. You see the art first. With some decks, I really notice the border first because of it's size, have to squint at the image and the deck is just too big to comfortably shuffle on top of that.
 

baylys

Example: the Maroon tarot

Size comparison with a standard LoS deck (2 5/8x 4 3/4in)

View attachment 61266

And then with the huge borders that really aren't trimmable

View attachment 61267

The artwork on this deck measures 1 3/4x3 3/8 in on a card that is 2 3/8x 4 3/8.
 

greatdane

So....are most happy with the borders poll?

Baylys has a worded a possible poll for us, thank you Baylys! Will wait for any responses and then set up our poll.
 

celticnoodle

OK, I'll jump in here. I usually trim off borders; my choice. But some decks are simply ridiculous. For instance, the Russian Tarot of St. Petersburg (US Games). It has a quarter inch gold border. OK, I can deal with that. I can cut it off if I want. But the actual images are oval & there is scrollwork around that oval image that bleeds to the actual gold border; the corners actually have 3.5" borders of that filigree scrollwork!! & you need a microscope or a loupe to see the image. THAT is overkill & I can NOT see any tarot reader liking it. What a waste of paper & ink. Russian Tarot of St. Petersburg

ETA: The actual oval images are 2" x 3". Come on. You could fit that on a business card.

I have never trimmed a deck--mostly out of fear, but am considering having a friend trim my Druid Craft. She has done her own and tells me it made a huge difference. The deck is one I love, but the cards are so HUGE for my small hands, I really do not use it as much as I should. It has two borders to it, so I could start with just having her trim the white border off and see how that works.

With some decks, the borders are ridiculous (such as the Druid Craft). Some others are not so bad and do not bother me, such as the Robin Wood. I have one deck that is borderless, "Fairy Tale Tarot" by Lisa Hunt, that do not have a border, and it really adds to the deck, though it does (thankfully) list the cards name at the bottom. I don't read much with this deck though, tbh, though I do love to look at it at times.

So, it really depends on the deck itself, I think. Some need the border--but a small one is really all, I think. Some I like the title of the card at the bottom too--even though I tend to read more intuitively then 'by the book'. And some really do not need a border what so ever. So, it may be difficult to say before the initial printing (at least for me) which deck I feel needs a border.

the Gilded Tarot is another deck with a border, but I feel it enhances the deck. It is also one of my fave decks. Same with Ghosts & Spirits--however, it may be one that is enhanced w/o a border. The border on that deck doesn't really bother me though.
 

Sar

It looks like US Games reprinted the Whimsical after our Sar wrote and asked them to.

I like to think it is partly because of me. :D

(The letter)


Dear USGames.

you might not be aware of the fact that since Whimsical Tarot is OOP; that the deck soon will be going for $120. It will be worth every penny.

I have trying to get over this.
I have plenty of good decks, but Whimsical...
Look at it, it is stupendous.

Why do you guys discontinue the decks that I love? Do you want to break a poor norwegian girls heart? Aren`t you americans suppose to be gentlemen? Do you enjoy watching me suffer from the things I do not have?

I know that you guys is not evil, and that buisniss is buisniss.
So I have decided to beg for the Whimsical to return witout the big borders and in the size of the Vanessa Tarot, and it would have been lovely in a pink tin.

Bring back the Whimsical Tarot.
Make my dream come true.

Yours sincerly
_______ ______
Steinkjer, Norway
 

celticnoodle

:p

great letter, sar!
 

baylys

That's a brilliant letter!!!
 

Sar

Thank you, I was in a very desperate and creative corner. ;)