"now-infamous Dollar Tree Tarot"?

OK, got my deck in the mail today from the Tarot Fairy , so here is a review.

I actually like the artwork quite a bit. It reminds me of a comic book, sort of Marvel Comics style, like Batman with the <<POW>> and ((BAM)) starbursts. Not highbrow or "traditional" in terms of Tarot illustrations, but aesthetically, I like it.

They don't have any particular smell that I can discern and don't feel gritty, like the set that the guy reviewed on Youtube.

As several others have mentioned, the deck is (not surprisingly) NOT complete, containing only plain pips 1-7 and then court cards Page through Ace (all illustrated), and all majors. So not sure how I'll actually use them, maybe turn them into a timing deck as described in another thread. Definitely worth $1!

These have been reincarnated as the Wishcraft Tarot. Find it here: http://www.wishcraftmagic.com/tarot.php

Bookman's at Country Club and Southern in Mesa, for those of you who live in the Phoenix area, had a crapload of these this morning. They wanted $6 each for them, and each one is NOS meaning they're sealed. I think they had about a dozen copies? I might go back and pick up a couple for resale.

It's the same line art as the Dollar Tree tarot but the printing is in black, neon pink, and electric blue. The lurid colour scheme works better than the original, IMO. They also have proper 8s, 9s, and 10s instead of having the Ace and a 1 with no 8 or 9 cards. The funky placeholder cards are gone too, replaced by a full sequence of suits. The card stock is much heavier, more like US Games card stock, and has a nice semigloss laminate coating. No sticky feeling, no gritty feeling, it feels like a standard Tarot deck.

The Majors have no Key numbers. I think all of us can place them in order in our sleep, though.

It also comes with a 'magical mat' which is basically a heavy felt Tarot cloth. The cloth itself is made of neon pink heavy craft felt with the spread printed in black ink. I suppose it's nice if you want to learn a new spread, otherwise it's not really useful. It's still much better quality than the cheapass paper one that came with the DTT.

The cards themselves come in their own tuck box, and the full set is in a triangular (when seen from the side) box. I'm keeping everything as a set.

So if you guys are interested, here it is. Enjoy!

So a piece of pink felt is a Magical Mat? And it's not $12.99. that's an inflation-rate of how many thousand percent?

<cackle>

$13 isn't actually all that bad, considering. It's still one of the cheaper decks out there seeing as standard price for a 'real' or 'grownup' deck is usually $25 or so, all USD. Amazon wants $18-20 for this new.

I spent less than $5 as my family gets the educator's 20% discount at Bookman's. It was worth it as I'm probably one of the few here that actually rather like the original artwork. I think they were trying to give it a more 'girly' feel with the pink, blue, and purple colour scheme. Then again, I'm also the proud owner of one of those god-awful Hello Kitty pink Ouija boards that came out a few years back--they're now collectors' items and OOP.

Like I said, I'm thinking about picking up a few sets for resale on Ebay, if they have any left.

I remember looking for the Wishcraft when it was first mentioned here as being in one of the toy store chains, but was unable to find it. It'd be a hoot, not least because I love purple and turquoise, and it'd be great to have a comapnion to the Dollar Tree. (I did buy 2 copies of the Dollar Tree back then, in case I wanted to alter the pip cards the way someone else did here; but I haven't opened the second pack yet. In fact I can't remember where I put either one.)

If you're still looking for a copy, dig around online. A lot of places still have it for a reasonable price. I think it's worth every penny. Others may disagree.

I also think it's amusing that the backs of the cards are marked with a small code that will tell the reader what it is before the card is turned face-up. I always deal the spread face-up before I start reading, so for me it's irrelevant, but I can see how it could be used to not so great effect. :/ I should go dig out my DTT and see if the backs are marked in the same way.

Darkmage said:

I also think it's amusing that the backs of the cards are marked with a small code that will tell the reader what it is before the card is turned face-up.

Click to expand...

<with new respect> I wasn't aware of this! Wow - it can do tricks, too! <rushes off to check backs>

I checked just now. The DTT has a different back design and no codes hidden in the markings. It's also smaller than the Wishcraft.

Honestly, comparing the two side by side is enlightening. The DTT strikes me as almost a proof of concept trial run for the Wishcraft. I actually might use the Wishcraft for public readings as the graphics are clear, bright, and easily seen in low light unlike a lot of more 'artsy' decks.

Dollar Tree Tarot

One never knows what they’ll find at Dollar Tree. I couldn’t pass up the windup chattering teeth, I was intrigued but passed on the Zen Garden, and Tarot cards in the toy section? Well, I guess that was a good place for them. The Higher Arcanas were pretty much out of a comic book though the red, black, and white theme was striking. There were short past, present, and future devinations on them as well. The Pips were plain and just went up to seven and the Aces were drawn up similar to the Highers but there was another pip Ace as well. Not exactly set up by somebody who knew what they were doing.

I consider them unusable but if anything, I credit then for piquing my interest in Tarot. Even with the obvious shortcomings and my total lack of experience and knowledge, I was intrigued by some of the “readings”. I needed to find out more but this deck I realized was not the vehicle for that. A total neophyte, I did a little research and purchased a set of Original Rider-Waite Tarot. I have no regrets with that and have bought and additional half dozen decks since.

The Dollar Tree deck is “retired” maybe keeping it as a memento of my humble early beginnings in Tarot much like the box to the cheap set of watercolor paints that got me going with that particular endeavor.

They're usable if you just use the Majors; some people do that anyway. And once you learn the cards in general, you can ignore the printed meanings. I suppose you could use the courts, aces, and Majors, without using the pips; or you could adapt what pips there are.

There's a thread about this deck, in which several people mull over the possibilities.