Which RWS deck?

I was very disappointed in Lo Scarabeo's decision to withdraw their original version of the Centenary Special Rider Waite. It was very close to my other favourite PCS the Centennial. The line work, the colouring, the quality of the artwork were refined and nicely done, the colouring was nice and easy on the eye, a very attractive deck.

Then Lo Scarabeo had some copyright issues (I think, if I remember rightly) and the original Centenary Special Rider Waite that they released was replaced with a badly drawn and coloured version. I have both the original with all four languages titles and the second version. I much prefer the original.

Emily said:

I was very disappointed in Lo Scarabeo's decision to withdraw their original version of the Centenary Special Rider Waite. It was very close to my other favourite PCS the Centennial. The line work, the colouring, the quality of the artwork were refined and nicely done, the colouring was nice and easy on the eye, a very attractive deck.

Then Lo Scarabeo had some copyright issues (I think, if I remember rightly) and the original Centenary Special Rider Waite that they released was replaced with a badly drawn and coloured version. I have both the original with all four languages titles and the second version. I much prefer the original.

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That makes sense, thank you. It's a shame that the original centenary was withdrawn, although I believe it is still available in Europe.

Yellow said:

I wonder which one do you have, and if anyone knows anything about why Lo Scarabeo decided to publish two versions?

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Yes I have the later version (with the black and red back pattern). As I say, I do like as an alternative to the Radiant and Universal decks as it retains the original linework (it's just been recoloured). It is baffling though why Lo Scarabeo didn't just re-issue it in a new box to avoid confusion for buyers.

I didn't buy the previous version as I didn't like the multi-language titles, and the rather bold way Lo Scarabeo altered the original artwork to make it fit their sizing preferences.

Today I received the standard AGM Premium Waite deck (in German), amd I must say that the printing is top-notch. The colors are brighter than rhose of the Smith-Waite Centennial, without being garish or exaggerated like in some other editions. However, the German titles may not be acceptable to some people.

I have a dream that one day in the near future US Games relinquishes its copyright hold on Rider-Waite tarot cards, they go to public domain, and someone else steps in produce high quality Rider-Waite cards. Competition is a good antidote against complacency.

The removal of the handwritten fonts by US Games was sacrilege. Also, other than the Centennial deck, the card stock of other Rider-Waite decks are less than impressive.

A faithful rendition of Pam A/B/C/D, vibrant but sensible coloring, good sturdy card stock, attention to details (patterns on clothes, thrones and facial features). Shouldn't be too much to ask for.

I have a Centennial deck and an Original (Rose and Lily back) deck. Both bought from The Book Depository (free shipping and good exchange rates... what a combo!). Thought of buying a Giant Rider-Waite deck and a 'vanilla' classic Rider-Waite deck, decided otherwise due to complaints about the font and overall quality in the newer prints.

Did not buy the Universal or the Radiant... both of them are not 'faithful' renditions of the Pam A/B/C/D... they're redrawn and recolored. Beautiful decks, but too pastel for me.

For me it's hands down the Golden Rider (oop so I got 2 copies) and/or the Albano-Waite.

Dark Wanderer said:

I ......Thought of buying a Giant Rider-Waite deck and a 'vanilla' classic Rider-Waite deck, decided otherwise due to complaints about the font and overall quality in the newer prints........

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I have two giant Rider-Waite decks: an AGM and a USG. The USG has the Colman Smith calligraphy, but the images are poorly printed. The AGM has machine font titles (in English), but the images are excellent compared to those of the USG.

Albano

Albano-Waite for me; I prefer the editions that are in German or French (both printed in Belgium) to the US edition. Much better cardstock, better colours and clearer lines - and no copyright notice on the cards!

I now have three (Albano Waite; Radiant and Centennial), and if I were to rank them in order of how much use they get, it would be Albano Waite, which I use mostly for self-reading and forum participation; Centennial, which I take to my occasional public reading sessions; and Radiant last because my early fascination with it has worn off. If I get any more, it might be the Golden Universal, and possibly a Giant for teaching purposes.

Barleywine said:

I now have three (Albano Waite; Radiant and Centennial), and if I were to rank them in order of how much use they get, it would be Albano Waite, which I use mostly for self-reading and forum participation; Centennial, which I take to my occasional public reading sessions; and Radiant last because my early fascination with it has worn off. If I get any more, it might be the Golden Universal, and possibly a Giant for teaching purposes.

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Some of the USG editions of the Albano have ramped up the color saturation too much (which is all-too-easy to do in image editing software), making it rather garish. The abundance of ugly green skies in the Pentacles suit is totally unnecessary (probably a Frankie Albano idiosyncrasy), but otherwise the coloring, properly done, is quite pleasant and suggestive, IMHO.