Mary EL Tarot is finished!

[vee]

Originally Posted by Lela

Has anyone contacted Schiffer about getting replacement cards? If so any luck with that?

Yes, many of us had to contact Schiffer to get replacement cards. My experience was that they responded very quickly and sent my new card without any fuss.

[Lela]

Originally Posted by vee

Yes, many of us had to contact Schiffer to get replacement cards. My experience was that they responded very quickly and sent my new card without any fuss.

Great! Good to know. Thanks!

[Grigori]

I just received a copy this week. I'm really happy with mine. The cards quality is perfect, and a really nice package and production. The colour is different than I expected, without the backlight of the computer screen they are deeper and more jewel like in tone, which matches the dark border and the gloss very nicely. I'm really happy with them and an slowly working my way through the deck and companion book.

[Machelle]

I received my deck today. This deck is fabulous! They are much better in person than on the computer. It's just stunning! So glad I bought this deck.

[DaisyDragonfly]

Received my deck yesterday. The outer box has one dented corner, but that's the fault of book depository! The cards themselves are in perfect condition.

I like them.

I'm not sure about reading with the images, not yet; not sure how some of them relate to the tarot card they represent. From a quick flick through the book, it doesn't always help with that. It does read like Marie White's fever dream, which is nice...but not always coherent. Still, it doesn't make it useless, merely challenging.

Somewhere up-thread I talked about how ugly I found the Hierophant card to be; I assumed I knew what it meant, was ready to dismiss the whole deck as a result.

Now I have it? Well, it won't surprise anybody who has worked with tarot to know that the Hierophant appeared in my very first reading with this deck. A strong reaction to something means there's something there to learn. So on its first outing, I had to get to grips with this card and what it was trying to say.

The results of that are now in the Mary-El study thread and my own daily draw post. It's really made a difference in my understanding of the hierophant in any tarot deck (I normally read it as meaning education or teacher or authority figures/rules). I certainly don't dislike this card any more... in fact, I rather like it

And it's told me something about this deck, as well. Right away, right into my face, barreling straight into my assumptions and pre-judgments. That's a sign of a good deck, right there.

[Frayling0]

I knew it was coming in advance, but I got given this deck for my birthday yesterday.

In a word: breathtaking. It has the most beautiful art I have ever seen in a tarot deck, and I second the notion that they look better in person. They're richer and more vibrant in your hand and in natural light.

I haven't read much with them yet, but when I asked the personality of the deck I got the Tower. A sharp, sometimes brutal, but honest deck. Just what I like.

[missy]

Received my Mary-el.

While the imagery on the deck is spectacular, and the packaging is divine, I was disappointed to find several cards that were bent ... as in, had significant creases in them, a couple with long scratches, and a number with a line across the top of the card -- either on the image side, the back side, or both. It appears to be possibly a lamination issue. Maybe the laminate did not get stuck down properly? I cannot tell. Don't know if this was just a bad print run or what.

Other than that, the images are really something, and the size of the cards is quite wonderful. The black borders makes the artwork really pop.

I would have gladly traded the special box, though, for a nicer printing job.

[Maskelyne]

I also had creased and scratched cards, and several with bits of the black missing from the back. I emailed Schiffer and they were prompt in sending replacements for the cards I identified as bad. I am still a bit concerned about the durability of the cards, but the art is so spectacular I'm willing to shuffle very gently.

[Haljadotter]

I have a question for you who got replacement cards or decks. I got my deck two days ago, and it looked fine in the beginning, then I started reading this thread. My cards look nice, no dent's or anything in the cards, the lamination looks fine too, but most of the cards are off center and there's a silver line on the top of some of the cards, on the black border. It's not terribly disturbing and I probably wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't looked close. The artwork is of course, amazing!

I'm thinking of returning the deck and getting a new one, I could contact Schiffer directly, but I live in Sweden and have bought the deck in a Swedish online store, so going through Schiffer seems tricky. The other thing is that even if I do return the deck, what if I get another damaged one? The printing quality seems uneven so there aren't any guarantees on what kind of deck I'll get. I don't really know what to do at this point. Any thoughts?
I have been thinking of buying a second deck though, just because I'd love to have a another copy, but maybe it's best to wait until the printing issues have been resolved.

[Cassandra022]

I'm still in the process of trimming the copy i recently got, but the images, i must say, sure are drawing me in. Havent really looked at the book yet.