Decks you feel are 100% perfect

Greetings All,

Due to the other great thread on here about having one card that disappoints in a deck, just for fun, I thought we would have a go at 100% satisfaction. You must like every card and even every flaw the deck has. I think it is cool when you like a deck so much that the flaws just seem to evaporate into thin air.

My choices:

Connolly - Love everything about it, luv every curl in those wigs lol... colouring and symbolism feel like they were made for me... Some of the images feel like they are pages torn out of my own 'book of life'. The people in this deck feel very real to me and I usually don't connect well with the humaniods in most packs I own. I like both back patterns... I like and respect the Mommy and son duo that did this one, how nice is that, unique and sweet I say. I love the kitties and the bull terrier..Hey Spuds Mckenzie is in this...no wonder a lot of blokes like this one..lol... watch out for those beer trucks dude..lol...

Albano-Waite - I'll always love this one as it is my 'flower power-rock and roll' pack. I really love the colouring and I never tire of looking at it. I know it is flawed in some areas, but I find flaws endearing as this how true life really is, to me any way. Arthur, Pamela and Frankie will always be in my special Tarot box. I still love the back design as classic never goes out of style.

Oswald Wirth (78 Agmuller version) - Love the gold/bronze/copper backgrounds as they remind me of orthodox icons, I do think Wirth would apporove of them. I like the simple old grandma curtain/tablecloth back pattern. I am a fan of the court cards as the Valets and Cavaliers are good mix of both sexes, at least I see them this way. The pip cards are elegant and look like a good mixture of TDM, Visconti and Thoth to me with their crimson red roses, glowing green stems/leaves and baby blue lotus flowers. I have written to S. Kaplan a few times and have begged him to keep it in print and this is the only deck I have ever did this for.

Tarot De Marseille (Fournier) - Perfect colouring. I love the mosaic pattern on the back. I won't chunter on about this one, but I will say it is one I will never part with... It is TDM, that is enough for me. I feel a lot of love went into the creation of this deck and a few others have borrowed the 'total recolouring TDM' idea from this deck, but have not suceeded in outdoing it, at least not in my opinion. The Fournier pack illuminates the TDM characters and it almost seems like they might jump out of the pack and just start chatting with you.

The Golden Dawn Tarot (Robert Wang) - Love it...simple yet emotive symbolism. It is not too in your face...Lovely Agmuller colouring and stunning back design..Awesome companion books (Thank you to one of my mentors L.Richard for turning me on to this deck/books). I love the minor arcana with the angel hands and the Pentacles suit really feels very woodsy with the branches and red cross pents... Robert Wang got this one perfectly correct, in my opinion, plus he is a nice dude!!!

Believe it or not, I have no issues at all with these five packs, but this is a small list when I think of how many packs I have owned. I might say five is a high number to say that I like everything about these decks. Some of the flaws bugged me at first, but the more I used the decks...the more I forgot/embraced them. I will always keep these five decks!!!


Okay which ones would you all chose???


Freddie

What makes a deck 100% perfect for me? It provides a good reading, the imagery is beautiful and appeals to me on every card, there are either no borders or the borders do not detract from the images and the card stock is easy to shuffle. That being said- here are my 100% perfect decks:

1. Thoth- AGM/blue box A edition

2. Tarot Egyptien Grand Jeu de l'Oracle des Dames- Dusserre

3. Tarot of Prague, 1st edition- MRP

4. RWS- Rider pub/blue box

5. Noblet- Flornoy

6. Minchiate Etruria- Il Meneghello

Ancient Italian. It's easier for me to be brief and just say 'what's not to love?' If I get started listing why I love it then I do tend to go on and on and on.

Nigel Jackson is the only other one. It certainly has my favourite major arcana of any deck. Every single major is exactly how I would depict the trumps if I were to design them myself. The minors are not perfect but I love the artwork and the atmosphere so much that it simply doesn't matter to me. For years I struggled with this deck because of the Swords-Fire, Wands-Air thing, but over time, and when using other decks, that association has started to make a lot more sense to me and so the deck has become 'perfect'. I also love how using it is like stepping into a wonderland that I'm reluctant sometimes to return from.

I think the changes in the 2nd edition Victorian Romantic have made it perfect as the cards which were changed are exactly those I would have wanted changed. I also think the Fantastic Menagerie is a deck which doesn't have a card I'd change.

I was also thinking just this week how the Tarot of the Sevenfold Mystery doesn't have a wrong card in it. As I was going through it when I first received it I was amazed how every card seemed perfect.

I also agree about the Royal Fez Morrocan. Lovely deck, cardstock and everything.

There are certain historical reproductions which seem perfect to me, Dusserre Dodal, Vieville, LoS Ancient Tarot of Marseilles & Ancient Italian, Soprafino and Meneghello Bologna/Giocomo Zoni and the Flornoy Restorations. The Flornoy Vieville isn't quite perfect because it lacks the minors but otherwise...

The others I can think of would be perfect except for format (too small, borders too big, titles etc) such as the Navigators of the Mystic SEA and the LoS Crystal, Classical/Gumppenberg.

And of course the Thoth. I used to think that the Prince of Swords was the only card which spoilt the deck because it was too sketchy but now I see how that sketchiness is intrinsic to the flighty, dissipated meaning and I have learnt to love it.

Le Fanu said:

And of course the Thoth. I used to think that the Prince of Swords was the only card which spoilt the deck because it was too sketchy but now I see how that sketchiness is intrinsic to the flighty, dissipated meaning and I have learnt to love it.

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Glad to know I'm not the only one who thought that about him, and ultimately came to the same conclusion you did!

Decks that are beautiful, decks that have lovely cardstock, decks where every card seems just right.
These are the perfect ones.

My list is actually longer than I realized...
but it encompasses:
RWS
Morgan Greer
Hanson Roberts
Aquarian
1JJ Swiss

Funny...that not all of these decks are on my favorites list.

I guess I like a little quirky or "off" in my decks, because what I find to be perfect, and what I love to read with aren't necessarily the same thing!

For me, this could only potentially apply to decks with either abstract or highly stylized artwork, such that there's not really room for imperfection in the same way that a more "realistic" style of artwork falls prey.

Off the top of my head, this would include The Elemental Tarot (Astrop), The Magickal Tarot (Clark & Willis), Tarot of the New Century (Eichelmann; I was very fond of that deck for years).

I can't recall ever turning over a card in any of these and thinking, "Meh." Total consistency--very hard to do, but it owes much to being very stylized art to begin with.

Freddie said:

Greetings All,

Due to the other great thread on here about having one card that disappoints in a deck, just for fun, I thought we would have a go at 100% satisfaction. You must like every card and even every flaw the deck has. I think it is cool when you like a deck so much that the flaws just seem to evaporate into thin air.

Click to expand...

The RWS comes to mind, first. There isn't a single card that feels off to me. I have a copy from the 70s, on lovely cardstock without the USG copyright on the fronts, and it really is 100% perfect.

I'm also completely happy with the Spanish Tarot. With all its goofy, weird proportions, the mutant child with three arms on the Sun, the King of Coins sitting on thin air, the drunk-looking horses on the Knights. That's one where the flaws are part of what makes me cherish it.

There are loads of decks where none of the cards feel off to me. Just a few examples - the Ancient Italian, the Housewifes, the Fey. With the Fey I could wish for better backs, and it could lose the multi-lingual titles, but at least they're not obtrusive like on some LoS decks.

Freddie said:

Greetings All,

Due to the other great thread on here about having one card that disappoints in a deck, just for fun, I thought we would have a go at 100% satisfaction. You must like every card and even every flaw the deck has. I think it is cool when you like a deck so much that the flaws just seem to evaporate into thin air


Okay which ones would you all chose???


Freddie

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At the present time for me the 100% are :

Dames Fortune's Wheel - beautiful colours and l like the expressions.
The Wild Unknown - Beautifully drawn. Very expressive.
Tarot of Pagan cats - Delightful friendly deck.
1JJ Swiss - Simplicity itself, it somehow exudes an innocence

Nothing jars at me in these decks and all are very readable and accurate.

closrapexa said:

Glad to know I'm not the only one who thought that about him, and ultimately came to the same conclusion you did!

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I did feel a little short changed at first but now I'm neutral rather than enthusiastic about that card.