Medieval Scapini - getting the right one

I've heard that there are two kinds of Medieval Scapini deck - e.g. in this thread.

I want the ones with "silky cardstock, rich colours, burnished gold". I don't want the ones with "plasticky cards, stuck together with lacquer, muddy colours, ugly, muddy gold and out of focus images". How can I tell if the decks for sale on amazon (or wherever) are the good kind, or the bad kind?

The linked to thread says to look for the window in the box, but none of the ones I see on amazon look like that. Are they the bad kind?

As with most things, a link is helpful as otherwise we can't see what you're seeing on Amazon.

Also see this more recent thread on how to tell the differences between the editions.

rwcarter said:

As with most things, a link is helpful as otherwise we can't see what you're seeing on Amazon.

Click to expand...

Well here is a book and deck set currently for sale. If I only wanted the deck, I could go here. The single deck is published in 2012, the set is 2004.

I'll edit this post if I find info in the 2009 thread you linked to; it might mention the book and deck set.

edit: I wonder if the book that comes with the set is the one referred to by Decker? "Art and Arcana" is the title of Decker's book. There's no hint in the amazon listing.

edit2: Oh, the other thread was bumped as recently as a month ago! I should have posted there. It says Amazon is hit and miss.

If the set is from 2004, it's unclear if it has the better cardstock. Deck only from 2012 likely isn't. (I don't think this deck has been reprinted in China yet.) My deck has a 1985 date on it and only an ISBN-10. It was printed in Switzerland. It has the better cardstock.

I'm pretty sure the book that comes with the set is Decker's but can't say for certain as I got the book separately from the deck.

Well, I ended up ordering this deck. Its ISBN numbers are

ISBN-10: 0880790318
ISBN-13: 978-0880790314

It'll be a few weeks before they get here (shipped from the UK). I'll let folks know if they are the "good" kind or the "bad" kind.

There are two editions that I know of:
1) an older set printed in Switzerland by AG Muller for US Games. The box has a window cut out in front.
2) a newer US Games version printed in Italy, with no window cut out.

It looks like you have bought the newer edition. There has been a lot of discussion on here about how the printed in Italy version is muddier, with blurry images. I haven't found that to be the case with my deck. The images from my two copies are equally sharp, and if anything the printed in Italy deck is brighter, with better differentiation between the gold and silver inks, most noticeable on the card backs and face borders. The main difference is that the older cardstock is less glossy, and as a result the metallic quality of the gold ink is slightly more apparent. The difference is not huge….the metallic quality of the original is quite subtle. So it really depends I think on how you feel about the cardstock.

here is a picture of the printed in Switzerland box:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-The-Med...972?pt=US_Nonfiction_Book&hash=item58a28e8bec

neither of my copies has a publication date on the box. They both have LWBs that give the original publication date of 1985, with the older copy in 5th printing and the newer copy in 14th printing (you can tell by the numbers present on the inside of the LWB cover)

I have the two editions. My older deck is the box with the cutout and has the gold and silver gilding and a much softer background yellow used. I got this deck last year from an Amazon marketplace seller used.

My other deck, bought a few years ago as a set with the book, is the newer version which does have printing issues, some of the cards look double exposed and the yellow used looks really bright. The gold on this deck is just gold and silver coloured ink not embossed. What puts me off about this deck is the yellow background, I don't like the shade of yellow they used, doesn't seem to match the rest of the deck. The yellow in the older version is lovely, much creamier.

I suppose I can keep an eye on ebay for some older decks. Although I am not quite sure I am so in love with the Medieval Scapini that I need two versions. Some people report being very happy with a later printing.

Cheiromancer said:

I suppose I can keep an eye on ebay for some older decks. Although I am not quite sure I am so in love with the Medieval Scapini that I need two versions. Some people report being very happy with a later printing.

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I wouldn't have gone looking for an older version either but reading the postings on the older version made me curious and I got lucky with the seller who I bought it off, I paid £4 for it. I always had issues with the newer version, it's such a vibrant, busy deck but because of the yellow background, I couldn't take to it. The older version has different colour tones plus a background that is a softer yellow, better printing, a nicer looking deck all round.

Dan S said:

There are two editions that I know of:
1) an older set printed in Switzerland by AG Muller for US Games. The box has a window cut out in front.
2) a newer US Games version printed in Italy, with no window cut out.

Click to expand...

Wow!

I have the 1985 AG Muller deck; it's part of my collection and I have used it only a few times. I didn't realize it might be so valuable ....