Have you ever made a break from collecting?

[Gulliver]

Hm, to be honest, I'm satisfied. But you all know the temptation... And I love that feeling of desire and fascination and this has to stay with me.

But I don't really need new decks at this point. And there are not so many decks out which draw my interest. But then...you know the fascination, I think. Though, I feel very connected to my main decks because of the lack of new ones coming in.

So, I decided to make a break some time ago. And it works really good.

Have you ever made a break from collecting decks? How was it? And did you come back later? Has it been a good decision? Or would you never think of take a pause?

 

[Darkmage]

I wouldn't say I've ever really taken a conscious break from collecting, but there have been times where there are other priorities.

I only buy what I like. I won't buy a deck of cards, or anything else I collect for that matter, if I don't like it. If I'm on the fence and it's not rare, I'll sleep on it. Having local bookshops have a week hold policy has prevented a LOT of impulse buying in general.

If I feel I've outgrown a deck, or gotten it as a gift and it just doesn't speak to me, I have no issues selling or otherwise rehoming it. A few have found better homes that way.

 

[gregory]

Not exactly. But given the huge number of utterly awful self-published ones now showing up on places like gamecrafter, I am more selective than I used to be.

And also now that I am on a pension, I can't buy all the lovely but pricey ones I used to either. But I never get rid. Collecting IS collecting.

 

[madhatter00o]

I would hardly call myself a collector, but I have had bursts of deck purchases. Those periods are usually followed by several weeks of satisfaction, exploration (of the new decks), and not buying anything.

Still, I keep an eye out for decks that catch my interest, and I'll record those in a memo on my phone, so I can refer back to them anytime. I have fairly exacting tastes, so I know pretty quickly if a deck is something I want or not. When I feel ready to add to the decks I have, I'll go after the ones in my memo first.

To be honest, I don't enjoy being in a state of wanting something for too long. I've been there, albeit under far less exciting circumstance. Now, I'll either buy the item I want or I'll lose interest.

 

[Aeric]

I consider myself on a break. I've just given away 15 decks for a charity auction that I was disconnected from or only used once or twice. I'd rather see them go to good homes than collect dust in baskets, and the money's for cancer so I don't feel guilty about not selling them.

I scrutinize decks a lot more now that I've settled into a comfortable zone. I can tell what purchases would just be for phases I'm going through and they'd soon be languishing in the baskets, so I know what to avoid. There are fewer random spontaneous purchases. I bought just one new deck and I'm not keen to rebuild the absent 14.

 

[lark]

Recently I didn't buy any decks for 3 years.
I saw the Wild Unknown one day and that was the deck that broke the deck fast.
I'm not a collector and I'm trying to sort out and build just a working core of decks.

Like you Gulliver, I noticed in those three years I got very close to certain decks.
It also allowed me to concentrate on taking out different oracle/tarot decks, ones that had different systems that required some study and work.... and use them.
This helped me sort out what was really worth keeping in my collection.
I think the relentless pursuit of yet another deck takes up the time I could us working with the decks I have.
Now I let the decks come to me in a calmer way, and I don't buy until I have found some source of seeing most of the cards.

Another nice thing that came out of it was I really feel I know myself now as far as decks go.
And I don't fall for the hype.
If I look at it and have a less than total freak out about it I know it probably isn't for me.
Right now there is a lot of excitement about a new deck...but all I see is sexualized emaciated model body types...and the faces of movie stars and famous people...
And although other parts of the deck are good I know myself.
I will not be able to get past the people in this deck...would rather they were represented as animals.

Something else that isn't talked about much...it is a lot harder to sell decks than to buy them.
There aren't that many venues for selling decks.... the trading section in the forum is wonderful, but it is still expensive and a lot of work to pack and ship out decks.
So I'm careful that what comes in isn't going to have to go right out again.
And I certainly wasn't always that way.

 

[Le Fanu]

Not so much a break in collecting as a lull in tarot, just getting into other things and tarot being on the back burner for quite a few years and so invariably there was a break in collecting.

 

[Aunty Anthea]

Sadly, I had to stop using the Tarot and other things for a few years. Because, for a time, it was really important that I portray myself as being an extremely serious, studious and knowledgeable individual, rather than a wicked witch

I also had an assortment of people staying with me, or visiting me. They would have been terrified if they knew what I used to get up to

As The Witch Azzara, I used to work with an evil wizard and a Jamaican obeah man. Not really suitable image for chatting up MPs

Aunty Anthea is the good side of me. Th butter would not melt in her mouth tarot reader. Grizelda the Grim is the real me

When the time was right the cards called me and I started using and collecting them again

 

[Cocobird55]

The only time I stopped buying decks was when I went through a very bad financial time. I am much pickier than I used to be, though. When I first came back to tarot, I was buying a deck a week. I found Aeclectic and so many decks were new to me.

 

[G6]

Limiting the Number of Decks I Own

Right now I feel like I might have too many. I am thinking about keeping my deck collection to a certain number of decks, like I've seen others do, which is ultimately limiting your collection to a determined amount of decks for specific uses. I would say I am on a break right now because I need to decide how many I intend to have and go from there. It is interesting because this raises the question for me of a practical perspective on deck ownership vs. viewing it more as art collecting.

ETA: I do consider that over time I will use ones I already own more than others. I have also thought about when I grow old and have retirement time to spend on my collection that I will be happy to have so many. I hope my hands still work well! In short, there's plenty to consider if you have a larger collection and plan for tarot to be an enduring interest.