Scared to use my rare cards anyone else feel this way?

[MizGrace]

Question for you all

do you own decks that you have found to be rare and afraid to use? do you ponder on selling them and worry that you will damage the value by enjoying them?

I am having this conundrum right now do I sell do I keep do I enjoy and then do I weep!



I started collecting early as barely a teenager hiding them from family incase I was told not to use them. Little did I know they knew and had in mind to buy me them for my birthday. on that day I received wait for it --Ancestral Tarot---I then had Tarot Of The Cloisters which is stunning ---used at the time-- and always gave me good vibes box is a little dog eared I dont use it I wrap it in bubblewrap silk and a bag as if its the golden fleece.

 

[AnemoneRosie]

I have Cloisters. I use it sometimes, but not often. I love it though. But, I believe that decks are meant to be used, so I do use it.

 

[willowy]

I do own a few harder to come by decks,such as ancient Egyptian tarot and norse tarot by Clive barette,the tyldwick tarot (still available but was expensive and it's gold edge is pretty fragile )and baba studio's first edition bohemian cats deck and third edition bohemian gothic.I do use them myself (others of the more 'rough' of shuffling are kept well away from these,they can have a reading with one of my more easy to replace plastic coated decks
I would feel like I wasted my time buying them if I never used them and my money,after all what will happen to our tarot collections when we're gone?My family aren't into decks like me,they might save a couple but most I think they would sell or donate,so why should I leave them unopened or unused for someone else eventually to have?I don't plan on selling any that I truly love so don't worry about their future worth to others.
I love the beauty of tarot and intend to make the most of my collection,and advise you to do the same.Chances are if you're careful they will be fine.

 

[MizGrace]

I agree they should be used and as I am not using them its a waste keeping them. I dont know anyone who would want them after I go which is what I thought about and my family would only throw them into a skip because they arent the sort of people to care. I know from experience when someone close to me passed they junked everything of importance and tried to push me to do the same.
Elf Of Heaven needs to go it's a crazy zany deck which needs a new home. I feel too old using it and look it as if to say who will take me seriously if I do a reading with this deck?
if I cant take myself seriously using it then I cant use them at all.

 

[Farzon]

My most rare deck must be the Fantastic Menagerie from Baba Studios. I'm very careful with it, but it's such a beautiful deck it needs to be used. When can a deck be more beautiful than when it's cards are laid down for a reading?

I wouldn't let anyone but most trusted friends and family touch it though.

 

[Grizabella]

There's a distinct difference between "rare" and decks that are just out of the price range we feel comfortable with because they're out of print. The Baba Studios decks are not at all rare. There are thousands of people who have them. They won't ever be rare in this lifetime---maybe a couple hundred years from now they might be. The Baba Studios decks are also not necessarily valuable. They're just priced hugely because so many people bought them up and sold them on ebay for a small fortune. They got lucky but the fad will eventually die down and then the deck a person splurged on for $500 won't bring a tenth of that someday.

Tarot is such a hot thing these days that millions are produced and sold and very very few decks will probably ever be worth tons and tons of money. Not unless they're hand-painted, one of a kind, and a hundred years old or something. The value of anything depends on what someone will pay for it.

I use all my decks. One of them, the Buckland Romani that I'm using today was originally sold out, but then, as is typical when a deck sells out, suddenly everybody wanted one and clamored to get one. Finally it was reprinted but for whatever reason, the card stock and quality of the printing of the book were very much less durable than the original. I'm glad to have a first edition because I use it a lot. My point in mentioning it, though, is that the original printing of the book/deck were so sought after when it sold out that some folks paid a really outrageous price to get one, but then when the 2nd printing came out, all at once the deck they splurged on wasn't worth very much if they wanted to get their money back.

 

[gregory]

The only deck I own that I have reading issues with is one of Shandra McNeil's, as there is so much gold paint on the cards that it never seems to dry fully, and I have stored them with tissue layers. For that I draw from another deck and then pick out the cards. It's not a value thing, it's an OMG don't want the cards to stick together thing!

 

[Annabelle]

I used to be afraid to mess up my expensive or rarer decks, yes.

But not anymore.

I am a tarot collector with a huge collection, but I'll be honest -- it's not a money-making endeavor. It's not an investment. Most tarot decks are worth very, very little, even if kept pristine in their packaging and never shuffled. Even those that cost a lot now may be worth nearly nothing later on, if there's no interest in the art or the artist.

So with the one exception of a deck I have that was hand-painted (and apt to stick together), I am not scared to pull a hard-to-find deck out of its box or bag, and use it if I feel inclined. So what if a corner gets bent someday, etc. -- eh, it's okay. Why would I have a room full of decks if I didn't want to play with them ? (If I was intending to put my money into something I could pile up as an investment, I'd be buying gold instead.)

I will say, though, that if I had something of true historic importance -- let's say I ever had the opportunity to buy cards from a very early Visconti, etc. -- then I would take special care to preserve it/them.

 

[jema]

I love well-worn decks

Also if you want to make money - selling tarot is not a get rich fix, unless you happen to sit on a few Greenwood...

I have a lot of rare decks, even more than I know lol. But I only hold on to decks I love, or that I simply can't hoist off to someone else - yet.

I do hope you use your decks. They are prescious when we bond with them, not when sitting untouched on a shelf.

 

[Grizabella]

I almost hate to bring this up for fear we'll see another spate of people aging decks artificially. Not because it's wrong, but it just pains me to see people damaging a deck on purpose. But here goes:

A well-loved and well-worn deck says to me that it's one that's been used a lot and that means the reader has a very thorough knowledge of it and can trust that readings done with it will be useful and informative for themselves and/or a client.

There's one deck I have that isn't as used as the others and that's the pocket Thoth. I use if for my timing deck, so even though it does get some use, it's not used nearly as often as my others that I regularly read with.

I suggest just using and enjoying your decks. Take reasonable care of them, of course, but the value a deck holds is mainly in our own eyes and hearts. Kind of like that Velveteen Rabbit in that child's story book. That's how it is for me.