Surprising Disappointments

[earthair]

Anna K- Loved it online. The artwork is 90% genius / 10% unworkable for me, but what really killed it dead was the Llewellyn cardstock - just shuffling it while the cards bend diagonally makes me grumpy I should've got the self published version.

Golden- Kat Black. - So it turns out I need my decks to have a bit more of a backbone and dark mysterious underbelly. It's the one that made me finally realise I can't get on with decks which are made from borrowed art; I can't stop seeing the original paintings. So it's still in 'never used' order, and I flip through it occasionally like a mini art gallery.

Chrysalis- great concept, too much brown! Using that deck is like sitting in a smokey pub with the curtains drawn. If only those borders were like the backs. Maybe I should trim it

 

[Little_Bear]

Chrysalis- great concept, too much brown! Using that deck is like sitting in a smokey pub with the curtains drawn. If only those borders were like the backs. Maybe I should trim it

This is exactly what put me off the Chrysalis tarot when I saw it in person. I'm not a fan of borders generally anyway. Trimming may give it a whole new lease of life. The borderless Deviant Moon is miles better for it (and the original was pretty amazing to begin with).

 

[earthair]

Online those borders look golden and swirly but not in real life!

 

[Sztar]

feynrir, that's very true about the Wild Unknown, I mean, they sell it in Urban Outfitters! WTF?
But guess what? There's a new hipster deck in town, it's called The Starchild Tarot, it out hipsters the Wild Unknown by a mile!

Oh, wow. I had NO idea they sold Wild Unknown at Urban Outfitters!! I actually really like that deck, although I was reluctant to purchase it because I associated it with this hipster girl I know who was posting photos with it on Facebook all the time. Then when I finally broke down and purchased it, I was happy I did (although I was disappointed in the print quality, which seems lower resolution than what I expected).

Hilariously, when I read that the Starchild Tarot "out hipsters" the Wild Unknown, I immediately looked it up online, and now I have to have it!!! Not sure what this says about me (please don't let me be a hipster!!!) LOL

As for decks I was truly disappointed in, I would have to say the Wildwood for sure. I've never gotten through a whole reading with it. I'll start a reading and then just feel frustrated and swap decks. The artwork is really beautiful, and I love the idea of a Wheel of the Year based system, but it just doesn't work for me. *sigh*

 

[Barleywine]

Anna K- Loved it online. The artwork is 90% genius / 10% unworkable for me, but what really killed it dead was the Llewellyn cardstock - just shuffling it while the cards bend diagonally makes me grumpy I should've got the self published version.

Golden- Kat Black. - So it turns out I need my decks to have a bit more of a backbone and dark mysterious underbelly. It's the one that made me finally realise I can't get on with decks which are made from borrowed art; I can't stop seeing the original paintings. So it's still in 'never used' order, and I flip through it occasionally like a mini art gallery.

Chrysalis- great concept, too much brown! Using that deck is like sitting in a smokey pub with the curtains drawn. If only those borders were like the backs. Maybe I should trim it

Thanks for the tip on Anna K. I've been close to buying it just because I like the Strength card so much. I feel the same way as you do about the Golden. What I said about in another thread is that "high art" decks make me feel like I'm in a museum, which isn't conducive to fluid interpretation. Personally, the accomplished artwork and the imaginative journeys it sends me on save the Chrysalis for me. I find it great as an oracle deck. I usually pay no attention at all to borders unless they're REALLY annoying (or have those grating multi-lingual titles on them).

 

[Little_Bear]

Hipster Tarot

Hilariously, when I read that the Starchild Tarot "out hipsters" the Wild Unknown, I immediately looked it up online, and now I have to have it!!! Not sure what this says about me (please don't let me be a hipster!!!) LOL

To be fair, both are absolutely gorgeous decks to look at. As an artist myself, I can fully appreciate the work that has gone into them. And I will probably get the Wild Unknown, who knows, maybe even the Starchild?

Also, I'm kind of half joking when I say hipster, the whole hipster hate has kind of gone full circle now and is starting to just look like being really mean and bitter at times.
Some people might view me as a hipster (arty Londoner, 'portfolio career', has tiny dog, reads tarot, eats quinoa, loves Instagram etc). It's all about personal perception, much like the tarot!

I have just ordered the Ellis, so now I'm really hoping this one does not disappoint because I've fallen in love with what I've seen of it online.

 

[Sztar]

Yes, I agree about the hipster thing having gone full circle quite a while ago. That said, what turned me off about the person I was talking about has more to do with her being more obsessed with image rather than substance. She takes photos of the Wild Unknown or herself posing with a card, but what she really wants is to be viewed as someone who is very spiritual more than she wants to be spiritual. As another example, she once bought a wolf (not kidding) and kept it in a tiny studio apartment. Then when she got tired of it destroying her apartment, she gave it to the pound. She's forever doing things like that, so when I associate a certain deck with that kind of behavior, it just hurts my heart a little.

As for a tarot deck I hope I won't be gravely disappointed in, I broke down and ordered Mystical Cats while I was sitting with my cat at the vet the other day. It arrives today, and I hope it will live up to my expectations!

 

[Little_Bear]

Yes, I agree about the hipster thing having gone full circle quite a while ago. That said, what turned me off about the person I was talking about has more to do with her being more obsessed with image rather than substance. She takes photos of the Wild Unknown or herself posing with a card, but what she really wants is to be viewed as someone who is very spiritual more than she wants to be spiritual. As another example, she once bought a wolf (not kidding) and kept it in a tiny studio apartment. Then when she got tired of it destroying her apartment, she gave it to the pound. She's forever doing things like that, so when I associate a certain deck with that kind of behavior, it just hurts my heart a little.

As for a tarot deck I hope I won't be gravely disappointed in, I broke down and ordered Mystical Cats while I was sitting with my cat at the vet the other day. It arrives today, and I hope it will live up to my expectations!

Goodness, she sounds awful! I know what you mean about people wanting to appear spiritual and deep...without the work. Of course, you can usually tell within minutes of viewing their feed or meeting them that they're all style and no substance. I guess that is what is originally meant by the term hipster. Just seems to now be a term used for stylish, young person. When, in reality, the hipster sense of style is just what has become mainstream.

Awh, I hope your cat is ok. I'm still hoping for a decent dog deck one day. The cat owners have it lucky on the deck front.

 

[Le Fanu]

I don't go at things with the feeling that it might be The One so I am thankfully spared any disppointment on a more profound level. The worst that happens is that I turn back to my already treasured jewels, my favouritest 40 or so decks. It's not like I really need something to excite me, or that I am looking for The One.

But ones that surprised me because I expected them to sing and they didn't;

Chrysalis - too Noah's Ark-y - it just feels like everything has been tossed in there for fear that civilization might end. So I tend to question the vibe of the whole world spread thinly.

Wildwood - too rushed; the figure drawing looked too goofy close-up.

Plus the Shadowscapes for all the reasons everyone said. I thought it would be beautiful.

 

[Sibylline]

I, too, had a similar reaction to The Deviant Moon. I was like "nope nope nope!" because it scared the bejeezus out of me. Then, one day it called to me for no reason whatsoever. I love it now, but I wish I waited for the borderless version to be released.

I loathed The Morgan Greer for a variety of reasons...one of them being those 70s mustaches. Now, those mustaches happily waggle at me whenever I do readings on it.

The Rider Waite laid in my "I don't love you" box of decks for 14 years. I took it out late last year, and now I use it every week. While the artwork is landmark, it's not my favorite. But that deck reads like no other!