BellaOnline Forums Religion and Spirituality Tarot Decks sometimes falling short on quality lately

Ok, so I want to share this little pet peeve of mine and see if anyone else has had similar experiences with recent Tarot purchases.

I have noticed in the past couple of years or so that certain decks I have purchased have been printed on such flimsy card stock. I actually wrote to the publisher of one of these decks and never received a response. Keep in mind this is one of the 2 major players out there for Tarot cards.

I really find it discouraging to fall in love with a deck online or in the catalog only to order it and find the craftsmanship is sub-par. It seems to be more and more of a problem these days.

There was one exception. I purchased a new copy of the Golden Tarot deck a few months ago to replace my other one that had worn quite a bit. This time I was pleasantly surprised to see they had increased the quality of the card stock and the lamination was done very well also. This deck was sturdier than my past copy. yay for sturdy! I do a lot of readings and I like for my cards to hold up well!

Has anyone else noticed this trend? What can we do to encourage larger publishers to not sacrifice the quality of the decks they produce?

My Aquarian deck has held up incredibly well for 30+ years - I am extremely glad it was printed on sturdy stock. I would be quite unhappy if it was falling apart. I do take careful care of it - I wrap it in fabric when it's not in use and I do a very gentle shuffle. I don't "riffle" it by bending the edges, I hold the two halves side by side and sort of gently shake them into each other more smoothly.

It does seem that many things in life nowadays are made in a more flimsy manner.

I totally agree Christin! I was speaking to another reader friend complain about the same thing. Very depressing... I have had my Woods deck since the mid 90's it was on good heavy card stock. Just bought a newer set over the last year or so and you can feel the difference...it's not grossly bad stock like some I've encountered but not up to par with the older deck. Though this may be an old school vs. new school thing as well...some of the younger readers have told me my cards are too stiff and they have trouble shuffling them... so it may be due to the newbie readers demands that they have decided to cater to them vs. us old school folks that prefer the higher quality and longevity (sadly even in Tarot it's become a throw it away society....shivers to think of getting rid of my deck...)

its interesting to see the range of decks people are using.i use a rider waite and they have lasted me 20 plus years.if i got another one i would give the aquarian a try,but i too would be very reluctant to get rid of my deck,

I am currently using the Hermetic Tarot because of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations. On the UK Amazon site several people have commented on the thickness and 'unwieldiness' of the actual cards. I find them comfortable to hold, and to work with so it may well be that ShaleRune's second paragraph is right.

On the US Amazon site people are commenting on the "pixelation" of the images. I think it's shading - especially as the Witch who taught me formerly worked in the print industry and showed me how to look at a deck for quality. The ones complained about could be a bad print run as I remember her have the 'rep' for the card company call 'round and handing some badly printed decks back along with some strong words - never mess with an angry Scots Witch!!