Fake Rider-Waite tarot cards vs Genuine

[emperor5455]

Hi,

I have both a fake Rider-Waite $8 tarot deck and a genuine Rider-Waite $30 tarot deck, what are the differences in creation of these cards? Does the fake one use a cheaper copying method with cheaper materials? Or are they the same? Should the genuine cards be brighter than the fake ones?

[Charlie Brown]

Since you're the one with the two decks in front of you, don't you think you should share your observations of the differences?

[emperor5455]

Since you're the one with the two decks in front of you, don't you think you should share your observations of the differences?

The effort you’ve exerted to write this genius comment proves that you’re smarter than everyone else so you can enlighten everyone with your knowledge on the differences.

[Charlie Brown]

How in the world should I know the details of your knock off? Perhaps you should slow your roll.

[RobinMarie]

My first deck was a clone with a misprint, and I learned a lot using it. I now have the original Rider deck. I felt compelled to purchase the original. Colors may be a bit different. Since getting the original, I retired the clone. Do you read with both decks now?

[Charlie Brown]

So I did a reading on the knock off deck and it said that the deck is good enough to do the task at hand but, ultimately, the quality of the tools will have a direct affect on the spiritual experience of doing the reading. It's kind of gross.

[TheLoracular]

I wouldn't be able to comment at all on the comparable quality of the cards without seeing them. But its my experience with most cheap knock-offs of any product that you "get what you pay for". I'd be able to do a reading as comfortably with an $8 RWS as a $30 one; I'm a barbarian who even uses an electronic app to pull RWS cards of the day for my Twitter feed. Its the RWS imagery, regardless of how its presented, that gives me enough to feel comfortable to do readings with that specific type of deck.

That said?

In my perfect world, I'd have a comfy chair in front of a fireplace in a lovely home and I'd to all my readings face to face while drinking tea from a lovely china set and I'd be half my age and be drop-dead gorgeous and my tarot cards would have age and elegance to them. There is something to be said for presentation.

If you pick up that knock-off deck and it makes you feel like its cheap and invalid for any reason? Don't use it. All of this, every part of reading tarot, is about what each reader thinks inside their own head. What works simply works and never the exact same way.

[Papageno]

It's kind of gross.

pirated decks are by their very nature.....grotesque

[Charlie Brown]

It's kind of gross.

pirated decks are by their very nature.....grotesque

That being said, the idea that there is such a thing as a pirated RWS is questionable. That's why I specifically used the term knock-off.

[Papageno]

It's kind of gross.

pirated decks are by their very nature.....grotesque

That being said, the idea that there is such a thing as a pirated RWS is questionable. That's why I specifically used the term knock-off.

we will agree to disagree......in my world, a "knock-off" is a pirated deck.....admittedly, the term "knock-off" can encompass a fairly broad range of interpretation/definition.....but I don't equate that term with legitimate decks that are "clones" or "inspired by".

[Charlie Brown]

I'm not equating to a "clone" or "inspired-by" deck, I'm noting that the images - or at least certain versions of them - are in the public domain. It certainly would be possible to rip off a specific, copyrightable version, like the Centennial Edition, but a cheap Chinese print isn't necessarily a pirated deck.

[TheLoracular]

I'm not equating to a "clone" or "inspired-by" deck, I'm noting that the images - or at least certain versions of them - are in the public domain. It certainly would be possible to rip off a specific, copyrightable version, like the Centennial Edition, but a cheap Chinese print isn't necessarily a pirated deck.

Yuppers. A good way to know at what card images are in public domain and you can just print yourself if you wanna is to go to Wikimedia Commons and type in something like "Tarot Deck". The Jean Dodal tarot popped up first for me today. The original RWS are there too.

Consider that a professionally made Jean Dodal is going for something like $250+, you can absolutely see the value in having your own set printed for $20. That isn't piracy either and its an important distinction to make.