First Impressions: Pamela Colman Smith's RWS Tarot Deck 

I just got this deck and I LOVE everything about it, the muted colors, the cardstock, the shuffling....BUT the backs ugh 😩 I hate the backs.

I love muted colors im definetely getting this deck

I LOVE IT and had not heard about this release! Thank you for sharing!

I have been eagerly anticipating a flip through of this deck! So exciting! Like you, I adore the muted blue-green of the backs and the box, and I absolutely love the desaturation of the cards...however, I am not too thrilled by the changes that they made to gain the deck's uniformity; I can't help but miss the organic borders that Pamela Colman Smith created! A lovely little copy of the RWS, though, and one that I may not be able to resist. Thank you for this video!

Wow, excellent, excellent comparison. I thoroughly appreciate your commentary, that was quite educational!

Picked this up because I wanted to get an RWS to study with that didn't make my eyes bleed like my 90s Yellow Box RWS with the plaid backs.

Why can’t US Games just release an unfutzed with replica of the R&L and Pam A? Who on earth was clamoring for an RWS with dull, dull, dull colors? So disappointing. I just ordered the MPC Study Deck yesterday because I can’t trust USG or any of the other major manufacturers to do a proper release.

I just received my copy today. I personally think this version is of poor quality compared to the centennial. A lot of the cards are stretched. They also appear like they are behind a mist making it difficult to see the detail. The card stock is nothing like the centennial - its rather cheap plasticky feel. I will be returning my copy. Hope this helps :)

Thanks for explaining why the characters look skinnier. I wondered about that.

Thank you :-) I appreciate you taking the time to explain.

Really like the depth and detail of your review. I do really like this new deck and I have a couple of copies on order from Book Depository - the desaturation caters to my 'antiqued' taste. My personal opinion is that the best mass market RWS is still the premium edition Tarot of A.E. Waite published by AGM Urania. Yes, this deck does not have the original hand written font but in all other regards it is a great version of the Pam A. I had a look at the Tarot of A.E. Waite Magician and it has the blue flowers and lack of solid line. My gut feeling with the new deck here is that US Games is trying to create a deck that ticks all the current trendy flavours: -No copyright on the front? Tick (copyright is on the back; premium Tarot of A.E. Waite doesn't have copyright anywhere) -Muted colours? Tick -Hand written font? Tick 2021 is the year that the RWS finally enters the public domain so I suppose US Games is creating an easy to obtain mass market RWS with wide appeal. I note the standard plaid back Rider (yellow box) deck now has the original font restored - I guess another tick on the trendy list (+ plus looking ahead to 2021). The plaid back deck is also not quite as bright as it was a few years ago and is now on nice matte card stock - I don't feel the need to use my vintage decks that often because of this. Looking forward to someone coming out with a fully authentic mass market Pam A reproduction - it is surely only a matter of time now the RWS is coming out of copyright.

I love the green in this deck

It has an old time feel

which deck is the third WOF card in the comparison from at 16:39? I can't make out what's being said there. "my pmd"?

Loved your video, I love listening to you, Brant, Simon - people who know about RWS. Could you tell me - is there a new-ish release that has pale colours like this one & age marked card stock? You know what I mean, tea stains etc. I feel sure I saw one when this one came out but have no memory of where or what. Old age is a wonderful thing HA

I love the soft desaturated hues, but that oval Wheel of Fortune... I don't like the aspect ratio. Btw, have you seen the 2021 Lo Scarabeo clones to come? The "Tarot Vintage" and "Tarot: Original 1909" - I'm looking forward to seeing how those look in person!!

Hi Melissa, thank you so much for this video and the insightful remarks. Pros and cons in this deck as with everything I guess. I’m with you in loving the teal grayish blue and painting entire rooms with this color, the backs however are bit dreadful to me. Plus on being reversible, minus on having the copyright, plus on having removed the copyright from the fronts, plus on being true to the 1909, stains and all included, deep minus on the resizing, I cannot get past the oval in the Wheel of Fortune 😅 Thanks again, you are my #1 go to for RWS comparisons with historic remarks, love that!

Thank you for putting isbn in the description! :D

OMG, the change of the aspect ratio COMPLETELY destroys this deck for me! 😱 What a sacrilege!

I now have 4 RWS decks, someone gave me one last month, my blushing fool yellow box, and my 80's perfect shuffle RWS, and of course the yellow box from a couple years ago, that I modded to be a square deck...it is always interesting, nee fascinating to hear RWS collectors talk about the deck. Thank you!

RU-vid auto-captions Stuart Kaplan to "Stupid Kaplan" lol. (Not that I think he's stupid.) Thanks for sharing this deck!

Hi, I brought the tarot deck..The color is too dull and dark so not good...I like smith waite tarot cards better. But I'm adjusting.(and I'm sorry for weird English.)

The original darker green deck, I have a question for you all ... the part that strikes me as special is the artwork on front of the box of the original green deck of cards. Its a similar style, but the symbology is not the same as in the deck, and it doesn't seem to appear in the deck at all when I look through it. What is the story behind that card/artwork?

me molesta que se la pase casi todo el video comparando el centennial con este, vine a ver la review de este tarot, no a ver una comparación donde se la pasan despreciando al centennial.

I wanr this deck too. Have been away for a while but I'm still looking for a second copy of the Pamela Colman Smith RWS. I had the opportunity to get another but I was at work and totally lost it on eBay. I was super pissed.

Not a fan of this deck I prefer the loscarabeo, also why the obsession with it being Pam's deck when A E Waite came up with it? No Waite no deck!

From an Albano-Waite user perspective, this deck is blasphemous.

Nope, I'm giving this tarot deck a miss. It's too desaturated for my liking, almost colorless.