The Sharman-Caselli Tarot Deck Cards – September 1, 2008

This deck really impressed me. I own a large collection of decks and this one is certainly one of my favorites. The artwork is pretty and pleasant to look at and mostly sticks to the standard rider waite imagery. The little white book it comes with goes into the symbolism on the cards and is much better quality than what you'll find in most tuck-box decks. This deck does come in a nice sturdy hardcover box and the cards are of amazing quality. The cards do have a laminated finish which feels almost a bit plasticky, but definitely feels high quality and shuffles nicely. I have small hands and I am able to riffle shuffle this deck, so the card stock isn't crazy thick. Overall this is such a great find especially for the price ($16!) and I would definitely recommend this deck to both beginners and experts in the tarot.

This is a lovely deck. It is packaged in a nice, sturdy box, which is a major plus in itself. The images are in keeping with Rider-Waite Smith tradition.Because of all of these pluses, I rate these cards 5 stars, however, I almost didn't simply because the card stock isn't the best. It's so sad to find an otherwise wonderful deck only to have it cheapened by using inferior stock. Please wake up, publishers and artist. If it's worth printing, it's worth quality card stock. It doesn't have to be super thick, just a feel of body and quality would be fine. That aside, I would buy this deck again. It's very nice!

BEAUTIFUL Deck. Each card in the deck feels thinner than those in the deck that comes in the "Beginner's Guide to Tarot" set with Sharman-Burke's book, but it feels as though they are easier to shuffle; this is assuming you don't shuffle them "casino style" like with regular poker cards. I like the size, personally. The box is very nice, as is the little white booklet that comes with it. The package came earlier than anticipated and in very good shape, which I am thankful for. The only thing I wish was different, albeit a very, very minor problem, is that there's a slight loss of color on the top of the back of the queen and king of pentacles cards; however, this does not change the way I feel about the deck at all, as I always expect a slight imperfection or two with manufactured products. This is the package I wish came with the Beginner's Guide to Tarot set. I really appreciate the opportunity to purchase the deck in this fashion. 5 out of 5 stars!!

The cards are easy to read because of the picturesque symbolism and the booklet that's enclosed with the tarot deck, great for beginners trying to learn tarot card reading.

I bought this deck because I have the app for it. I really like a lot of the imagry and they are easy to read. Every Tarot deck has a card or two where the artist just nails it visually and this deck no exception. This deck has a more cardboard feel to it. Stiffer and less smooth. And what really shocked me was that the major Arcana is not numbered! Why would you leave that off in a beginner's deck? The colors are a bit heavy with yellow especially in certain suites, but it also helps with the read for newbies as myself. It is a good learning deck. I use it for reading when Im out and about. I don't worry about people handling them as much as my more precious decks.

Having recently read Sharman-Burke's The New Complete Book of Tarot (a revision of a much older volume), I decided to get the deck that illustrates her revised text. The images in the book are quite lovely and notable for their simplicity and clarity. The deck is quite nice and follows the Waite-Smith tradition without its astrological or kabbalistic symbolism. This simplification will make it easy for newbies to learn. It comes is a sturdy box which will be great for carrying the cards while traveling. The cards themselves feel like they are made of flimsy stock and seem like they would bend and crease easily. The images in the book are far sharper and more colorful than the ones on the cards, which seem to have a much inferior reproduction. The backs of the cards are a loud solid magenta, and two of the cards in the deck I received have spots in the solid coloring which appears to be a defect in manufacturing.The LWB that accompanies the deck is quite good. Instead of just compiling some keywords, it lists the key images on each card and what the author intended by selecting those images. I much prefer this approach because it allows the reader to read the cards intuitively without being "stuck" with someone else's delineations. If you like this deck (which I do), I would highly recommend getting the author's accompanying book for its fuller description of the cards and their meanings. Sharman-Burke's approach incorporates a great deal of Greek mythology into the cards, which gives an added depth to the Waite-Smith symbolism. I really like this deck and would have given it 5 stars if the stock and image reproduction had been better. Highly recommended as a Waite-Smith clone. I hope the authors can sell the rights to a good card manufacturer like Lo Scarbeo or US Games Systems so that a good quality deck can be produced from these beautiful images.Addendum: After using the deck for a while, I noticed that a few of the cards have spots in the plain magenta backs of the cards, which makes me able to recognize them. One card has a small crease and a small black spot that appears to be the result of poor manufacturing. I contacted amazon.com and they will send me a replacement deck, which I hope is devoid of spots and creases. Too bad they are not printed on better stock with some quality control because these cards are really quite attractive.Addendum 2 (April 7, 2012: Today the replacement deck arrived. This time I examined the back of each card carefully and found only three with white spots left in manufacturing. They apparently don't apply the coloring evenly on the back of the cards. I mixed and matched the two decks and returned to amazon a full deck with about 6 defective cards. The "new deck" does not allow me to know which card I've drawn by looking at the back of the card and I'm pleased with my purchase (despite the poor quality stock).

I love the artwork. I am drawn to it. I especially am drawn to the two of swords. I am just learning the tarot and I find pleasure in holding the cards and getting to know them. They have an appeal that draws me emotionally to them. I have purchased a few decks, since watching political tarot on line, but these Sherman-Caselli cards are the ones I most want to use.