The Sharman-Caselli Tarot Deck

I have mixed feelings abut this deck. I tend to be drawn to decks with more elaborate artwork, but wanted something with more simplicity to help with learning the basic card meanings. The clear images and softer colors of these cards really drew me in, but I do find the cards hard to shuffle because the paper they're printed on isn't the smoothest. As far as the artwork, I do really like it, although some of it, especially the suit of Swords took a while to grow on me. I did end up trimming the white borders off these cards because I felt like they detract from the artwork.

I never thought this would be something I would complain about with a deck, but here it is: these cards are too sharp. Hah! I own many decks and I've never had this issue, however after handling this deck for a short while my hands hurt. This is a pretty big deal breaker, not being able to comfortably handle the cards. The artwork is nice and they shuffle well. I am not a fan of how many of the faces depicted appear to be glaring right at you. I find it distracting. And many of the toothy smiles are creepy. I wish I had noticed these 2 things before purchasing. I may end up gifting these or just donating. Beru disappointed in how uncomfortable they are to handle... can't say that enough.

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.

I love this deck! It’s without a doubt in my a beginner-friendly deck. However, the only complaint that I have is, yes it’s difficult to shuffle due to the thickness, but I wouldn’t want it any thinner. And lastly, the print quality of the images are kind of poor-ish. I really wish someone would republish this deck in a higher quality (maintaining true to the original artwork).

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).

Imaginative illustrations in vibrant colours from Italian artist Giovanni Caselli prominent in this 'Tarot' deck and the official book for the Tarot deck as opposed to the notelet accompanying them, providing easily understandable explanations of the cards meanings being a vital necessity; so another necessary purchase especially for the beginner!

Printing error: the image is not in the center of the card. The 4 white borders of a card is not equally wide. This happens to several cards...Card stock is no longer as thick as the version I saw many years ago.They also changed the back color from red-pink into weird sun-shaped and purple. Well... Looks quite cheap actually.I really missed the older version of this deck with much better printing quality.I have to ask for a refund.

It was what I wanted and expected, however, four of the cards had bright pink marks on their front. It was obviously due to transfer of printing ink from the back of the cards and I returned it.

As a beginner to tarot this deck seemed the most suited to me personally after reading lots of reviews and research. im very happy with this reasonably priced deck, it is good quality, the images are stunning and are enjoyable to look at all the detail, as i say i am a beginner so this deck is enabling me to slowly learn the art of tarot. very happy indeed.

These cards really are a joy to work with.Definitely worth buying