Some people may feel that an "update" to a deck is unnecessary, that too many versions of the same thing amounts to overkill. The only thing it will take now to make my collection complete, is a 2009 Anniversary Issue of the true original deck of 1909, alike in every way to the box of 78 cards that sold in London for fifty pence. Virginijus Poshkus has done an excellent job of radiantly re-colouring the images, which will make them easy to read and use for beginners and the advanced student, and they should soon prove to be a favourite of collectors worldwide. So I was very pleased to be able to add the new Radiant Rider-Waite to my personal collection. My personal collection of decks by or based upon the artistry of Pamela Colman Smith include a very authentic Rider of London "Tarot Cards" deck printed in England, the Rider Tarot Deck circa 1971 with typeset titles, the beautiful and timeless Universal Waite with colouring by Mary Hanson-Roberts, the Original Rider Waite Tarot Pack facsimile edition, the Giant Rider-Waite, and the amazingly useful and handy Miniature Rider Waite Tarot Deck. Kaplan, and follow the standard format used for all decks from U.S.Games in the Rider-Waite tradition, which is both helpful and convenient for every purchaser of these cards. The instructions are familiar, featuring an introduction by Stuart R.
At first glance one can recognize the distinctive, new style of the deck, and learns that the box contains 78 cards and instruction booklet. The packaging is in a standard size box, printed in complimentary hues of orange and blue to highlight the radiant colour values of the cards within, and featuring the Fool and Magician cards from inside. They are easy to handle and shuffle, being sized at 2 3/4" by 4 3/4" overall. The cards themselves have a nice feel, as they are printed on good cardstock, and are plastic-coated and durable. The titles and suits are in capital letters, in the same very pleasant typeface, also centred on the bottom of the cards. The cards have a clean, white border all around the images, with the numbers on the top in Roman numerals for the Major Arcana and spelled out in capital letters on the Minors.
To describe the colouring of these cards as radiant is not an overstatement, as they are indeed shining and glowing, brilliant and luminous, and truly beaming with happiness. Earlier work by Poshkus includes his brilliant depictions of flora and fauna for the 16-deck Natural World Playing Card Collection, also from U.S.Games. For this very pretty new deck, the artist Virginijus Poshkus was selected to re-colour the drawings. Kaplan based upon the illustrations of Pamela Colman Smith. The new Radiant Rider-Waite Tarot is the latest offering in a long line of historically accurate decks from Stuart R.