A Million Dollar Tarot: The Alleyman’s Tarot
The Alleyman’s Tarot successfully raised $1,404,172 on Kickstarter. This unique 133-card deck includes a mix of traditional and non-traditional tarot cards, offering a new approach to tarot readings.
In the most recent Clear the Decks, I wrote about several BIG new playing card projects on Kickstarter. Shortly after my research was done and my article was finished, a truly MASSIVE tarot came along: The Alleyman’s Tarot created by SevenThirteenBooks (now Publishing Goblin).
You’ll see in the graphic below the remarkable final numbers that this achieved: $1,404,172 pledged by 19,275 backers. The base-level deal was $45 for the 133 card deck (yes, really) and a specially made guidebook. The dollar sum reached suggests that a total around 30,000 sets will be made.
What’s the deal? From the campaign:
"With 133 cards, there is certainly some strangeness to the deck. 9 Deaths, 2 Devils, 2 Suns, a Tower series of 3 cards (the Tower, the House of God, and the Horizon), and non-traditional cards such as the 3 of Books, the Fountain, and others. Each was chosen by the Alleyman because they bring in important new angles to your readings."
The 133 card set is highly unusual as noted. There are 26 Major Arcana, 9 deaths, five suits of 14 cards each (cups, wands, swords, discs and a strange suit), a further 27 ‘second arcana’ and a ‘final tarot card’. Yes, I make that 133 in all!
The image shows the first part of the Major Arcana:
The range of influences and styles is extremely broad and the appeal must come from this diversity. This set then offers an extra dimension, meaning that the style of the selected cards in a spread is an additional factor in a reading. Congratulations to their creator on such a successful idea and amazing results.
References
By Paul Bostock
Member since May 07, 2024
Paul has been a collector of playing cards since his early teenage years, the mid 1970s. In the last 20 years or so he has specialised in standard English cards and their story. His collection, including many other English Standards, are featured on his website plainbacks.com. Paul is currently editor of Clear the Decks, the Journal of 52 Plus Joker, the American club for playing card collectors, and is a member of the IPCS Council, an EPCS member and a Past Master of the Worshipful Company of Makers of Playing cards, a City of London livery company.
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