I prefer the Radiant Wise Spirit Deck because the card pictures are '3-Dimensional' and has more colour and shading, whereas the Smith-Waite is '2-Dimensional' and is lighter and flat. They are both beautiful decks.
Agreed. The Radiant Wise Spirit deck has a more pleasant palette and blending of colors. The Smith-Waite Centennial deck is closer to the original Rider-Waite, albeit with less vibrant colors than the RW. I also prefer the Radiant Wise Spirit's use of a narrower band where the title of the card is printed, granting more space for the actual image. Overall it's a fantastic deck and one of my favorites.
I prefer the Borderless edition. On the Radiant Wise Spirit, they zoomed the art and we are losing information on the 4 sides. Nah. I made my own reprint of the centennial edition, and aged them individually, I'll stick with this one! But thank you so much for the comparison, I looked everywhere for that kind of video!
i ordered the Spirit deck, i think the colors make the symbols POP more. I can visualize highly colored cards better Its really all in preference, though..
I think the coloring and shading of the Radiant Wise Spirt, line drawings of the borderless Smith-Waite Centennial, thinness of the lines and backs of the Universal Waite would possibly be perfect.
@@cassidythecardslinger Yeah. Maybe someone from U.S. Games, Lo Scarabeo, or Llewellyn might see this comment and say "Hey! Let's do that!" I right now use Radiant Rider-Waite, partially because that was the deck I happened to get. I plan on moving onto using other decks, and typically, I like cards having borders (it's the sides of the cards that typically get dirty from my grubby little paws touching them). However, I definitely see why a lot of people prefer borderless decks.
@@MyReluctantTheology Here’s to hoping they do! Yes my two workhorse decks are the Smith-Waite centennial bordered and borderless editions and I go back and forth between them. Some days I feel like borders, other days I like the borderless. I completely understand both sides
@@cassidythecardslinger I did a video defending borders vehemently, which I'll admit was far more mean-spirited than it should have been, but I definitely feel something like it was necessary. I had developed a dislike for borders, and I realized that it was rubbed off from other peoples' dislike of borders.
I prefer the Radiant Wise Spirit. It looks better for the borderless look. The other deck looks stretched and and is if something is missing or off-putting. Thanks for a great side by side review! 🌟🌟🌟
Looks like it's the same template lo scarabeo used for the bordered PCS deck complete with the same print errors on that deck. Note the double dots on either side of the magician's head, repeated on the hanged man on either side of his legs and several other cards. Hanged man also has a splotch to the right of his waist that randomly appears on various other cards always the exact same size and shape, same location. The most unfortunate of them all being the dot in front of the King of Wands' nose. Printing friend said it looked like some debris was on the print glass, evidenced by the anomalies always being the same size and shape. Can't believe they didn't fix this
If only we could order a deck with our own preferences. I love the Radient Wise, but I hate the gloss and that Pixie's font wasn't used. As far as the Smith Waite goes, to make it borderless they had to stretch the images and in some cases it's too much. I have both and love both, but I'd like to blend them.
I'm not a fan of the cropping on the Radiant Wise Spirit - i'm sticking to the Smith Waite. The Radiant Wise Spirit is a recoloured version of the Pam B - sometime in the 1920s or 30s another artist redrew some of the cards and this artist lacked Pixie's skill. Compare the Death card between the two decks, the Smith Waite is Pixie's original linework; the Radiant Wise has the terrible redrawn linework. Yuck.
If you get the Centenniel box set you get a whole book about Pams non-tarot art, as well as some postcard size pictures, one of which is The Empress : )
Thank you very much for this great review. I'm planning to buy some of this two deck, but I can't decide which one. Some cards are nicer to me in left deck, and some in right - so it's really hard desition for me. 😞 I like darker and shiniest colours on some cards in left deck, but I like some lighter and more matte in right deck. I have got Gilded tarot, Golden universal tarot, Morgan Greer tarot, The good tarot, Arcanum tarot already - so what do you think, which one of this too would be better for me? Which one is nicer and better to you alive?
@@cassidythecardslinger ok, thank you very much for your reply and kindness. ❤️ I decided to buy some Marseille tarot based decks, in meantime, because I haven't got any of those kind... So I bought those, for now : The classic tarot, Universal tarot of Marseille, Golden Visconti tarot. And I'm planning to buy Golden tarot of Marseille and Spanish or Convos tarot yet. I never tried to read Marseille based tarot decks, but they look very interesting because of pips in minor arcana. I think RWS based decks and cards has got their usual and 'classic' meanings so readings always go in same way...but pips in Marseille based tarot decks can have totally different meanings and you can develop your intuition better. I don't know how to read those pips, but I'll read them on way 'suit + number' at first, so we'll see... 😊
Love the colors. And it’s interesting that on many they cropped in closer to the picture. I can’t tell, is the line work cleaned up at all or pretty much the same?
I prefer the Radiant Wise Spirit Deck because the card pictures are '3-Dimensional' and has more colour and shading, whereas the Smith-Waite is '2-Dimensional' and is lighter and flat. They are both beautiful decks.
Agreed. The Radiant Wise Spirit deck has a more pleasant palette and blending of colors. The Smith-Waite Centennial deck is closer to the original Rider-Waite, albeit with less vibrant colors than the RW. I also prefer the Radiant Wise Spirit's use of a narrower band where the title of the card is printed, granting more space for the actual image. Overall it's a fantastic deck and one of my favorites.
It was helpful but also not because I want them both now🤦🏽♀️🤣
Thank you for comparing the decks. This is why I ended up buying the Radiant Wise Spirit Tarot! ❤
Thanks for watching! It’s a really lovely deck, enjoy 😊
@@cassidythecardslinger ❤❤❤
I prefer the Borderless edition. On the Radiant Wise Spirit, they zoomed the art and we are losing information on the 4 sides. Nah. I made my own reprint of the centennial edition, and aged them individually, I'll stick with this one! But thank you so much for the comparison, I looked everywhere for that kind of video!
Certainly beautiful decks and love the Radiant Wise tones in the colouring. Borderless is also wonderful. :)
Yes agreed, I really love them both!
Thank you for this comparison, it was just what I was looking for!
Glad it helped! :)
i ordered the Spirit deck, i think the colors make the symbols POP more. I can visualize highly colored cards better Its really all in preference, though..
I think the coloring and shading of the Radiant Wise Spirt, line drawings of the borderless Smith-Waite Centennial, thinness of the lines and backs of the Universal Waite would possibly be perfect.
Yes I completely agree!!
@@cassidythecardslinger Yeah. Maybe someone from U.S. Games, Lo Scarabeo, or Llewellyn might see this comment and say "Hey! Let's do that!"
I right now use Radiant Rider-Waite, partially because that was the deck I happened to get. I plan on moving onto using other decks, and typically, I like cards having borders (it's the sides of the cards that typically get dirty from my grubby little paws touching them). However, I definitely see why a lot of people prefer borderless decks.
@@MyReluctantTheology Here’s to hoping they do!
Yes my two workhorse decks are the Smith-Waite centennial bordered and borderless editions and I go back and forth between them. Some days I feel like borders, other days I like the borderless. I completely understand both sides
@@cassidythecardslinger I did a video defending borders vehemently, which I'll admit was far more mean-spirited than it should have been, but I definitely feel something like it was necessary. I had developed a dislike for borders, and I realized that it was rubbed off from other peoples' dislike of borders.
I prefer the Radiant Wise Spirit. It looks better for the borderless look. The other deck looks stretched and and is if something is missing or off-putting.
Thanks for a great side by side review! 🌟🌟🌟
Looks like it's the same template lo scarabeo used for the bordered PCS deck complete with the same print errors on that deck. Note the double dots on either side of the magician's head, repeated on the hanged man on either side of his legs and several other cards. Hanged man also has a splotch to the right of his waist that randomly appears on various other cards always the exact same size and shape, same location. The most unfortunate of them all being the dot in front of the King of Wands' nose. Printing friend said it looked like some debris was on the print glass, evidenced by the anomalies always being the same size and shape. Can't believe they didn't fix this
Very helpful, thank you! I prefer the Radiant Wise Spirit version.
Yes the colours are so stunning - Thanks for watching!
If only we could order a deck with our own preferences. I love the Radient Wise, but I hate the gloss and that Pixie's font wasn't used. As far as the Smith Waite goes, to make it borderless they had to stretch the images and in some cases it's too much. I have both and love both, but I'd like to blend them.
I absolutely agree with you on this
Oh, and why didn't they center the text on the Radient Wise? This absolutely drives me crazy.
Thank you very much for this! This is a fabulous comparison video! ✨🕊️
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching :)
Borderless is so clean
I'm not a fan of the cropping on the Radiant Wise Spirit - i'm sticking to the Smith Waite.
The Radiant Wise Spirit is a recoloured version of the Pam B - sometime in the 1920s or 30s another artist redrew some of the cards and this artist lacked Pixie's skill. Compare the Death card between the two decks, the Smith Waite is Pixie's original linework; the Radiant Wise has the terrible redrawn linework. Yuck.
This was very helpful! Thanks :)
Thanks for letting me know! :)
Didn't the borderless come with more cards, I was hoping you were going to show all 84 of it.
Yes the borderless comes with a couple of cards that are from Pam’s original artwork
If you get the Centenniel box set you get a whole book about Pams non-tarot art, as well as some postcard size pictures, one of which is The Empress : )
Hi! Have you noticed some scratches on the cards along the time ???
My cards are scratcheds.
On the Radiant Wise deck? Yes I have, the shiny coating gets pretty scratched just from regular shuffling
Thank you very much for this great review. I'm planning to buy some of this two deck, but I can't decide which one. Some cards are nicer to me in left deck, and some in right - so it's really hard desition for me. 😞 I like darker and shiniest colours on some cards in left deck, but I like some lighter and more matte in right deck. I have got Gilded tarot, Golden universal tarot, Morgan Greer tarot, The good tarot, Arcanum tarot already - so what do you think, which one of this too would be better for me? Which one is nicer and better to you alive?
@@cassidythecardslinger ok, thank you very much for your reply and kindness. ❤️ I decided to buy some Marseille tarot based decks, in meantime, because I haven't got any of those kind... So I bought those, for now : The classic tarot, Universal tarot of Marseille, Golden Visconti tarot. And I'm planning to buy Golden tarot of Marseille and Spanish or Convos tarot yet. I never tried to read Marseille based tarot decks, but they look very interesting because of pips in minor arcana. I think RWS based decks and cards has got their usual and 'classic' meanings so readings always go in same way...but pips in Marseille based tarot decks can have totally different meanings and you can develop your intuition better. I don't know how to read those pips, but I'll read them on way 'suit + number' at first, so we'll see... 😊
Hi Cassidy
I have the smith Waite borderless deck, I do like the radiant wise spirit one might get it one day lol how you doing Xx
Cassidy Conover aww cool 😎 it is nice Xx
Love the colors. And it’s interesting that on many they cropped in closer to the picture. I can’t tell, is the line work cleaned up at all or pretty much the same?