This is the first of the color-it-yourself decks which was published soon after the Rider-Waite deck, which was issued in 1909.  Much of this deck's symbolism appears to be taken almost directly from the Rider-Waite.  Dr. Case seems to have felt that the Rider-Waite was good but needed corrections.

Of the Major Arcana, all but a couple of the cards bear a startling resemblance to those in the Rider-Waite.  Personally I think they were changed just enough to avoid a plagiarism charge.  The ones that are different are the ones that I scanned to demonstrate the deck below.  A comparison of a few of the keys with their Rider-Waite counterparts is also forthcoming.

It is when we reach the Minor Arcana that we see that Dr. Case reverted in large part to the designs of the classic decks, such as Marseilles.  All of the numbered cards within the suits are "pip" cards; that is, they merely show the number of items within the suit.  The court cards are rendered in Rider-Waite style, but the drawings are considerably different.

The booklet which comes with this set is a reprint of the original work by Dr. Case in 1931.  It provides coloring instructions for the cards in addition to divinatory meanings.  However, I don't see the point of coloring instructions, frankly.  If you are going to color your own deck, it is because you wish for originality and so that your deck is meaningful to you, and to achieve this I would imagine you would need to arrive at your own coloring scheme as well.

The cards are printed on very stiff card stock, which feels almost more like paperboard.  I don't feel these would shuffle well.  The corners are not rounded off and they are not laminated.  I'm sure the sturdiness of the card stock is to ensure that the cards stand up to rigorous coloring.

One thing I found annoying is that the name and address of the BOTA is printed on the back of each card, much like a business or calling card.  The BOTA logo, with lines coming out around it like rays from a sun, is often visible through the card from the front.

The suits and titles are all traditional, Cups, Wands, Swords and Pentacles.  In fact there is very little here which is new or original at all, really.

This would probably be an ideal opportunity for someone who liked the Rider-Waite but just couldn't quite like the colors used, and who wished to make their own.  Personally, I thought the little changes made to the card designs took away from the character of each of them.

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Review Copyright 1998 by Gina M. Pace