Alright, let me tell you about this Five Below tarot card thing I tried out.
Heading to the Store
So, I was browsing around online, saw some chatter about Five Below selling tarot decks. For five bucks? Sounded kinda wild. Usually, these things cost a bit more, you know? Curiosity got the better of me. Figured I’d swing by the local Five Below next time I was out running errands and see what was up. Didn’t expect much, honestly, but for that price, why not take a look?
Went into the store, did the usual weave through the candy aisle, past the t-shirts and phone chargers. Headed towards the back where they keep the games, books, and novelty stuff. Took me a minute of looking around, but then I spotted them. Tucked away on a shelf, there was this little box labeled tarot cards.
Checking Them Out and Buying
Picked up the box. Felt pretty lightweight. The packaging was simple, nothing fancy. Showed some generic-looking tarot art on the front. For five dollars, my expectations were already rock bottom, so it wasn’t like I was disappointed. I just thought, “Okay, let’s give this a shot.” Grabbed one and tossed it in my basket along with some cheap headphones and a soda. Paid the cashier and headed home.
Unboxing and First Look
Got back, sat down at the kitchen table. Pulled out the tarot deck. Ripped off the plastic wrap. The box itself was pretty flimsy cardboard. Inside, the cards were shrink-wrapped again.
Okay, unwrapped the cards themselves. First impression? They felt thin. Like, really thin cardstock. Not like the sturdy decks you might get elsewhere. The size was pretty standard tarot size, though. The printing quality on the images was… okay. Not terrible, but not exactly vibrant or detailed. Looked like pretty basic Rider-Waite style clones, which is fine for learning, I guess.
- Card stock: Very thin, bends easy.
- Printing: Decent enough to see the images, but kinda flat colors.
- Size: Seemed like a regular tarot deck size.
- Booklet: Came with a tiny folded piece of paper. Super basic keywords, barely any explanation.
Trying Them Out
Decided to shuffle them. Yeah, they definitely felt flimsy. Had to be careful not to bend the corners right away. They slid okay against each other, maybe a little sticky at first. I just did a simple overhand shuffle a few times.
Laid out a few cards, just a simple three-card spread. Looked at the little paper “guidebook.” It gave maybe one or two words for each card. Not super helpful if you’re a total beginner, you’d definitely need another book or website to figure things out. For me, I know the basics, so I could get the gist.
Did they “work”? Well, they’re cards with pictures on them. You pull them, you look at the symbols. In that sense, yeah, they function. But there wasn’t much… feeling? to them. They just felt like cheap cards.
Final Thoughts
So, the verdict on the Five Below tarot cards? You absolutely get what you pay for. Five bucks gets you a very basic, functional tarot deck made from thin cardstock with simple printing and a near-useless guidebook.
Are they terrible? No. If you are super curious about tarot and want to see if it’s remotely interesting without spending much money, maybe? Or if you need a deck for crafting or something you don’t mind messing up. But if you’re looking for a deck to really connect with or use regularly, I’d say save up a bit more money and get something with better quality. These feel like they’ll wear out fast with regular shuffling. It was an interesting experiment, glad I only spent five bucks finding out.
