I was extremely excited when Telekiad reached out to see if I would be interested in reviewing their newest deck based on Star Trek: The Original Series. You can either remember / bookmark their name or you can simply remember to check out www.startrektarot.com – that will redirect to the Telekiad site.
As of the time I’m writing this article, I don’t have an availability date to share as far as online purchases go. It was most recently available at the Las Vegas Star Trek Convention at the end of August, so it has been available for purchase at events.
It’s also important for me to add that this is not an “advance copy” of the deck – this is an actual production run and comes from their actual inventory. If you purchase this deck when it becomes available, you’ll receive the same one that I did.
As far as I know, the plan is for it to be available for online purchase “soon”. Keep an eye out for it, because this one is stunning and it makes my little nerd-heart exceptionally happy!
The images of individual cards were taken directly from the Telekiad site here, on their Gallery page.
I’m simply astounded at how gorgeous, detailed, and true-to-series this deck is – I’ve done some half-hearted searches for Star Trek cards before, but THIS is the deck I’ve been waiting for!
I’ll give a summary of what I’ve learned about this deck. Some of the information is available on the Telekiad site, and other information is simply what I remember from my email correspondence with Adam.
This is the officially licensed Star Trek: The Original Series deck.
The boxes have the CBS logo, the Star Trek website information, and the CBS Studios trademark. From what I understand, Telekiad worked with those actors who are still living as well as the estates of those who have passed in order to obtain the rights to use their likenesses on the cards. They also worked with CBS Studios to obtain the rights to use the Star Trek episodes for inspiration and content.
Apparently, there were 78 episodes in The Original Series. There are 78 cards in a tarot deck. Coincidence? Or inspiration?
The deck is actually an 80-card deck. There are two extra cards that convey classic Star Trek imagery and characters. The Major Arcana and the Minor Arcana are each assigned their own episode for content and theme.
This is not a pip deck. Every card is beautifully illustrated in full and depicts a character or an event or a theme from one of the episodes. The title of the applicable episode is listed at the bottom of each card, and the keyword (or the “theme”) of the card is at the top, just below the card name. I can’t wait to dive in to check out the meanings of all of the other symbols and information on the cards.
The guidebook is a traditional LWB as far as containing the general meanings for each tarot card. However, it also includes a summary of the episode and the character(s) involved in the episode and the card itself.
I did post my YouTube video about this deck at the beginning of this article, but you can also find the full list of my videos here or on my YouTube channel.
I strongly suggest that you do watch for this deck to become available. It is beautifully done from top to bottom (the images, the cardstock, the packaging, the licensing, etc.). This is the kind of work (and the type of product) that we definitely want to encourage to continue, so I do hope that you keep it in mind. From what I understand, they have already begun to work on their next project, so I look forward to that.
Incidentally, I have no affiliate link and receive no commission from your purchase of this deck. This is simply one of those things that is SO worth sharing, I couldn’t resist.
I also have a copy of the Star Trek: The Animated Series, and will do a separate YouTube video for that one. It is a smaller deck (22 cards for 22 episodes), so it is a Major Aracana-Only deck. Keep an eye out for that video as well.