Moon Baby Tarot

Moon Baby Tarot is a recoloured and reformatted edition of the 1972 Hoi Polloi Tarot, a simplified Rider Waite derivative based on Pamela Colman Smith’s illustrations, with artwork credited to Jason Peterman. The deck keeps the original line work and scenes, with colour adjustments and layout refinements by Brent Palazzo, and was later issued in two editions.

Above: Strength (VIII), Rider–Waite (left), 1972 Hoi Polloi Tarot (centre), and Moon Baby Tarot (right). The underlying composition remains constant; changes are mainly in the colour palette, line tidying and presentation.

The imagery closely follows the Hoi Polloi Tarot and, by extension, the Rider Waite tradition. The compositions and figures remain the same. The main changes are in colour and presentation rather than in the drawings themselves. Palazzo has described his preparation process as “going through them under a microscope” to ensure the colours were “how I wanted them to be” and that the images would “print well”.

Above: Certificates of Authenticity supplied to Kickstarter backers. On limited print runs these are often used to document edition size and, where applicable, an individual copy number.

The project began as “a bit of a fun project for himself”, initially planned as a small run for friends before becoming a Kickstarter campaign. The first edition was released in 2021 and raised $37,083. A second edition followed in 2022 and raised $17,906. Early prototypes were produced through MakePlayingCards.com (MPC). The finished production editions were manufactured by Shenzhen XM Playing Cards Co., China.

Packaging differs between the two editions. The first edition (2021) was issued in a two part box with a green colour scheme. The second edition (2022) adopts an orange scheme, with revised exterior typography on the front and back of the box. The cards themselves remain visually consistent between editions, though edging and finishing details vary. Both editions use a two part box construction, see inside the box.