Amonkhet

The lack of enthusiasm for this product has got me in a rut.  Why do I say that?  Well, it has been a couple of issues.

1. My LGS seems to be going downhill a bit
2. More Masterpieces
3. Just not excited about the new stuff coming out
4. There is just too much coming out
5. There are too many reprints coming out

So I got my new product from my LGS, but when I went to go pick it up they charged me again. They reversed the charges but I still ended up paying for the tax.  I think this all stems from the old co-owner leaving and having to deal with new people.  They really don't know what they are doing, and are really just folks that like playing MTG and thought it would be a good job to have.  But really, why in the hell would I have the opportunity to go into the store after release and pick up product at pre-order prices.  Why do I pre-order from this store in the first place?  It does not make sense.

I really think this is all just stemming from the loss of the previous manager, who was awesome, and now I am dealing with a lot of folks that don't really care.  There are some workers there that I have had the pleasure to work with in the past, and those relationships are still good.  It is just these new guys getting hired, and they don't seem to have a good retail mind.  And don't get me wrong, it is not like the store is going to hell, I just miss that little extra I used to have when going in there.  But since this and a couple other experiences I am looking to fund a new LGS and switch it up a bit.

With that being said, my attention has turned to Card Kingdom.  They seem to always have product in the price ranges I am looking for, but the whole online retailer has got me a bit timid.  I do like the fact that they support content creators, and it looks like they have a good buy list program, but supporting a retailer that is not in my city has me a bit gun shy.  Do I really want to ship off my cash to someone outside of Minneapolis?

I have always been willing to pay a little extra to support a local store, but with what has been going on at my LGS I am much more inclined to start to look elsewhere to support my hobby.

So let's get into it.

Normally I post everything that I buy in a great big picture, but with my lack of excitement I did not do it this time.  So this is just a picture of all the stuff I am keep around as sealed product.

And this is what is going into the collection:

We are starting our new buying strategy, and I only picked up 6 Booster boxes, along with 4 Bundles. I did however pick up 8 Pre-Release packs from another LGS near me with the thoughts that I would get more crazy cool drops.  Yeah, we will not be doing that again...  Did not get hosed, but for $25 a piece and only getting 6 packs, seems like I should have just picked up 2 more boxes at $90 a piece rather than spend $200 for these stupid things.

Booster boxes:
4 * 36 = 144 packs
3 * 10 = 30 packs
8 * 6 = 48 packs

Remember I save 1 Bundle and 2 Booster boxes for the collection.

With that, I still only need 66 more cards to get my complete collection totalling up to $348.99 at release weekend prices.  Now the trick will be to not buy any new product, wait until rotation, and pick up everything I need on the cheap.  As to that actually happening, only time will tell.

These Planeswalker decks are really kicking my ass though.  Granted with the missing cards from those decks only adding up to $62.84, it is just another thing that I am trying to pick up to fill out the sets.  I could go out and buy the decks, but that would be an additional $120 I would need to spend, for mostly bulk that I don't want.  So that too will go on the after rotation list.  I am currently waiting for the Aether Revolt rotation to pick up those as well, but unfortunately I already picked up the Kaladesh ones...

So, back to the strategy.  With this new way of buying cards it has really lowered my bulk that I have been getting.  Now there is a downfall in my eyes with this.  I only got 15 tradable cards totaling up to $41.98 that is going right into the trade binder.  And my foil count has gone way down, but considering that I don't care about foils, that should not matter too much.

Before when I would be opening more packs I would get a lot more for the trade binder.  Those would be rares and mythics.  Now I am not going to be picking up those extra cards.  That could affect my trading quite a bit, but I need to redo my trading spreadsheet to quantify that thought.  I need to see how much standard stuff I trade during that season to see if I am losing out on not having a good Standard inventory.

I am also not going to be picking up a ton of common and uncommon cards.  This is a little easier to swallow.  Before I could count on a lot of these cards spiking up after 5+ years to over $1, but now with the reprint policy of WoTC all those valued commons and uncommons are getting reprinted a lot more.  That is not a bad thing, but it is going to cause me not to invest in opening boosters as much as I did.  Now I am just going to work on getting my playsets and know that there is no real gain in picking up bulk as an investment for the 5+ year horizon.

That will of course bring up the question, why I just don't buy full sets and call it a day?

1. That is not fun at all
2. There still might be some speculation bulk that I could win on
3. No chance of Masterpiece cards or foils

Card Kingdom full sets: $240
- Lets just round that up to $1000 for a full playset.

Now, I spent $730 for my boosters and bundles.  I also kept 2 boosters and 1 bundle for the collection.  So really, for open product I spent $500, and I am only missing 66 cards totaling up to $350 at release prices.  I am gambling that after rotation those prices will drop to around $150, and getting a full playset will end up costing me $650.  This also gets me foils, a chance at Masterpieces, and a lot of bulk that I can use to trade later.

Yes, I am not counting the Pre-Release packs I bought because that was just fucking stupid and I am chalking it up to being stupid...

I do have the ability to trade for some of the Standard cards I needed, but trading for standard cards while standard is around is just another stupid thing to do.

So really I am hoping to end up spending $650 for the full playset and also having my sealed product around for future trading.

"Why don't you just wait until rotation and buy the whole set?"  Great question, because that is not fun...  :-)

This should open up a lot of cash for me to pick up the really powerful cards when I need to, and really the only thing I have found difficult is not picking up the Bundle here and there.  I do have a bad history of picking up out of print packs, and just sitting on them.  That is a bad habit I am working on as well.

The goal is going to be getting the release sealed product, waiting until after rotation to fill stuff out, and then saving up for the speculations here and there.

I will also update you as to my next move to buy new sealed product, but I am pretty sure I will be heading to Card Kingdom.

PS - THEY STOPPED MAKING THE GIFT BOXES!  Right after they make a wonderful box they stop releasing the product.... WTF...