Just keep swimming

Beta Card Count: 22
Unlimited Card Count: 29

So I know based on some of the more recent posts it looks like I might sell the collection, but there were some items from CardSphere that still needed to come in, so I just wanted to post a new update to show my new adds.

Here we go!

This was a very nice add.  Came from another trader that had some older cards, and felt it was nice to send to me because I was a collector.  It was much appreciated.

These two were just beautiful.  From the same sender, and just in great condition.  They had some play wear, but I consider them in great condition.  You can really appreciate the vibrant color from the Unlimited set cards.

Now, here are some long time wants that came in.  I have been looking for these versions of Arabian Nights cards for a while now.  With Arabian Nights, they had some cards with 2 different printings of the cards.  The colorless mana symbol had two different shades, and are considered part of a full set.  For a long time now, I have been in search of these different printings, and these were 3 new ones that came in!

You can see what I mean here, as the one on the right is the one I had.  The one on the left is the new one, with the lighter shade.  There are 6 more cards from that set that I am looking for with the lighter shade, and I find it interesting that the prices of those cards have more then quadrupled since my first search for them.

This here is one reason I hope I can pull myself out of this spiral down the OCD hole.  I am really starting to get some good items from CardSphere and this is one of them.  I am trading what I am sending away to get sealed product like this at the price I am listing it at.  Just fucking value.

People are going out and picking up items that I am looking for sealed so they can increase their CS balances for the economy.  Just fucking value.

They are seeing what I am looking for and fulfilling my orders.  I am using the site as a brokerage account.  I deposit my cards, sell them to get cash, and use that cash to get products I really want.  Just fucking value.

Never would I have thought I could get Sealed Fat Packs of sets of this age from a site that deals in Peer to Peer trading.  Just fucking value.

I keep looking at the Send list in CardSphere and I get small panic attacks.  Just from the thoughts of how much money I am losing by sitting on the sidelines and not shipping out.  I also cut down on my Wants list, so that no one sends me anything that would hit me too hard.  It is just the fact of having to sit in front of my computer, pulling the cards, getting the cards ready to ship, adjusting my inventory, shipping the cards, and everything that has to deal with getting things done, just not sure I can handle it right now.

I am hoping that I can get back into things, but there is a big chance I just step back and only pick up sealed product for the collection for a while.  I just really see CardSphere and buylisting as a huge venue to get to where I want to get, and all this sitting on the sideline is taking a big chunk out of that goal.  It just seems like my list is getting longer and longer while I sit on the sidelines.

There is no new updates to selling the collection, but we will see.  I still do not think I will sell to anyone.

Collection Sale Update

Now with the sale of my collection, I am still knee deep in thought.  I have reached out to multiple stores to see what they could offer, and most of them have come back with the standard reaction.  Price is a big thing, and they all seem to be low balling me in general.  When I say low balling me it is under the $100k offers.

In general they are really interested in my collection, and always ask up front what I am looking for.  I will normally respond with 60% of the value they see it being worth, or a straight up number I am looking at.  My goal is to just be upfront with what I am expecting, and I think that is doing us both a service because it sets the conversation up to be quick and to the point.

They are either just straight up with me and say that I am asking for too much and that ends the conversation.  Or they are more willing to keep talking to me about what could be done.  The conversations with the folks that bring up things that could be done are a lot more constructive, and give me a ton more options.

Based off of one exchange, I just started to buylist some of my bulk to them.  I figure if I can send a couple thousand cards for around $17 and get over $300 in trade-in value, it is worth it to me.  That way I could try and finish up my collection while I wait to see what I am going to do, at the same time slimming down the collection to just the collection pieces, and I can get rid of all the other bulk.

Of course the request has gone out to Rudy from Alpha Investments, and I am waiting to see what he says.  But in dealing with him, I almost want to start to upload everything just for my collection to Deckbox with pictures.  That way, if someone wants to see what I have, it will all be up there and I can point them to that.  It would also help if I try and sell on eBay, a point of reference so folks can check out what they are bidding for.  I highly doubt I will put it up on eBay for auction, but it will be something I will look into as an option.

But yes, I keep getting the same responses that my price tag is too expensive, or they need all the cards at their location to give me a good price.  All of them worried about putting in the time to give me a quote only for me to turn around and say I don't want to sell.  I get it, but none of them ask for an inventory of my cards.  They just tell me I am asking for too much.  That is the part I do not get.

Almost like they just don't want to put that much capital into buying something like this because it will take to long for them to get a return, and they are just saying I am asking for too much.

I did reach out to a growing LGS that is local to MN, and they started out with the same responses, and required me to drop off the collection at their store to go through.  My response was that I did not think it was worth it for me to drive over a van full of MTG cards without knowing they are willing to buy it at a price I was comfortable with.  I even offered to show them the collection at my house first to see if they were interested in buying what they saw for around my price, and then we could move the cards over to their shop for pricing.

They came back with a response that said "they were not interested in buying the collection at the price I was asking, but if I ever wanted to sell to them at their pricing I can always reach back out to them."  I replied with an "I get it" e-mail, and explaining to them that if I do not get my asking price from the big national retailers with my 50% value, I would be taking the long game and selling everything through buylisting and CardSphere with closer to 80% returns, and thanked them for the responses.  I also added that I maintain a spreadsheet and compiled the dollar amount I was asking for from that spreadsheet, and it was not just a number I pulled out of thin air.  I mean, I really needed to try and ask a local store if they were interested or not, but I was not expecting that they could afford an offer on my collection.

This was another point that I gathered from a conversation with Card Kingdom.  From the fact that if I lived in Seattle, it would have been a lot easier to get something done.  The issue was that I was in Minnesota and I would have to get the cards to them to cost it out, so they could find their value for it.  That is the main reason I needed to try locally.

This morning I did find a new e-mail in the old inbox.  After the quick dismissal, looks like the buyer had a conversation with the owners, and they might be interested in my collection after all and requested my spreadsheets.  Let's just say that they do not think I know what I am doing, and I am just another person who collects MTG cards, and thinks their collection is worth more than it really is.

I am not saying it is going to be a deal or not, and I am pretty sure they are still going to try and haggle me down, but at least I know that I can get rid of everything with buylisting and CardSphere, it will just take a lot longer.

But yeah, looks like I am still searching out a buyer, but the good thing is I have all the time in the world.  I am taking a much needed break from collecting right now and just trying to finish up on a couple things that are lingering around.  I still have some hope with Rudy, and I think he will give me the best price from a single buyer, but I do not think he would be able to do it for a year or so.  It is a lot of cash to have sitting around to buy a collection like this.

And of course I am still sitting on the fence.  There is my wife's want for me to keep the collection around from the fact that it has been apart of my life for 24 years.  Then there is the fear that I will just get lost in my OCD and allow it to take over my life.  But the fact that I can write about it in this manner, with the clear thoughts of being able to even think about selling, gives me some clarity that it is not as bad as I thought it was.

I always have the backup plan to part everything out and sell it over time myself.  But I also have the ability to keep the collection around and try and finish it, but without doing the MTG Finance aspect of collecting,  and just be a collector.  I just need to spend less time in front of my computer, and more balanced time with my life.

I am still moving forward to see if there is anyone that would buy the collection, but unless my price is met, I do not think I will be making a move on selling just to sell.  For now, I am just staying away from my collection, and will start back up if I do not sell at a more scheduled rate to control my exposure to that Obsessive part of my mind.

Moment of Crisis

What a bad weekend...

So I have OCD and from time to time it takes a toll on my mind.  This weekend was especially bad for me, and my family.  Most of the time, I rely on my OCD to calm me down, and I know how weird that sounds, but it works.

I grew up in a pretty chaotic house hold, and I never really had stability growing up.  This was my source of OCD, and it was a way for me to bring stability to my life.  I would organize my life in such a manner that I could maintain some control of how I was feeling and could cope with every day life.

I also have social anxiety, but that is more from not being able to deal with people.  My social anxiety is not extreme, I just know that I cannot be around people too long before needing to secluding myself to regroup.  It is like a fuel tank, I can only handle people for so long before I need to recharge that tank in order to be sociable again.  If I don't do this, I turn into a real ass hole and lash out over nothing. 

Which sucks because for my job I used to be just in the engineering department, and I did not need to use my people skills very much.  I would just spend most of my days staring at a screen looking at logs and Visio diagrams.  Now with my role as a manger I need to talk a lot more with people, which is taking more of a toll on my people tank.

Really bad days are when my OCD gets out of control, and my tank is low.  I have this internal list always running in my head.  It is full of things that need to get done from day to day to keep my life in balance.  I have been able to increase the timelines for a week out, but that is a list of things that I need to get done on a week by week basis to feel good about my life, to feel balanced.  Some of those things require me to interact with people.  When I get behind on that list of things needing to get done, and my tank is low, I really lose control and I just kind of break down.

Breaking down to the point all my focus turns to completing my list and I can't focus on anything else.  I NEED that list to get done.  My life falls apart without getting that list done.  It is painful.  It is painful to those close to me as I just push them away to be alone to recharge.  This weekend was one of those weekends.

Magic the Gathering is becoming too taxing on my list of things I need to get done.  From posting on this blog to trying to trade cards on CardSphere, to budgeting for new product to doing what I need to do with new product.  I am just getting too slammed with everything I do with MTG.  I realized this weekend that I am no longer having fun doing this, and my MTG Finance brain is taking over, which is causing me to min / max everything I do with my hobby.  This is supposed to be fun, not driving me crazy.

I honestly do not recall the last time I played.

With that being said, I have put feelers out to see if some sources wanted to buy my collection.  My wife is trying to talk me out of it, as she knows I need something to focus my OCD on, but really the collection is gaining too much control on my life.

I am not sure what is going to happen.  I might sell everything or I could just keep the collection but stop doing anything with it.  A nice middle ground would be to keep the collection, liquidate the extra stuff I do have, and then just pick up things I need.  That means no more box openings and just focus on buying the cards I need.  I would still pick up sealed product for the collection, but I would not actively try and do the MTG Finance thing.  All I know is that I need to back away from all the things I am trying to do with MTG, and just get back to loving the game.

So yeah, more to come.

Massive update!

So yesterday I was finally able to save up enough cash for this little beauty!

I picked this up at my LGS Lodestone Coffee & Games.  They picked it up on a collection they bought, and it stuck around for over a year.  I have been wanting to snag it for the collection, but I just did not have the funds until this week.  It took a while to save up enough, but I finally got there, and at a reasonable price.  It is a bit dinged up, but for a player's collection, it works great.  I don't need PSA 10's.

Then low and behold this showed up in my PO Box!  This was a nice CardSphere pickup.  I am pretty sure I am buying it right after a spike, but it seems to be holding price, if not going up.  But again, I am getting this from CardSphere, so most of it is a lot of trading of commons, uncommons, and basic lands, so well worth the premium.

And this was a very nice add to the collection from CardSphere too.  Took a while to get here, but is a very Mint Unlimited Wrath of God.  I was very impressed.

So yeah, huge uptick in the collection when it comes to big ticket items, but well worth all the hard work and savings.

Why not...

Total Card Count: 73

This week on the same old MTG blog that we always do!

So yeah...  I just wanted to do some little pickups here and there.  I came into some money from my corporate job, and I wanted to go shopping a little bit.  Thinking about it now, I did what I always do and spend my cash on things I really don't need.  I basically went in looking for a foil Search for Azcanta and came out with a bunch of other things.

Now, all these items are going to be going into the collection and I have no plans on trying to trade these on Deckbox or CardSphere.

Here we go!

Let's start out with some more booster boxes that I bought with the idea of opening, and then when I got home the thought of having to sort all these cards, I just cant bring my self to crack the packs.  So they will go into the stack of boxes to sell at a later date.

BAM!  Finished Amonkhet!  I know, I pulled the trigger on these about 6 months to early, but hey I wanted to support my LGS Lodestone Coffee and Games, so I bought them at the higher Standard prices.

And here, Hour of Devastation.  So I just grabbed these because the rumor that WoTC is no longer printing this set and figured I would try and finish this set early.  Still need some cards to finish, so let's wait and see what happens.

Yeah, just wanted to grab these because they are awesome.  Basically I should have spent the money on buying the booster boxes and should have just loaded up on these.

Ok, so I decided to try and pick up all these Promos.  I really need to start making lists of these different cards so I don't over buy.

These and Mox Opals are cards I want to try and get play sets of.

Ok ok, so this is the third playset from the Commander 2011 set that I picked up.  It was at a lower price point of $35, but the main reason why I wanted these is because the thought of a better card ever being printed is unlikely.  Might as well pick these up after the reprint price drop.

I like extra turns.

Sideboard a go-go.

Now I grabbed these for my second playset because I did peek at the Dominaria spoilers and really wanted more Ugin Dragons.  Yeah, I am totally for team Ugin and I don't like team Bolas.

Oh wait, maybe it is team Karn?  Well by any means I like these folks better than the Phyrexian or Bolas.  I also think these cards are going to go the way of Tarmagoyf and just keep going up.  I think there will have to be at least 3 more reprints for this card to really go down in price.

Might as well, you know.  It has not been banned yet in Modern, and there is a possibility that it might, but this card is just too powerful not to try and put a play on this card.  Any deck I build will need 4 of these, so these are not going to be sitting in my inventory very long.

So this might be a play for speculation, but they will go into the collection.  This is just a good EDH card, and that is all that I need to say.

So yeah, I picked up a bunch of cards to bulk up my collection a bit.  Grabbing some cards that have a good chance to increase in price while providing me some good cards to play with.  I know, I need to stick to my lists, that is why I have them.

I guess this is just an update to know that I need to stop spending money that I don't need to.  The amount of cash I used in this transaction would have brought in some really good sealed boxes.

Update me Goose!

What an interesting week on the greatest MTG blog in my neighborhood.

This whole card count needs to get reworked, with the Standard needs, and the ABU I am looking for, but then needing to add new cards that come out, there is just too many labels I am tracking and it is confusing.  Well it confuses me, so I can only guess what people think when they see them.

Last week we sent out a ton, and got in some good stuff.  Also, my wife has a friend, and her husband used to play back in the day.  Not "Back in the Day", but around Lorwyn.  He is looking to sell his collection to me, and so I did what I do to take in a new collection.  I will post another blog if he agrees to my pricing, but a teaser it is a really nice collection.

Let's get to the CardSphere show!

Here we go!

Finally got all my Deepglow Skates I was looking for.

Oh Canada!  Boom!  I can't believe I picked up an Unlimited Tropical Island on CardSphere.  Seriously it is just insane.  The front looked really good, and the back was MP, but I am happy.  Really want to turn my extra Revised Dual Lands into Unlimited Dual Lands.

I have no idea why I praise Canada, I just do...

And this sexy thing.  Seriously.  I am turning my CardSphere sends into these!  The quest in getting all my sealed booster boxes is working on this site.  Trying to send cards through CardSphere and cashing out to use that cash to buy sealed booster boxes is not needed at this point.  I think we will have to review this when it gets closer to GP Minneapolis 2018, but I am really thinking I will be able to get all the modern sets on there.  I only say that about GPMinn because the sellers there usually have sealed product that I can grab.  If it gets close to GP Minneapolis, and I still need some sealed product that I can't get on CardSphere I might cash some money out to pick up something.

Or I might try and get some Unlimited Dual Lands.  In most cases, I will be pulling out the credit card and picking up some good cards.

I also got an e-mail from another sender that is looking to send me some more sealed product, and if I can keep my balance going, I can really make out with a lot of these products.  It looks like there are traders out there with sealed booster boxes, and are looking to cash in.  This of course is my same goal with all the extra boxes I have, with the hopes later in life to be able to cash out and make some cash on the deal.

But yeah, it was a small amount of trades I got in, but a large amount of value.  Let's see what I will get this week and update on the blog when it happens!