2018 Review!

Holy shit what a year...

I am having issues with trying to write this review.  It was such a weird year for Magic the Gathering cards.  We saw some reversals of product changes, and a lot of products going away being replaced with some releases that are wanting for value.

Let's just start out with the Expansions.

We are going back to the single Core set in the summer time and 3 Expansion releases.  That was a welcome return of the Core set as the reprints in Standard were much needed.  They also got rid of the whole concept of 2 set Blocks, and now the Blocks can consist of any number of sets dependent on the storyline content.  We saw the Rivals of Ixalan set which ended the 2 set blocks, and went right into Dominaria which was a stand alone set in a block.  And we also saw the return of a 3 set block with Guilds of Ravnica.

I do think the way they are going to handle blocks is going to benefit everyone in the game, and it will open up the content for any new storyline.  This will help out the sets, and instead of thinking of spreading out the cards into 3 or 2 sets, they could get everything they wish to get done in a single set, and that set could be a very powerful set.  We might be seeing more condensed storylines, and sets to match the movement.  Hell, we might actually see a saga block that spans 5 sets!  I just think this is one of the better moves WoTC made, and it will increase the value of the game in total.

They also came out with a new product that was released only on the Hasbro website called the Mythic Edition series.  These are booster boxes from a single set, but mimic the Master releases where they contained 24 packs, and the MSRP was close to $10 per pack.  The difference here is that they were identical to standard expansion release packs, but the box contained 8 special packs that had a single Masterpiece type card.  Each booster box was identical in concerns with these 8 special packs, but all the other cards in the packs were just like a normal set booster pack.

I for one hope they continue with the Mythic Edition booster boxes, as it will save me a lot of money with just buying the single booster box to get my Masterpiece set, and then I can keep the other cards for the playsets I am trying to get.  This will take us to the story of the Hasbro website.

Hasbro Website

So let's just take a small amount of time and go over this quickly.  We all know the Hasbro site sucks, and will always suck.  For them to release a new product on the site like they did was only asking for problems.  All you need to do is try and get a SDCC set release from the site, and you will know what I am talking about.  Good thing is, they are no longer going to try and sell Mythic Edition boxes on the site, and let's hope that is the case and we see these booster boxes in the LGS's.

SDCC

This came out again, and I was surprised it actually did.  I am not really sure how much longer they are going to keep going with this product.  Right now we see 6 sets total, but really I think the Mythic Edition releases are going to replace this set.  Just because it is a set of special release Planeswalker cards, and that is what the Mythic Edition release is.  Just not sure what they are going to do now.  Honestly I am just happy we did not see another Hascon set release.

Discontinued

We saw our last Duel Deck with Elves vs Inventors, and frankly I am happy they stopped this product.  Unfortunately they came out with the Global Series product that is pretty much the same thing as Duel Decks but with worse cards.  No idea what they are trying to do with them.

We also saw the last From the Vault set in 2017, but this year it was replaced with the Spellbook Series.  I did end up picking up some of this, but I honestly like FTV more.  The Spellbook cards are nice and all, but it is really just another way they are going to be able to reprint Planeswalkers and other cards in a set type manner.  I picked up enough to have a playset to use, and 1 to keep sealed, but I am pretty sure the next release I will only just pick up 2.  One to open, and one to keep sealed.  They really need to step up the cards that they do put in this product, really it is just more junk product with junk cards.

The last Masters sets for a while, supposedly.  With the release of Masters 25 and Ultimate Masters this year, and it is going to be it, and frankly I could not be happier.  I know, they priced out the Ultimate Masters product, and they added those Box Toppers, but let's all just be happy they are stopping this product.  Now, Box Toppers are just Masterpiece cards, and there is a huge question with what they are going to be replacing this product with, and I can honestly hope that the Mythic Edition cards will be replacing these products.

New Products

Let's just start out with talking about what Mythic Edition could end up being.  This is supposed to be the power collector chase product.  WoTC has come out and said this product is not for everyone.  I honestly think that with each set release they will put this type of release out as well, at least for a while.  Collectors will be able to pick them up from Amazon, and the pricing will be full MSRP.  The only issue I see is that they will be running out of cards to put in the Masterpiece slot, just like they lost it with Masterpieces.  I know they are only releasing 8 cards per set, and right now they are all Planeswalkers, but this is only going to work for a short time.

The bigger problem is how are WoTC going to be releasing reprint sets.  Modern Masters was the perfect avenue for that, and now they are gone.  They came out with the sets that did not contain any cards on the Reserve List so they could have a format that would allow re-printable cards in an eternal format.  They are just doing a small cycle of reprints every Standard set, that is released in a full set with a specific limited release booster box.  That does not make sense.  The only way I could see this making any sense is they start to release sealed product that is a specific game, and you would use those cards in just that game.

Enter Explorers of Ixalan and Game Nights.  Take the draft format out of it, and just build specific games that would contain all the reprints needed, and give each of those games a set symbol.  Like Game Nights, those cards are not allowed in Standard.  You control the print run, and the MSRP.  Every player is guaranteed the cards that are needed in the print run, and you could sell a lot of product.  Consider putting very powerful cards into decks as 1 of's, or 2 of's and players will be buying multiple sets.

But let's face it.  No one bought Game Nights or Explorers of Ixalan.  I did, and I opened one and kept one sealed, but I am an idiot that wants to collect things for no other reason than to collect them.  But I could see how they would be able to keep releasing reprints into the community with these very specific games, but make them legal in eternal formats.

We talked about the Spellbook product, and I am pretty sure this one is not going to make it past three printings.  They will kill it just like the foiled out deck series.  I can't even say that it was a good idea.

I might as well talk about the Global Series decks, and I honestly cannot see another release of this product.  I do not think it was bought much at all, and I am pretty sure they are just going to kill it.

Challenger Decks...  I can honestly say that these will go the way of the dodo bird as well.  It was spicy at the time, and you were able to pick up a bunch of cards right before they rotated out, and they had some spice in the decks.  There were a lot of playable cards they put in them, but I can honestly say that these Standard Precon decks will not see another printing, and will go the way of the Modern Event Deck.

Battlebond was a great set, and just another stand alone draft type product to fall in with Conspiracy and the Un-sets.  I could see them trying to keep going with a product like this, but honestly I see them moving toward just the specific game types like Game Nights.  Drafting is nice, but I really see them moving toward Arena for the drafting experience.

Move it along

Commander 2018 was released and it was the same old.  The product now is becoming stale and WoTC is running out of ideas.  They will try and release a product that is not too powerful to mess with other formats, and it will just get to the point that the reprints are not going to be worth much and the product will more than likely die.  Why would other EDH players spend their dollars on this product if there is no value in the decks?  EDH players need to spend their cash on cards they need, not a bunch of trash that is going to go no where.  Granted, there are some good cards in the sets, and in time the value of the set will increase, but WoTC is not doing a good job with what they are coming out with.

Anthology also came out, and I really think EDH players spent their dollars on this product.  There will be 2 more years of the Anthology releases and I am pretty sure they will discontinue this product.  What, do you think there will be an Anthology FTV?

Gift Box can go fuck itself.  Stupid product.

Accomplishments

- Phase 3 - Sealed Booster Boxes
We are in full effect, and I was able to pick up a ton of product through CardSphere and just selling power to pick up sealed product.

Purchased:
Judgment
Scourge
Dissension
Guildpact
4th Edition
Future Sight
6th Edition
8th Edition

CardSphere Trades:
10th Edition
Time Spiral
Magic 2010
Morningtide
Planar Chaos
Lorwyn
Planeshift
Unhinged
Champions of Kamigawa
9th Edition
Mirrodin
Invasion
Ravnica: City of Guilds
Apocalypse
Betrayers of Kamigawa
Torment
Darksteel
Ice Age

CardSphere Fat Packs:
Magic 2013
10th Edition
Lorwyn
Zendikar
Scars of Mirrodin
Planar Chaos
Worldwake

It was such a successful year when it comes to sealed product, I do not know what I did all year.  I know I was super busy at work, and I just have no idea how I was able to bring in this much sealed product.  CardSphere alone I traded out at least $9665 worth of cards to be able to bring in just the sealed booster boxes and fat packs.

I mean I did almost trade a full set of power through CardSphere, and I did withdraw over $3000 dollars from the site to buy other sealed product, but holy cow.  I still need to trade out a Time Walk, Mox Sapphire, and Black Lotus to get them all, but I sure am trying.

Sealed Booster Boxes Needed:
7th Edition
Portal
Homelands
Coldsnap
Urza's Legacy
Urza's Destiny
Mercadian Masques
Nemisis
Prophecy
Fifth Dawn
Saviors of Kamigawa

That is all I need left for Phase 3 to be complete.  I do have older boxes to trade, and I am hoping to be able to move a Revised booster box into finishing the Urza block.  I should be able to just pick up the other boxes here and there when I have saved up enough cash for them.

- New Goal
I also started my new goal of trying to get rid of all my extra cards, and see how low I can get the bulk inventory down to.  I started the goal at 208,971 bulk cards, and 3,782 foil cards.  And right now I am sitting at 208,942 with 3,792 foil cards to get rid of.  I know, for the most part I am going the wrong way, but I did add around 1,134 cards to the bulk with my Ultimate Masters pickup, but that was the last of it's kind and I am now into buying only cards I need.  I am no longer going to crack mass amounts of packs.  I will more than likely open up a single Mythic Edition booster box per set, and then a fat pack, and all those cards should go directly into my collection.  After that, we wait until after rotation to pick up anything else.

I honestly just want to see if I can hit that $10k mark in CardSphere and max that out.  Once that happens I will start to withdraw those funds to finish out my sealed product I need.  If I have anything left over, I will just use that for Standard cards I need on CardSphere.

The goal is to try and get around 50% of the bulk value that I currently own, slowly.  I would like to see how close to $40k I can get in liquidation of all my extra cards.  I think once I get really close and things start to really slow down, I will just try and Craigslist the bulk as a collection to someone local to me.

Prediction time!

2019 - 3 Expansions, 1 Core, 1 Spellbook, 4 Commander decks, 1 Anthology set, 2 Precon Games, 4 Challenger Decks, 3 Mythic Edition, 1 SDCC, 1 Stand alone set

I do not think they will make another Global Series deck, and there will be another stand alone set.  But everything else will be pretty much what was setup with the new Ravnica set with a Mythic Edition release per set.  There will be some new special reprint set, I just don't know what that will be.  What will happen though, is Arena is going to be the driving force to most of WoTC from 2019 and out.

- Arena
This will be a focal point to where Magic the Gathering is going to go and the way Magic is setup now, there is a very long runway.  It will continue to take off, and more and more people will move to their platform.  This in turn will get people playing more paper Magic the Gathering.  I do think there will be some spikes in prices because of it, and we will get even more reprints to control the after market.

I really think the releases will be Standard focused to match what is going on in Arena, and then the Eternal formats will just need to fend for themselves.  Everything will revolve around what is being done in Arena.

- Precon Games
I think there will be an uptick with these types of products, and they are going to be moving away from selling packs outside of what they can provide in Arena.

- Speculation Market
2018 was a year of speculation in Magic the Gathering cards.  The price swings were real, and the water level was elevated pretty high.  Towards the end of the year, the bay started to empty out, but some of the prices stayed pretty high.  I am not too upset about it, but some of the sealed product really took a jump up.  I am hoping around the end of next year, I can pick up most things I am still looking for at cheaper prices.  Being a collector, I was not really effected by the changes.  I was able to move some older cards at much higher prices, but those gains went into higher prices on the sealed product I was looking to pick up, so either way it was a wash.

I did not really make out with the upswing of prices, but I do hope to be able to take advantage of the downswing when it happens.  I just need to make sure I have that purse of money available for the deals that might show up.

- Honestly
I really do not see much new coming down the pipe while they try and concentrate on Arena.  Most cash will be invested into development with Arena, and they will no longer be looking to enhance supplemental products.  They will keep the collectors happy with the Mythic Edition products, but with Masters sets going away I can see them pouring those resources into Commander decks, Challenger decks, and then everything else is going into Arena.

There will be an economic down turn, and sales will be down across the board with Hasbro, but with Arena they will be able to bring in cash with low overhead, and that will only increase the vision into that product.  They no longer need to worry about printing more cards to get people to buy more cardboard.  Now they just need to figure out how to port older sets into Arena and put their focus on that.

I am not trying to predict the end of paper MTG or anything like that, but I can really see focus for the online eSports really coming on hard.  There will still be the need to go to your LGS and hangout and play, but for the competitive player, online will be where it is at.  I could even see at some point walking around with your tablet and going to your LGS and playing with your decks on there instead of bringing your paper to play with.

In Conclusion

My year end Magic the Gathering spend: Around $17k
- It was a 55% decrease than what I spent in 2017, so my new budget is working.
- My 2019 spend will be less than $10k I hope.

There was a lot accomplished this year, and a new goal that was established.  I spent over $500 on stamps alone.  This was the first full year on CardSphere and it really is a wonderful site.  If MTG Arena really kicks off, and there is an influx of new players, I can only guess how much farther I will see the collection go.  Next year, the liquidation will be real, and I only hope I can keep up.  I just really hope there is an influx of players that want to collect complete sets!

Send some more!

Total Trade Count: 209,030
Total Foil Count: 3794

Forever Stamps: 15
Packages Sent: 15

Ok, so it was a stretch for getting this latest shipment out, but I was able to string together 15 trades.  This is not a bad thing, it is just slow going.  After all my sends at the beginning of all this, we knew it was going to slow down with new people putting their new wants in.  And as more people join the site, send some cards, and get a balance, that is when I will see their wants and I can ship out.  I just need to be patient and send out when I can.

With this send the biggest card was a Foil UMA Creeping Tar Pits., but really it was a small send.  But if you think about it in the profit sense, I used $7.50 worth of stamps to send out close to $90 worth of cards, so I did end up making some revenue. 

I also updated my UMA ROI, but I am tracking it a bit different now.  So I bought 2 cases, but only opened 4 of the boxes.  I did end up getting a complete set of Tokens, Commons, Uncommons, and Rares; with only needing to pick up a hand full of Mythic Rares.  And of course I also got the 4 Box Toppers, so the cost of the 4 boxes I did open should be counted somehow in the ROI calculations.

I guess I am trying to look at this from a collector's point of view as well.  I did not just want to track how long it would take me to make all my money back, just because I am keeping a full set and those 4 boxes that I did not open.  I am also gaining some value into the collection with those Box Toppers.  So in reality, I need to take the value of the 4 boxes I opened as the beginning Cost Basis.  Then I need to remove the Box Toppers value and the full set I am keeping for the collection.  That should get me what I need to make up from the Cost Basis and what I need to get rid of to break even, and that is just because I need to account for the value of the cards I am keeping from the box opening. 

It is the fact that I am trying to gauge value to the collection, and I am not trying to make a profit from opening the boxes.

4 Boxes: $1240.01
Set From Box Opening: $906.78
Box Toppers: $329.42

So in reality I gained $1236.20 from the box opening that went into the collection so I really only need to make up $3.81 to break even because of the value added to that collection.  Right!?

Well no, so I did open 4 boxes, and I did get $1236.20 into the collection, but I still needed all the other Box Toppers and the other Mythic Rares for that complete set.  So let's take a look at what is still needed to be paid for.

For the Set, I need $244.87 worth of cards.  The Box Toppers I still need $4416.73.  That totals up to $4661.60 worth of cards that I need to get.

Ok so I spent $1240.01 for the boxes, gained $1236.20 into the collection, which ends up with $3.81 left to make up for the cost of the boxes.  Then I need to add the $4661.60 that I still need to that cost that is left over, just because I am going to end up spending that much more to finish the sets.  That ends up being $4665.41 left to make up to get what I need.

So really my new target will end up being $4665.41 of spend after I opened the boxes to get what I need.  That means I need to sell all the other cards from those box openings at prices higher than $4665.41 in order to make up all the costs.

Now, there is no way that I am going to sell the rest of the cards to make up that cost, just because the value of the cards after the box opening does not even equal $2500 worth of cards, and that is if I were to be able to trade them all.  Seriously, the cards left over from the box openings is not even above $1200.  I have traded away around $270 worth of cards, and have $495 worth of foils, and $330 left in cards I can trade away.  That does not even break the $1200 brice target!

So now, what do we plan to do since getting everything that I need for the UMA sets is always going to be higher than the price of the cards opened from the boxes?  I am throwing out the ROI tracking, and just going to try and get rid of all the cards I can.  Since I am a collector, there really is no ROI, just value added to the collection at the lowest cost.

So yeah, trying to think of a better way to handle all this cost and value, but still a great exercise to do for value add to spend for cards.  More to come.

GFY - It's Tues and I am on PTO

Cards Needed: 305

Ok, so the wife and kiddo are on a little vacation with one of her sisters and I am all alone at home.  I have cleaned the entire house, put up Christmas lights like the wife asked, and completely cleaned out the fridge so it looks like a brand new one.  This calls for some celebration time for the daddy.

I had been sick for the last week, and today was the first real time I could get out of the house without pooping my pants.  What better time to head up to the LGS and see what they brought in from the UMA release!  Lodestone here I come!

I am not going to say I was disappointed, but a slightly sad.  I really thought they were keeping the Box Toppers behind the counter to wait out the surge in prices, but alas these were the only two they brought into the store.  Sounds like they did not even crack any boxes.  Oh well, I snagged these up and called it good.  At least this way I will be buying them slower.  I am pretty sure they will be telling their buyer that I am looking for them, and they will start picking up more of them since they know they will have a buyer.

You can see I also picked up some Battlebonds duals, but that is because I am going for three playsets for my decks, and I only need those and the Sea of Clouds.  I am still on the fence with those Box Toppers, and I really do want to try and get them all from my LGS's rather than buying them online.  We will see how it goes.

Then I decided to stop by the LGS closer to my house, Grey Duck Games, and see what they cracked.  I was sure they cracked some boxes and had some Box Toppers sitting up there.  This store does like to open sealed product for their customers, and I knew they could not pass up the UMA release.  I also know that those cards would just sit there since their clients are more in the High School age range, and do not have the disposable income to spend on these types of expensive cards.  Also, there is no way a parent is going to spend that type of cash on card board, so I just knew there were going to be some up there for me.  I was not disappointed.

No real heavy hitter, but that Temporal Manipulation was a good snag at $60.  I was also able to pick up some UMA cards I needed for my set, and that Goyf was a nice pickup.  I think that will be only going up in price.

All in all it was a good pick up day.  I am pretty sure I can wait until April to snag any more of those Box Toppers.

Another send!

Cards: 162
Cost: $395.17
Packages: 38

Stamps
$0.50: 38
$0.21: 4
International: 1

Total Card Count: 209,135
Foil Card Count: 3,802

So this is the first send after the addition of Ultimate Masters, which kind of hurt in the whole scheme of things, but let's hope it works out with the ROI I am tracking.  With this send I am going to be trying to get my South Africa badge!  The most of the send is a lot of UMA cards, with a lot of other cards sprinkled in between.

With the total amount of $20.99 I am hoping to get close to $390 in return.  I am getting close to $2000 mark, but the sending has slowed down.  I am not really tempted to add anything to my Want list, and that $10k mark is just getting closer.  I really do think that if I do hit that $10k mark, I will be using that cash to pick up the sealed product I am missing.

But then, I might just put that into a Muni-Bond and make even more off of it.  Not sure yet.  I am hoping that by the time I hit that $10k mark, I will already have all those sealed booster boxes I am looking for.

Well this is if for the update, I have been sick for the last week, and it took everything for me to just pack up all the sends I needed to get out.  Lucky I am on PTO next week, so I can just rest as much as I can before that sprint to the end of the year.

UMA Results!

It was only a matter of time before they stopped this Master train, but I for one am happy for the change.  My wallet was taking a beating!

So here we are again.  Another year, and another Masters set.  This set is a little different than other ones since it is the last one for a while, and since it is going to be the last one for a while I went out and bought more than what was planned.  Of course my hope is that the extra booster boxes that I bought will go up in price, and I am able to make a profit on them.

Let's start out with the numbers.

Trade Count: 209,283
Foil Count: 3,813

With the new packs being opened we added 303 cards to the collection for the cards I needed for the complete set, but then we added 1136 cards to my Tradelist.  These are all extra cards that I now have to get rid of, and it somewhat goes against the new goal I am trying to accomplish, but it is the last Masters set, so I felt like it was ok.  Also, I do trade a lot of those Master cards away, and they are a lot easier to get rid of, so I am not too worried.  That leaves 96 foils added to the foil total.

Let's see how I did.

Here are the foil Rares and Mythics.  I have experienced a slight difference in this Masters set than others.  There was close to 1 Mythic Rare per booster box along with almost 2 Rares, when normally we would only see 1 Rare with the hopes of it being a Mythic Rare.  For some reason, there are a lot more Rare / Mythic Rares in each booster box, and I was pretty surprised by this.  Now, it might have been just my case that I opened, but it was nice to see all the value.

Notable cards that were pulled:
Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
Cavern of Souls
Leovold, Emissary of Trest

Those were all the Mythic Rares I got, and the Emrakul is going right in my Collection and I will not be trading it away.  The Cavern and Leovold will be traded, just not sure when I am going to unload them.  But with just those 3 foils, the CardSphere price is around $208 worth of cards.  And if I were to unload all my Rare / Mythic Rares I am pretty sure I am going to get the cost of at least 1 of the boxes back.

Just an FYI - I am trying to quantify my purchase and see what I need to do in order to make that cash back for the boxes I have opened.  Then I will try and recover the cost of the boxes I am keeping around.

Here are the extra Mythic Rares I got from the 4 boxes I have opened.  I am hoping to unload these right away.

And here are all my Rares, and again I am trying to unload all these to recover the cost of the boxes themselves.

I am pretty sure everyone is more interested in what I got for my Box Toppers, and here they are.  I do not think I did too bad, but that Balefire Dragon just hurt.  Right now I am sitting close to $330 just for the Box Toppers, so that is about the cost of one box.  These will be going directly into the collection, and I am hoping to fill that out next year.

So all in all I opened 4 Booster boxes, and kept 4 Booster boxes for the collection.  3 of those are going to be used as trading fodder, or hopefully sold for a profit and I can make some of that money back.  I should also share that I paid $288 per box at my LGS and I know I paid more than what I could have got them for, but buying at my LGS is also keeping them in business so I am not too upset with paying extra.

Speaking of paying off the boxes, after uploading my "Haves" to CardSphere I am already sending out $192.25.  I am going to try and keep track of all my sends in order to track the spend on the Booster boxes, and see if I can get an ROI with just the 4 boxes I have opened.  I might not get all of it back, but I can prove out how much I can get with everything I open, to prices I actually get from selling on CardSphere.

I still need 11 Mythic Rares for my full set, and 35 Box Toppers for that full set.  I am expecting to be able to pick up the Ultimate Masters cards fairly easy, and I am just going for singles.  As for the Box Toppers, I will be picking up the rest of that set through my LGS.  They seem to get a lot of cards from time to time, and I am pretty sure I can fill out that set with my LGS for sure.

Let's see how the ROI of the sets actually works out.  That way I can actually keep track of the cost of the cards, and how I can return those costs through CardSphere.

Ultimate Masters with a Trade update

Total Card Count: 269

Total Trade Count: 208,147
Total Foil Count: 3717

Ok yeah so I wanted to start out with this picture.  I went way over board like I do, but I picked up 2 cases of Ultimate Masters.  I really only pre-ordered 1 case from Lodestone Coffee & Games, but when I got there I asked if they had enough to sell me 2 cases and like always, they came through.

I ended up paying around $290 per box but with taxes it was closer to $310.

Let's call it a present for working hard all year?  Or maybe it is cause there are so many good reprints in the set I figure I can offload all the cards with due time?  How about I need to pick up all the Box Toppers, so I figured I would try and pick up some fodder to sell along with getting a chance of Box Toppers?

With what ever excuse I have, I did it and now I am trying to figure out how much I am going to open.  Of course I will want to keep a large chunk around for the collection, and I think this Masters set will be a popular one in the years to come.

The clerk even had to take a second look at the price because it was the largest amount he had ever seen working there.  Honestly I need to be very thankful that all my hard work throughout my younger years has paid off.  I do not have a college degree, and I am a self taught IT professional, but I had to put in my time to get to where I am at.  I spent a lot of time away from home, and I started my family late in life, but it was all worth it.

I started out as a consultant for a provider of contact center software, where they hired me to travel the world and help customers install and run their software.  Things were good in 2000, but then the DotCom bubble came and knocked out more than half the company.  I was a lucky one that got to stay on, but that was because my salary was so low, and they could charge $250 an hour for my services.  I think at the time I was making under $31k a year.

I was gone 90% of the year, traveling for the company.  I would fly out on Sunday, and get back in on Friday night.  Doing installs and project work for my company.  We were trained in a very specific set of skills, and could install new contact centers from the ground up.  This was also the time that the older systems that had price tags in the millions, and we were upgrading them to the new IP based systems that were at a fraction of the price, so the companies were seeing an ROI upon purchase.  We of course were raking it in on consulting and install fees, but it was a good purchase for the company because it was still cheaper than the older systems.

Now, most of those old system companies are long gone, or on their way out, but for three years I was traveling the world installing these systems for all sorts of companies.  If you have ever seen the movie Up in the Air, that was my life.  I lived out of a suitcase and worked nonstop.  Don't get me wrong, I learned everything I needed in those three year, but it took a toll on me.  For one, I do not like to travel for work.

But with all that hard work, I was able to get into some really crazy jobs where I could apply my skills and really make a name for myself.  It got to a point where I finally got to my dream job where I was there from the ground up, making the money I needed to make to where my family was comfortable.  But all that work took a lot of sacrifice.  Now I can look back and say it was worth it, but I do need to catch myself and enjoy the fruits of my labor.

Now, don't go and think I am irresponsible with my budget either.  I mean, I do have my bills I need to pay for, but I also need to retire when I am 60 so the money I do spend on Magic cards is disposable income.  I live off a budget, and am very well versed in personal finance.  I have the emergency fund, the emergency emergency line of credit, and the oh shit line of credit.  I never spend more than what I make in a year and I am saving over 20% of my gross income.  I spend less on MTG cards than I make in Dividends in my investing accounts.

Now if you have been reading my blog since the beginning, you can see why I stopped buying MTG cards from 1999 to 2011.  In the year 2011 was when I started my dream job and I was afforded more time to do things that I enjoyed, and I did not have to worry so much about work or chasing girls because I had found my wife I am with now.  But in 1999 was when I was trying to get a career going, so there was very little MTG going on.

So yeah, I over spent a bit, but I think I deserved this little splash.  I know!  I still need older sealed product, but come on!  Let's do a little chase here.  The next update should be after I opened all this product to show you what I ended up getting, and the new counts based on the packs I opened.

I was also able to get some trades out today.

And this is what it looks like before I package everything up.  I do the card pull and then put the addresses on all the envelops based on what is being shipped.  Once that is done, I put every Send together and try and verify condition and what is being sent.  This helps me catch mistakes, but I do have to admit I am really bad at condition grading.

Here is the end product!

With this send there was 13 packages, with only 1 international send.  There really was nothing special with this send.  Just a bunch of stuff people wanted.

119 cards
$99.54 worth

$0.50 Stamps: 13
$0.21 Stamps: 3
International Stamps: 1

I also wanted to add a picture of what it actually looks like in my bulk.

So this is my Legacy bulk, so any set before Mirrodin.  Each separator is a single card, and I think this is from Visions.  I organize them by Set, then Color, then Alphabetically.  I use the little boxes in the back so I can just pull that box out and have space to grab some cards.  This way most of the space is being used in the box, and it can decrease the possibility of curling or bending.

Well let's see what I get from the pull, and you will get an update in about a week.

Thank you CS Secret Santa!

I don't know why I join the Secret Santa program for CardSphere.  I get such anxiety from trying to figure out what to get my person.  I normally just send them a bunch of Magic cards.  This year I did take the lead from my previous"gifter", and send a bunch of trading supplies in the package.  I just hope they are still active in sending cards.

So my sender this year got things spot on!  I was actually looking to get one of these at the beginning of the season when they were putting them out for sale.  It is more of a T-Shirt than a jersey, but that dark blue is just lovely!  What a shit year, but Glory Glory Man United!

Thank you Secret Santa!  You were spot on this year!

So last night I decided to just check my "Send" and I found a bunch to pick out.  Now that I am deep into the sending, the packages are getting thin, so when I do go to my "Send" page it really stands out what I could possibly send out very easy, and I do not have to take much time in looking at what they really want, for what price.

Really, where I am at is sending anything over 75% priced.  It makes it very easy.

Trade Count: 208,261
Foil Count: 3720

11 Packages
$0.50: 11 Stamps
$0.21: 2 Stamps

This being a quick send, it did end up being 67 cards with the value of $98.91 and I think the highest priced card was around $5.  It was just more of a value send, not a lot of bulk, but a lot or over $1 cards.  Even the commons had some value to them.

I also updated all my "Wants" to be a lot lower.  Not because I am looking to troll other traders, but really I would like to hit my $10k goal, and if someone sends me the things on my want list at the prices I set, I would be very happy to take the hit to my goal.

So yeah, just a quick update.  The kiddo is sleeping so I had some time to write a new update.

They call it the 3rd

So this is my bulk, and where most of my cards come from.  It is in a nice cold dry storage place, and keeps my cards in pretty good condition.

Ok, so going to try and keep the total countdown going, just like we did for the collection when we were trying to get all the cards.

Trade Count: 208,326
Foil Count: 3721

In this episode, it was our third send and it was a nice one.  We are looking at around 418 cards being sent out, and should be getting close to $325 in.  The cards send in wave 1 and 2 are now being accepted and the balance is getting above $1000.

This go around I sent out 47 packages.

Stamps used:
$0.21 - 8
$0.50 - 46

I forgot to take a picture of the envelops again, but I did get a picture of the stacks.  There was one notable trade, where I am sending out 170 cards to a single person.  It was mostly bulk in the send, and the amount they had prices discounted to was really low, so they got a really good deal.  Every once and I while I go balls to the walls and try to see how many cards I can send to one trader.  I am assuming they are collectors, and have an even longer want list than I can fill.

Highest price send was a foil Battlebond Bountiful Promenade and most of the cards were at very low costs, but there were just a bunch of cards being sent.

It is pretty slow going now, and I am just trying to check every once in while to see what new trades are up there.  I am pretty sure that it will be slow going now, just because I was able to wack out most of the cards people are looking for.  There are some other trades I could send out, but I am just taking my time right now to see what other offers come in.

Basically anything above 75% I am trying to snag real quick, but I am also keeping an eye out for 60% wants, just to see if there are some orders I can fill.

I am getting some responses back, and I have a couple of disputes.  I missed on some grading of the cards being sent out, but most people have been reasonable.

So far we are making progress, and I hope I can hit at least $2000 balance by the end of the year.