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...

Really? Modern Masters 2017

LGS: 4 boxes at $220 each

Cost basis is more toward the $200 mark based on all the $5 Rewards Point certificates.

So, if you go on eBay right now for around $740.  That is $60 a box less that what I paid for at my LGS. Here we explain again, that paying more at an LGS (Mead Hall Games) keeps them in business where online stores could care less if you buy from them or not, and it is a race to the lowest price. But yes I know I could get another box with the money I saved if I just bought online, but my LGS would not be there and I would not have a place to gather.

With that being said, after the release I do plan on picking up another case, and will most likely pick them up online.  I am somewhat hopeful that Rudy from Alpha Investments does a special sale for his Patreons, but either way I will be picking up another case.

Considering what I bought for Eternal Masters, I just know I will be picking up more later in the year. I might as well just do better planning for it.  Of course I will be just collecting 1 single set, and will not go for the playset since I have all the first print cards as playsets.

I have no faith in this product with the price point of $9.99 per pack.  I also have no faith in the reprinting of cards in a single set.  Modern Masters was a good idea and Eternal Masters was a good idea, but the money grab by WoTC is just crazy.  If they did a new reprint set every 5 years, that would be more worth it than every other year.

And considering that they are coming out with other sets that are not Standard legal with reprints, it is getting to be too much.  I am pretty sure they are coming to the end of releasing so many sets, and can feel the pain of people saving up money for higher valued sets, and the income for Standard sets is going down, but MTG players really only have so much to spend on new product.  And if WoTC releases sets that are going to have already proven reprints then the players will just wait for those sets to come out, and just pick up singles rather than buy sealed product.

Now, all these releases are really cutting into the investor of MTG product, which is a good thing, but the only side effect that they were not expecting is that the regular MTG player, or casual player is just not going to shell out cash on packs and boxes to open only to lose half the value right after opening the product.

I can really smell an over saturation of the MTG market with way too much product, and now players are just moving on to other games because it is too hard to keep up.  You can also tell that people that do get higher end cards and are happy, but get really sad because WoTC comes out with a reprint and that high value card now loses it's value.  So they are just getting burned all around.  They get the cards they always wanted only to see the value of that card drop once WoTC tries to make the game to available to newer players.

Most of these players are way too short term to actually see the value the do have, and they sell out once the price drops, and try to move on to the next habit.  Only those players that just stock the cards away and wait 10+ years will see some return on the game they used to play.  You hear it time and time again, "If I only kept those cards I used to play with back in the day."  It is happening all over again, and the long view players that keep their cards around will be the only ones that see a great return over what they invested in.

In the cycle of life for MTG, this will be an over saturation period and people will leave the game. WoTC will not be able to show strong enough profits, and there will be cuts.  The sets will slow down and less will get printed and released.  I don't think lines will be cut, but paper sets will slow down.  I do think there will be an increase in the online games they put out, but they will still try and sell paper Magic more into full sets like Commander.  I do think the player base will increase, but more from the online side of things.

I do see a larger casual market coming into focus, without a need to make it to the ProTour.  Those players will move online and the casual market will be for the paper folks.  Where casual gaming is more of a social event and holding up in your office playing on a computer is where the competition will shift to.  LGS's will move to a more social arena providing cocktails and food, keeping areas up to standards where people can come and gather in a social manner.  It will not just be catered to MTG, but all sorts of games.

I do see it now with the successful LGS's, but they still cater to the selling of games rather than the social aspect of it.  Large amounts of space is used for marketing to sell, and that will change to playing the game actually being the marketing tool to sell the product, or even getting the game with the meal to enjoy.

I am most likely wrong, but I guess I just like to write down what I would like to see because that is where I would go on a Friday night.

***Edit***

Yeah spoilers are all out there, and I broke down and just picked up 4 more boxes for pre-order from my LGS.  Left see what happens when I get to open 6 boxes!

Thursday Pickups!

Not that Thursday Pickups is a normal thing, but it is what happened this week.

Headed up to my LGS and picked up these online purchases.  My LGS only does instore pickup, which I don't mind too much because I can see what else I can buy.  And with these Inventions I am trying to just pick them up in trades or buying them locally, so from time to time I will check their site and see if they have them.

My LGS (Mead Hall Games) has a rewards program where you get a $5 code for every $100 you spend there.  The only issue I have is that you can only use 2 codes per purchase.  So since I buy a lot there, I get a lot of codes, but I can't use them all at once.  The store has been good with splitting up my buys into multiple purchases, but I would think it would be a lot easier to use if they could just add them all to a single purchase.  I still keep a running tab of all the codes I have, and it just gets longer and longer, but I hope someday to be all caught up with my codes.

I can see why they might do this, so that people won't just get things for free and they have to buy more to get more, but it is annoying when I plop down $1000 for a pre-order, use 2 codes, and then get another 10 codes for what I bought.  It is doing what it is supposed to do, and it gets me to buy more, but it is annoying to have a rewards program that kind of works.

I am much more a fan of the 10% Discount Card from the Source.  You might pay them for the card, but the ROI on that card is crazy for someone who buys a lot.  Granted their prices are higher than other LGS, but it still works out in the long run.

Picked up these as well for $25 each, and was able to use a single $5 discount code, so really it was more like $23.75 each.  I know that I could just save up some cash and pick up a booster box for less, but yeah I just like buying stuff at my LGS and supporting them.

Magic Weekend!!!!

What is this all about?  Oh yeah, another Magic Weekend from the Source Comics and Games!  All weekend long!

In this all weekend long event the LGS puts on a lot of events.  I mean A LOT of events.  There was modern, commander, cascade, mini masters, draft, sealed, standard and some that I have no idea what they were.  On top of that, you can bring a group and play what ever you wanted.

I was only there on Saturday, but it was a packed house.  From what I could tell, most people were there to play in the events that were setup, and there really wasn't that many casual players.  I would say there was well above 10 different tables setup for 16+ players.  I actually saw 6 events going off at the same time.  The way they ran everything was quite impressive.  There was pre-ordered games that you could buy tickets for, but then they had a board that you could sign up for pick-up games. They also provided prize support for personal games.  If you showed up with 7 other friends, you could all play for a box of any of the new sets.

My friend and I just went up there to hang out and play, maybe do a little trading or maybe do a little buying.  It was a really good time.

We started out with Legacy and I found out that the Lands deck is pretty boring to play.  I am actually going to be taking that one apart and setting up a new Legacy deck.  But I did get a chance to play my Miracles deck, and let me tell you!  That was a great deck to play!  I was having a lot of fun with that deck.

From there My friend decided it was time to buy something and picked up 4 Eternal Masters, and I followed suit.

Nothing too great, but I did get a couple of Mythics.  Unfortunately that trading fodder is not that sought after, and the foils are nothing to get excited about.

We then switched it up to Modern, and I started with Lantern Control but I was not really understanding what I had to do and got beat pretty bad.  My friend was playing Burn, and so I switched to Infect to make it a bit more challenging.  That was pretty fun, but I really wanted to see how Lanter Control was supposed to work.

The second time around I had a lot more fun, and I just needed to figure out what the game plan was.  All that deck does is control what your opponent is going to draw in their next turn, and you are basically supposed to play with an empty hand.  And now that I just said that, I am going to try and put Lupine Prototype in that deck somehow.  But really, I enjoyed that deck very much, and I think I am going to be tweeking that deck some more to make that my Modern deck.

Modern - Lanter Control

2 Spellskite 

4 Mox Opal 

4 Ancient Stirrings 

4 Codex Shredder 

4 Ghoulcaller's Bell 

2 Inquisition of Kozilek 

4 Lantern of Insight 

2 Pithing Needle 

1 Pyxis of Pandemonium 

1 Surgical Extraction 

3 Thoughtseize 

2 Abrupt Decay 

2 Sword of the Meek 

3 Thopter Foundry 

4 Ensnaring Bridge 

1 Ghirapur Aether Grid 

2 Academy Ruins 

1 Blackcleave Cliffs 

3 Darkslick Shores 

1 Forest 

2 Ghost Quarter 

4 Glimmervoid 

4 Llanowar Wastes 

Sideboard

2 Welding Jar 

1 Duress 

2 Grafdigger's Cage 

2 Gut Shot 

2 Nature's Claim 

1 Pithing Needle 

1 Surgical Extraction 

1 Ancient Grudge 

1 Life from the Loam 

1 Sword of the Meek 

1 Thopter Foundry 

And yes, after some modern was time to pick up more product.  My friend decided to grab a Fat pack of Origins but also came back with a huge surprise.  He thought it was a good idea to pick up a pack of Revised as well.  Now I can tell you that I did not agree with that purchase, but I can't tell you I kept that to myself.  I gave him a lot of stick for buying that pack, but in the back of my mind I was secretly opening that pack.  He did not end up getting a Dual land, but he did get a Demonic Tutor. And I think he said the only thing he got from the Origins Fat pack was 1 foil card (common card). So yeah, pulls, and I decided to follow suit.

I did not do as bad as him in general, but I did not get anything like a Revised Demonic Tutor.

Starting out with the Origins Fat Pack only real thing to call home about is that Lilly, but I did get more foils than him.

I did not pick up a pack of Revised, but got 2 packs of Innistrad instead.

And yeah, Delver was the only good card I got out of that.

From there, we moved on to Standard.  I was playing UR Dynavolt and my friend was playing WR Tokens.  It took me a bit to figure out what I was supposed to do, but it almost seemed like the Dynavolt part of the deck was not required.  But considering what is going on the Pro-Tour right now, the deck would be too slow.  It does require a long runway to kick off, and there is removal to allow it to kick off, but I don't think it will be very competitive in Standard.  I might tweek it a bit to see if I can get something out of it.  I do have to say, I just love Torrential Gearhulk the more I play it.

After standard we needed to pick up some more product, so we went to Aether Revolt Bundle pack

Picked up 2 Mythics, 1 foil Rare, and just the standard fodder.  I did grab 3 Fatal Pushes which was pretty exciting, and I was able to trade one of them for some stuff, but I am will go through trades and singles in another blog.

It was getting to be pretty late for us old folks, and we did put in a good 8 hours of playing.  My brain was mushy, and I hope my friend's brain was the same or I am just that out of Magic shape.  But while we were packing up my friend wanted to get some more stuff so he picked up some more Eternal Master packs.  After some friendly banter I pulled the trigger on some Modern Master 2013 packs, and yes the pissing contest was in full effect.  In all honesty, I was just using this as an excuse to buy more packs.

I do have to say it paid off on this one.  Picked up a Doubling Season and Aether Vial for trading fodder.

I did not get anything I was looking for the collection, but it was a great time just hanging out and playing.  I got a lot of good comments for my Pupathon playmat, and it is always a great environment to play at.  People there are really friendly and welcoming at that LGS.  The only thing I wished was that there were more causal tables.  We were afraid the whole time that if we left, we would have lost our spots and would be moving around a lot more.  But besides that, it was great!

A piece of advice if you do go to the Source, pick up their yearly membership card.  It gives you 10% discount on most things in the store, and helps with purchases at the store.  They normally charge a bit more than any other store, so doing pickups there does cost more.  I can only assume that the increase of cost accounts for the discount card.  But yeah, this is not a store that tries to give out the best prices, and I normally just buy there during their sales events.

Great day playing, and great fun.  Hope I can post more of these types of playing blogs.

Incoming Order! 2050!

So I decided to make a purchase for no other reason than to close out some sets.  With this purchase I should be closing out these:

Modern Sets
Mirrodin
Darksteel
Fifth Dawn

Coldsnap

Time Spiral
Magic 2010

Legacy
5th Edition
Urza's Destiny
Urza's Legacy Foil

So I got took with an e-mail that TCGPlayer sent out saying you could get 5% cashback in store credit, so I thought I would go shopping to close out some of my sets, and a bunch of cards later I ended up getting some packages.  I did end up getting some good store credit, that will lower my cost basis on my next TCGPlayer buy, but best of all I am closing out 8 sets and 1 foil set!

Let's go through the sellers and what I got.

LegendaryCreature
 - (3) Fifth Dawn: Krark-Clan Ironworks

This person can suck it.  NM to them was Played to Lightly Played.  I sent him a bad score, but pretty sure they will not even bat an eye.  There were nicks all over the cards, and the backs were scratched up to all hell.  The trouble in trying to correct the issue is not even speaking to this seller again.  He is going on the Do Not Buy list.  These types of buys are ones where I could block the sellers when I shop on TCGPlayer so I never even see them in the searches.

Epic Gaming 
- (1) Magic 2010: Jace Beleren

Great buy, nothing to say here.

Mana Tide Games
 - (1) Darksteel: Death Cloud

Great buy, nothing to say here

Pink Bunny Games
 - (2) Coldsnap: Panglacial Wurm
 - (2) 5th Edition: Aspect of Wolf
 - (2) 5th Edition: Cockatrice
 - (2) Magic 2010: Plains (231)
 - (1) Magic 2010: Plains (233)
 - (2) Magic 2010: Swamp (239)
 - (2) Magic 2010: Swamp (240)
 - (2) Time Spiral: Mishra, Artificer Prodigy
 - (2) Time Spiral: Thelon of Havenwood

I am very happy that I got the cards in the conditions that they were in, but really this seller needs to start using top loaders.  Even just as a barrier to protect the cards a bit.  The envelope was ripped a bit, and the sleeve used to bind them together was ripped.  I gave them a less perfect score telling them to use top loaders.

EDHMTGEtc
 - (1) Magic 2010: Garruk Wildspeaker

Great buy, nothing to say here

ChicagolandGames
 - (1) Tenth Edition: Grave Pact

Great buy, the shipping was fantastic!  Way above and beyond what I would expect for the card.  Simply great shipping!

adventureON
 - (1) 5th Edition: Meekstone
 - (1) 9th Edition: Lord of the Unreal
 - (1) Time Spiral: Undying Rage

Great buy, nothing to say here

With more orders coming in, I should have some more posts this week.

Black Friday!

Now I normally hate black friday, and I never go out and shop, but for some reason I decided to go out and see what types of deals I could get.  There is a seasonal Black Friday shopping sale at an LGS I normally go to and love, then there was a LGS that was going out of business that I had to check out, and then I needed to make a stop at my LGS Mead Hall Games to pick up my Anthology Planechase.

First stop was the Air Traffic Kite and Game shop that was going out of business.  There really was not much I could find for deals, but they were selling things off at 20% discount.  The manager told me that they were going to be open until the end of Dec, so the deals were supposed to get better as the closing sale went on.  So I hope to make another stop closer to the end date to see if there is a bulk pickup I can do.

I was able to pick up 2 From the Vault: Lore for $31.99 each.

And a Anthology Planechase for $119.99.

Then I headed up to the Source Comics and Games.  They opened up at 10:00 AM, and a line out the door.  It was crazy.  They also did a deal where you could get an extra 10% off if you brought up a canned food to donate to the food shelves.  They also have a 10% off card for customers if you purchase the discount cards, and the card lasts a whole year.  I normally get the card every year. What they did is add the 10% discount from the food donation to the 10% discount card for a total of 20% discount on anything you buy.  On top of that, they had door breaker deals in the back of the store at even more of a discounted price.

This year, from what I could tell, they had booster boxes of the first Conspiracy and Eldritch Moon set at 50% discount!  I was checking out twitter while I was in the line and saw that posting, and when I got in that door I headed right in the back and picked me up 4 boxes of Eldritch Moon.

Eldritch Moon for $69.25 each.

I was going to grab more, but really that is a pretty big gamble to go for, but who can go wrong with that price.  Granted I only got 50% off of list price, and then an additional 10% off for my food donation.  So with all the discounts and after the tax it ended up being $69.25 each box.

Why Eldritch Moon?  First it is a small set.  I love small sets.  Not all of them, but I do find small sets and especially if they are at the end of the block, have a great return.  For some reason people usually don't buy a bunch of them, and they usually have some really good cards.

Rise of Eldrazi
New Phyrexia
Avacyn Restored
Dragon Maze (worst of them all)
Journey of Nyx (Still waiting but they have god packs)

My opinion, this set has better cards than Shadows over Innistrad

Liliana, the Last Hope
Emrakul, the Promised End
Grim Flayer
Tamiyo, Field Researcher
Selfless Spirit
Gisela, the Broken Blade
Thalia, Heretic Cathar

And those are just the high end cards.  SOI just does not have that type of card base that EMN does, and I really think those cards will go further that SOI or most of the Battle for Zendikar block.  I put EMN in the same category as Magic Origins.

Along with the EMN booster boxes I picked up some singles and packs for the 20% off price.

Finally I headed down to Mead Hall Games, and I already posted the Tempest booster box in a separate post, but I was also able to pick up my Anthology Planechase.  Why in the world would I pick up 2 Anthology Planechase?  Loyalty to Mead really.  I know I already picked one up for a discount, but I always pick up sealed product from Mead, and I am not going to change even if I can get another set cheaper somewhere else.  Now with that being said, yeah it was stupid that I bought the other one, but.... maybe I will open it for the planechase cards to use.

16,367 Buy coming in and Magic 2015 Complete!

Do I need to pitch this LGS again?

Mead Hall Games (www.meadhallgames.com)

I just love this store so much it hurts.  I mean really, you walk in and see something not found in any Comic and Gaming store.  There are not that many shelves, but they are stocked with just wonderful goodies.  The MTG singles cases are easy to access and always full, around adult height tall with full glass fronts and shelves that hold a top loader filled with the most wanted cards.  Almost one case for every color, with the colorless sharing the same case.  The space efficiency practiced here is a thing of beauty, allowing for the placement of wares visible but not tacky, and keeping enough space for the free play of any game that is on the schedule, opening and inviting.

So with that being said, I always go out of my way to buy anything and everything I can from this store.  Now it is not just because I like the ambiance, but where else do you find a store that has a social network for a game they support, and look to add to the community.  Not just sell to the community and make a profit, but to really contribute to the community.  The only thing I can compare it to is that the Source Comics and Games is the previous generation's greatest gaming store, and the Mead Hall Games is it's baby.  I know, I know, stop preaching about the Millennials and their importance to society, but seriously the vibe that I get from the generation when it comes to this LGS really comes out in everything they do as a LGS.

Now, I might be buying a load of MTG poop, but in honesty that is how I feel when I do anything with this LGS, so that is why I try and go out of my way to buy anything I need from this LGS to keep them in business.  After all, we do live in a society of consumerism.

Now that I have tried to suck up to my favorite LGS, this is what I did recently to support my LGS.

Oops I forgot to add something new that I learned about their website.  So if you are looking for specific cards, make sure you use the search feature on their site.  If you just go to the sets listed in the MTG singles section you won't see all the cards.  But if you search for the card you get a much more in depth search into their inventory.  Now I am not sure why they do it like that, and it is really confusing why they don't have all the sets listed, but I hope they fix it at some point.

Trading Fodder:

Now I know, "How stupid are you to buy 4 Noble Hierarch when Modern Masters 2015 is releasing a reprint in the upcoming set, and think you are going to use them for trading fodder?"  And it is very simple, I bought 4 Future Sight Tarmogoyfs for $80 a piece right before Modern Masters was first released, and the originals went up over 100%.  In fact, almost all the originals doubled in price and that is because the set did what it was supposed to do, get more people playing Modern decks they wanted to.  This increased the demand, which increased the price on the card in circulation.  I feel that people are selling their originals thinking that the price will go down, and they want to cash in. In the short term, the price will drop because there are so many people trying to cash in on the higher price, but in the long term they will lose out on the real gains.  And why will they lose out on the long term gains?  Because there still is no more Conflux Noble Hierarchs being printed, and the Modern Master 2015 will be on such a small print run it will make the Conflux ones more wanted.  Just like the same way a Alpha/Beta/Unlimited dual land is much more expensive than the Revised ones.

A good card is a good card.

Legacy:

These are some of the cards that I have decided to try and buy because they are pretty impossible to trade for.

The Modern Battle continues:

So just like with all the other collecting I try and do, complete the lands and get the most expensive cards in the set that I can.  Currently the most expensive card that I need from Lorwyn is 2 more Rings of Brightheart, which I will most likely need to purchase.

Morningtide is a long and painful trip.  Holy Hell I only need 7 more cards!!!!

I could say that I am happy to really starting Shadowmoor, but really I am not.  This set and Champions of Kamigawa are the only 2 expansion that there is over $1000 worth of cards that I need to finish...  Yeah, not looking forward to this.

Future Sight, so yeah...  I did get a single booster box in a trade, I regret opening it, but I did and got most of the commons/uncommons, but there is still a ton of cards that I need.  Really expensive ones too, but I do have all the Goyfs, so that is a positive.

So during my first trading since being back, I was all over the place with what I was trying to get. One good mistake that I made was to get a lot of the Shards of Alara block.  Also I traded for some booster boxes that I opened like an idiot, but it did get me a lot of commons/uncommons that I needed.  But all in all, I only need 18 more cards for the block, so again it is positive.

Worldwake: 13 more cards needed and only 4 of them are Mythic Rares (none of them being Jace, Boom!)

Magic 2015 is complete!  Normally I wait until the sets is out of rotation before I start buying up the standard cards, but I just didn't want to wait anymore.  And considering Magic Origins is coming out this year, I just wanted to get it done.  Magic 2011 is down to needing two more cards, Titan's to be specific, one green and one black to be more specific.  Magic 2010 I was able to get all my Baneslayer Angels that I needed.

As happy as I am that they are finishing the Core sets, I just want to stop wasting my trading fodder on these reprints.

Outpost 2000 & Beyond - Coon Rpaids, MN

Outpost 2000 & Beyond - Coon Rapids
http://www.outpost2000.com/

Grade: D

So I was out and about doing some Deckbox trading done, and I was up in the Coon Rapids area and decided to stop by a store I heard about on 'Magic: the Ameturing' podcast.  It was Outpost 2000 & Beyond, and let me tell you, I hope to never go there again.

What I did like about the store:
Plenty of space to play
Lots of space to park
McDonalds close by

What I did not like about the store (I am not even sure you can call it a store):
Not clean at all
McDonalds close by
They had a sign on the front door banning all outside food and drink
     - This just means they will charge you $5.00 for a can of soda
They had a single glass case with a bunch of binders with cards they are selling
     - There was no way to browse any of their cards without bothering the clerk
Their sealed product was very minimal
     - I only saw 1 opened box of each standard set, and nothing else
They has some comics all boxed up in racks near the front
Gaming tables for Warhammer type games were also in the front, but nothing crazy

I guess having a small exposure of product is not a bad thing, but it was just thrown together.  Just not sure what they were trying to do.

All in all, not impressed at all.  I think I spent a total of 3 minutes in that store.  Looked like they had a good showing for 3:30 on a Sunday, but it was mostly kids, Tweens, and teenagers.  It was a very basic beginner crowd for sure.  I spent more time trying to find the store than browsing the items they had for sale.

Now that I am writing this, I did a little more digging.  Looks like there is a sister store in Crystal. Looks like I am going to be stopping in to see if this store is any better.  And also found that there was a calender and Sunday at the Coon Rapids store is Pokemon day, so that explains the young crowd.

I will give an update on the Crystal store as soon as I go, and I hope I don't make it up to the Coon Rapids store again, but I am pretty sure I will, and will be disappointed again.

Update - Oh yeah, the website is nothing special.  They don't sell anything on there, and it looks like it just a bulletin board for the stores.  In fact, when you go to the products and click on the links, they send you directly to the vendor's websites...  So horrible...

Theros PreOrder - The Source Comics and Games

Today is the day of the first day to purchase pre-orders for the first set in the new Block.  I will be heading up to the Source since they have the best deal on any and all pre-orders.  They only charge $80 per box, but only for pre-order.  Outside of that they charge list price on everything after pre-order.

http://www.sourcecomicsandgames.com/

UPDATE:

Got my 10 pre-orders.  So the way the Source works is you pay for the pre-order and you get a small card, then on the day of the release they exchange the card for the box.  Now if you lose the card, then you are completely out of luck.  They do not keep any records of who bought what.

On the date of the set release they actually stay open Thursday night until midnight.  That way you can pick your new cards up at midnight the day of the release.  Now I know, you have the cards, so what is the point in staying up in line waiting for your cards when you can just pick them up in the morning.  It is pretty fun though.  Standing in line, talking to people, everyone excited about the new set.  Some nights when it is below zero, not worth it, but for the most part it is worth it.

I am a bit too old to stay up that late, so I just pick them up when the store opens, but I do miss standing in line.

Nugget of importance:
The Source usually sells out the first day of pre-order, but what people don't know is that they have a sister store that also does pre-order.  They only have 10 boxes to do the pre-order with, but if you do find that you missed out on the Source pre-order, give Uncle Sven's a call.  They might still have some boxes left.

Mead Hall Games - Minneapolis, MN

http://www.meadhallgames.com/

Grade: A-

What a beautiful site, and really good prices.  They also have a MTG social network setup called The Meadery.  I had been to the store once last winter, and they were still setting up.  They did not have much of a selection of cards, and everything they were selling was Standard.  As the days went by since the opening, they have been improving more and more.  It is quite a good feeling to see a store like this.  Most shops in the Minneapolis area are focused on 2 things, selling you stuff and getting you to come in the store to play.  This shop does that along with showing off simple delights to the eye.

The store is remodeled to the manner of a fine wine vendor.  Hardwood floors and the decor of simplicity.  When I first went to the store I had thought that they were in big trouble with the gaming space they did not have.  I also saw a huge t-shirt printing press, and was just confused how they would be able to support any tournaments here (Just read an article that the owner operator has many businesses, one being a t-shirt printer).

Now I have only seen pictures since I was there last, but they have improved it greatly since.  It looks like there is more of a selection of cards to choose from, and they support local graphic novel writers, and they finally got a sign.  I swear I drove around and around multiple times because they never had a sign, and I never would have thought of a shop under the apartment building...  Seriously, I thought my GPS was cracked out!

The website is just a piece of work.  Clean lines, easy to find the sets you are looking for, and just all around good looking.  You hit the site and they have a rotation of card art in a manner that I would have never thought of.  You just get a search bar right in the middle of the art.  Google-esk design.  Simple and to the point.  The more and more I visit the site, the more passionate I get towards my own MTG collecting.

I think the thing that gets me going the most is the social network.  Here, I can communicate with the local community, find trades, setup game nights, get great ideas for anything MTG.  Just by going to the site I was introduced to a podcast Magic: the Amateuring.  I have only listen to one of the podcasts, but I am already hooked.

Other stores are good, but these guys are really putting in the time to make something special and it shows.  They really care about what they are doing.  I am very impressed.  I have yet to spend a day playing down there, but I am trying to plan something soon.  I just need to get the trade book setup so I don't show up unprepared.

They do have an awesome calendar setup, and you can purchase tickets to the upcoming game nights.  What excites me is they have a Commander Thurs.  Just for EDH.  A whole night, just for EDH.  Amazing...  But like I said, still need to head down there to see what the people are like, and check out the atmosphere.  I am pretty sure I will do an update later on what comes of this adventure.