PO Box Laziness

Total Trade Count: 206,533
Total Foil Count: 3,742

So last week we got a bunch of new readers because of the BCW link to the blog based on how I store my collection using their product.  It was not a sponsored post but they did send me some goodies because I let them us my pictures and post!  I was out of town for work, so I just got the picture from my wife with my son sitting on the new package, trying to get into it.

When I finally got home this is what I found in the box...

I already have a bunch of these boxes!  Yeah well it was not the boxes themselves, but what was inside that counts!

Now as everyone know I am a KMC guy and with my OCD I am already shaking a little bit at the thought of using these.  There is not that much of a difference but I would know, and I would lose sleep about it.  I am going to try and find a good use for them, seeing as all my 105,248 cards in my collection already have a perfect sleeve on them, I am just not sure what to do.

These I am sure going to use for my next EDH decks I want to build.  I always wanted to see how they held up to playing, and since I normally use Dragon Shield this will be a nice change of feel.  Only thing I wish they were was Matted instead of Gloss.

And these!  I am super excited about these.  As you know, I have my own separators that I use for the collection, but these are perfect for just normal everyday use.  Like if I am doing the sort on a collection and I need temporary dividers to keep things apart, these types of dividers work great.  If you remember back in the Kaladesh days I found out that they were discontinuing the holiday gift box and I went out to pick up all the ones I could find.  Not only do I love the boxes, but the separators you got with them work so well!  I actually thought of picking up a bunch of these on my last order, so I am happy to see how these work!

And with this one you need to pay attention.  Next to the long box you can see a bunch of black foam blocks.  Wonderful foam blocks!  I have talked about it before, and explained a bunch of different uses for extra boxes that get shipped with some WoTC products, like the new Bundles with the extra long skinny black box that goes on the bottom of the Bundle.  They are great to use as spacers when you have larger BCW boxes with a lot of cards, but not enough to fill up a row.  These foam blocks are perfect for that use case, but now I can get a tighter squeeze, and these will work great with my foils.  I will be able to really pack in the foil cards so no air can get to them.

I broke again.  So I have another Amazon Credit Card, and they were also offering no interest for 18 months on any purchase above some amount.  Modern Horizon is also coming out this weekend, and I wanted more than just the 4 boxes I got from the LGS, and when I checked they had sold out anyway.  So I broke down and bought 2 more boxes from evil Amazon!  They should be coming in the mail next week.

But...

I also picked up some stuff for the collection...

Number 2 of 3 in the Mercadian Masques block!  One of the crappiest sets out there and the only set worse is Dragon Maze.  For all you folks out there that do not think sealed product is investable, well I just bought this thing for $375!  If it is old enough and sealed, it will go up in price.  And the only reason I broke down and bought the stupid thing is because I did not want it to go up anymore before I could buy it.  No Interest, done!

Oh but that is right, Number 3 of 3 in the block!  I figured if I was going in for that box, I might as well get it's brother now instead of when the prices inflate more.  So now I am totally done with Mercadian Masques block.

That leaves 3 more sealed boxes to get.

Coldsnap
7th Edition
Urza's Destiny

I might be able to pickup a Coldsnap this year, but unless I send a lot more cards on CardSphere I will be waiting until next year to grab the other two.  If I do end up getting my other two credit cards paid off and I find something else on Amazon, I am going to be pulling the trigger.  Then it is the slow roll through the Fat Packs!  I might try and get Portal and Starter 1999, but who knows.

So yeah come trade with me on CardSphere!
https://www.cardsphere.com/ref/711/e4031f

And that is it for today.  I need to get up to the post office and grab some envelops!

A funny thing happened with BCW

Total Trade Count: 206,770
Total Foil Count: 3,742

I have been posting more and more into the Reddit-verse, sharing more and more of my experiences.  And with that sharing I have had some really cool conversations.  Today was no different.

A while back I posted to someone looking to see how some other folks might be storing their collections, so I decided to share a picture of what I do.

Reddit Link

Here is the Picture:

Just for reference, the tall rack is my Modern Collection minus the Standard cards.

There was not a lot of communication on that posting, and I think I was the only one to share anything, but a few days later someone from BCW hit me up and asked if they can share my picture I posted on the BCW site.

If you have been reading my blog, you know that I occasionally buy supplies from BCW.  Since I do a lot of trading, and I send out a lot of cards, I have had to make purchases for shipping supplies.  What better way to get those supplies than go right to the source and buy in bulk!

Shop at BCW!

I used to pick up my BCW supplies at my LGS, but since I needed a large quantity of supplies I had to buy in bulk in order to save a little money.  There was also an issue with my LGS not having enough of what I was looking for, as I can only assume it is rare to have someone come in looking for 50 3 Row 3000 count BCW boxes.

https://www.bcwsupplies.com/super-shoe-storage-box-3000-cards

I am always for buying things at your LGS, I just needed to buy more than what a LGS would normally expect to sell to a customer, so I decided to just go to the source.

In the early days of trying to meet my collection goals I would receive more cards than I do now, so I would get a lot of shipping supplies from those traders.  Now I am in the position where I am mostly sending cards, so I have to make sure I have enough supplies to be able to ship properly.  This includes team bags, top loaders, and penny sleeves, and since I send in such higher numbers I also needed to buy in bulk.

Then there is the storage and organization of my collection, and with my collection being so large, I am constantly looking for better ways to protect that investment.  Not only do I want to try and protect the cards, but I want to be able to find the cards easy and put them away so I can find them again when I need them.

In my previous blog about why I decided to go with BCW storage box:

https://dogonsiereht-mtg.blogspot.com/2014/06/collection-storage.html

In this entry I go through my thought process on why I decided to go with these boxes.  Let me tell you, I am super happy with the choice I made back in 2014.  I am able to organize everything to my liking, and the expansion of my collection has never been easier.  And the taller boxes with wider rows I am able to fit cards stored in top loaders along with all my other cards, so I do not need to keep those cards separate.  They just fit so well into the wire racks, and I have found that the weight of 3 of these boxes full of Magic the Gathering cards is not too much for the boxes to handle.

I have actually expanded using these boxes on my bulk trade cards that I accrue in picking up new sets and collections.

So yeah, this BCW person wrote to me asking if they could share my picture of how I use their product and I was more then excited to allow them to share it.  I just love their products, and buying products from them is very easy to do.  With that, I asked them if they would mind if I blogged about this interaction, just because it is super cool that a vendor thinks what I do is cool!  They offered to share my blog after I wrote it, so if you are reading this from their link, "Welcome to my Blog!"

I guess I am just a fan boy, and think it is neat they took an interest in what I do with their products!

I would also like to add that this is not a sponsored link, or anything like that.  They do not pay me to use their products, and I have been using their products for a very long time (over 20 years).

CardSphere update:

This lovely set came in, and finished out my Guild Kit basic land needs.  CardSphere is just a wonderful tool in getting cards like this in.  It just works so well.

And yet another reason to love CardSphere.  This came in, finished out my Mirrodin block for sealed product, and put me at needing 5 more booster boxes to finish up my Sealed phase of collecting.  Just amazed on what I am able to pick up with this site, and I love it!

Lodestone Coffee and Games Update:

I had an afternoon and wanted to stop up at my FLGS to see what they had.  I am still trying to finish out my Ultimate Masters set, so heading up there to see if they brought anything new in, and it is always a great excuse to stop by.  I was able to snag these, just cause I wanted to have a second playset of this Man-Land card.

I also picked up another one of these.  I just think this is a great card, and I will pick up as many of these as I can.

One thing that people do not advertise about their FLGS are the conversations they have.  The interaction I get to have with the folks up at my FLGS is just great.  I think I spent a good chunk of time just going over how excited we are about Modern Horizons, and all the brews we are planning to make with the new set.  It is just wonderful to have a place to go and talk about the things we love.

Bragging time!

CardSphere just celebrated their 2nd Anniversary and they posted their numbers.  I ended up on their top 20 list of traders that have sent the most cards, and I was second!  That is just insane!  I mean I know I have sent and received a ton of cards when I was on Deckbox.org, but to see that I am on a top 20 list is just cool!

And then I also ended up on the top 20 list for All-Time Senders for the Value of Cards being sent at 6th place!  I do have to credit Woadworks for a lot of it since I was trading with him the most towards the end of 2018, but hot damn!  I am in the top 10!

Come Trade with me on CardSphere!

BCW, CardSphere Top 20 Lists, finishing up my sealed collection!

Just a ton of stuff happened this last week, and very excited to be writing this update!

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!

2017 Review!

Today on the worlds most excellent Magic the Gathering Blog in the Multiverse!

What up sexy MF'ers!

So yeah, New Years and all, so I thought I would try and keep this year in review thing going.

http://dogonsiereht-mtg.blogspot.com/2016/12/2016-review.html

Looking back at what I wrote I was close on some things, but wrong on a lot of what was supposed to come this year.

(TLDR: What happened in 2017, what I accomplished, and what is going to happen in 2018)

"2017 - 4 Exp, 2 DD, 1 FTV, 5 CMD, 1 MM, 2 Gift, 1 SDCC, 1 Ant, 4 Masterpiece, 1 Archenemy"

Set Releases

What we did see were the 4 Expansion sets of Aether Revolt, Amonkhet, Hour of Devastation, and Ixalan like advertised.  The funny thing is that WoTC saw their mistake in Masterpiece sets and stopped releasing them with Ixalan.  And as you know, I love that idea.  The thought of having to spend $4000 more per block was just a headache and the quality of the cards just went down hill.  The final Masterpiece set is sitting around $2,251 as of the end of the year, and yes I spent well above that price to finish out my set.

Master Releases
Modern Masters 2017 was a hit, and I really enjoyed that set.  I picked up more than my normal share and also grabbed some playsets of cards from the set.  Shitty thing, they decided to release Iconic Masters which was not Iconic at all.  Some folks said they should call it Commander Masters and I really like that name considering the cards in the set. 

I still don't understand the reasoning of putting out 2 Master sets in a year, and I think with the lack of sales in Iconic Master it proves the lack of demand in the market.  Lets just hope that this is true and they will go back to a single Masters set in a year at most.

**Tin Foil Hat**
I almost wish there was some type of internal fight at WotC and Hasbro.  There were reports that Iconic Masters was released at Hascon (months before the public release) because someone was threatening to spoil all the cards, and it was the only way to get in front of it.  But my hope is that folks at WotC are leaking these things in order to get control of the release of products from Hasbro.  Almost like it a an internal fight to slow things down because Hasbro sees Magic the Gathering as a cash cow, but WotC can see the distain in the player base and they are intentionally leaking things to make sure products don't sell as well.  That would bring the new release cycle to the attention of Hasbro and they decide to slow things down.

Commander

We also saw 1 Anthology set for Commander, but we did not get 5 Commander decks.  Instead we only saw 4, and WoTC said that will be the norm moving forward, but who the hell knows what the norm is anymore considering they change the release of products way too much.  The hope is that with the next 4 years there will be more Anthology sets containing 4 decks in each and the price point for those sets will be around $169 each.

Gift Box change up

There were no old Gift boxes, but instead they changed that as well to some Pokeman type product that pretty much sucked.  Don't get me wrong, I picked up a couple.  One to open and one to keep sealed, but who cares when the land promo's you could get from the Gift box was flush in the MTG system and are all over the place.  They decided to put the lands in the Buy-a-Box promo for Black Friday, so yeah that means the Gift boxes were even more of a waste of money.

Promo Packs

Speaking of promo packs, in 2016 they did these packs to sell Kaladesh and then at the end of the year used the same type of packs for prize support for some Saturday tournament held at your LGS.  Then when they released Ixalan they switched out the Buy-a-Box promo with these Buy-a-Box promo packs with the Buy-a-Box promo in it along with other rares and foils.  And then they decided to jump in with two feet and release more of these packs along with Black Friday so if you bought a box of Standard.  Only thing to really pick up on this subject is that they are giving the loyal LGS's these packs to sell more stuff.

I did end up picking up some sealed booster boxes on Black Friday for these packs, but I also went and picked up a ton of packs on their own through eBay.  If this was truly a special release then I see that these packs / cards will increase in price.  If we see another release of the promo cards, then I just lost that bet.

Supplemental sets 

We did get 2 Duel Decks, From the Vault: Transform, the Archenemy: Nicol Bolas, and a SDCC promo set.  But here is where they added some more product with the Hascon Promo set, Explores of Ixalan, and Unstable.

Hascon promo is a waste of money, but it does seem like the rarity of these sets is not going to be as sparse as it was with the first SDCC sets.  Almost like they are just opening up the hose and printing enough to meet demand.  Right now you can get the SDCC set for $165, and Hascon promo set for $29 on the Hasbro site.  Yup, right in the goat ass for me on that considering I spent $199 on the SDCC set and $92 on the Hascon promo set.  Lesson learned and just going to wait for Hasbro site to pick up these sets.

Explores of Ixalan is not a new type of product, but it is a new product.  It is a non-Standard approved set, but it is a game in a box.  It comes with 4 decks and is supposed to be contained as a game of itself.  Just like Archenemy or Planechase.  It is supposed to be just something you would buy, sit down with friends, and play.  For one, I hope they do more of these sets and I really like this idea.  Just seems fun and simple for the casual player.

Unstable was the third release of an Un-set.  It did go off really well, and people really enjoyed it.  Like Conspiracy it is just a draft-able set that you can play on it's own, which was different than the other Un-sets.  Honestly I think the only reason people liked it as much as they do was for the Lands and Tokens.  It was like they could play this one off game of Magic, and it was fun, but they got these really cool full art lands and tokens.  WotC will most likely mess this up and start putting lands like this in every set, and it will no longer be special.  Everyone wants something special.

So yeah, in 2017 we ended up getting
Aether Revolt
Amonkhet
Hour of Devastation
Ixalan
Modern Masters
Iconic Masters
Commander 2017
Commander Anthology
Mind vs Might
Merfolk vs Goblins
From the Vault: Transform
Archenemy: Nicol Bolas
Explores of Ixalan
SDCC 2017
Hascon 2017
Unstable
Gift Box

Let's just say that it was another expensive year, but I did over buy and speculate on a couple things.  I picked up a ton of Ixalan because I have learned that any set with special lands are always a good bet, and seeing that they added some good Uncommon lands, it was a no brainer.  I also went way back and picked up more boxes of Kaladesh and Aether Revolt.  I really like the Energy resource and put it on par with Phyrexian Mana.  I should have grabbed more New Phyrexia when I could have, so I did not want to make that same mistake with the Kaladesh block.

I also grabbed more Modern Masters 2017 but that was mainly to open.  Again, it is all about the fetch lands.  I did not really go for the Iconic Masters in sealed product but did pick up a lot of playsets, and moving forward that is going to be the goal.  6 Booster boxes with opening 4 of them and keeping 2.  I do think that there will be some Master sets that I will pick up more than 6 boxes, but it will be rare.  Unlike the first release, there seems to be a much larger supply and I have a longer runway to pick up that product.

One item that I did more speculation then I normally would, From the Vault.  One year after the release of FTV: Lore and it is already around $55 sold on eBay.  Lore was not that good of a set, and did not really have a ton of big hitters.  List prices for the cards alone sits around $82 right now, while the Transform prices are closer to $102.  So seeing that $35 go up to $70 is not too far of a stretch.

This was also the year when I picked up more Commander product than the 2 sets I normally get.  I went with 4 sealed sets just incase I wanted a play set of all the cards.  There were a couple of cards that I really liked from the set, so that was the main reason, and who can go wrong with tribal commander decks!  If you recall, the main reason I bought so much of 2016 were for the Partner Commanders.

I also picked up a large amount of older product to fill out my sealed collection.
Magic 2011 - Fat Pack
Magic 2012 - Fat Pack
Urza's Saga - Booster Box
Worldwake - Booster Box
Rise of Eldrazi - Booster Box
Conflux - Booster Box
Eventide - Booster Box
Shadowmoor - Booster Box
FTV: Angels
FTV: Exiled
FTV: Realms
FTV: Twenty

Most of these were picked up at the Grand Prix: Minneapolis and were completed with trades.  Trying to use some of those older boxes I have sitting around to get things I am missing.  I can honestly say that 2018 will be more of this, and I will be spending more of my reserves on older sealed product.

Accomplishments
- Ball of poop
Well you all know what I am going to start out with.  Yup that is right, I am not shooting blanks!  With the addition of my son, it brings a nice warm thought of going to GP's with him.  Teaching him Standard / Commander and all the other variants of this game we love.  I just hope he likes Magic.

- CardSphere
I found CardSphere which is just amazing.  There was no way I was going to use PucaTrade because of those damn points, but considering that CS runs on the US dollar and I can cash out anytime I want for the 10% fee, I just see a long drawn out relationship with this site.  It was just so hard to get any trades done through Deckbox, and I still love the site, but if you don't have a lot on your wish list trades are few and far between.  With CS I can just send and send and send while building up that balance.  I just hope they get more sealed product on there so I can maybe see about sending some of my extra on there.  The price cuts I see from other stores is just too great.  I can take a 10% hit rather than a 50% hit.

It is also just nice to put up speculations on the site.  When people send me cards from the site it feels like I am getting cards for free.  I am basically trading my trash for cards I am looking for.  But yeah, the best thing is I can just keep sending out everything I can and liquidate my extra inventory to either get cards I need or enough to pull out cash to buy sealed product.

Honestly, this site only encourages me to buy collections and opened new sealed product.  The amount of trash cards I have been able to get rid of on the site is just wonderful.  The fear of overwhelming myself with bulk is not as much as it was with Deckbox.  Here I know I can get rid of cards to folks that are looking for them.  With Deckbox I was literally trying to push trades on folks and getting no where.  With CS, I just send out cards and I know people want them.

- Collection
That is right, we finished Phase 1 of the collection.  We were able to get a playset of every card in every set from The Dark to Eldritch Moon, and every Core set from Revised to Magic Origins.  We were also able to complete a single set from Arabian Nights to Legends.

We also finished Phase 2 with the completion of any supplemental set.  We got playsets for Chronicles, Portal, Portal Second Age, and Unglued.  Then we got full sets for Unhinged, the Starter sets, and ever Masters set.  We also were able to pick up full sets of every Masterpiece set too!

We are now deep into Phase 3 and Phase 4.  Phase 3 consisting of all the sealed product and Phase 4 being the ABU sets, and I am highly considering adding Portal Three Kingdoms to that list.  With the sealed product I am looking for close to $14,000 in sealed booster boxes.  We are only looking for Core and Expansion sets for Phase 3 and I don't count any of the ABU or AAL sets.  I might try for that Dark booster box, but highly unlikely considering the prices.

With everything, I will most likely tackle the high priced boxes first, and then go down from there.  Considering the lack of demand for the Legacy sets after the Urza's block I will try and get those last.  I am pretty lucky though, with the price drop in Tarmogoyf, Future Sight is a lot less expensive now.

What is going to happen in 2018?!

2018 - 3 Expansion, Core 2019, 1 Masters 25, 1 other Masters set, 1 Conspiracy, 1 Duel Deck, 8 Challenger Decks, 4 Commander Decks, 1 Commander Anthology, 1 Gift Box, 1 FTV, 2 Explores of Ixalan type sets.

- Standard
So with all the mistakes in the last 3 years we are going back to the way it was.  Going back to Core sets, and leaving the Masterpiece sets in the dust.  Yes, the return of the Core set is a big one.  This will bring back Standard playable reprints and hopefully bring some stability to that deck type. 

- Arena
With the release of Magic the Gathering: Arena I can also see that inserts into packs with Dominaria that will get you digital packs in the Arena game will happen.  These inserts will get you the ability to put in codes into Arena to get digital packs.  But with this, I also see an increase in MSRP of the packs.  Let's wait and see.  It could be per pack, or it could be Buy-a-Box packs.  I hope it is packs, that way it will increase the demand to crack packs, but it will also pull folks into playing Arena.

- Masterpieces
Removing the Masterpiece's is an added bonus, it was a great experiment and I am happy they are just correcting that mistake.  What I can see that happened, it did lower the cost of Standard with the increase of packs being opened, but that started to cause deflation within the MTG economy.  Masterpieces were the high value targets, Standard staples were hit heavy in value, and the economy went down like they wanted. 

The issue was, and the beauty of Magic the Gathering shown through, the demand for those Masterpiece cards was unsustainable.  WotC could not create enough reprint value within the Masterpiece sets to make it something they could do every set.  It might have sold more packs in the short run, but it damaged the game in the long run.  They could not find enough high valued reprints to make as Masterpieces, and those reprints damaged the value of the newer Standard cards where it would only be negative returns in the long run.

Lets face it, everyone wants to be able to open packs knowing they have a chance at a high end item, but the problem was WotC was artificially creating that value before the packs were opened.  Once those cards were added to the economy the value of the cards went down, which brought the entire Standard environment down.  You could no longer pull a card that would increase in value, and most cards pulled were deprecating the more the packs were opened.

- Masters
I know Masters 25 is going to be coming out, and I do plan on picking my normal 6 boxes, and then playsets of what I want, but my hope is that they only do the single Masters set.  I have the feeling that they will release another Masters set, and it will do poorly, but I really hope they don't.  I just don't think WotC has learned their lesson yet.  I also think they will be moving Masterpiece cards into the Masters sets, but that won't happen until 2019.

- Conspiracy
I have said it before, and I will say it again; I am going to puke if they make another Conspiracy set, and I have the feeling I am going to be puking this fall.  What I wish WotC would do is figure out the release cycle.  I don't think there is a lack of demand for the draft multiplayer type set, but it needs to have a longer runway, longer than every other year.  I hope I am wrong with the new Conspiracy set, but lets wait and see.

- Duel Decks / Challenger
We are also seeing the last Duel Deck and I know that WotC said not it is not a replacement product for Duel Decks, but it is.  I can see them releasing these Challenger decks twice a year, and it will be replace the release dates as Duel Decks.  There is going to be more decks than Duel Decks, but that is just what WotC wants to do.  They are basically X4 their sales with putting out more decks. 

Honestly I do not see this product staying around.  They stopped releasing the pre-constructed decks per each Standard set a while back because they would print highly valued Standard cards and only specific sets would sell out.  I can see that these are Standard pre-con decks, and not Expansion pre-con decks, but I just don't see that making a difference.

If, and I say if with a large helping of caution, they release just a single release of these decks each year, and copy the Commander release cycle with the same type of value in the decks, I could see these as working.  This way WotC can also add Standard reprints a year, bring the cost of Standard down, but also keep the value of the newer sets at release time.  You could almost see a smaller Standard print cycle, less product being put into the environment, but also selling more product with these decks.  That way they could lower the cost of Standard, but also selling more product without deflating the Standard economy.

- Commander
Commander is set, and they will not mess with this product.  I could only see them trying to add some special promo type card, but I don't see them messing with the release dates or quantity.  With the releases of Commander Anthology, people are able to get the older cards they could not get before.  What I do hope WotC figures out, they can do limited print cycles of sets and then do more reprint sets of the same product later, with the Anthology product.  That way, the buyers of the first product will get their value they are trying to get, but newer players can get the reprints when these Anthology sets are released.

- Gift Boxes
I think WotC is going to do something different with the failure of 2017 Gift Boxes.  I really think they are going to go back to the older Gift Boxes, but they are going to be adding different items in the boxes.  Packs will be included, along with the return of those separators with the stickers, but I can really see them adding more promo packs.  I really think the demand for those inventory boxes will show WotC what a good thing they did have, and stop trying to copy Pokeman and keep going with Magic the Gathering product.

- New Products
I really think that there will be non-Standard playable games, like the Explorers of Ixalan product, will get released with each Standard block.  Almost like each Plane will get a product like this, to build on the other releases, creating and expanding the uses of MTG cards.  I could also see the addition of these cards within D&D somehow.  Like being able to create yourself as a Planeswalker, and using MTG cards to build your character.  Who wouldn't love to attach an equipment onto yourself as you dungeon crawl through an adventure.

- From the Vault
Oh yeah, calling it now.  From the Vault: Commander

Speculation Ixalan

Card Count: 110

The Greatest Magic the Gathering Collecting Blog in the world!!!

Today, lets talk about speculation.  The speculation of the Ixalan set in general.

 Bam!  Thank you Alpha Investments!

So I picked these up, and might actually pick up a couple more cases for as long as I can.  Why Ixalan?  Well as you read in my preorder blog, and my box opening blog, I see a long runway with this set as a whole.  The value cards are in the rare spot, and there is a lot more value cards in the set than what is being sold.

Commons
- Opt
- Spell Pierce
- Duress
- Rile

These 4 commons just look too juicy to not think this set will have a good following moving forward.  Three are reprints, but one of them is brand new.

Abilities
- Explore
Explore is liked as much as Cycle, and I think just makes the set better in the long run.  It translates into Modern play with the ability use these cards as utilities for those decks.

- Raid
Raid is just sexy.  Again, this is something to add to any stompy deck in Legacy or Modern.

Merfolk
- Because now you can have green creatures within the whole theme.

Cards
So let's go over some of the cards that I just see as some really big power houses in the set, and why I think it is smart to speculate on this set.

I could go through all these, and why I think they are great for speculation, but everyone is on that train.  Honestly, these are the low hanging fruit of speculation of the set, so let's just post these and move on to the good stuff.

Same cost Ley Druid with a better power/toughness, and better yet it is Modern playable.  Win / Win!

Come on!  Trample with draw a card.  Granted, this is only going to be good for larger creature decks, but being able to replace the card for a single 1 Red, in a color known for it's haste creatures?  I think this is a great common!

All I want to say is 5/5 for 5.  That alone is a win, but this card also has Trample and Haste!  With more and more cards getting put out there referring to low casting cost, this one is just pretty.

 So for 1 and a Blue I can attack and then draw two cards?  That is just value!

 So I am putting this in there because there are other Dinosaurs within MTG outside of Ixalan, and this card could technically be a 3/3 mana dork for 1G.  Strong uncommon!

 What the heck is that?!  I can see this being a powerhouse in Modern and Legacy for a single color decks to just destroy non-basic lands.  You get to replace your land with a basic, while the other player is just going to lose out.

 Each non-Pirate.  Each!

2/2 for G.  Great Simic card.  I do have to say, I am a Simic leaning player, so these might have some bias involved when I picked them.

I am just putting this out there because it gives you the ability to cast some cards cheaper, and it is not a Legend card.  This is just like any Lord card that gives a creature type +1/+1. 

Tribal all day long!

 This card has a high cost, but still it has a great ability and it has any source.  That is direct damage or creatures.  Just like it.

 Tribal!

This is just going to be a great sideboard card and will keep bringing the folks to the set to pick this up.  This will be a reprint card, but it does give you 3 years before they reprint it in a Masters set.

 This one might have a high cost, but I am just all about bringing cards back from your graveyard into play for free.  Did someone say Sun Titan?  Yeah, it is just a good White ability.

 Graveyard hate to Explore!  Two target cards, not creature or Land.  Card.  Value!

So I could see this in a merfolk deck with a ton of non-creature spells.  This could just get huge fast, and it does not need to be in a merfolk deck.  You could put this in any stompy deck to just stomp.

 Merfolk, and that is it.

I know a lot of people would hate on this card because giving your opponent a free land drop on your turn is just too much of a bad thing for you, but it is a basic land.  That means in Vintage, Legacy, and Modern you have a very good change to get a 3/3 for a G and have no downside.

 Players can't gain life.  That is basically it.  Well and if someone plays a creature they take damage.

If they block, you draw.  No chump blocking...  And if they do you get advantage!

 So, this might be a stretch, but if there would be a Vampire deck, I can see this one getting a bit wanted.

 Wrath of Exile, Path to God.  Instant board wipe of 2WW.

 Don't care!  Fan Tas Tic!  Spell or Ability...

 Yeah, this is a bit of a stretch, and it is just a sideboard card, but I see this pulling some gains.

 Direct damage for black, and you get to draw 3 cards for 3 mana.

This is just like a Thalia card.  I can just see this in a Legacy / Modern Human Soldier deck.

I know, this is just a chase card, but I do think it has possibilities to make a deck or at least be a good EDH card.  There has been a lot of life total cards that have been coming out, and I think this is just another one for the brewing.

So the main thing to take away from this blog is that the Uncommon and Rares have all the power in this set.  The mythic cards tend to cost way too much, but have really crazy abilities.  That means the value you can get from a single box is spread out so well that someone opening a box will get back enough to make it worth it for them.  That means the worth of the set is spread out, and the entire set will go up because of it.