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...

Collecting

So I am hitting that wall that I was hitting before the Tarkir block.  Amonkhet is coming out on Friday, and they just released the news of Iconic Masters.  Why am I hitting the wall again?  Well last time I hit the wall, I was spending a lot of time taking care of my father, and was at the hospital a lot. I really did not have any time to open packs, sorting the cards, or doing trades.  I still did go through my normal buys of each expansion, and just left the sealed boxes that way.

I always told myself after I came back to buying new cards, that I would never stop buying sealed product again and keep up to date with some booster boxes so I would not have to completely start over getting the sets I missed out on.  So we are still buying all the cards.

I am not sure if it is because of the new position at my job, or it is because the new baby, or if I am just burned out on having to buy so many things each year.  Thinking back, it was manageable and I was not having such pain in what I had to pick up each year.

2011
Mirrodin Besieged
New Phyrexia
Magic 2012
Innistrad
Knights vs Dragons
Ajani vs Nicol Bolas
From the Vault: Realms
Commander
Graveborn

That was it.

2017
Aether Revolt
Amonkhet
Hour of Devastation
Ixalan
Modern Master 2017
Iconic Masters
Commander 2017
Commander Anthology
Archenemy
Mind vs Might
Duel Deck 2017
From the Vault: 2017
SDCC 2017

But along with each set, I am also going to have to pick up Gift Boxes, and Planeswalker Decks.

From the looks of it, it really is not much more than 2011, but it is those Masters sets that are just killing me.  Well that and the Masterpiece sets.  It almost feels like I miss the good old days where I could just get the Core, Expansions and the 5 specialty sets.  There is just too much reprint stuff.

Modern Master 2017
Iconic Masters
Commander 2017
Commander Anthology
Archenemy
Mind vs Might
Duel Deck 2017
From the Vault: 2017
SDCC 2017

All that.  All that is the reprint stuff.  Yeah, we might get a hand full of new cards in Commander or Archenemy.  Maybe a new card in the Duel Deck.  But seriously, all that is reprint.  That is not even the Masterpiece sets in the new Expansion cards.

ALL OF THAT IS REPRINTS!

270 + 259 + 400 + 400 + 300 + 120 + 120 + 15 + 5 + 54 + 54 = 1,997 Reprints just in 2017

New sets: 198 + 303 + 198 + 303 = 1002 and that is if they don't reprint anything.

They are printing twice as many cards, cards that have already been released, than releasing new product.  I am literally using my cash to buy cards that I already own.  CARDS THAT I ALREADY OWN!

So yeah, that collecting wall is right at my nose.  I keep trying to think about what I need to change up, and really my speculation needs to be cut down to almost nothing.  Then I need to just get a small sample size to get some cards in from the new sets with the plan to finish sets after rotation, and finally I just need to be a small buyer again.

I have actually been thinking of just going to a single set and not a playset, then just going out and picking up the cards that I think would be worth picking up.  I have also thought about trading away all my other sets, just to keep 1 card of every set, and not going for play sets anymore.  I have yet to try and monetize the collection and start selling cards, and I still don't know how I feel about that.

That does bring up an interesting decision.  I know I have been debating a spreadsheet re-design, yes again.  This time I want to remove the columns that deal with cards that I still need for the collection, and switch those columns to condition columns.  So now I would track the cards I have in my collection and what condition they are in.  Then I can start to try and update the cards to all NM cards.  I would also remove the Trade Book section and extra section.  Since everything thing not in the collection is up for trade on Deckbox now, I really don't need to keep those separate.

But back to the interesting decision, I could then track the price I have set in Deckbox, then compare that to the prices I am pulling from my price sheet, and see if I need to adjust prices.  I just need to figure out what I want to try and put up for sale and start turning into a selling site, and not so much a trader.

I would think that could adjust issues I am having funding all these new cards I need to buy, but I am still a bit torn as to if I should sell at all.

But yeah, hopefully I will be able to post more of these types of Blogs, and not just the collection Blogs.

First time new trader

Card Count: 948

Not a lot to talk about on this one, and I feel the trades are slowing down even after I uploaded the collection I bought.  There is just not enough in my wishlist that is pulling in the traders.  I do need to become more active with finding traders that I need cards from.

There are three cards that go toward the collection, and 2 Mythic Rares that are going to the trade binder.

I traded away a Thoughtseize for all this, and since he was a first time new trader he had to send first. And by the time he sent first and I got the cards, that Thoughtseize went up by $4!  So yeah, totally lost out on this trade, but the trade has to go through.

I am happy all together.  How could I not be with getting 2 Legacy cards!

Oh Canada! Broke 1000!

Collection Count: 951

Seriously, what the hell is wrong with Canadians?  Why are their cards in such perfect condition? Why are they so perfect in trading, and have no mistakes?

So, I was browsing Deckbox like I do, and I was looking for a trader with enough stuff I needed to make it worth trading.  There is this Canadian trader with a lot I needed, but his rules were a bit stiff. I was thinking to myself, "Self, I am not sure I can get this guy interested in a trade, but let's give it a shot.  He is Canadian, and I am pretty sure I can make him a happy trader."

I send him the new trade notification, and send him a nice little chat.  Then I go through his inventory, document all the stuff I need, and add them to the trade.  He seems interested, and then goes shopping.  As traders go, I must say it was a real pleasure trading with this fella.  Very nice, polite, and on the same page as I am.  I am hoping that we can get some more trades done in the future after this one.

I should explain why I found it so pleasing to trade with him.  First, he wasn't just looking for the high end cards.  You could tell he really just loved the game.  His selection of cards he wanted from me was very "Odds and Ends" type of cards.  He was very excited to shop through my collection, and pick out stuff that he was interested in.  After checking out his tradelist I saw that he had a wonderful collection and I can only assume what he has that was not for trade.  It was just a down to earth trade, no drama or BS.

Let's get to what broke 4 figures!

7th Edition

8th Edition

9th Edition

10th Edition

Eventide

Future Sight

Champions of Kamigawa

Betrayers of Kamigawa

Saviors of Kamigawa

Ravnica

Guildpact

Dissension

Nothing very special, but a lot of bulk I needed.  Again, trade with Canadians!

Mind vs Might

FINALLY!

Yeah, it has been a couple weeks since these have been released, but I finally got one.  My normal LGS did not have them in, and I was looking to get this when they got them in, but then I stopped off at an LGS that is closer to my house and they had them there.

Small sidebar:
So since I have a much larger collection than anyone I know, and playing someone who is starting out with Magic the Gathering, it would be unfair for me to play with my cards and they play with their newly purchased cards.  So the deal is, I just usually match what they buy and we build some sealed decks and play.  On this trip I was actually buying a Fat Pack and some packs to play my family member that used to play a long time ago and he wanted to start playing again.  And it is a growing theme that I won't pull anything of value, meanwhile the other person usually gets all the value.  This time he got a MM3 Lilly, Goblin Guide, and Gamble.

Anywho, on this trip to the LGS closer to my house, I picked this up because my LGS is taking their sweet time in getting this in.  Somehow I have the feeling that they just don't want to pick up this product because no one buys it.  We will wait and see if they keep buying them.

There has been a change in manager at my LGS, and it has me a bit scared.  I am just not sure how much longer they will stay open.  I guess change is just something that is scary, but we will wait and see how it goes.

I have a reason!!!!!

These fucking things!  I swear these fucking things!!!

What in the fucking hell do you do with these things?  What are these fucking things?  These are the replacement boxes in the Fat Packs.  Why do I say replacement?  Well because, before these boxes Fat Packs used to come with wonderful fold up boxes that worked great as spacers in the big 4000 count BCW boxes to store cards.

I open a lot of Fat Packs, and never thought I would ever not have enough of the fold up boxes, but when they stopped including them in the Fat Packs I got very sad.  To add on to that sadness, these fucking things came with Fat Packs to keep the size and shape of the Fat Packs.

I was at a loss with what to do with these things, but I kept them around.  Granted, they have only been around for 2 expansions, so I really don't have a lot of them, but they are still there.

So I was reorganizing my commons because of the collection I just bought, and had to add all that bulk to the bulk I already have.  With this reorganization I left a lot of space so I could keep the Blocked cards together, but leaving enough space in there in case I bought another collection, and BOOM!

So now, instead of having to use multiple small fold up boxes, I just need to use a single one of these fucking new boxes.  So yeah, they are getting some use, and actually save me some materials in storage when I need them.  I still wish I had the small fold up boxes, but hopefully they will come back.

I know, I know that if I open up the Duel Decks I can get those small fold up boxes, but why the hell would I open up my Duel Deck sets?

I am actually looking at buying Dragon Shield sleeves for my decks now because they come in cardboard boxes I can use for spacers.

New Kid, New role at work, no time for MTG

Card Count: 1069

In previous post I mentioned that I had a new child on the way, but to add on to the complexities of my life I decided to take on a manager role at work, so my free time has gone down a lot.  The funny thing is I have found more time to go to my LGS and play some.  I have been playing with my cousin's husband and people I am meeting through work.  I just don't have time to do anything with the collection, so hopefully I can correct that and get caught up before Amonkhet.

With my cousin's husband (we will call him Saac from now on), he just started to learn how to play, so we picked up the same amount of packs from the same expansions so we are playing with the same pool of cards.  Then we are building decks and playing against each other.  We will keep those cards and continue to play with those same pools of cards until he learns how to play more.  Once he gets comfortable I think I will just build decks to play against each other until he wants to buy his own cards.  Really I am just hoping to get him up to EDH level of playing so we always have something to play at family functions.

So, while I was up at the store playing with Saac I put in my Amonkhet pre-order at my LGS.  This time we are sticking with the Kid plan and just picking up 6 booster boxes, and 4 bundles.  I know the plan was for 3 bundles, but decided to just pick up a case to make things easy by just getting a case of each.  The spoilers are making me itch to increase my order, but I really need to stick with this, and I figure that the post release prices should be ok to pay if things get crazy.

But I now have all the cards updated within Deckbox and within my spreadsheets.  What that means is I have the bought collection inventoried into my Master spreadsheet, and I have uploaded all the cards in the collection in my Tradelist on Deckbox.org.  So let the trading begin.

Funny thing is I already have trades coming in for the cards that I uploaded.

Another thing to point out while I sorted the new collection into my collection of rares and bulk, I have put all the valued tradable cards in black sleeves so I know when I trade away a bought collection card rather than my personal collection card.  I don't know if that is really going to make a difference, but I think it was a good idea just to know.

Through that process I uncovered some common / uncommons that I was missing, so the collection count has gone down.  I was pleasantly surprised because I thought I was finished adding to my collection count with my first run through.  Let's look and see what we picked up!

Sixth Edition

Seventh Edition

Eighth Edition

Commander 2009

Champions of Kamigawa

Betrayers of Kamigawa

Saviors of Kamigawa

So nothing really huge, but some good pickups that I don't need to worry about anymore.  Every little bit counts, and I am really really close to 3 digits!  I do have a trade in the works with another Canadian trader, and we all know what I think of those lovely Canadian traders!

More to come!

P.S.  It is a Boy!