Black Friday Shopping!

Today on the Greatest Magic the Gathering blog in the multiverse!  Let's see what I picked up on the worst day to go out in public if you hate people!

Last year was the first year I had ever gone Black Friday shopping and I picked up some awesome items at some really good prices.  So this year, why the hell not!  I am lucky in the fact that I only really need to go to a couple places when I do go shopping on this horrible day.

Let's see what happened.

Of course I had to stop up at the shop to see what deals they have.  Normally this store sells cards at higher prices than most places, and they say they are matching what Star City Games charges, but what I have found that this store is setting prices to stay in business.  Most other LGS's are setting prices lower to get the customers, but The Source's business cycle just makes sense.

This is a store that does a lot more than Magic the Gathering, and I would say that MTG player base consists of about 10% of their customer base.  This store has been around for a very long time, and they try and do a lot of good for the community, but Magic the Gathering is not their bread and butter, so it is really nice to go in there to see what is going on.

Black Friday, if you bring in can goods they will give you 10% off of anything, and then they have a customer rewards card that you can buy to get another 10% off.  So really, you can get 20% off everything in the store.  This discount even gets added on top of the other discounts they have.  So for instance they could have a 50% off table, and if you buy something off that table with your other 20%, that does truly add up to 70% off.  So yeah, deals galore.  This is the place I picked up 4 Eldritch Moon booster boxes around $69 each.

This year, this is what I picked up.

I normally troll their singles for this old ABU stuff.  Since they have such a large player base, they normally get all the older collections that are getting sold in MN, so every once and a while you will find some cool older cards.  And these cards I need for my collection!

Yup, Iconic Masters.  I did my openings, and now I am trying to get everything I need to fill out the set outside of opening packs.  I finally decided to go with a playset of rare lands, and a couple of set cards.

And here are all the other lands I need.  I just need one more Graven Cairns to get all the lands I need.

And this little beauty.

And this.  Why the hell did I pickup another box of Ixalan?  Because of these:

Ok so these fucking things.  WoTC decided that this year is a good year to put out these little packs to move some sealed product.  If you recall, last year they did the same thing, where they gave you a pack of cards with 3 cards in it.  The pack had a chance to give you a Masterpiece card, but you also got 2 more foils.

So this year, if you buy a sealed booster box of any standard set you get one of these packs.  We will go over what is in the pack later on in the post, but these are the reason I am buying more sealed boxes.  I did end up buying the booster box for $120 with a 20% discount, so the cost basis is around $96 for this box of Ixalan.  So outside of a pre-Order buy of $90, I ended up paying $6 for this pack.

I also picked up a ton of deck boxes and sleeves, but it was a small day at the Source this year.

Next stop!  Here is my LGS, and I am really happy I made the switch to this shop.  They just get it, and they get me.  They have a great player base, they have a great shop, and they understand what players want.  Now I might be a bit bias because I buy a lot from this store, and they might treat me differently because of that, but I really like going to this store.

Let's take a look at what I picked up!

Ok, so this was a pre-Order and I was able to pick it up today.

Oh sexy sexy time!  So little tangent, when I was at the Source I asked them if they had any of these From the Vault box sets for sale, and they said that they only got 15 in, and were going to use them for prize support rather than sell them.  They do have a large player base, and this would be the only want to get them to the players fairly.  I understand it, and they do only sell this type of product at MSRP, so I can totally support that decision.

From Lodestone!  At MSRP!  Two of them!  Yeah, really happy to pick these up.

So let's just start out with the Ixalan flip cards.  This one finishes out the 2 playsets I was looking for.

Two playsets!

Dos Playsets!

Two!  Too!  To!

And boom! 

And if you are wondering, yes waiting longer to pickup Standard Cards is the best way to go, and prices are very low right now.

Kaladesh on the other hand...

Hear me out before you trash me on why I would pick up more of this set.  So yeah, the main reason for getting these was because I wanted more of those Buy-a-Box packs, but all this last month I have been thinking a lot about Energy and that new resource.  Like New Phyrexia I think that Energy from this block is going to be a really good long term bet.  Right now it is running wild for Standard, and they did have to ban Aetherworks Marvel because of how powerful it was, and I really think that Energy is going to go pretty far in the other eternal formats.

So it is a very long term bet, and considering how much they printed of these boxes it might be a very long wait, but I really think this is a good set to see some return out of.  They have some pretty good Masterpieces, a great new resource in Energy, a land cycle that is wanted, a new type of Snapcaster, a 4 ability Planeswalker, some pretty good Mythic Rare artifacts you could base decks out of, Expertise cards, and some artifacts that are used in Vintage.

Yeah, let's see if I am right about this.

I also got my first Flusterstorm.  So this is a weird one.  The Commander version was close to $90 a piece before they did this reprint, then it has dropped down to around $50 but it has been slowly been creeping back up.  I think that this original printing will hold it's value.

And...

So yeah, here is my playset.  Let's see, you can play this in Vintage and EDH.  Why the hell would I need to have a playset of this?  I just figured I would pick these up, just in case.

And then there was this stuff.

I opened up those Buy-a-Box packs and got some more of those Rebecca Guay lands that are in the Buy-a-Box promo packs from when I bought my Ixalan pre-Order.

Here are all the foils I picked up from the packs, and the only one to be happy about was the Foil Glorybringer.  I only expect that to drop in price after rotation.

And the whole reason why I went into debt by picking up sealed product I did not need.  I got all of the flip lands except for the Legion's Landing and Search for Azcanta, and I still need that Treasure Map.  I am hoping that I will have an update to those needs later this week...  /wink

CardSphere Update

Total Card Count: 88

So this is my new card count, 80 cards being Standard, 1 being Modern, and 7 being Iconic Masters.  I just wanted to put out an update to the count based on a couple cards I got from CardSphere.

A couple of Ixalan Planeswalker deck cards, but I am now caught up with all the Planeswalker deck needs.

Another thing to add, they finally added a membership fee, which gets taken out of your balance.  You can pretty much get 30 days for $6 or 360 days for $60, I of course just picked up the $60 one.  Main thing I want is the ability to sell sealed product, but I am just really hoping to pick up my sealed needs.  I can't wait for them to add all the sealed product.

Iconic Masters

So this happened...

I ended up picking up 2 cases again because for some reason I just cant go with less than 2 cases...  I do have to say I should have just went with 6 boxes, but ABU games had a pre-order for $189.99 per box and I could not pass that up.  I ended up picking up a case from ABU and my LGS, who sold them to me for $205.00 a box.  I am really just going to go with 6 boxes next time.

So my cost basis for the set is $761.99 and $879.66.  I have only opened up the boxes I got from the LGS and from that I am only missing 7 cards.  With that, I did not get a lot for trade bait, but considering the position I am now, I don't need a lot for trade.  With the way CardSphere is going, I am able to monazite a lot of my bulk into cash waiting to move into sealed product.

Total after opening: $1434.01
Mythic Rares: $442.81
Rares: $584.39
Uncommon: $159.51
Common: $225.24
Token: $22.06

Complete Set
Mythic Rare: $172.96
Rare: $246.89
Uncommon: $57.50
Common: $19.64
Token: $6.44

Trade
Mythic Rare: $0.00
Rare: $217.29
Uncommon: $68.26
Common: $161.29
Token: $15.62

So from what you can see, the complete set pieces I got is around $503.43, so in reality we got almost a complete set and $930.58 in trade.  Now I know you are adding up the amounts and saying my math is totally wrong.  Well here is why sometimes it is worth opening up packs.

Pulled out this Foil Mishra's Bauble!  Not sure how long this card will keep it's value considering that it is a single card in a single top tier deck.  With all the product that is getting opened, I don't see it holding much value.  The price is around $15 right now at the release weekend.

This is a pretty decent rare that I pulled with foil.  It is sitting around $15 as well.

OOOoooooOOooooohhh!  Sexy time!  This was pulled from one of my first boxes, and I was really happy to get it.  Considering that I just traded away my Modern Masters copy away, this was a good replacement in the trade binder.  Right now it is sitting around $34.

And this beast!  I pooped a little when I saw it.  I was really just hoping to pull one of these non-foil for the complete set, but in getting this as a bonus is just pure value.  I have it up for trade, but I am not moving it outside of ABU cards.  It is one of those pulls that I just don't care how long it sits in my binder.  Current value: $167.00.

Foil
Mythic Rare: $269.85
Rare: $120.21
Uncommon: $33.75
Common: $44.31

So in total, based on my spreadsheet I am showing $468.12 in foil cards.  These cards are all value.  Now my pricing is a bit off because I don't use API's to get prices, but just use the current price and multiply by 3 to get the foil price.  It normally is pretty close, but it is not accurate at all.

From all this data you can see that the real value in the set is going to be the rare slot.  I really think it is a design standard moving forward, and WoTC is putting most of the value in these sets are going into the rare slot.  We saw it in the previous Modern Masters set as well with the Zendikar fetch lands.

I am going to be getting a second case in the mail at some point, but I am on the fence to opening it.  As of right now, I would only need to spend $83.86 to fill out my set, and there is no guarantee that I will be opening the cards I need.  This also sets up why I will only be getting 6 boxes of the masters sets moving forward.  I just buy too much for no good reason.

Also, this is the first set that is available to be purchased from a big box store.  Target, Walmart, and who know what other stores.  I don't like this at all.  With forcing all the LGS with needing to pick up these boxes, and pushing these packs into big box stores, I can only assume they printed the crap out of this set, and there is more of this set than any Master set.

I will not be picking up anymore of these packs, and I will also be waiting for next year to pick up the cards I still need.  I am pretty sure this set will be out in force for the secondary market.  There is a small chance that this set will be like the previous Un-sets, and there could be a win for long time holders.  The chance that the desire to own or open any of these packs is so low right now, and the fact WoTC is flooding the market with product, there is a pretty good chance that these will end up in the forgotten market.  And in 10+ years, you could see a real value in these boxes.

Again, the flood of product shows me that WoTC is purely pushing product into the market place for a reason, but I don't think it is a money grab.  I honestly think WoTC thought there would be a demand for all these products, and with their lead times in design this is what is happening.  All these sets were in the plans for a long time, and product has been put into print for a while, and now we are sitting at all this stuff being released. 

With every market correction there needs to be a down turn.  This is what is happening, but I do think we are at the tail end of it.  Since they stopped the release of Masterpiece cards, and the pumping of Master sets without any care how they are released, I have a big feeling that 2018 will be a slower year.  I predict that there will be:

3 Expansion sets
1 Core set
1 Master set
2 Duel decks
1 Commander set
1 Anthology set
1 FTV set

Expansion sets will be released because of the new game design, with the second Ixalan set, and 2 new non-block sets.  We will see that Core set coming back because of the huge mistakes of 2016.  I really think that we are going to go down to 1 Master set after Iconic Masters and how much they just don't care about the set.  I also think that Master sets will be less than what we have seen within the last couple years.  Duel decks need to keep getting release, but they could stop, I just see them as really good beginner decks.  I could not see them ever pulling back on Commander, just because the player base is so high with that type of play in the causal market.  I also think that after Commander Anthology they will stop putting out the Anthology sets for a while.

The Conspiracy and Un-sets are no longer going to get released.  I also think that with the failure of Explore Ixalan and Archenemy sets, they will stop those.  It is just too familiar to Beat Down and Battle Royal, two single box releases that were games within themselves.  I just don't see a market for it, and people like cracking packs.

I do have to say, I have been playing Planechase recently, and I really like that format.  I could see them trying to release new games like this, they are good ideas but people just don't want to pick them up.  I think the only reason Archenemy, Planechase, and Commander are worth anything is because they were originally released with cards you can only find in those box sets.  The reason other box sets are failing is because it is just reprints of garbage no one wants.

I could see them getting rid of From the Vault sets, and putting in Masterpiece type cards in the buy-a-box promo packs they seem to be high on.  With the black Friday packs when you buy a box, I can see them putting special cards in those packs in order to sell more boxes.

I can only hope that WoTC is done with the flood, and we can get back to products with a normal release and get away from all these products that does not really bring anything to the game.  I just hope they go back to the old gift boxes, and only put it out in the fall like it should be released.

After the Recount

This week on the Greatest Blog for Magic the Gathering!

Total Count: 1

So things are not going as fast as they were before.  This whole baby thing is really cutting into my time of just sitting at my desk and counting cardboard.  Just to recap, I was able to do a re-count on the collection and find some cards that I was missing.  Those cards were ordered from Card Kingdom and they have arrived.  Let's take a look at what I got in, and the one card I am still missing.

I seriously don't know how these cards were counted wrong in the first place.

Basic Swamp and 2 of a single card.  I really need to go through all my Deckbox trades to see how this one got messed up.

I am 95% sure that I got this card in a previous trade, and I just lost it.  Again, need to get that Deckbox list all done so I can prove it.

I can see mis-counting on the Portal Second Age cards, just cause they were very low on the priority list for the collection in general.

I really think there was something off on these though.  I swore I was pretty accurate on what I needed for these cards.

Seriously, Mogg!?

I can totally see missing this one.  Common card from Time Spiral.  I think Time Spiral was one of the first Modern sets I finished too.

This one was bit of a shocker to tell you the truth.  I thought I was pretty good at keeping track of my rares that I needed.

And I just added these to just be done with them.  I really hope they stop making Planeswalker decks and just let the LGS's come out with beginner deck product with bulk they have in store.

More Planeswalker trash...

So yeah, I only need 1 Ravnica Basic Land Swamp for the collection to be done with.  I might actually never get it, just because.  That is a lie, and I will get it, but seriously?  I need to go through an ass ton of basic lands to find a single card to complete the collection?  Ugh!  I know I am never going to get it in a trade, and stores never post that kind of stuff.  I will keep looking for it, but I am really hoping I can find it at my LGS the next time I go up there.

So yeah, only need to finish out my Standard cards after rotation, and then try and pick up the ABU cards I am missing.  It is about 50 Unlimited cards, and 24 Beta cards for those complete sets.  I need 250 Alpha cards, and I am pretty sure that will not happen anytime soon.

Goodwill Bulk

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So I finally got to sorting/counting the first Goodwill auction I picked up, and let me tell you how much of a mistake that was.  Of course I got bit by that bug of "New way to get MTG cards on the cheap", and of course I paid way too much for it.  I do have to say it was a good experiment and showed me how much of a horrible thing it is to do without a lot of pre-purchase thought being spent on it.

What do I mean about that?  Well when I first saw that I could get in on auctions with the Goodwill for Magic the Gathering cards, I decided to just buy something that I thought would be fun.  I then just put in a bid that was pretty high so I could win.  I did not put much thought into how much it was actually worth, and what the value would be to me.  I just took a wild swing and wanted to get the box of cards no matter what the cost.

Let's go through what I found, and how I am adjusting my thought process on these types of purchases.

The big winners here, and yeah that is not a lot.

Here are some older Rares that are worth a bit, but nothing to scream home about.

And only 2 foils...

Yup, here are the only other rares I got in the bunch...

Some OK uncommons, but again, nothing to scream home about.

And here are some Commons that I am pulling out to put in the trade binder.

SO!

I spend $116.32 on this package, WAY too much for what I got.  But everything can be a learning process, and I am going to be much more of a stickler on what I bid on.  Seriously, I should have paid $20 for this, and just left it at that.  The price for being stupid.

In the end, cards that were above $1 ended up being worth $76.78.  The total for all the cards is $731.12.  So if you were to look at this from the view of someone that knows nothing about MTG collecting, that seems like a really good deal!  I got $731 worth of cards for only $116!  Boom!

But yeah, if you are reading this, then you know about the MTG community, and you know I wasted $90 on cardboard.  Seriously, the only silver lining I could think about on this deal is the 1851 pre Ravnica cards I got out of the deal.  Call me an idiot, but anything released before RTR is going to be worth more than what was released afterwards.  I really think there will be a long game in those cards, and at some point folks will try and complete their sets.

Spent: $116.32
Book Value: $731.12
Trade Worth: $76.78

In the end, I call this better than buying a box of Dragon Maze and opening it, but much worse than opening Standard.

The only thing I can hope for is collectors on CardSphere will be looking for a lot of this bulk, and I will be able to get something back from this mistake.  I really need to find a way to track that.  Might be a spreadsheet update.

Finished with the Recount

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Cards Missing: 12

So after I got done with thinking I was done with the collection, I had to do a recount of all the cards to make sure I am all set with everything.  Sure enough, I was missing 12 cards...

Portal - Thing from the Deep: 1
Portal - Prosperity: 1
Portal Second Age - Dakmor Sorceress: 1
5th Edition - Stampede: 1
9th Edition - Mogg Sentry: 1
Time Spiral - Sidewinder Sliver: 1
Shards of Alara - Clarion Ultimatum: 1
Darksteel - Darksteel Forge: 1
Mirrodin -  Grid Monitor: 2
Mirrodin - Swamp (295): 1
Ravnica - Swamp (295): 1

Lucky me, I was able to find everything but one basic land at Card Kingdom!

www.cardkingdom.com

I am really starting to like this site more than any other site.  It is really easy to order anything, and keep a running wishlist.  They have pretty much anything that I am looking for, and I can get it all from one place.  Beats the hell out of TCGPlayer, who almost always have missing inventory, or miss graded cards.  Let's see how it goes, but excited to almost be done again!

I will have to head up to the LGS again to get that last Ravnica Swamp, but I think I should be able to find it pretty easy.

Speaking of the LGS, I headed up there last Thursday to pay for my Iconic Masters Preorder and saw some nice little pick ups.

Figure I would grab these while I can, just need 1 more for the 2nd playset.

I am officially done with all my Masterpieces!

More than likely this card will get banned in modern, but I just had to get these to finish my Modern Masters 2015 playset.

And this one fills out my 2nd playset from Scars.

The only issue I am having is that I am just picking up stuff here and there, without any real reason to be buying things.  Iconic Masters is one thing, but do I really need all these Mox Opals?  I am in quick need to rein in the spending and focus on what is needed for the collection.

One good thing is that I have over $400 on CardSphere I could cash out for cards, or just keep in there and letting ride.  They did add the ability to buy and trade sealed product, so I was able to add some things I wanted to pick up.  I also added some of my sealed booster boxes on there, maybe I can trade those away for sealed boxes I am looking for.

So I am not excited for the Iconic Masters set that is coming out, and I only have 2 cases coming in.  I was able to pick up one case from ABU Games on the cheap, and I did get the case from Lodestone for less than MSRP.  I think I will just open a case, and then keep the last 4 boxes around for trading.  Again, I am just looking for a single set, but I will more than likely try and get a playset of the Rare lands, and a playset of the Mana Drains.

Well I am hoping to have more updates, and I think I am going to start posting my sends in CardSphere.  Once I have all my cards in from Card Kingdom, I will also need to go over what I am going to change in the spreadsheet.  I do need to do a card grading update on every card in the collection, but that is the long game right now.  I hope to add columns for Deckbox and CardSphere to be able to add to those sites a lot easier.