Rotation is now done

Total Trade Count: 204,260
Total Foil Count: 3,753

Total Need Count: 2,030

Today is just an update, and I am bored. 

Rotation occurred and I just finished sorting all the sets that have rotated out into my Modern and Legacy collections.  Not sure how many rotations I will be around for after this one.

The only thing keeping me in MTG is the fact that I do not have anything else to do.  I have been considering liquidating the collection and transferring it into equities and debt, but we will have to wait and see.  For now, I am still an EDH player and the collection will stay at least until my son gets old enough to not want to play the game.  Or if I really get a bug in my butt, and I just start to sell everything.  I just don't know yet.

I can tell you this much, I am just trying to finish out the sets that I have left, and I will pick up sealed booster boxes to keep up, but no more speculation or buying singles that I do not plan to use in an EDH deck.  Throne of Eldraine will be my last set that I complete a playset of, at least until I change my mind.

Throne of Eldraine

Here is my pre-order, and yes it is only three boxes.  Since the Mythic Edition boxes have gone away I needed 1 for the collection, 1 to trade later, and 1 to open.  I have yet to open anything, so we will see what happens.

Of course I got my 2 Bundles as well.  I will more than likely keep up with the Bundle and Booster box for the collection, but I will no longer be opening any of it.  I will just pick up the singles if I keep up with that part of collecting.

Here are those Collector Boosters and the Buy-a-Box promos you get for pre-ordering, and I will not be opening those at all.  I consider them a huge waste of money.  The only reason I have these is because they came with my pre-order.

Ok so these are pretty cool, but I think I am saying that because I like EDH so much.  I do hope they keep up with these type of releases.

And finally these sacks of shit...  See, just too much stuff to buy of the exact same thing...  What is the point?

SDCC 2019

So I did pick this up after market off of eBay.  I missed the Hasbro site release because of a work meeting, so there it is.  A full $50 more than list price, but hey I missed it.  Lucky I was able to buy this with credit on a no interest for 6 months deal.  $25 a month, worth it.

Vintage

Not going to lie, this is the only thing I am really happy about.  I am down to needing 13 more cards to finish my Unlimited set.  Most of these cards came in through CardSphere, but that Disk I was able to pick up at my FLGS - Lodestone.  Picking up the older cards is really the only thing I truly enjoy now, and to actually have a full set of Unlimited and Beta is still a dream I am hoping to complete.

Modern Horizon

This is a set that I think is cool, and it was a big success.  I am still picking up cards I need here and there.  Mostly acquiring cards off of CardSphere, but it is slow as it goes with them.

Ok so I was picking up as many Mox Tantalites as I could, only because anything with Mox in the front of the name goes up in price at some point.  Case in point, Mox Amber.  No one thought that card was going to do anything, and now look at it.  $25+ right now because someone figured out a way to put it in a deck and do something with it.  Might as well pick up these at $4 while you can.

Outside of The First Sliver, everything up here is just what I needed to finish out my playsets.  Prices have been slowly dropping, so I have been able to pick some of these up.  I still need to snag the land cycle, but that will be coming around XMas time.  People really start dumping their collections right about this time, so I can assume the supply of cards will increase from now until the end of the year.

If you wanted a tip thought, that Sliver is a good spec.  All the WUBRG Sliver Legendary creatures end up $80 at some point.

Conclusion

I might still try and pick up some cards that I think are going to do well in the long run, but right now I am just going to avoid new products for a while.  I will pick up things to keep sealed, just because it is never easy getting all the sealed product you are looking for after they go out of rotation.  It is much cheaper to pick them up at pre-order, and then pick up the singles after rotation.

Well that is until the player base goes way down, and boxes do not get opened up as much, then just pick up a little extra sealed product to trade into LGS credit to pick up on trades.

I am not saying that I am leaving MTG, but I am taking a break for a while.

Almost turning into a Monthly Blog

Total Trade Count: 204,462
Total Foil Count: 3,762
Total Need: 2,043

I have been more reflective with my collecting lately then having thoughts of trying to actually collecting things.  I keep trying to figure out where this is all going, and what I think is important.  I have gone through a couple of stints where I thought of selling the collection, and each time hit road blocks that deterred me to actually make any moves.

I have also put some thought into making a real effort to make money on this hobby of mine, and not just doing it from a collecting point of view.  Not a lot on the speculation side, but more on picking up collections and piecing it out on CardSphere.  I was able to pick up a collection that I am tracking, and I have already made $16.51 on it, and that is after the recoup of $40 I spent on the collection.  And let me tell you, there were a lot of MP to HP cards in that collection that people still wanted.

But right now I am just picking up items to finish the collection, with the majority of things I am looking for are the newer releases.  I am still just opening the single Booster Box and Bundle for the collection, and picking up singles for everything else.  One change that I have started is attempting to pick up more singles on CardSphere than going to my LGS to pick them up. 

For example, I am having a really hard time finding the Modern Horizons cards I am looking for.  Like a really hard time.  I am not even kidding.  This just leads me to think that there is not a lot of Modern Horizon cards out there, but also the demand for those cards is very high.

Modern Horizons

These are not the same card, but some new cards that came in.  Since I started posting some of the MH1 needs on CS to see what I could get in, but these the only couple of MH1 cards that came in.  I was surprised that they actually came in too.  But really the only thing that it showed me is that no one is sending these cards at the prices I was setting them to. 

I was also able to pick these up at Lodestone but here is where it really does show my that the player base is just gobbling up these cards.  For as large of a store it is, with such a large player base, and they are not pulling in more of these sought after cards, it really peaks my interest to know that there is a huge demand for the MH1 cards.  I was just expecting to snag more of them at the FLGS.

I also cleared them out of these cards, but I really did not think I was going to find any of the Swords up there.  I thought with the unbanning of Stoneforge Mystic these would have been in short supply.  And I am still picking up as many of those Moxen that I can find.  I just think this one and the Amber will only go up in price.

Ok, so this was a Speculation, and I am planning to pick up more of these when I can.  I mean come on, Cascade?  These might not be Sliver Queen status, but I can see them around the $50 mark at some point.  I will be speculating on this card for a bit.

I figured that since I was up there I should try and pick up more of the rares I am looking for.  I wanted to start with the land cycle, but they did not have any at the store, so I decided to pick up the Force cards.

I just figured these will be sought after once the printing stops.  The discard to cast spells from Alliances are still holding their value.

Now, since I was not finding a lot of the MH1 cards on CS or Lodestone I figured I would hit up a smaller LGS near my house.  It is a slower store with a much more local younger crowd, so there is a much better chance to pick up the higher priced cards.  Some of the prices on those cards are usually thought of as too expensive, so I can usually find some good cards up there.  I was able to pick up another land and a couple of these Mythics.

There were also a really good price on these Force of Vigor, and this is a bit of a speculation for me.  I think that there will be a bump in Commander and Modern play with this card.

I also found this Foil version, and I know I normally do not pick up foils, but again I think this card could spike in Commander and Modern.

So this is a good thing I pay attention to MTG Finance, this was up there for $2 and I had noticed that this card is spiking to closer to $7.  Since this LGS does not update their prices a lot, they tend to miss these updates.  Now, you can think I am a jerk for taking advantage of them for their pricing, but they are in business to sell me items.  If I am more knowledgable I will take full advantage of an LGS.  Also, who does not enjoy paying less for something they need?

So with everything that is going on, I just decided to pick up the MH1 cards I need ahead of this winter.  I am just trying to catch the wave of lower prices, but I really think that the lack of supply and high demand, the prices will only go higher in 2020.  I am kind of hoping the re-release the product for XMas like they did with Eternal Masters.

It just goes to show you that there is no LGS that is small enough to pass over, and a lot of gems can be found there.

Standard Rotation

Rotation time is coming, and I am finally getting some of those trades on CS sent to me.  The prices have fallen so much that the prices I set are now becoming more appealing.

Finally got those M19 cards I have been waiting for.  I do still need some of those Planeswalker cards and I am still standing by M19 for being the last set I collection those stupid Planeswalker cards, but I might pick up the new set cards after next year rotation.

Here is the last of my Rivals of Ixalan needs, and now I have the full playset.

I actually ran up to Lodestone for these, but it is the last of the Ixalan cards I need.

So, Dominaria is a set that I still need 67 cards, and I have no idea why I am taking so long to pick these up.  But I am having some fun picking up the really sought after cards for pennies on the dollar now.  It is just amazing on the price slashes happen at rotation, even for a set that is so good.  I do plan on picking up more of this set just to speculate on.  Like I said before, I am going to be picking up these Moxen as speculation for quite some time.

Speculation

This picture looks really dark, but it is only a speculation.  Since the Commander ban, this card saw a really steep drop.  I am only picking this up for the time when it gets unbanned and the price shoots up.  I think there is a 50% chance it will get unbanned at some point.  There is a chance that this might show up in Modern, but I doubt it.

CardSphere Pickups

It has been a pretty exciting time for my CardSphere grabs.  Since I had such a nice balance, I decided to up my prices on the Unlimited cards I was looking for.

Here are a couple that have come in since my increase.  Now I am only looking at picking up 18 more cards to fill out my set, so every single pick up is a win.

Someone actually wanted to send me a Beta card!  Now I just need 19 more cards for my full set.  I have yet to adjust my Beta prices, but I am hoping that next year I can start picking up those.

I was also sent this beauty for my Player Promo sets.  I am still waiting on that Wasteland, but I think I will end up picking that up at a Magic Fest.  And those tokens are not going to be easy to get at all.

Big Spend

And then there is this card.  I was up at my FLGS and the worker up there said the most destructive thing they could say to me, "Are you looking to pick up any Alpha cards?"  He handed me a stack, and I started flipping through them.

No
No
No...
No
OOoooooffffff!  Alpha Hyppie...

There was really only one thing that was wrong with it.  The edges were slightly worn, but there was a slight line on the front.  Almost like someone started to write on a piece of paper that was sitting on top of it at one point.  I was able to pick this up for $100 less than TCGPlayer Mid because of it.

So I added another Alpha card to the set that I will never finish, but I have it!

Commander 2019

I did the same thing I do every year, one sealed for the collection and another set to open for playing.  There is nothing really to say about this set, and there were not any new cards that I could say I was super excited to see.

Final Thoughts

This rotation is the last rotation that I am going through where I picked up most of the cards through box openings, and now I am attempting to not pick up any extra inventory while finishing my playsets.  I am also trying to not pick up anything from the newer sets until rotation, so my want list stays pretty big.

I am also gauging the possibility of trying to make some extra cash with picking up collections and then liquidating them on CS.  I am still on the fence just because of time constraints, but it does seem like something I might want to try in order to get ready for retirement.  MTG Finance might become more of a deal the closer I get to retirement.

This rotation seems to be pretty set, and I really only need to pick up Dominaria cards, but I need to prepare for next year because I will be looking to finish 4 sets next fall.  But as you can see, I have already saved a bunch of money by not trying to pick things up right away.

RNA: $989.23 to $612.78
WAR: $1397.76 to $771.73
M20: $906.13 to $834.46

Modern Horizons will not only hold its value, but it will see some increases.  Unless there is a restock of Booster Boxes this set will stay high and only get higher because of the supply being so low.  The sealed product price is high enough that there is not a lot of mass box openings, and the supply of the cards is so low compared to the demand, the prices have no where else to go but up.  The only thing that will disrupt this is another release of sealed product in the Winter.

I am not sure if this is the ongoing release of this blog, but for now let's stick with the longer term releases,  I can only assume that you will get a new blog next week...

Summer Slowdown but Below 205k!

Total Trade Count: 204,836
Total Foil Count: 3,764

Below 205k!!!!!!

So I have been gone for a bit longer than normal, and I wish I could say I was super busy, but in reality I was just not into writing about my collecting.  I can honestly say I have wallet fatigue.  It is not so much as to spending money, but more to the fact that there is so much to buy.  I just put in my Commander 2019 pre-Order to get hit with having to get Throne of Eldraine pre-Order in.  I also need to wait to see if there is another Anthology product this year, let alone wait to see what the end of the year product is going to be.

I would have to say that from a cost perspective, the older sealed booster boxes are really hitting me hard with the leverage that I put out there.  Now, it is all interest free purchases to have the boxes now, but it is still debt on my budget that I need to account for.  So instead of putting more money into my spending accounts, that cash is being used to pay off my debt.  Now that is not a bad thing, because the only reason I am doing this is to catch the lower prices on the older sealed booster boxes, but it is hindering my ability to purchase what I want rather than having what I need.

I was not able to make it to Magic Fest Minneapolis, my cousin got married and we attended that, which was nice because I did not over leverage myself by going to the MF and over spend.  So let's just get into it then shall we?

Mythic Edition

I was pretty lucky on this one.  A fellow CardSphere trader was moving back home and he was going on a road trip.  He asked about me in the Discord channel, and we were able to work out a deal for both of his Mythic Edition: War of the Spark boxes.  I overpaid a bit, and I think I could have got these boxes off of eBay for $100 cheaper, but considering I was getting them from a fellow CS trader I was willing to get the deal done.

Of course I opened one of the boxes and I will be keeping the other one sealed for the collection.

Korean 4th Edition

This right here is exciting.  A CS trader from Germany reached out to me with questions on my Want for these two cards.  I was willing to pay 1000% higher than list price on these two cards, and that was not even enough to acquire them.  After we clarified what set these two cards were from, he was willing to pick up these cards from MKM and then sell them to me at that price.  CS does not go higher than 1000%, and I can only assume that is to control some of the goings on within CS, but we are able to open disputes to make sure traders get what is the true value in some cases with admin help.

But with the addition of these two cards, I now posses a full set of Korean 4th Edition FBB cards.  I can honestly tell you I thought I was never going to get this set complete, but now I have this full set and also a full set of Visions Korean.  Having had these cards since the 90's, I am very happy to have finished this part of the collection.  My dad would be very happy about this one.

Fat Packs

This came with the FBB Korean cards and I learned something new.  You need to have elevated subscription with CS in order to send sealed product.  And not only that, but you can gift those rights to seller in order for them to sell you sealed product you are looking for.  I was more than happy to gift a subscription to this trader not only for the Fat Pack, but just because he was selling me the FBB Korean cards!  This now finishes off my Fat Pack needs for the Worldwake block.

CardSphere Trades

My thought process is working, and I might expand this way of trading.  So I have been putting cards up on CS with really low prices.  Most cards are Standard cards that rotate out, but there is no way I want to pay for these cards at Standard prices.  That is the reasoning behind setting the lower prices so that when the price does come down, traders can just send me the cards I am looking for at the lower prices.  It is working really well.  I am just setting the price I am willing to pay for these cards with the though that it is rotation time, and just sit and wait for people to send me the cards.  Now that rotation time is coming, I am getting some of these prices right.

I am not going to say I am smart, but I was just lucky with this one.  I got them for around $60 and right after I got sent these cards, it spiked up to above $80.  I think that later on this year, during the winter, the prices will drop and I can finish my playset for $60 each.  That is my guess, but if anything I will just end up going to my LGS and snagging them at list prices.

YouTuber Exotic MTG

So I was on the discord and a CS member named ExoticMTG was looking for one more card for a deck he was going to use as a prize on his YouTube channel.  Or maybe it was a give away?  I am not sure, but all he wanted was a Mana Crypt and I did have a couple extra that I could trade, so I opened up a DM conversation with him.  After some talking we figured out what I needed and what he could provide, and this is what we ended up with.

This was the primary thing I wanted out of the trade, just cause I can't seem to find many of Box Toppers for sale anywhere.  I am just trying to finish up my set and be done with these types of chase cards.  I don't play with foils, and normally just trade them all away, so yeah just kind of want this to be done.

He did have these Art cards from Modern Horizons, and I just need a few more to complete my second set.

Of course I was able to pick up some Standard cards that are rotating out this fall.  I was not against this just because I am looking to picking these up right now.  And now that I am looking at this, the Jadelight Ranger is actually from a different CS trade, but I put it in with these pictures.

Yeah I still need Uncommon MH1 cards, and I would much rather get these in trades than have to buy them.

Here are some spicy MH1 cards that came with the trade.  These are lesser rares that I needed, so it is always really great to get these cards so that I don't need to buy them.

And here are some of the big hitters that came with the trade.  It is always nice to pick up some Mythic Rares.  I honestly do not think I am going to be finishing this playset anytime soon.  I just really do not want to know what the winter release is going to be, because I just don't have the cash to pick up anything else this year.

Well this is a late update, and a big one.  There is still a bunch going on.  I should be picking up my Commander 2019 decks next week but after that it should be quiet until Throne comes out.  So I am not sure when I am going to update the blog again, but it might take some time.  Just need to refresh my priorities.

Come Trade with me!
https://www.cardsphere.com/ref/711/e4031f