Two new addtions

Finally... FINALLY. I pulled the trigger.

Actually let me back up a hot minute.


I realized back in May I could order from CardMarket in Europe. Why? How? They limit shipping addresses to EU only. However, I know some folks over there, and one in particular was VERY helpful in getting this deal done. (I owe them a beer) At the time, I found a NM copy of Italian Eureka for 105 €. This translates, after taxes and shipping to about $150. The cheapest copy I could find on TCG, Italian mind you, was $200. That was a heavy play copy, and a NM at the time was at least $250.
Yes, I ordered it on a wing and a bit of a prayer. It finally showed up after shipping from Italy to my friend to France, then from France to my house. After examining the green dot on the back, it was a legit card. The surface was completely clean and perfect. The face only had a print dot at the top, and back was off-center, however... I don't care.
[I did check it if it might be a fake, and it passed the green dot test]

Better condition than expected

Now for my second larger addition. After shipping a chunk of cards I would likely never play, but had aspirations for (eg. Ulamog, Ceaseless Hunger) off to CardKingdom, I wound up getting $391 in credit.  Importantly for me pulling the trigger was my Bonus Round investment. When I sent 27 of them in, they were $2.34 per card. As of writing this blog entry, they are $0.98 from CK. I made off pretty good on that one. (less than half for those bad at math) Also for reference, I paid about $0.67 per card. Basically tripling my investment. Could I have done better in a year or two? Maybe/likely. However, I'd rather have what I got for them... or part of.
All week I had been refreshing CK's page for a Revised Volcanic Island. And all week they have been devoid of them. Last night a "Good" condition one popped up, and after a short mental debate, (and seeing the taxes on this purchase) I snapped up that one at $50 cheaper than VG and 3 Goblin Guides. As long as its sleeve playable- I am down. I don't want bling in this case, just give me a damn card to play.


Why these two cards? For combo decks obliviously. The volcanic is ultimately for Sneak & Show (and maybe Delver if the mood ever takes me). The Eureka is for OmniTell. And I admittedly got it at this rate in case I want to trade it for another possible dual land in the future. I picked up at least $75 in value off this transaction.


Just a couple notes- I did some comparison shopping/selling between three big sites- Card Kingdom, ChannelFireball, and ABUGames. In my experience, CK was the easiest of the three to navigate, add cards, and clearly spelled out how many they were willing to take. In almost all cases, they gave me my best return rate for BuyLists.  I don't have any affiliation with any of these sites, in the past or most likely future. I also liked CK's "restock alert" system for when they got stuff back in. Very helpful.

Mystery Booster

This past week I discovered that my local draft shop, Gamer-Corps, had a box of Mystery Booster (retail) for $150. On top of that, they also had two promos to go with it-Reliquary Tower and Mechagodzilla, Battle Fortress (Hangarback Walker). Together they represent about $30 in value. Ok, sure, sounds good.

As I wasn't drafting, buying singles, doing my normal spending out in stores, I decided to buy that box, help the store out as well. Why not... cheapest on TCG was about $175? And if landed a Mana Crypt, everything would be gravy. Though the odds were not good. 

Then the great debate in my brain took over- crack, hold, wait to draft?

Ugh!

I asked some friends and responses were basically one of each. Not super helpful. Then I realized- I haven't bought a box of anything Magic related (a full box of pack, etc) since the 90s. Now, that seems hard, but realize, I missed about 14 years of the game. I started getting the itch, and busted open those packs last night. 

Why? Cause I wanted to see... I have a hard time holding on to sealed product. Its a lottery card basically. However, Mystery Booster provides a real outstanding chance at getting some VERY good value on your investment. 

[slight aside] Guess its a good time to mention I just shipped off a chunk of cards to Card Kingdom in the hopes of landing another Volcanic Island. Thats the goal anyhow, but why now? Because my Bonus Round investment finally hit a critical level. I bought 18 of them for $0.65 over a year ago, and wound up acquiring others via trade for a grand total of 26 of them. Card Kingdom was offering $1.80 per, and 30% on top for a $2.34 per card in trade value. My investment for roughly $26 will net me $60 in trade value towards a dual land- which is exactly why I got them. 

The only hitch to this entire plan? Card Kingdom doesn't have any Volcanic Islands in stock to select. So it would be a waiting game for me. (they do have 1 EX Unlimited for $759. SLIGHTLY more than my current budget)

[small in-line update, just checked my account and it looks like CK graded my cards already, but has not issued the amount yet. After grading, and 30% bonus, looks like I should get $391.39. Enough for a VG graded Volcanic if they ever get one. "Only" lost about $20 in value due to grading)

Here are the winners of the Mystery Booster packs:

And while it doesn't look like much to the untrained eye, the middle row in the photo is the "money" row. 

Teferi's Protection, Bloom Tender, and Expropriate are the biggest values out of the box. Those three represent half my cost! ($74.07 according to TCG market)

After picking though and scanning a bunch because, honestly, I don't know many of the cards that might have value, I wound up with about $225 in value. (around $1 and up) Plus the two bonus cards... lets just call it at $250 total. Not too shabby.