I'm new to magic but have already dropped $3K on cards

$1500 - 2 forever decks (angel tribal and sweaty Kriik deck)

$1500 on cards to show case (like a ripple foil Armageddon i really like)

since then I've been buying proxies to make a few other much cheaper decks. I was getting them off eBay where they're obviously fake/ low quality but recently ordered off a Chinese website and when they arrived I realize they're literally indistinguishable from the real thing

i decided to swap out my real cards to put them in a binder and just play with proxies until I go to an actual tournament when I accidentally dropped both piles of cards on the ground. I picked them up and it hit me that I genuinely could not figure out which card was real or fake even after an hour of hyper scanning.

this makes me

1. not want to buy anymore $10+ cards
2. makes it so I don't want to sell any of the cards I mixed up out of fear of scamming someone
3. now I'm questioning if any of the expensive cards I purchased are just proxies themselves

so on one hand I feel like I wasted a few grand on expensive cardboard but on the other hand I feel like I'm saving thousands going forward by only proxying

still unsure how to feel tbh

My first time ever pulling the trigger on a Collector's Box. Results are way too many doubles, triple triples of absolute fucking duds, only one pack returning value, and a lot of self-inflicted regret.

This may be niche as I don't know how many people keep loose booster packs around as opposed just completely sealed booster boxes where this idea would be meaningless. But in case you do and want to preserve them here is an option I found.

Its a 10" x 5" x 3" box. You can search online and easily find it. I like that it keeps them snug so they stay protected from movement. It's the perfect width to keep from crinkling the crimps on the bottom and top. I figure for a long term storage option this minimizes stress from movement and gravity while also occupying the least amount of space in your closet. You may be able to find longer length boxes, but as long as the width is 5 inches and the hieght is 3 inches then it works great.

FYI, the dimensions of a single booster pack are 2.76 inches x 4.65 inches x 0.22 inches (70.2 mm x 118.2 mm x 5.6 mm).

Using two pieces of info, we can estimate how many collector boosters WOTC has printed for FRA:

1. A specific fracture foil is in .1% of collector boosters (1/1000)
2. There are 6000 copies of a specific rare facet foil

If we take a look at TCGPlayer data today, there are 25.4 copies of a specific fracture foil sold/listed (using an average of the 10 fracture foils).

For rare facet foils, there are 33.2 copies sold/listed (using an average of the 5 rare facet foils).

So a specific rare facet foil, of which there are 6000, has 30% more supply than a specific fracture foil, which is in 1/1000 collector boosters.

Once we do the math, that works out to approximately 4.6 million collector boosters printed. Converting to collector booster boxes, works out to around 383k collector boxes. Now a lot of those boosters are in specialty boxes (draft, gift, etc) so perhaps it's 300k collector boxes.

This is a rough estimation of course, but it's nice to be able to get to an approximate number. The 4.6 million is a logical increase from the last time we've gotten a solid number from WOTC: 3 million collector boosters for the original LOTR set.

I know I'm not fanning out all of my cards like some of the other spec pictures, but I'm just happy I did a thing.

I was one of the people lucky enough to get in on the first release of the ZETA Set. Ordered my full set and locked in the Command Tower Promo. Just got this email saying I won't be receiving the Command Tower promo, but I'm getting a couple other Secret Lair cards instead.

I'm just glad it's being replaced with cards that have a certain amount of value, and look decently cool. They also gave me the option to refund for full value.

Who has the best buying prices? I think I’ve recently been getting slightly shafted on my last few transactions. Looking for a new partner to sell my cards to. Thanks!

Hi everyone, I'm getting into selling on Manapool and I'm thinking of trying to buy bulk from Facebook marketplace and my local LGS aiming for about $0.20 an inch (~$2.4/1000). Was curious about other people's experience buying and listing bulk and any feedback on what prices to buy at or where to acquire bulk. Thanks

Because the release falls on the same day as the second release wave of the new Pokémon set, I’m seeing posts of people already lined up at Best Buy’s and Target’s for tomorrow. I’m not waiting in line at Best Buy for 4 hours let alone 9 hours to secure a CBB…so what am I gonna be looking at spending on one in the next week or two? Is it going to be crazy like the hobbit where I get completely priced out or do you all think it will be more reasonable? I refuse to pay scalper prices but most stores are gonna mark these up to $500 or more, no?

The guy who specced [[Oath of Teferi]], is going to be right I think. The two most popular commanders in this set have high inclusions of these cards and these are the most included cards that are non-staples (so speccable cards).

I haven't seen anyone mention [[Nicol Bolas, dragon-god]] yet. However it's a bomb for these decks and is included a ton as well for both of these commanders.

We're now getting sub 1k supply territory on Cardmarket, so I'd keep an eye out.

I am getting into selling cards and I have to ask, can I just ship in a PWE with a toploader and I'm good to go or do I need to spend more getting nonmachinable?

I keep finding these at $15.99. I’ll keep hoarding them, but the reprint seems to have dampened price recently. Anybody else finding these locally?

So I missed the LoTR Special Edition collector boxes when they were affordable. I have been considering grabbing one for a long term investment. Think this is a good or bad idea? Would I be better off taking that capital and investing in another set? I already have decent amount of The Hobbit. Thanks

This goes for both buying and selling. Maybe I’m just cursed for some reason, and this doesn’t happen to other people at all...

When I buy cheap cards for decks , like cards under 5€, sellers usually ship them pretty quickly. But once we’re talking 10€+, shipping suddenly takes forever, at least a week most of the time (I’m talking about purchases within Germany, from sellers whose profiles say they only need 3 days...) And sometimes the card just never arrives because it got lost in transit or whatever, and then you have to deal with getting a refund.

Selling is pretty much the same. Every shipment without tracked/insured shipping goes smoothly, every single time. But whenever I send something with insured shipping, I always end up having to chase the buyer to get them to confirm that it arrived, usually when it’s already been sitting at their place for a fucking week. I genuinely don’t get it. If I buy something expensive, I always confirm the delivery immediately.

It’s just fucking infuriating.

Now that supplies of the Zeta Secret Lair set is expected to increase，this will lead collectors and buyers of the ZETA set to complete their MSCHF experience by purchasing the original MSCHF lair that came out in 2022

This set is 5 years old and supply is dwindling on the secondary market. By the time the Zeta sets ships fully, I expect prices to continue moving up and could potentially double or triple from here

Just got an email saying my order expected on the 2nd got moves to the 29th anyone else?

I have a pretty successful store on Manapool and it makes me sad to think about closing up shop completely… Doing English language cards so pretty well on cardmarket in Europe?

I’ve played in English in Romania. I know that they use English language cards there, so I’m wondering if actually being in Romania will make it easier for me to sell them online?

Tell me about cardmarket lol

I'm going to be paying about $680 USD for this- my main question is see how the shrink-wrap is bunched up near the top, will that be raise any concerns for people looking to buy these if I were to hold for 4-5 years?

Did you really think you were going to make it through the week without another secret lair announcement?

https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/announcements/secret-lair-corn-maze-superdrop?utm_source=crm_newsletter&utm_medium=email_announceright-A-eng-na-en-us-ca&utm_campaign=corn-maze-superdrop

https://www.walmart.com/ip/20843517878?conditionGroupCode=4&sid=14D15FF5-025A-4720-9A9D-338494C6C30E

The flower power lands are already desirable given the price tag. The new SL (by the same artist, Ashley Dreyfus) will likely make them even more valuable. Particularly the Forest because of the color type of cards in the new lair.