Revised boosters?
Economics forum
Posted on Jan. 8, 2014, 8:48 p.m. by Swamy
So here's my question: I'm wanting some revised boosters...because revised. I've found, on ebay, a box for 1500, or 10-21 (Not sure how they are working it) for 800-900. Now if it's the 21 I think I'd go for that. But what would y'all do?
Epochalyptik says... #3
Just go buy singles. Your money will get you a lot further.
January 8, 2014 9:05 p.m.
Cool, I've heard about that way to "deceive" old boosters but never knew much on it. Say you had around the 1k-1.5k dollar range, what set would you think would be the "funnest" and yield the most returns. I've done Urza saga and a few older old sets and I'd like to get a bit further back with some drafting with friends. Thats the main thing I'm looking for. Not a true return on my money.
January 8, 2014 9:09 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #5
To put it bluntly, I don't open packs because I'm not in the business of losing money. Therefore, my dealings with packs are explicitly from the point of buying and selling them as sealed product.
That said, I'd stick with something Modern legal. MMA is a safe (and fun) bet. It offers good value, the cards are in demand, and it was made for drafting.
The further back you go, the more you gamble in terms of demand, relevance, and return on investment. Really, the decision is yours. You know what you want better than I do. My advice regarding older sets is to just look for a deal. If you find one you like, and you can get the box sealed for a low price, you might be inclined to try it.
January 8, 2014 9:19 p.m.
InconspicuousPotato says... #6
Future Sight/ Time Spiral look pretty fun and have some value, you could always just go Modern Masters which has some pretty decent value and is fun to draft.
January 8, 2014 9:26 p.m.
thataddkid says... #7
Epochalyptik, would you say that buying a box of a new set and selling/trading off every card 10$+ immediately would be a smart financial decision?
January 8, 2014 11:07 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #8
@thataddkid: That depends largely on you and your individual trading prowess. Back when I had the time to devote to this game (I haven't regularly traded or played in about 1.5-2 years at this point), I could spec on cards and flip them for release week profits. If you're good at it, you can make some decent profits (either in cash or in trade stock). If you aren't, you'll be stuck with hyped cards during their decline.
There's a problem inherent in the process of opening packs, though. You're always gambling. Often, you won't make back your money by opening the packs. I took rather quickly to trading and selling packs and sealed boxes instead because it was more reliable and stable.
On top of that, you can simply speculate on cards. Look for cards you think will be important in the coming weeks, then scoop them up before they spike. Offload those cards at their peak, then repeat as often as you like.
January 8, 2014 11:12 p.m.
thataddkid says... #9
What kind of tests (if any) do you use to decide whether or not it's worth it to pick up a card before a spike? Is there anything to it other than "it has synergy with _, and it would fit in every _ deck"? Does modern playability or legacy playability matter more?
January 8, 2014 11:29 p.m.
gnarlicide says... #10
Epochalyptik, dude... I can't think of anybody that is in the business of losing money. Lol.
Swamy, If you absolutely HAVE to buy some kind of old sealed product... go for the unopened box. Yes, they are pricey, but at least you know that they were not "mapped". Obviously, refer to the sets that others mentioned for fun drafts.
For the record: I have been kicking around the idea of buying a box of Fallen Empires to draft with my friends just to troll them. We all HATED that set when we were kids!
January 8, 2014 11:33 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #11
@thataddkid: A large part of it is just intuition, which comes with time and experience. As unhelpful as that answer is to a player/trader looking to work into the speculation business, it's just hard to characterize all the factors that go into calculating what is or isn't a good speculation.
@gnarlicide: Nobody thinks they are in the business of losing money, but plenty actually are.
January 8, 2014 11:49 p.m.
Rhadamanthus says... #13
FYI gnarlicide: I've played some 2-person drafts of FE, and the games can turn into a real chore. There's almost no removal, almost no evasion, and tons of permanents with fiddly little abilities that look marginal but can actually have a significant impact on combat. Every card in the set does something (so there's really nothing that's just straight-up garbage), but so much of it is on a weird, twitchy power level that you have to stay on high alert to use properly.
January 9, 2014 10:11 a.m.
I've been toying with the idea of going unhinged as a draft for the shits and giggles. I think that would make a great night of ridiculousness. Thanks for the heads up everyone!
January 9, 2014 11:21 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... #15
Unhinged and Unglued are hilarious, and you get some awesome lands, but the price can be a bit steep purely because of those lands.
January 9, 2014 2:29 p.m.
grindcardoso4 says... #16
Epochalyptik "On top of that, you can simply speculate on cards. Look for cards you think will be important in the coming weeks".
Maybe this needs a thread by itself, but can you provide us somes examples on how to do that?
January 10, 2014 10:12 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... #17
@grindcardoso4: I'll discuss it if it gets brought up, but properly speculating on something is a complex process. It would take me about an article or two to explain just the foundational stuff alone. The problem is that a lot of it is intuitive for good speculators, so it's difficult to translate the concept for those who aren't able to intuit it.
January 10, 2014 2:47 p.m.
Rhadamanthus says... #18
Here's an example of bad speculating: when M14 was being revealed I just had a real strong feeling that Haunted Plate Mail was going to explode in popularity and play value, so while they were still on preorder for $1.00 I bought up 40 of them. Now they're about $0.50.
Epochalyptik says... #2
I wouldn't do it. Ever.
First, $1500 is not the best deal I've ever seen on Revised.
Second, there are few value cards in the set, and opening Revised packs en masse is generally just an awful financial decision.
Third, you shouldn't ever buy loose packs of Revised (or any old set). Old booster packs are made of waxy, thin material that you can actually read through, so many shrewd players "search" these packs by pushing cards up and identifying them through the wrapper. Useless/valueless packs are then sold off.
January 8, 2014 9:04 p.m.