wholesale lots from star city
Economics forum
Posted on March 23, 2014, 8:59 p.m. by abenz419
has anyone bought any of the wholesale lots from Star City Games before? I never really noticed them before then I saw they were on sale as part of their march madness thing they have going on. I saw the 10 rare lots and was thinking you know what there might be some decent EDH cards in there. I'm not expecting money cards obviously (at least cards worth what it cost) but I was just wondering what kind of cards could I possibly expect? Is it a lot of random older cards making it a better EDH gamble (cause even ones I don't use I can trade to other EDH players) or do they often contain a lot of newer bulk rares that i'm more likely to either already have or be able to walk into my local shop and get for $.50-$1.00?
aFriendlyAlly says... #3
Usually lots are just random rares, some may be decent, however you'll almost never make a profit value wise. And even if they are decent, the chances that it is useful to your deck specifically is fairly low. Its wiser to use your money just buying those cards you need.
March 23, 2014 10:48 p.m.
that's the thing I don't need any cards, I'm not looking for anything specific right now, and I'm not expecting any big money cards. They don't have to be EDH staples to be useful, besides when I think of staples I think of the cards in high demand (big money cards) so obviously I wouldn't be expecting the most wanted EDH cards but like I said that doesn't mean they can't be very useful. That's why I was curious about them. The description just says from various magic sets, so I was curious if they typically were a good mix of older rares or if they were typically from newer sets. I mean if they are a good mix of older stuff then I see no harm in picking up a few random cards that I might be able to get a bunch of use out of in different EDH decks but if I'm gonna get a bunch of bulk rares from the newest sets then that just doesn't have the same appeal. I'm not an idiot though, I'm not expecting to get a lot of the 10 most sought after rares or anything like that and I'm not trying to acquire some expensive cards super cheap and then turn them for a profit. Like I said, depending on how new the mixture of cards typically is, I just don't see any harm in picking up a few bulk rares. Especially if they're from older sets, because lots of bulk rares that are unplayable in other formats are great EDH cards (even if they aren't the high priced stapes)
March 24, 2014 3:42 a.m.
NobodyPicksBulbasaur says... #5
Never forget that not all old rares are good in EDH. In fact, most of them are quite terrible by today's standards.
Akron Legionnaire is a rare from Legends, and I would never want it in an EDH deck, for example.
March 24, 2014 2:20 p.m.
Well that's you, but I'm willing to bet that if someone is playing a deck that is themed to swap permanants with their opponent or give their opponents things that hurt them, then Akron Legionnaire
would actually be a good card in a deck like that. I'm not saying it's a staple and every deck like that will have one, just that it could be useful. How useful a card can be is all subjective to what deck you put it in.
That's why I was curious if anyone knew how these things were typically made (older rares or newer bulk rares) because i'm more interested in 10 older cards (even if they're not the money cards everyone is chasing) than I am if it's 10 newer rares. But, instead of getting an answer to the actual question I've asked, I've gotten responses like "your better off buying the cards you need". It's like HELLO.... it's a random lot, I'm not buying it for anything specific that would just be pure stupidity since I have no clue what's in them. I mean if there was something specific that I wanted i'd would be looking at that card, not hoping it was in a pack of 10 bulk rares labeled "cards from sets throughout magic history". I know you guys think your being helpful, but being able to give a legitimate answer to the actual question asked would be far more helpful than your advise about how i'll never make a profit off them or how I'll never get any money cards out of it. Two things that should be obvious when buying a lot of random bulk rares.
NobodyPicksBulbasaur says... #2
It's going to be a bunch of bad rares that have a very low chance of being good in EDH. Star City knows which cards are good in each format, and aren't dumb enough to put EDH staples into wholesale lots.
What they are almost guaranteed to do is put all of their unsellable rares in a big pile and just sell lots out of it.
I can't back this up with any anecdotal evidence, but it's the best way to unload crappy rares for a big business like SCG. And every time you get a bad lot you don't feel bad or complain because you never really expected anything good in the first place.
March 23, 2014 10:04 p.m.