Hello Everyone!
After 3 very hot weeks of trading, I have cooled down a little bit, but not too much! The project is going over very well, and I am in the process of bulking up individual cards. So instead of trading my 10 dollar card for 3 4 dollar cards, I instead want to turn 2 5s into 12 and so on. I only played Magic twice this past week - WNM and the TCQ - but I was able to do a bit of trading at each!
April 18, 2012
My:
Maelstrom Pulse (10.68)
Phantasmal Image (14.37)
His:
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite (25.95)
Net: +0.90
This trade was so much more exciting when it happened and I though Elesh Norn was still at 30. As it turns out, the hype has passed. Even though I really didn't gain much value-wise, I still was able to move a fairly cold card - Maelstrom Pulse - and I was able to consolidate 2 smaller cards into 1 bigger more attractive card.
My:
Phyrexian Metamorph (7.66)
His:
Grave Titan (9.61)
Net: +1.95
This trade is pretty routine to what I am trying to do now. Phyrexian Metamorph is actually a card that I think will continue to rise in value by a buck or two over the next few weeks, so I may try and trade for some of those. Grave Titan is a fine card too, so I expect it to move well.
My:
Thrun, the Last Troll (15.06)
Surgical Extraction (7.43)
His:
Misty Rainforest (14.35)
Emrakul, the Aeons Torn (17.84)
Net: +9.70
Emrakul has been steadily gaining value ever since Rise of the Eldrazi went out of print, and in the long long run I can see it residing at the 20-25 range. That, combined with how Misty and Scalding Tarn are inconspicuously a few dollars more than the rest of the Zendikar fetch lands leads to a good knowledge gap that I can capitalize on. He thought Misty was 11 and Emrakul was 15.
April 21, 2012
My:
Moorland Haunt (2.13)
His:
Blade Splicer (3.31)
Net: +1.18
One of the cool things about having done this project for so long and have talked to so many people is that people starting coming up to me at the TCQ to check in on the binder and see how it was going since they last saw me 2 or 3 weeks ago. They wound up talking to other people around them, and enabled me to get small trades like this one with people who didn't really have much, but wanted to support the cause.
On an extension of that, there was a guy I was talking to for a very long time at the TnT TCQ 3 weeks ago about the merits of trading. Apparently my words inspired him to make it a goal to trade his way to a set of Force of Wills. Just before I bumped into him again, I had traded my 3 Grindstones for another guy's Force of Will simply for trade fodder. So I was able to trade him his first force of will for a few staples he had been able to trade his way to including Geist of Saint Traft and a Snapcaster Mage. At first he was reluctant to trade his big cards for a Force, but then he realized that by doing the trade he was going to be a full 25% done, so he went for it.
My:
Elspeth Tirel (15.61)
His:
Geralf's Messenger (7.91)
2x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben (3.92, 7.84)
Bloodghast (3.35)
Net: +3.49
I know I am in the bulking phase, so I don't want to break cards into smaller ones, but Elspeth simply hasn't been seeing any play lately and I was worried her price would take a good hit. She has gone down since I acquired her, so trading into some staples and a wild card (Bloodghast) seemed like a very safe investment.
My:
Blade Splicer (3.31)
Black Sun's Zenith (7.09)
Woodland Cemetery (5.02)
His:
2x Blackcleave Cliffs (7.20, 14.40)
Sulfur Falls (5.38)
Net: +4.36
I doubt anyone is keeping a running tally of what is in my binder, but in case you were, you would know I already had a Blackcleave Cliffs in the pack - Moat before this trade. So why would I trade for 2 more? I was trading with another guy before going to this one and he pulled my 1 Blackcleave Cliffs from my normal binder and then asked if I had more. He mentioned he was looking for a full set, so I made this trade specifically to get the man what he wanted.
My:
3x Blackcleave Cliffs (7.20, 21.60)
His:
Umezawa's Jitte (20.54)
Net: -1.06
And then 30 seconds later this trade happened. I did lose a dollar, but he wasn't willing to throw me a bone, and I felt having 3 Blackcleaves was a much higher risk than losing a buck and acquiring a solid legacy bomb.
My:
Misty Rainforest (14.35)
Verdant Catacombs (10.08)
Knight of the Reliquary (10.75)
Emrakul, the Aeons Torn (17.84)
Chrome Mox (13.41)
Umezawa's Jitte (20.54)
His:
Bayou (66.79)
Net: -20.18
This trade. Yeah... While it is cool and all to get a Dual Land, the process and pain to get it probably wasn't worth it. Frankly my trade partner was a complete asshole. He had a computer with access to prices, but then refused to use it even as we bickered over prices. I would say one price, and then he would drop it a few dollars. He would then declare a price and I would question his pricing system. He would claim SCG, so I responded with the SCG price on all my cards, noting I had been using TCG. He denied every single thing I said. In hindsight, I really should have just bailed out, but I was too caught up in the allure of a Dual Land. Even without the Jitte in the trade I wouldn't have even made a buck! Trading for the Badlands wasn't THAT bad - I was able to recoup that in one trade. I don't know if I can recoup this from all the trades I did this week! This was my first real bad blunder of a trade. The prices here are TCG, if we were to go SCG here is how it would look:
This trade. Yeah... While it is cool and all to get a Dual Land, the process and pain to get it probably wasn't worth it. Frankly my trade partner was a complete asshole. He had a computer with access to prices, but then refused to use it even as we bickered over prices. I would say one price, and then he would drop it a few dollars. He would then declare a price and I would question his pricing system. He would claim SCG, so I responded with the SCG price on all my cards, noting I had been using TCG. He denied every single thing I said. In hindsight, I really should have just bailed out, but I was too caught up in the allure of a Dual Land. Even without the Jitte in the trade I wouldn't have even made a buck! Trading for the Badlands wasn't THAT bad - I was able to recoup that in one trade. I don't know if I can recoup this from all the trades I did this week! This was my first real bad blunder of a trade. The prices here are TCG, if we were to go SCG here is how it would look:
My:
Misty Rainforest (19.99)
Verdant Catacombs (11.99)
Knight of the Reliquary (10.99)
Emrakul, the Aeons Torn (14.99) (sold out)
Chrome Mox (11.99) (sold out)
Umezawa's Jitte (19.99) (sold out)
His:
Bayou (69.99) (sold out)
Net: -19.95
In case you don't know how SCG manages sold out cards, they leave the card at the price it was sold out at until they restock. If the card sold out at the price it is listed at, then that means the card is probably worth more. A way to get people is if you ask for their card at the price SCG has them listed at even though it is sold out, you can save a buck or 2 on the trade. In the above example, I have 3 sold out cards to his 1 so even when they all go back in stock I won't have closed the gap any more.
I guess the lesson from this trade is that I can recognize behaviors of miserable trade partners better (he basically had a conversation with himself for 10 minutes while people were trying to trade with him at the event!) and get better at withdrawing... And of course I now have 1 more person I can intentionally avoid for all future endeavors.
8 Trades
Week 12 Net: +0.34
So basically, what was a +20 week went to complete shambles because of one really bad mistake. This is actually the least profitable week of the whole project, even worse than week 10 when I made only 1 trade all week and I combined the trade with the week 11 report.
But hey, what's a good tale without some twists, turns, and disasters along the way? I know I am not perfect, and I learn a little more each day, and with each event. If you have stopped trading because of similar experiences, I assure you that if you cowboy up and get back in the ring it will be worth it!
That's all I have for today! Until next time, stay classy!
Ryan Lackie
Ryan.Lackie92@gmail.com
@ThingsILack
In case you don't know how SCG manages sold out cards, they leave the card at the price it was sold out at until they restock. If the card sold out at the price it is listed at, then that means the card is probably worth more. A way to get people is if you ask for their card at the price SCG has them listed at even though it is sold out, you can save a buck or 2 on the trade. In the above example, I have 3 sold out cards to his 1 so even when they all go back in stock I won't have closed the gap any more.
I guess the lesson from this trade is that I can recognize behaviors of miserable trade partners better (he basically had a conversation with himself for 10 minutes while people were trying to trade with him at the event!) and get better at withdrawing... And of course I now have 1 more person I can intentionally avoid for all future endeavors.
8 Trades
Week 12 Net: +0.34
So basically, what was a +20 week went to complete shambles because of one really bad mistake. This is actually the least profitable week of the whole project, even worse than week 10 when I made only 1 trade all week and I combined the trade with the week 11 report.
But hey, what's a good tale without some twists, turns, and disasters along the way? I know I am not perfect, and I learn a little more each day, and with each event. If you have stopped trading because of similar experiences, I assure you that if you cowboy up and get back in the ring it will be worth it!
That's all I have for today! Until next time, stay classy!
Ryan Lackie
Ryan.Lackie92@gmail.com
@ThingsILack
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