Sunday, March 07, 2010

Wanna trade? In search of a few good Magic cards...

I have a Magic: the Gathering collection. It is an unusual one. I collect photographs of M:tG cards. I call it my "virtual collection".

What makes this especially strange is that, if I wanted to, I could just go to any one of many websites that have photo images of all of the cards in the game, download the ones I want, and that would be that. But in order to "count" for my collection, the photos must be ones I have taken myself, of cards that were actually in my possession. This is where the strangeness comes in.

I have always had a "collector's mentality". It's part of what drew me to Magic in the first place. A game I can play AND collect? Awesome! At one point in my Magic history (right after the expansion set called Visions for those who care), I owned at least one actual physical copy of every Magic card in existence except for 11. [At that time, I did not care what set the card came from, so if I had a Revised Bayou, I did not need an Alpha, Beta or Unlimited one (this was a much cheaper way to have a "complete" collection, I assure you!)].

The nice thing about my "virtual" collection is that, after I have photographed it, I can then turn around and sell the card in my store - while still having that card in my collection. Genius!

Anyway, on to the main point of this post. I am getting close to completing my collection. The total number of cards I still need is low (relative to the number of cards that exist, at least). So, I am starting to make trades for these cards, which I would not normally have considered. I recently traded that Foil Jace, the Mind Sculptor I blogged about for a whole bunch of cards off my wish list (thanks, @mtgmetagame!), and then traded a large passel of foils to another gentleman (thanks, @the_stybs!) for another batch of needed cards.

So here is my proposal. I have put my wish list up as a Google spreadsheet here. This list is for all Core sets except Alpha and Beta, which I may try to complete SOME day when I'm daring, and every expansion, starter set, and boxed set that has been printed. It does NOT include the various and sundry promo cards, which I may also be interested in getting if I don't already have a photo of them. There's just so blasted many of those guys that I don't maintain a wish list for them as yet, either.

If you think you may be interested in trading, check out my wish list and see if you have anything I need. Cards that are highlighted in yellow are cards that I have pending trades for, but have not actually gotten in my hands yet. If you find you have cards I need, then send me a list [either send me a DM through Twitter or use my Contact Us page at my store]. I'll price the cards, as if I were to list them at my store. Then, as long as you agree with my pricing, you essentially have that much "credit" to spend on cards at my store. Let me know which cards you want, and a trade is born! In case it needs to be mentioned, I'm looking for cards in NM or better condition, since the photo needs to look pretty!

Now, as I am an established store owner with a good reputation, I will ask you to send first (just as I would expect a customer to pay first before I sent the cards to him/her). Upon receipt of your cards, I will then send to you the cards you requested. That simple. Since we'd each be shipping to the other, I figure that cost cancels out, so there should be no shipping charges on either end. I'd ask you to ship securely (no loose cards in a regular envelope, please!). I personally ship in hard plastic (toploaders or hinged cases) in bubble mailers. I use PayPal to print a shipping label with a tracking number (I can give you the URL to print your own if you like).

Oh - if you live within reasonable distance to Dream Wizards in Rockville, MD, then I would be willing to meet you there to swap in person if you prefer.