I have picked up 5 of the last 6 Gift Box offerings, and have been satisfied with the value so far - especially when WotC had offered 5 booster packs. This year's 'Gift Pack' has shaved the boosters down to 3 but now offers some additional items. This has me leaning toward not picking this up this year - have any arguments for / against purchase ?
Okay but the booster packs are the meat of these products and I don't really see why they think cutting the number of packs in these almost in half is a good idea. It's not like anyone can look online and see what these used to contain or anything....
Also in my personal experience I've mostly seen newer players receive these and... Newer players don't tend to cafe all that much who their lands were drawn by. They aren't usually feel enough in magic yet to have favorite artists so I'm not sure that they would be thrilled about 5 promo basics.
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"Pop in, find a dragon, roast a dragon."
-Chandra Nalaar
Is it no longer a storage box? The picture makes it seem like its not. Thats the only real reason I bought them before. Those foil lands are nice though.
For a true comparison and in order to make an informed decision, you need to include the entire contents of the other boxes. RTR for example had plastic dividers, sticker labels (which personally I love for my 5K count boxes), foil Dreg Mangler, 20 basic lands, etc.
Is it no longer a storage box? The picture makes it seem like its not. Thats the only real reason I bought them before. Those foil lands are nice though.
Damn I didnt even look at that. Yeah it looks more like those Pokemon products, I think they call them blisters or something like that. That sucks. I usually bought these when I needed the box.
Its one booster from Amonkhet, Hour, and Ixalan...
A bit lack buster, would have prefered a box (maybe not soo big as older holiday gift pack, but 2/3 of those box would be nice).
For the contents, as far those box are not marked above $14 I think I m ok with it
Edit: oh, they are asking $19 for this... It is a pass(Will only get one if I find one for dirt cheap)
It looks like someone at Wizards started playing pokemon and is trying hard to copy the card game, but even the variety packs from pokemon has more things inside...
Is it no longer a storage box? The picture makes it seem like its not. Thats the only real reason I bought them before. Those foil lands are nice though.
Pretty much reflects my sentiments. I would likely pick up one just for the lands, but storage box is what I really got out of the deal (assuming I just opened a bunch of crap rares in my packs). If they aren't doing the storage boxes anymore, I'm probably going to mostly skip these in the future.
Its one booster from Amonkhet, Hour, and Ixalan...
A bit lack buster, would have prefered a box (maybe not soo big as older holiday gift pack, but 2/3 of those box would be nice).
For the contents, as far those box are not marked above $14 I think I m ok with it
Edit: oh, they are asking $19 for this... It is a pass(Will only get one if I find one for dirt cheap)
It looks like someone at Wizards started playing pokemon and is trying hard to copy the card game, but even the variety packs from pokemon has more things inside...
I will almost guarantee that it will retail for $19.99 (if not more).
So, to compare to last year:
-- 2 FEWER packs
-- no plastic dividers
-- no label stickers
-- no land pack
-- the box itself does not appear to act as a card storage device
In its place, it has ADDED:
-- a second foil promo
-- 5 foil basics only obtainable in this product (in foil form)
-- a D20.
Seems like the previous iterations are pretty clear cut winners. Honestly most of the supplemental stuff is chaff (for ALL years; unless you're completely new to Magic, does anyone need the dividers, a land pack, alt foil(s) of near-bulk cards, or another D20?), so really the only question to ask is "are the exclusive foil lands worth as much or more than 2 packs and a storage box?"
Every Black Friday (and Christmas Eve) without fail my LGS sells all non-singles product at 30% off. Even at $14 this is a pass for me. One more pack and I'd probably have been interested, but I guess Wizards didn't want asymmetry in the number of packs among 3 sets.
oh, they are asking $19 for this... It is a pass(Will only get one if I find one for dirt cheap)
It looks like someone at Wizards started playing pokemon and is trying hard to copy the card game, but even the variety packs from pokemon has more things inside...
It feels like it's missing something. I suppose you could argue that 5 foil lands and two promo rares are more valuable than the 50 cent rares you were probably going to get out of the missing packs, but it just doesn't feel like it has enough value. I agree, $15 feels right for something like this, but at $20, it needs something else to be exciting enough to bother with. A life counter, foil tokens, mini playmat, mana symbol pins, or even an oversized Kari Zev for commander, anything unique that would make it feel like not such a ripoff.
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My decks
Standard - RIP Cat
Modern - Death & Taxes
Commander - Mazirek, Trostani, Angry Omnath
honestly, I don't object to this. with packs having so little value barring a Masterpiece these days, if you offer me three packs or those 5 lands, I am taking the lands, they will be sought after eventually, AKH bulk rares will not be. I have no desire to buy either version, but if I were to, it actually WOULD probably be the one with the shooting star lands
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Project Booster Fun makes it less fun to open a booster.
The new lands will look nice in my cube as will Kari Zev if she has new art. I have a feeling the lands will creep up in value over time since this will be the only place to get them and they will likly represent most of the long term trade value of the box. I'll proabaly agree that I would take 5 unique foil lands over a random booster for a set I got most of the cards I wanted from already.
I might pick one up when they go on sale or recommend to to a family member as a gift for me.
Was there already a thread for this? I got deja vu typing this.
Ick, this produce is a mess. Why the distribution of packs? Why add a poster for a set that's 3 months old upon release? For this to be a good product, it should highlight the new set: give me a pretty Ixalan poster, some new cards I haven't been opening since April, and we might be talking. I love the basics but that's not enough to steer me into the arms of this thing.
Looks like WOTC is trying to cash in on the whole Pokemon TCG box set craze hahahahahahahaha.
What's next, include 3 to 5 boosters, a foil alternate art promo of a planeswalker card, a jumbo sized version of the same card, and a little figurine representing that planeswalker?
It is a gross amount of packaging for what could all fit in a deck box
And the storage boxes were great. 5k boxes are too bulky for my taste and the fat pack boxes are only big enough for a couple decks. Oh well. Who knows, maybe wizards will come out with a holiday box in addition to this one.
I don't like these with only 3 packs, no box and no dividers. They should included a flash from the past pack. I would love to have packs with totally random cards from the Past and present. That would get me in the holiday spirit.
But that's what they have always been, right? I mean, sure, these haven't always been the best value and they probably are more for people gifting them who don't know about Magic. The concern is that this years box seems to suggest that Wizards thinks 5 foil basics and an extra foil card is worth losing 2 packs. I don't think it is. If they cut 1 pack for the above, I think it would be equal at least. But, they seem to be cutting a lot and replacing it with very little making this year's offering less value than previous years.
I am not sure if Wizards is just trying to find out where they can maximize their profits while minimizing costs or if previous year's products sold poorly and this is what they think will drive demand up, but I think they went way too far into the "not worth it" category that I don't expect these to be all that popular. Who knows though. As you mentioned, this is more for people to buy who don't know anything about Magic and the new box and shiny lands might be enough. And I don't think anyone would be upset to receive one as a gift. It just doesn't make sense to buy one for yourself (even though I really want some of those sweet foil lands).
The 5-booster boxes also had an msrp of 24.99, so they at least put this back to the 4-booster price.
But to me over half the value before was in the box + dividers and this just doesn't come close.
I have picked up 5 of the last 6 Gift Box offerings, and have been satisfied with the value so far - especially when WotC had offered 5 booster packs. This year's 'Gift Pack' has shaved the boosters down to 3 but now offers some additional items. This has me leaning toward not picking this up this year - have any arguments for / against purchase ?
2017 Holiday Gift Pack (WPN product details here) Contents:
Holiday Gift Box / Gift Box / Gift Pack
~
Also in my personal experience I've mostly seen newer players receive these and... Newer players don't tend to cafe all that much who their lands were drawn by. They aren't usually feel enough in magic yet to have favorite artists so I'm not sure that they would be thrilled about 5 promo basics.
-Chandra Nalaar
Damn I didnt even look at that. Yeah it looks more like those Pokemon products, I think they call them blisters or something like that. That sucks. I usually bought these when I needed the box.
A bit lack buster, would have prefered a box (maybe not soo big as older holiday gift pack, but 2/3 of those box would be nice).
For the contents, as far those box are not marked above $14 I think I m ok with it
Edit: oh, they are asking $19 for this... It is a pass(Will only get one if I find one for dirt cheap)
It looks like someone at Wizards started playing pokemon and is trying hard to copy the card game, but even the variety packs from pokemon has more things inside...
Pretty much reflects my sentiments. I would likely pick up one just for the lands, but storage box is what I really got out of the deal (assuming I just opened a bunch of crap rares in my packs). If they aren't doing the storage boxes anymore, I'm probably going to mostly skip these in the future.
I will almost guarantee that it will retail for $19.99 (if not more).
-- 2 FEWER packs
-- no plastic dividers
-- no label stickers
-- no land pack
-- the box itself does not appear to act as a card storage device
In its place, it has ADDED:
-- a second foil promo
-- 5 foil basics only obtainable in this product (in foil form)
-- a D20.
Seems like the previous iterations are pretty clear cut winners. Honestly most of the supplemental stuff is chaff (for ALL years; unless you're completely new to Magic, does anyone need the dividers, a land pack, alt foil(s) of near-bulk cards, or another D20?), so really the only question to ask is "are the exclusive foil lands worth as much or more than 2 packs and a storage box?"
Every Black Friday (and Christmas Eve) without fail my LGS sells all non-singles product at 30% off. Even at $14 this is a pass for me. One more pack and I'd probably have been interested, but I guess Wizards didn't want asymmetry in the number of packs among 3 sets.
3BB
Sorcery
You lose the game.
Standard - RIP Cat
Modern - Death & Taxes
Commander - Mazirek, Trostani, Angry Omnath
I might pick one up when they go on sale or recommend to to a family member as a gift for me.
Was there already a thread for this? I got deja vu typing this.
Sadly no new art.
Thanks to DarkNightCavalier from Heroes of the Plane Studios for this sick Signature.
What's next, include 3 to 5 boosters, a foil alternate art promo of a planeswalker card, a jumbo sized version of the same card, and a little figurine representing that planeswalker?
And the storage boxes were great. 5k boxes are too bulky for my taste and the fat pack boxes are only big enough for a couple decks. Oh well. Who knows, maybe wizards will come out with a holiday box in addition to this one.
That sucks. Also would a foil Ragavan token have been too much to ask? This is like the only place it would have made sense to do.
Which makes them perfect.
I am not sure if Wizards is just trying to find out where they can maximize their profits while minimizing costs or if previous year's products sold poorly and this is what they think will drive demand up, but I think they went way too far into the "not worth it" category that I don't expect these to be all that popular. Who knows though. As you mentioned, this is more for people to buy who don't know anything about Magic and the new box and shiny lands might be enough. And I don't think anyone would be upset to receive one as a gift. It just doesn't make sense to buy one for yourself (even though I really want some of those sweet foil lands).
But to me over half the value before was in the box + dividers and this just doesn't come close.