I have a powered (CE) 360 cube that's roughly 97% pimped out with the most expensive English printing of each card. I'm beginning to ponder "cashing in" the premium cards for the non-premium versions. I love having the most beautiful, foily, ridiculous cube, but I don't like thinking "what if I need to sell this thing one day?" Having sold quite a few high-end foils in the last few years, I know how hard it is to move them if you need them sold.
I mean...I'm 30, married, no kids, and renting--I foresee most of those changing in the coming years (i.e. kids and buying a house..and probably aging beyond 30 but I thought that was a given). I mean, my wife and I do quite well and Magic is essentially the only hobby we spend money on, so it isn't like we're breaking our backs to fund our habit. I'm just not sure it's worth the money regardless. Thoughts?
You just need to do what you think is right for you and your family. As much as anyone here can give you insight into how the magic market may project or why you need to hold onto the cards for financial reasons or etc., the only thing that really matters is what *you* want to do with the cards.
I guess instead of an answer from us, you should be asking yourself some questions: are you looking to sell because you don't see the point in having the cards? Do you feel bad for having shiny expensive cardboard? Is it a societal pressure thing, and if so does that matter enough to you to make a difference? Is there something you could be doing with the money? If the money really doesn't matter today and probably not in the future, will the thousands you might get from selling the cards really help? Do you not have fail-safes for your finances, and if so would your cube be your only asset? Have you insured your cube?
These aren't questions you need, or even should, answer here. And of course there's no way to rush into this without making what is probably a bad financial decision. But it would feel weird giving you definite advice as it's not my life/finances so I can't speak to how much the money means to you vs how much you enjoy the cosmetic aspects of your hobby.
That all being said, proxies are a thing and you can make really cool ones that look/feel great. I unfortunately can't go into options here as it is a suspendible offense on MTGSalvation to discuss how to manufacture proxies, but google is a thing and that could be an avenue to pursue if the financial value of your cards is worth more than having the cards.
I have a powered (CE) 360 cube that's roughly 97% pimped out with the most expensive English printing of each card. I'm beginning to ponder "cashing in" the premium cards for the non-premium versions. I love having the most beautiful, foily, ridiculous cube, but I don't like thinking "what if I need to sell this thing one day?" Having sold quite a few high-end foils in the last few years, I know how hard it is to move them if you need them sold.
I mean...I'm 30, married, no kids, and renting--I foresee most of those changing in the coming years (i.e. kids and buying a house..and probably aging beyond 30 but I thought that was a given). I mean, my wife and I do quite well and Magic is essentially the only hobby we spend money on, so it isn't like we're breaking our backs to fund our habit. I'm just not sure it's worth the money regardless. Thoughts?
It depends on how you're able to sell your collection... If you plan to just go to a store and have them buy everything at 50-60% cash, I'd say no unless you actually need the cash. You're losing a lot of value that way and you're going to be rebuying the non-pimp cards anyways, so the payoff seems minimal.
I'm sort of in the same boat... besides married and all that in terms of hobbies. Magic is my only real hobby that I spend a lot of time on and I take a lot of pride in my cube and it makes me super happy to have my players like all the foily and altered goodness. I can't see myself parting with it any time soon unless something life changing happens and I absolutely need to.
If you aren't pushed to move it, I say keep it. A lot of the old foils and stuff can only really go up pricewise, too, IMO.
I am considering this from the POV of someone who is seeing the trajectory of their cube's premium content including higher and higher percentages of MPS cards and not feeling particularly happy with that notion (despite actually loving MPS...which is the crux of my conundrum). I'm not one of those people that is going to be happy with the duel deck foil or pack foil when a judge, MPS, or otherwise is available. There's no compromising for me either, I'm either buying the cards I want or not pimping at all.
So it isn't a matter of money, its a matter of "do I want to constantly chase new cards for the sake of my compulsion?"
Threads like this make me so happy that I don't like foils. Alters, absolutely, and I have a few, but chasing foil for the sake of foil seems like a lot of work and a ton of cash.
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I can't say I'm pleased to see you and must warn you I may have to do something about it.
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: URDelver
Modern: UGRDelver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
I play magic so little anymore that the cube is the only 'pimp' thing I do anymore. I don't spend magic on other singles, so I don't really mind spending a bit here and there on cube. Keeps me at least interested in the game.
I won't touch foils because I live in Florida, but my cube's already Beta'd out and about half signed. More signatures are the only thing left for me to do.
Even if I only draft every couple months it's worthwhile for me to keep together as a hobby within a hobby.
I'd get rid of other cards before my cube if I really needed the money, but I'd certainly be downgrading foils if I felt like I needed to or wanted to in order to rationalize other mtg purchases.
Yeah, that's the other thing, @haganbmj...you kind of nailed the "if I felt like....in order to rationalize other mtg purchases". I dreamed of a day where my 360 cube would be 100% pimped and relatively stable in construction so that I could more or less turn my attention to other mtg endeavors such as set completion of the OG sets for nostalgia's sake. But now that every couple months 10 new cards come out for my cube, I don't see myself ever being able to change my focus.
I've spent so much time, effort, and money on compiling this beautiful stack of cardboard with the hopes that I'd see the end one day and be able to appreciate the fruits of my labor...but now, it just keeps going. It's like sisyphus pushing the rock up the hill...or maybe a more apt metaphor would be planting seeds of a fruit tree in hopes of having the fruit only to see the sapling continue to grow taller, taller, and taller until you can't reach the fruit anyway.
Don't do it! you won't be able to go back and repurchasing the shiny/rare/old stuff after you start regretting! Instead of selling off the parts, just add cheaper/non-foil/non-pimped cards from now on.
@6jerfz - When I maintained a Powered Cube every set was an adventure to find deals on the staples or make trades.
Now that I have a Peasant Cube, that's non-foiled no less, every set only costs me at most a couple bucks sadly. There's no thrill of the hunt associated with set releases.
Yeah unless you really need the money, or you aren't comfortable owning such an expensive collection, it's probably worth holding onto, at least for now.
Good input, fellas. I think I've decided to hold onto it for the time being. I only really spend like $100-$200/mo on MtG, so I'm not stretching myself to compile and maintain my list by any means. I just want to complete it sooner than later so I can get to work on other projects
lol...can confirm. I've sold off my "collection" twice in my time playing since '94. First time was after Visions/Mirage came out because I "didn't like that they added different abilities". This mistake cost me all of my alpha, beta, and other early sets...probably around 1-2k cards. I picked up again somewhere in the late 90's and sold off before I finished HS I think around Onslaught block.
Honestly, you can never escape Magic once you start. I learned that the hard way!
Can I just add one thing you are not considering. As a near forty year old with a 6 year old, I am now collecting a 720 cube to give to my son on his 16h birthday if he likes the game. It just seems like a nice concrete thing to pass on to your kid if they like magic.
You might want to consider doing the same thing with your future kids.
So as someone that's gone through the same process of "cutting back" I came to the conclusion that I will always want the best versions of things, so having a non-foil cube wouldn't cut it for me. I decided to do a Non-standard Cube, meaning I'd buy the cards I need after the set rotates from Standard. This has a bonuses:
1. I only ever have to spend money on the staple/great cards that make it a year and a half &
2. The prices drop considerably after rotation &
3. Creates a list of cards I can trade for during that time and if I end up picking them up, then I don't have to fork over cash for it.
The initial time sucks because you don't make changes to your cube for the first two years, but I just hit the point where the next rotation will allow me to add a bunch of new cards and I'm pretty excited.
I mean...I'm 30, married, no kids, and renting--I foresee most of those changing in the coming years (i.e. kids and buying a house..and probably aging beyond 30 but I thought that was a given). I mean, my wife and I do quite well and Magic is essentially the only hobby we spend money on, so it isn't like we're breaking our backs to fund our habit. I'm just not sure it's worth the money regardless. Thoughts?
I guess instead of an answer from us, you should be asking yourself some questions: are you looking to sell because you don't see the point in having the cards? Do you feel bad for having shiny expensive cardboard? Is it a societal pressure thing, and if so does that matter enough to you to make a difference? Is there something you could be doing with the money? If the money really doesn't matter today and probably not in the future, will the thousands you might get from selling the cards really help? Do you not have fail-safes for your finances, and if so would your cube be your only asset? Have you insured your cube?
These aren't questions you need, or even should, answer here. And of course there's no way to rush into this without making what is probably a bad financial decision. But it would feel weird giving you definite advice as it's not my life/finances so I can't speak to how much the money means to you vs how much you enjoy the cosmetic aspects of your hobby.
That all being said, proxies are a thing and you can make really cool ones that look/feel great. I unfortunately can't go into options here as it is a suspendible offense on MTGSalvation to discuss how to manufacture proxies, but google is a thing and that could be an avenue to pursue if the financial value of your cards is worth more than having the cards.
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It depends on how you're able to sell your collection... If you plan to just go to a store and have them buy everything at 50-60% cash, I'd say no unless you actually need the cash. You're losing a lot of value that way and you're going to be rebuying the non-pimp cards anyways, so the payoff seems minimal.
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
If you aren't pushed to move it, I say keep it. A lot of the old foils and stuff can only really go up pricewise, too, IMO.
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So it isn't a matter of money, its a matter of "do I want to constantly chase new cards for the sake of my compulsion?"
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: UR Delver
Modern: UGR Delver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
I won't touch foils because I live in Florida, but my cube's already Beta'd out and about half signed. More signatures are the only thing left for me to do.
Even if I only draft every couple months it's worthwhile for me to keep together as a hobby within a hobby.
I'd get rid of other cards before my cube if I really needed the money, but I'd certainly be downgrading foils if I felt like I needed to or wanted to in order to rationalize other mtg purchases.
[Developing] 430+ Peasant Cube Thread --- [and on Cube Cobra]
I've spent so much time, effort, and money on compiling this beautiful stack of cardboard with the hopes that I'd see the end one day and be able to appreciate the fruits of my labor...but now, it just keeps going. It's like sisyphus pushing the rock up the hill...or maybe a more apt metaphor would be planting seeds of a fruit tree in hopes of having the fruit only to see the sapling continue to grow taller, taller, and taller until you can't reach the fruit anyway.
Now that I have a Peasant Cube, that's non-foiled no less, every set only costs me at most a couple bucks sadly. There's no thrill of the hunt associated with set releases.
[Developing] 430+ Peasant Cube Thread --- [and on Cube Cobra]
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Honestly, you can never escape Magic once you start. I learned that the hard way!
You might want to consider doing the same thing with your future kids.
1. I only ever have to spend money on the staple/great cards that make it a year and a half &
2. The prices drop considerably after rotation &
3. Creates a list of cards I can trade for during that time and if I end up picking them up, then I don't have to fork over cash for it.
The initial time sucks because you don't make changes to your cube for the first two years, but I just hit the point where the next rotation will allow me to add a bunch of new cards and I'm pretty excited.
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360 Peasant Cube!
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