This is a random question, but does anyone know Richard Garfield?
Ask this over at Magiclibrarities, I'm pretty sure a few people there know Richard. There are also some of the biggest collectors around over there for the collection part of your first question. Most are located in Europe though.
Repacks are almost always scams, period. If you want to buy a ton of cards and not know what is in the lot, buy collections. I just picked up another collection for $30 and got a Savannah, 2 Dakmor Sorcoress (P2) and 12 ESG plus tons of other great Antiquities - Legends cards.
I'll be at the prerelease at Supergames in Alpharetta, GA. They announced last Wednsday that they got tons of product and will be adding Legacy Staples in the $15-$25 range to the prize pool for each flight. On top of that, just for showing up they are giving $1 off all your drafts until the next prerelease so its essentially free if you draft a ton.
I have made foils like this in the past. The first thing to know is that the "foil layer" covers the entire card, not just the area where it shows through. What makes it show through is that there is no ink at all in that area. For mine I manipulated the image in Photoshop to allow a fair amount of opacity, then printed them out on clear model decal film. This stuff in amazingly thin and adds very little to the thinkness of the card. You then seal it, and wet the back of the decal sheet and adhere it to the blank foil card. After that you need to apply some significant pressure to push out any remaining moisture, such as the 500lbs steel block I use.
The image manipulation is ultimately key. I used a 2000dpi scan of the actual card and then took out every other pixel and then printed the image out on a 2000dpi color laser we have at work.
That Birds of Paradise my friend opened has been terrible for me, because I keep buying those damn things packs telling myself "hey, you could always get an awesome rare".
I was going through my cards "lands, crappy cards, lands" he goes "oh wow, this is a cool card, it's a flying guy you tap for mana" (he wasn't familiar with any cards we didn't already have). I'm like "... Birds of Paradise? You son of a b**ch."
This is the problem with buying packs at all. I was recently at a comic shop down the road that has TONS of old product, but all overpriced. This guy was there opening about 10 packs of Onslaught and he was super stoked to get Polluted Delta. I asked him what else he go and it was all junk, all of it, so he paid over $60 (5.99 per pack) for 1 Delta. I'll just stick to eBay and singles.
Though what you have is Revised, had it been Unlimited there is very little premium for Unlimited Land. I use Unlimited land in my Legacy decks because I like to be able to near instantly find a land from a Fetch and the white border helps with that, but I got all mine for something like $0.02 each.
If you see these with a pack that is all white or white with a red/blue stripe through the middle run away! These are the two player starter boosters above posters have mentioned and are garbage. You should get aquanted with what the sides of boosters look like. The last one I picked up was Masques, Future Sight, Saviors and I got a Port out of it. I haven't picked up any of the packs with loose cards in them, but I have been told that they are made up of returned product from stores where someone opened the pack, and left the crap on the shelf, hense no rares, ever.
PSA cards are great. When looking to buy one, first, check the PSA registry number on the PSA site. Make sure that the 9 Mox Pearl you are buying is infact that and not a fake. PSA Graded P9 fetch a significant, maybe 150% premium so be ready to pay more for them than non-graded power. If you don't want to pay the premium, then I suggest buying unlimited P9 as few people fake Unlimited. Also, just be sure to buy from an established seller with tons of feedback. You will pay more again here, but you will get a real card too.
EDIT: I too buy PSA graded cards, all 10's and all Unlimited (I actually like the white border.. :P)
Someone already mentioned it, but it appeared to be overlooked, so here it is again. Obstinate Familiar. Any deck that digs like crazy and runs red should have at lest one. That way you can control your digging a bit. I use one in my Vintage Glimpse/Kobolds deck and it does the job every time (and can be clamped for more draws!)
The alters I have done are, done. I just PM'd Billy to get an address to send them in to. I don't have a scanner unfortunately, so hopefully he can scan them on his end.
But don't they have to still be readable w/r/t text box and everything to be playable? (Or just name/type/cmc?)
It really depends on the TO. My local Vintage tourneys have been VERY leaniant about Proxies. I use a set of textless, bear-themed P9 proxies done by Bristol and have had no problems whatsoever.
I look up all rares at www.starcitygames.com then check them on e-bay. Most of the cards + shipping will be cheaper on ebay, but a few of the more common cards are cheaper from www.starcitygames.com/ because you don't pay shipping for every single order.
If you look up prices on Starcity, you can find a cheaper price EVERYWHERE. They give you the best peace of mind, but have just about the worst prices. Use the price guides at Magictraders.com as a starting point, then knock a couple dollars off that, and start bidding on eBay. You may have to bid on 10 items before you win one, but you will get a good deal in the end as a reward for your work and patience.
http://www.magiclibrarities.net/sets-revised-edition.html
Ask this over at Magiclibrarities, I'm pretty sure a few people there know Richard. There are also some of the biggest collectors around over there for the collection part of your first question. Most are located in Europe though.
The image manipulation is ultimately key. I used a 2000dpi scan of the actual card and then took out every other pixel and then printed the image out on a 2000dpi color laser we have at work.
This is the problem with buying packs at all. I was recently at a comic shop down the road that has TONS of old product, but all overpriced. This guy was there opening about 10 packs of Onslaught and he was super stoked to get Polluted Delta. I asked him what else he go and it was all junk, all of it, so he paid over $60 (5.99 per pack) for 1 Delta. I'll just stick to eBay and singles.
EDIT: I too buy PSA graded cards, all 10's and all Unlimited (I actually like the white border.. :P)
Or Revised, or Fourth Edition, or Fifth Edition.
Verduran Enchantress - 39/99 + 1 Miscut, 1 Artist Proof (signed)
Copper-Leaf Angel - 5/16 + 1 extra Japanese foil (signed)
Desolation Angel - 6/18 (no extras)
Cromat - 4/18 (9x extra English)
If anyone has some of these in foreign languages, LMK!
It really depends on the TO. My local Vintage tourneys have been VERY leaniant about Proxies. I use a set of textless, bear-themed P9 proxies done by Bristol and have had no problems whatsoever.
If you look up prices on Starcity, you can find a cheaper price EVERYWHERE. They give you the best peace of mind, but have just about the worst prices. Use the price guides at Magictraders.com as a starting point, then knock a couple dollars off that, and start bidding on eBay. You may have to bid on 10 items before you win one, but you will get a good deal in the end as a reward for your work and patience.