Actually, I made the count and it's still cheaper than what should be the retail price in France (27 euros vs at least 30 euros, maybe even 35).
I would make the preorder but I am afraid they won't manage to get enough premium decks to satisfy everyone. For example, they receive 150 preorders and only manage to get 50 boxes, what would happen then? Sue them? Impossible when you live in another country. I am new to such things and I do not know how the MtG market operates. Is my reasoning stupid and should I place a preorder?
MSRP is 30-35 euros? Wow.
I would say that if Wal*Mart and Target and the like are going to have it in the States, then just hit eBay. SCG won't ship to Europe, but Sally1234 probably will, and it'll likely work out, shipping included, to be a little under 30 euros.
That said, this is a prediction based on Duel Deck performances. In the past, I've picked up Duel Decks on eBay for less than MSRP. I'm guessing that these are going to be similar in volume to the Duel Decks, and may even have less popularity (no new art, people don't like foils, etc). So your mileage may vary. But you asked for predictions.
Should I place a preorder at these guys' website? I have never heard of them and don't live in the UK. I wrote to them to ask them about the delay and they thanked me for the information because they weren't even aware of it. They said that the date listed on the website is the date that was given to them by their wholesaler.
They have a very good price but I don't know how much I can trust them. Should I make a preorder now that the price is still low or do I run the risk of never receiving my item because they won't get enough boxes for everyone?
If you don't live in the UK, I'd hazard that their shipping rate will negate any discount. And depending on the exchange rate, 20 pounds could very well be more than your local MSRP, even before shipping (It's about 33 dollars, or 22.5 euros, according to Google).
So let's say LGSs have to charge $50 for the Sliver deck because it's hard to get. They also charged $30 for the Garruk vs. Liliana deck. They are expecting similar price hikes in the future.
I can get the same decks for $35 at Target for the Sliver deck(I believe $34.99 is the MSRP, correct?) and Garruk vs. Liliana for $20.
How many higher-priced decks can I purchase from my LGS before I have to start looking at price being a dominant factor?
Initially, yeah, support your LGS. I'm saying, over a prolonged time, how can you justify paying over MSRP for the same thing the big chains have for MSRP? (EDIT: And more reliably, possibly)
*NOTE: Isn't there something called Price Elasticity of Demand that says there's only a certain amount of increase people will pay before they see an item as too costly and demand goes down solely because of the higher price?
The problem is, big box stores and internet stores are simply more effective at selling volume than your LGS. In purely mathematical terms, supporting your LGS is usually a bad call. This, I think, is why WOTC has been giving out the "buy a box from a brick-and-mortar store" promos, as well as the Planechase promos, and other added-value items that you get when your brick-and-mortar store does well (at my "local" store, for example, the TO randomly handed out two ARB release cards, a CON prerelease card, and a CON release card to everyone participating in a 2HG tourney, just 'cause). So you have to factor stuff like that in to your decisions. And then there's the "F" in "FLGS". F is for friendly, folks, and when was the last time you got friendly, knowledgeable service at Wal*Mart? Not to knock big box staffers - my best friend works at K-Mart - but if I want to know something about a gaming product, I'm going to the gaming store to talk to them. There's added, unquantifiable value there too, and that's what we're paying for when we pay over MSRP.
Just because it was never done in Jace vs Chandra doesn't mean it can't be done in Garruk vs Liliana.
To be honest I do not see anything wrong with releasing Ursoth in this Duel Deck. There have been many cases where Wizards released certain cards ahead of their time eg. Bogardan Hellkite, Planechase Zendikar cards etc.
How many cards are 100% confirmed right now? Is it just the 5 from the packaging in the first post? If so, that's a little disappointing for how soon it's coming out
Given that we just got the decklist for Garruk vs Liliana last week and it comes out on Friday, I'm not really surprised that we don't have anything beyond those 5 confirmed yet. GvLSpoiler somehow managed to get his (or her) hands on a decklist (and treated us to a wonderful countdown), but even that information wasn't treated as "confirmed" until about 10-15 days before WOTC posted the lists.
Essence Sliver, Muscle Sliver, Sinew Sliver, and Winged Sliver are the only monocolor Slivers I can see having. Maybe a Homing?
I'd prefer multiples of the Muscle and Sinew though. Two of each, two Winged, one Essence, and one Homing? That still leaves room for two Gemhides.
Actually, it leaves room for as many Gemhides as they care to play. Remember, each copy of the same card has the same collector's number, even in box sets. So there are ten different monocoloured slivers, and an unknown quantity of each.
Why is the number crunch running in alphabetical order? IIRC collector numbers are sorted by color/type. We should be seeing a chunk of black cards, a chunk of green cards, then artifacts and lands. Was DvD different or something?
Previous Duel decks have had different numbering schemes. IIRC (and I'm too lazy to go upstairs and check), EvG had the red foil, then all the red cards alphabetically, then the green foil, and all the green cards alphabetically, then the colorless. JvC and DvD had the colors in the right order, but internally sorted by mana cost. I would be surprised if GvL had the colors all mixed together like this, and I presume it was made by the very kind Mr. GvLSpoiler to get our brains working, and those aren't actually the card numbers.
As semi-confirmation of this, there really ought to be four different arts of each basic land, ergo 4 numbers, not 1 each.
Er so now that we opened the box, people... is there anyone wanting to share the fun? Don't have MtgO, so did anyone else that got it figure where the damn info was?
Thanks GvL, your help was appreciated, and I found this to be pretty entertaining.
Wait, how did the cards lose their value? All one has to do is to laminate them and cut the extra plastic just right at the card's borderlines...
Unfortunately, they're now three times as thick as a normal card, and so definitely count as "marked", even when played in sleeves. The weight's quite a bit different too.
Plus, I mean, they're permanently laminated. Even if that didn't change their playability, a lot of collectors (myself included) tend to back away slowly at that. If you want to laminate them in penny-sleeves, that's one thing (and I'd definitely test that with an Oblivion Ring to ensure it's reversible before trying it on Tropical Island), but there's no way to get the lamination off.
I know that it's an absurdly bad card, but I think that my favorite card is still Gabriel Angelfire. I remember when I first got one for my GW deck, before it was reprinted in Chronicles. I had a choice - for $17 I could get either Gabriel or the Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale. I was advised by the store owner to get the Tabernacle, and I kind of wish I'd followed that advice now, but I bought Gabriel and shuffled him into my 65 (60 card deck? What's that?). I don't know that I drew him in more than a handful of games, but I really liked playing with a Legend.
Heh. I actually went out of my way to acquire all three of those cards in foil. Not for the gameplay, but for the art.
MSRP is 30-35 euros? Wow.
I would say that if Wal*Mart and Target and the like are going to have it in the States, then just hit eBay. SCG won't ship to Europe, but Sally1234 probably will, and it'll likely work out, shipping included, to be a little under 30 euros.
That said, this is a prediction based on Duel Deck performances. In the past, I've picked up Duel Decks on eBay for less than MSRP. I'm guessing that these are going to be similar in volume to the Duel Decks, and may even have less popularity (no new art, people don't like foils, etc). So your mileage may vary. But you asked for predictions.
Huzzah! That "Llanowar Forest" by Glen Angus is probably my favorite Forest. I'm glad they keep reprinting it.
If you don't live in the UK, I'd hazard that their shipping rate will negate any discount. And depending on the exchange rate, 20 pounds could very well be more than your local MSRP, even before shipping (It's about 33 dollars, or 22.5 euros, according to Google).
Thank you!
Don't suppose you could get us scans of the tokens?
Pretty please?
The problem is, big box stores and internet stores are simply more effective at selling volume than your LGS. In purely mathematical terms, supporting your LGS is usually a bad call. This, I think, is why WOTC has been giving out the "buy a box from a brick-and-mortar store" promos, as well as the Planechase promos, and other added-value items that you get when your brick-and-mortar store does well (at my "local" store, for example, the TO randomly handed out two ARB release cards, a CON prerelease card, and a CON release card to everyone participating in a 2HG tourney, just 'cause). So you have to factor stuff like that in to your decisions. And then there's the "F" in "FLGS". F is for friendly, folks, and when was the last time you got friendly, knowledgeable service at Wal*Mart? Not to knock big box staffers - my best friend works at K-Mart - but if I want to know something about a gaming product, I'm going to the gaming store to talk to them. There's added, unquantifiable value there too, and that's what we're paying for when we pay over MSRP.
You mean Hellkite Overlord.
At the risk of sounding like Steve's audience plant: Of course Snuff Out is the best!
Given that we just got the decklist for Garruk vs Liliana last week and it comes out on Friday, I'm not really surprised that we don't have anything beyond those 5 confirmed yet. GvLSpoiler somehow managed to get his (or her) hands on a decklist (and treated us to a wonderful countdown), but even that information wasn't treated as "confirmed" until about 10-15 days before WOTC posted the lists.
Actually, it leaves room for as many Gemhides as they care to play. Remember, each copy of the same card has the same collector's number, even in box sets. So there are ten different monocoloured slivers, and an unknown quantity of each.
Previous Duel decks have had different numbering schemes. IIRC (and I'm too lazy to go upstairs and check), EvG had the red foil, then all the red cards alphabetically, then the green foil, and all the green cards alphabetically, then the colorless. JvC and DvD had the colors in the right order, but internally sorted by mana cost. I would be surprised if GvL had the colors all mixed together like this, and I presume it was made by the very kind Mr. GvLSpoiler to get our brains working, and those aren't actually the card numbers.
As semi-confirmation of this, there really ought to be four different arts of each basic land, ergo 4 numbers, not 1 each.
I concur with all sentiments expressed here.
Unfortunately, they're now three times as thick as a normal card, and so definitely count as "marked", even when played in sleeves. The weight's quite a bit different too.
Plus, I mean, they're permanently laminated. Even if that didn't change their playability, a lot of collectors (myself included) tend to back away slowly at that. If you want to laminate them in penny-sleeves, that's one thing (and I'd definitely test that with an Oblivion Ring to ensure it's reversible before trying it on Tropical Island), but there's no way to get the lamination off.
Any duplicates, other than Blastoderm?