It's 2025 and we're back with our yearly tradition of discussing what we would do if we ran Hasbro. Secret Layers, Baulders Gate 3, and the finalization of the eOne sale. What a year it's been. Casting out lens, we look at the decisions we saw coming out of Hasbro and WotC and put together some notes and things we'd like to see them do better, things we'd change, things we'd improve. Even a few things we'd like to do away with. Join us on this rocky ride as we discuss what we would do in 2025 if we ran Hasbro.

This week we look back at Magic in 2024 and discuss what we encouraging and what was discouraging. What could be improved and what worked. How did the set release cadence, Secret Lair drops, and handling of constructed impact the game. Effectively grading Magic in 2024 across several, easy to understand metrics with a side of "what happened at the LGS this year?!"

We've had the pleasure of experiencing cEDH from multiple points of view over almost a decades worth of play and thought, what better way to discuss the format than to try and bring together all of that. With the experience of judging one of the largest cEDH events on the East Coast barely in the rear view, we talk about what cEDH means to players, judges, the LGS, and vendors. What is the impact the format has on all the aforementioned people and where we see the format heading. This episode was planned out well in advance of initial cEDH RC issues, giving us an even more interesting insight into the format as we get to marry together player sentiment prior to those events, all the way through the recent bannings.

Whether you were able to play at a pre-elease event held at a WPN premium store or your local non-WPNs event, even just walked in these past few days, you've had the opportunity to engage with Dominaria Remasterd as a product. We touch on what this set means to the LGS and how they are handling such a short lived lifespan for a set that whose only purpose seems to maintain the constant hum of in store releases that we've grown accustomed to this past year. What does the set mean for established players, the drafts, the pre-releasers, and even taking a look into the future when this set can be dusted off and promoted as an "experience." Join us as we break down Dominaria Remastered at the LGS.

Last week we looked to the past, this week we look... to the future! With the quarterly analysis done, MaRo's lastest Tumblr blurb, and a number of key take aways from Hasbro, we compiled a list of things we are looking forward to in 2023. As a vendor, what are we looking for? As an LGS, what do we need? We also cover our hopes and dreams for 2023 and 2024. A few items that we know might not be possible for this year but hopefully the next. https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/making-magic/storm-scale-throne-of-eldraine-through-strixhaven-part-2

2022 felt like one hell of year when looking back at everything that's happened with Magic, WotC, and Hasbro so we decided to bring you the highlights wrapped up for the end of the holidays. Did you, for instance, remember that the Alta Fox discussions happened in 2022? How about the number of sets released or how consumer sentiment impacts the holiday season? Join us, won't you, for one last look back at 2022 and all the ups and downs it brought for us. https://deadline.com/2022/10/hasbro-stock-falls-after-disappointing-earnings-report-dim-holiday-sales-outlook-1235148098/ https://finance.yahoo.com/chart/HAS#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 https://i0.wp.com/onlyontuesdays27.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/30-Years-2.png?resize=768%2C452&ssl=1

WotC announces that players are frustrated they can't immediately play their paper cards from their pre-release events in constructed events like they can on Arena, so now paper cards are legal in constructed starting on pre-release weekend. Okay, but, why? Who asked for this? Why are the LGS and vendors who have an LGS or do events meant to suffer for nothing? Why does WotC continue to harm us? https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/announcements/format-legality-shifts-to-prerelease-with-phyrexia-all-will-be-one

As 2022 draws to a close we have yet another reprint set to scour as an LGS and vendor to determine how we are going to handle allocation. We discuss the contents and preorders, among other things, as we break down our view of the set on the way to each delivering a valuation of how we are going to be handling this set in the short term. Did you know that Collectors Boosters are $200 ea at the LGS but $300 on Amazon with some of the most basic stats we've seen? 15 Magic cards + 1 foil token in each booster 11 foil cards in every pack 2–6 Retro-Frame and 1–5 Borderless cards in every pack 4 cards of rarity Rare or higher in every pack Simply. Wild.

If the Magic vertical were to topple and leave us with a hole in our product catalog, we need to patch this asap before we bleed out. So, as an LGS and a vendor, how do we identify perspective, successful games to plug into our ecosystem? This week we discuss how we measure success at each level, what we look for in a new product, to bring into the store or warehouse. What decisions have to be made, what research done before we dedicate capital to product and personnel? Join us as we again take a deep dive into the heart of these two sides of the gaming retail ecosystem and discuss new product acquisition.

As Thanksgiving in the United States has passed, along with Cyber Monday and the "Holiday Season" in front of us, we continue our evergreen conversation about sales at the LGS and Vendor levels. While it makes sense that a "sale is a sale", the core remaining the same, the strategy for each sale can be unique unto itself and it's this idea that we discuss today. We break down the overall goals, in our experience, of some of the largest Q4 sales opportunities at both levels on this episode.

It's almost 2023 and we're back with our yearly tradition of discussing what we would do if we ran Hasbro. Comparatively, 2022 was a rather interesting year with the Alta Fox discussions, some rather obtuse earnings calls, and a product release schedule bordering on lunacy but we held in there and used all of this to distill down our changes for the organization on the whole. So buckle up and enjoy some fun back and forth about how we, two dudes yelling over the internet, would change Hasbro.

With the Hasrbo investor call in the books, time to read and digest Hasbros notes, relearning what the "Brand Blueprint" is and seeing the fallout of the 30th Anniversary event in Vegas, we pulled out some of the more interesting snippets we could find to help breakdown what happened on that call. Armed with links from everywhere, including insight from those on the call, we shed light on some of numbers seen and what that might mean for Hasbro and WotC. https://hasbro.gcs-web.com/news-releases/news-release-details/hasbro-reports-third-quarter-financial-results https://articles.starcitygames.com/magic-the-gathering/magic-the-gathering-becomes-hasbros-first-1-billion-brand/ https://www.fool.com/investing/2022/10/04/why-hasbro-stock-popped-then-dropped/

It's another day so there's another Standard Magic set to digest. This week it's time for breakout of some of the most under priced, over priced, and correctly priced cards in BRO. Join us as we discuss playability, affordability, projected sales, and have a vivid discussion about some aptly named lands.

From the Judges to the LGS, from the players to the formats we discuss what it's been like operating in the new RCQ system. What changes have felt impactful to each of the aforementioned elements? What are we seeing now that we haven't seen before? Do these changes to the system even feel good?

This week we were graced with the creator of MtGMate.com.au, Nick, who talked shop about... well, everything. We discussed intersecting interests, the driver behind how MtGMate came to be, and a bit of vision for the future of the industry. We did our best to keep the jargon to a minimum but it's hard when you get two developers together to just geek out about their stacks, so be prepared to learn about some behind the scenes magic.

As we wind down our fourth year on the podcast and come screaming into the last Standard set of the year and holiday season rush, we decided to do our retrospective a little early. In this, the second of our two part series, we look back at cards we chose as specs for the podcast. Cards that we studied, put time into understanding the reasoning for movement, the expectations based on knowledge of similar cards, movement, and formats, and forecasting. Join us as we step through some of our major groupings in our pick history and takeaways. (Don't eat your margins in fees!)

As we wind down our fourth year on the podcast and come screaming into the last Standard set of the year and holiday season rush, we decided to do our retrospective a little early. In the first of our two part series, we look back at cards we spec'd on personally this year. Cards that we mentioned just in passing in Discord, maybe bought into at the start of the year that made it into the cast, and even some we just kept to ourselves due to likelihood of failure or even lack of insight. We group as many picks together as we can into lessons learned and discuss how things went!

Here we are. A time which we never thought we'd see: serialized Magic cards in non-specialty products. With The Brothers War looming and most of the important details laid out, we break down what has been announced about the retro frame artifacts, the schematic art treatment, and their serialized brethren. What does this mean for the LGS, for vendors, players, WotC and Hasbro, and who are these even aimed at?

With the the release of the product slate for the rest of 2022 and first half of 2023 it's time we dive in and take a look at what eat set represents and discuss what we believe will be the outcome. Will Standard fall apart? How many artifacts need to be banned? Are there dinosaurs INSIDE Ixalan? And what about the Balrog? Join us as we finish this journey into the center of the earth.

With the the release of the product slate for the rest of 2022 and first half of 2023 it's time we dive in and take a look at what eat set represents and discuss what we believe will be the outcome. Will Standard fall apart? How many artifacts need to be banned? Are there dinosaurs INSIDE Ixalan? And what about the Balrog? Join us as we start on this journey, delving only as deeply as a dwarf would.

LGSs open and LGSs close; and that could be for any number of reasons. This week we discuss what it's like shuttering an LGS, from the months ahead of closing up to day the doors finally close. What happens to inventory, stock, everything down to your player base and how to care for them.

With last weeks discussion about the return of format based "seasons" in the books, we turn our focus this week to another important element of "seasonality": buylist curation A viewer pointed out that we haven't covered how buylists are handled at the LGS and vendor level so we decided to break things down and discuss a lot of the "whys" and a number of the "hows", covering drivers and utility along the way.

After casting off the idea of a "season" of events where Grad Prix, Magic Fests and local events no longer paralleled one another in terms of format nor paralleled the Pro Tour or Mythic Championship that capped the current quarter, WotC brought us some interesting news. Currently scheduled, after the Pioneer Regionals and Pro Tour, the next capstone events will be Standard. And thus we seem to be returning back to format seasonality. This week we discuss the kind of foundation this sets for both vendors and LGS alike, event scheduling for both, and what we hope for moving forward as WotC continues to announce "end of season" events.

In a stunning turn of events, eBay acquires the combined TCGPlayer and ChannelFireball Market place entity. An entity so new that the ink is barely dry on the aquisition contracts. With the comparison out of the way, we break down the public knowledge about the acquisition and give our thoughts on the details and a bit of a presecriptive view of what we believe both the timeline and driving force behind this was. There's some good, some bad, and some ugly so strap in. July 11, 2022 - TCGP Acquires CFB and BinderPoS https://seller.tcgplayer.com/about/press-center/tcgplayer-to-acquire-channelfireball-and-binderpos/ Aug 22, 2022 - eBay acquired TCGP https://www.ebayinc.com/stories/news/ebay-has-entered-into-an-agreement-to-acquire-tcgplayer/

This week, wes set off to discuss Duskmour: House of Horror and the hype cycle surrounding it. What cards shone bright during spoiler season, what seemed to fall through the cracks? What references did we pick up and like the best? Join us on our review of the Spoop-tacular set, with your hosts with the mosts.

In a stunning turn of events, eBay acquires the combined TCGPlayer and ChannelFireball Market place entity. An entity so new that the ink is barely dry on the aquisition contracts. Surprisingly, the illustrious Halt_I_m_Reptar has lived through an extremely similar merger of tech corporations and is here to walk you through an eerily similar situation, give you the insights and reasonings behind the merger, and then a timeline of what happened afterward. There's some good, some bad, and some ugly so strap in. July 11, 2022 - TCGP Acquires CFB and BinderPoS https://seller.tcgplayer.com/about/press-center/tcgplayer-to-acquire-channelfireball-and-binderpos/ Aug 22, 2022 - eBay acquired TCGP https://www.ebayinc.com/stories/news/ebay-has-entered-into-an-agreement-to-acquire-tcgplayer/

Pushing off as long as possible, we're finally ready to start talking about the current and future state of the US economy as well as a bit about the global economy. In the third and finaly episode of this series, we discuss the odss and ends events, market indicators, and curiosities that we have seen within the last quarter and their impact on the playerbase, LGS, and vendors. Everything from the shrinking number of events and vendors at them all the way to the sale of a BGS 5 Timetwister! https://www.investopedia.com/terms/i/inflation.asp https://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/recession.asp https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBo4GViDxzc https://www.investopedia.com/articles/stocks/09/how-interest-rates-affect-markets.asp#:~:text=The%20Federal%20Reserve%20influences%20the,money%20more%20expensive%20to%20obtain. https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2022/8/5/what-the-blowout-us-jobs-numbers-actually-mean https://finance.yahoo.com/news/berkshire-hathaway-posts-huge-quarterly-123149331.html

Pushing off as long as possible, we're finally ready to start talking about the current and future state of the US economy as well as a bit about the global economy. In the second episode, Argus takes us through inflation and recession proofing from the LGS perspective. We've seen a lot of churn in the LGS ecosystem and that tells us that a lot of people aren't prepared for the long term, the ups and the downs. We dig in this week and go deep on what an LGS can do to protect itself. While a lot of what we discuss is surface level economics, there's a lot to learn and we encourage you to keep up with the coversation as best as possible and empower yourself by reading/watching the following: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/i/inflation.asp https://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/recession.asp https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBo4GViDxzc https://www.investopedia.com/articles/stocks/09/how-interest-rates-affect-markets.asp#:~:text=The%20Federal%20Reserve%20influences%20the,money%20more%20expensive%20to%20obtain. https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2022/8/5/what-the-blowout-us-jobs-numbers-actually-mean https://finance.yahoo.com/news/berkshire-hathaway-posts-huge-quarterly-123149331.html

Pushing off as long as possible, we're finally ready to start talking about the current and future state of the US economy as well as a bit about the global economy. In the first of three episodes, we spend our time talking about the individial; the player, the collector, the financier, etc. What happens to them, how can they protect themselves, and how they can get ahead. While a lot of what we discuss is surface level economics, there's a lot to learn and we encourage you to keep up with the coversation as best as possible and empower yourself by reading/watching the following: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/i/inflation.asp https://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/recession.asp https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBo4GViDxzc https://www.investopedia.com/articles/stocks/09/how-interest-rates-affect-markets.asp#:~:text=The%20Federal%20Reserve%20influences%20the,money%20more%20expensive%20to%20obtain. https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2022/8/5/what-the-blowout-us-jobs-numbers-actually-mean https://finance.yahoo.com/news/berkshire-hathaway-posts-huge-quarterly-123149331.html

With in person play across all types of games returning to the LGS and competitive paper events being held by parent organizations, it was time we checked back in on the LGS. We discuss everything from in person play to tournaments even the invisibles and whether or not they attrition into players who make an appearance at the LGS! And we didn't forget finances and supply chain issues for all verticals, we just saved that for last.

With Dominaria United looming and a rumor about the possibility of the Zendikar "Priceless Treasures" returning we decided to take a step back and look at how WotC has enterted the secondary market over the years. We discuss indirect card injection by way of pure reprints all the way through to direct to consumer offerings like Secret Layers and everything else we could think of along the way. And we get really opinionated on whather or not we think each of these offerings has hit the mark or missed and was just a giant cash grab. (Looking at you Double Masters)

In an unexpected turn of events this week, TCGPlayer announced the acquisition of both ChannelFireball and BinderPoS (as well as all subsequent organizations and services) which threw us a curveball as we had another topic all lined up. Instead we decided to pivot and discuss this monumental announcement. Immediately there are a lot of questions ranging from, "What will the new offering looking like for stores that took advantage of the CFBMarket place?" to "What about content?" We put together a few sweeping bullet points to talk through some of the top level issues we thought were worthwhile to discuss as TCGP continues to reshape itself to look more like Amazon. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tcgplayer-to-acquire-channelfireball-and-binderpos-301583431.html https://twitter.com/TCGplayer/status/1546511899948470273 https://strategy.channelfireball.com/all-strategy/home/channelfireball-announces-premier-card-grading-partnership/

It was the best of times, it was the blurst of times. A never ending spoiler season culminating in one of the best reprint sets we've seen in a while... what more could you want?! Maybe the products that were supposed to have been released earlier in the year that were pushed back? But those will be releasing in October, one full week before Pioneer Challenger decks and The Game Night product. Overshadowed by 2X2 and square in the middle of a prime wallet cooling time, we now have four products, two of which were delayed, that look ready to fail. https://www.reddit.com/r/magicTCG/comments/voys3p/in_october_four_separate_mtg_products_will/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x https://wpn.wizards.com/en/news/game-night-free-for-all-pioneer-challenger-decks-2022-release-october-14 https://www.reddit.com/r/mtgfinance/comments/vst3tr/wasteland_gaming_just_came_out_and_told_the/

It was the best of times, it was the blerst of times. Working in the trading and collectible card industry is as unique an experience as they come and while we've both been lucky to operate within this industry, we've been here for a while and it's time to reflect. We picked a few key markers, parts of this industry that best represent the overall experiences shared at the vendor level and the LGS level and discuss our current feelings about them. What's changed, what we miss, and what we like. Just two old fogeys waxing poetic about an industry they've been working in since they became legal adults.

Several Command Fests and Origins later, we decided it was time to bring our knowledge and experience to a compare and contrast style episode. Not every vendor has the luxury to vend one or both of these, once or multiple times so while this discussion and comparison isn't all encompasing, we only have so much time, it's a great springboard for those looking to go. more general questions comparing Magic Fests, Command Fests, and larger gaming conventions like Origins.

With each set, we look at cards that we think are underrated or overrated during the prerelease period. Taking into account what we've seen from these cards over the SEVEN WEEK period between set releases, we cut through what happened in order to hold ourselves accountable. Utilizing the notes we took from that episode we reflect on where we went wrong, where we went right, and evaluate why that was the case to help improve our abilities in making correct picks during prerelease.

Several Command Fests and Origins later, we decided it was time to bring our knowledge and experience to a compare and contrast style episode. Not every vendor has the luxury to vend one or both of these, once or multiple times so while this discussion and comparison isn't all encompasing, we only have so much time, it's a great springboard for those looking to go. In this episode we discuss the three days at each event, their unique feel, turnout, drivers, and expectation setters to get you ready to handle your first Command Fest as a vendor.

Continuing our conversation from the week prior, we put into context our findings about the DOW and cryptocurrency market and how they stack up to the Reserved List. Based on our findings we also discuss the merits of investing money into these markets and which, if any, we would feel the most comfortable with and why. https://www.macrotrends.net/1358/dow-jones-industrial-average-last-10-years https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/bitcoin/ https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/ethereum/ https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/litecoin/ https://en.cryptonomist.ch/2020/07/23/manipulated-cryptocurrency-crash-march-2020/ https://www.blocknative.com/blog/mempool-forensics https://cryptoholics.com/crypto-news/bitcoin-crash https://www.tradingview.com/chart/BTCUSD/Rd8UA0NQ-Bitcoin-Crash-2021/

It's that time of year! When we look back fondly on the Reserved List as method to park money and let it ride! This time, however, instead of dissecting various parts of the Reserved List to point out trends and things to look out for, we are comparing the last 2+ years of Reserved List prices to DOW and Cryptocurrency markets. Drawing parallels between each to demonstrate how they may, or may not be... related. https://www.macrotrends.net/1358/dow-jones-industrial-average-last-10-years https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/bitcoin/ https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/ethereum/ https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/litecoin/ https://en.cryptonomist.ch/2020/07/23/manipulated-cryptocurrency-crash-march-2020/ https://www.blocknative.com/blog/mempool-forensics https://cryptoholics.com/crypto-news/bitcoin-crash https://www.tradingview.com/chart/BTCUSD/Rd8UA0NQ-Bitcoin-Crash-2021/

This week we cover Modern Horizons 2 and the glut of variants contained within. Retro, showcase, extended border, etched... the gang's all here. Taking a look at some of these variants we breakdown what we're seeing from the set financially and discuss where, based on current numbers, the value in sealed lies. Also the rather stagnant prices. As we've said before, please spend time with two old men yelling at clouds.

Every set now contains its own unique type of card variant and it's about time to discuss this! With the start of the these "in set" variants being the Battle for Zendikar Expeditions, we drew a clear line and, looking forward, picked two type of variants to discuss, some key takeaways about them from all aspects, and then a bit of a financial breakdown for some of the individual cards we liked (or didn't) in that type. As we've said before, please spend time with two old men yelling at clouds.

With the upcoming push for Pioneer at the OP level it seems that there's a fracture in the community at all levels about whether or not Pioneer will overtake Modern at the OP level, becoming the de facto non-rotating format supported by WotC. So we decided to discuss that and then, from a vendor standpoint, having time to adjust to player demand, discuss what supporting Pioneer means. Everything from in-store events to case layouts, we discuss what it means to truly support Pioneer, what the markers were that means our players support it, and how we have responded as a business.

With each set, we look at cards that we think are underrated or overrated during the prerelease period. Taking into account what we’ve seen from the cards over their three month period we cut through what happened between set releases. Utilizing the notes we took from that episode we reflect on where we went wrong, where we went right, and evaluate why that was the case to help improve our abilities in making correct picks during prerelease.

With the pre-release for Streets of New Capenna in the rear view and release weekend and the accompanying price drops in front of us, we had a sit down with friend of the cast ChiStyleGaming to discuss some cards! From Luxor to Triomes, we discuss card playability, wax about comparisons, and give out thoughts on what an appropriate price is. As an added bonus at the end, instead of picks we cover three cards we feel are overrated and not worth the hype nor the cost and three cards we think are currently underrated and worth discussion. You can find Chicago Style Gaming at their website: https://convictiongaming.com/ Their Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ConvictionGaming And on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChiStyleGaming

As we continue to discuss the ripples that the OP announcement has had on the game, from top to bottom, we do a bit of self reflection. Looking inward we discuss what, if anything, we wil be changing about how we handle our specs, our booth stock, buys... everything as this announcement was huge.

With the announcement about the return to Organized Play coming mere weeks ahead of the Pre-Release for Streets of New Capenna, we decided to take a look at what is currently happening at the LGS level. How are things being planned, what kind of coordination is going into this first event back after the OP announcement. What kind of expectations are there in regards to the logistics. Hell, do we even remember how to do this?!

Prior to the Spotlight Series announcement, there was a light push for standard play at the LGS level and though meaningless as there were no competitive reasons to play, it did pave the way for the return of Standard at the LGS. Now, with buying from WotC, from large TOs, and, hopefully, a least one RCQ season a year, there are a multitude of reasons to engage with the Standard format. So. Are we seeing a return of Standard at the LGS in any meaningful capacity?

With the announcement of a return to true Organized Play, there's a lot to pick apart. From the player perspective it's another system with another set of rewards and events to schedule out but for vendors it represents something completely different. We cover a number of elements about the return of "OP with a purpose" and how we feel about this from a bottom up perspective. What does this impact in regards to our existing models, what can we return to, what's missing, and what we're plain excited about. Dreamhack, we're comin for ya! https://magic.gg/news/return-of-the-pro-tour-your-path-to-playing-magic-at-the-highest-level https://magic.gg/news/return-of-the-pro-tour-details

We've covered TCG-Cons; what they were like, who the target audience was, and the experience of vending one. With the return of the SCG tournament series, we discuss what that circuit is like now that it also contains premier level Flesh and Blood events alongside large Magic events. Who is attending, what are these events like compared to TCG-Cons and events prior to the shut down. What can we expect as vendors and what is the player response.

This week we demystify how vendors and LGS's alike determine how many packs of each set to open! The art of determining the number of packs to open to meet presale numbers isn't something that gets talked about a lot in the industry. It's not flashy, or sexy, but it truly is interesting as it can change with every set and shows immediate returns. We cover the elements of a standard set and what unfolds during the process of determining your variables and eventually opening those packs! Additionally, we recommend reading Ben Bleiweiss' article on pricing Magic preorders as it starts with some very basic pack cracking math: https://articles.starcitygames.com/magic-the-gathering/how-to-price-magic-card-preorders/ As well as what we like to term the "Welcome to Variant Hell" Twitter thread about how variations impacts pack opening: https://twitter.com/starcityben/status/1494690343610195974?s=21