November 27, 2020
trammel – noun : a restriction or impediment to someone’s freedom of action
Have I mentioned that I rarely open boosters? I feel like I have – maybe even a few times – but I don’t have the wherewithal to read through the archives to see if I’ve actually done so.
So.
I rarely open boosters.
Outside of those opened to play with my son, I suspect I haven’t opened more than 4 or 5 booster packs this year “just to see what’s inside.” Maybe that’s a good thing. Cracking packs for the joy of it can end up a pretty joyless task once you know enough about Magic to surmise the monetary value of the cards you just opened. Understanding the financial side of Magic – something I really never did for the first 20 years I played it – is a double-edged sword.
It seems preposterous to claim I didn’t understand the financial side of Magic for so long. For much of that time I knew which cards were chase cards and which were bobos, even if I wasn’t able to rattle off their approximate prices. I knew reserve list cards fetched crazy prices ($30 for a single card? Who has that kind of disposable income?) And I knew, deep in the recesses of my brain, that cracking packs was not a financially sound practice. But it was just so fun to buy a booster box and open the entire thing in one sitting.
When I returned to Magic in 2017 I got much of my collection logged into a tracking program, and was astonished to see the “value.” I put that word in quotes because I’m well aware that I could never hope to get the listed amount were I to sell my whole collection. But that number – that “value” – was the catalyst to get me to dig deeper into the financial side of the game.
And, sadly, “value” has also convinced me to (mostly) stop opening packs unless they’re going to be put to some use.
Actually, that’s not entirely true. There’s more to my aversion to opening packs, despite having a pretty substantial amount of them. My plan is to write about the reasons for that reluctance around New Year’s, as I reflect on my year’s journey to rediscover the joy in Magic.
Despite my hesitation to do so, I will be opening some boosters before year’s end. I purchased a package that came with 24 boosters, all from different sets (several of which I’ve never opened before), which I’ll be treating as an advent calendar. For years my son has had an advent calendar for the holidays, and last year my wife got herself one. So this year I’ll have one of my own (though without festive the packaging or little doors to crack open.)
The purpose of this experiment is two-fold:
- Treat myself to a little something for the holidays
- Push myself to engage in an activity that I should be able to enjoy – that I used to enjoy – but have struggled with recently
I’ll try to blog about this little experiment, as well as more about WHY I’m doing it, as the season unfolds and concludes. Will I be inundated with bobo rares, or will 2020 give something back? This year owes us – ALL OF US – a little year-end goodwill.
Casual Magicking 