Category: Niko’s Soap Box

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“That’s Not For Sale, Man”

I was looking up the Garage Sales on Craigslist. And, I stumbled upon a listing that seemed too good to be true. This guy was selling all these collectables, old Vinyl, Video Games, Action Figures, you name it, he had it.

I figured I had to go there as soon as he opened at 8:00am. It was a Thursday morning, and I had to take my daughter to Summer School. I’ll drop her off and head on over. It was about an hour away from where her school was, but what else would i do that morning.

Off I was, I had my little daughter in tow, and I had to keep her from dozing off as we rode out to Frankfort. When we finally got there, I looked around and nothing seemed to be the same as what was shown in the pictures. Still, I looked around.

What was displayed at the Sale was mostly junk. The 80’s metal records from the listing were actually those old worthless records that no one wants. I had seen some Motley Crue records on the listing. Where were those?

And then I turned to a bookshelf and saw the good stuff. I was like, ok this is what I was looking for. I grabbed an 18″ inch NECA Willy Wonka figure. Price tag was $5.00. And as soon as I was about to say, “I’ll take this” He said, “That’s not for sale, man”

I looked at him.

“But, you got a price on it.”

“That’s what I paid for it, at a garage sale.”

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My Very First Kit.

Well, I definitely had the itch.

I started heading to the card shop, to learn how to play, but it was mostly hit or miss. Plenty of times, there was no one there to play with. But, I still had to find myself some packs. I would keep buying a couple here and there, from the card shop.

I would start looking for local game stores around my area that would sell Final Fantasy TCG, but sadly there weren’t that many. Most of them didn’t even know FFTCG existed.

I stumbled upon The Gaming Goat, in Tinley Park. Great place.

Walked in and noticed the booster boxes behind the counter. I had found a new place to shop. And, sitting right next to the boxes was an Opus VI Prerelease Kit. Now, I got excited. This was the first time I ever laid eyes upon it. It was like a mini booster box, but better. I quickly picked it up and drove straight home.

Sat down and got ready to open up the kit. The tape was cut, but I didn’t mind I still would have the packs, the promo card and the sleeves. I pulled back the top cover and all the packs were open! What happened here? Why is there a Yu-Gi-Oh card in here? I called them up, and I guess they figured out what happened, but they exchanged it and made my day.

Now, looking back, I think the opened cards were better than what I pulled from the packs.

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That’s Not Junk, That’s Merchandise

I was doing some thinking, and I came to the conclusion that, I will never be able to support myself selling just Final Fantasy TCG. Not because the game is dead or anything like that. Simply, because I don’t want to sell anything, and just keep all the expensive cards for me in my collection. And that is not the way to do business.

I figured I should start looking into a variety of categories. I would like it to be mostly trading cards, all kinds. TCGs, Sports, Non-Sports : Cards from old movies, shows, comics etc. etc. Luckily, trading cards are almost everywhere. You can find them at Garage Sales, Card shops, Flea Markets, Online. Well, that’s where I was sourcing them. I remember I had found some Vintage WoTC era Pokemon cards for $25. No Charizard, but there was a nice Raichu Holo in there. This was 3 Years ago and that Raichu is about $25 at the moment. Worked great for me. Now, If I only wanted to sell it.

It might be a thing with Trading cards that I just don’t want to sell them. But, I do. I do sell them. And it leaves a tear in my eye when I had sold that Lani Full Art Foil. It was a sad day indeed. What can you do though? I like money, too.

And then it dawned on me.

I shouldn’t just keep myself focused on just Trading Cards, I can sell all kinds of collectables. I know some better than others, but I just like hoarding things. And, then my wife tells me to throw that junk out. Now, I get to tell her : “That’s not junk, That’s Merchandise.” Which seems to work for the most part. I do get a stare from time to time, that says “What the hell did you just buy?” What the 1970’s Radio Phone? Someone’s going to want it. And that framed print from the 80’s? Yeah, that’s junk.

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Got To Be, the Very Best

I started playing Pokemon Online, mainly because I work all day and there are no places open late at night to find someone to play FFTCG with. That and It’s very simple to pick up, with the tutorial and the Trainer Challenges, there’s something to do. Even when you work all day.

Mostly I’ll just start a match and go about my business and when I’m close to the laptop, I’ll take a look, survey what’s going on and make my moves, before I set off again to do what I need to do.

Turns out it’s a very interesting game.

Behind the Pikachus, are the game’s mechanics which upon closer observation, I enjoyed. The game sucked me in and I have been playing for about a month now. I have all these old codes that shall get me a whole bunch of packs with them. Now, I believe this is something that FFTCG should do. I know I would be playing. But, that’s for another post.

The Trainer Challenges are a great way for anyone to make their way into this game. It allows you to figure out how a deck works, and you don’t have to worry about facing an actual person, as I tend to shy away from online play. Hoping to learn exactly what I am doing before jumping in.

The computer opponents are pretty easy to beat, giving you a little bit of a challenge. But, once you figure it out, it becomes fairly simple.

I haven’t tried building a deck yet, mostly because I have no Mimikyu cards. I’ll eventually get to trying out the deck builder. Once I get all these packs and have enough good cards to get a decent deck going. If anyone wants to play, kardboardkorner is my display name.

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A Hole In My Pocket

After I had gotten the packs at Gamer’s World, I knew I needed more. But, couldn’t find a reason to go to the mall other than getting more packs. I knew I had an itch that needed scratching, and there was only one way to do it. I ended up going to Target after work, to get some things that we needed around the house. And, decided to check out the card section.

There they were. I saw them right away packs of Opus III, Opus IV, and Opus VI. I had to get them. And, I did. Couple packs of each Opus. I went home and opened them up, but it was not enough. I needed more. The next morning I headed to Target before work and bought out the rest of the packs.

There they were in my pocket the whole day begging to be opened.

The day went by ever so slowly, and when it was time to go home, I decided I should hit up another Target, we could always use a few more packs. I was buying so many packs over the next couple of weeks, that it was draining my pocket at a fast pace. Whenever my wife would go to the mall, I would have her pick up a couple of packs. Turns out one of the employees that worked there, was a patron at our restaurant. So, we started talking and got to know him. He said they were trying to get a FFTCG night at the card shop. I would always say I wanted to go, but my schedule would not allow it.

I decided that, instead of packs, I should just buy a box. It would be cheaper, and I would get a whole bunch of packs to open. I found a box of Opus I, for 80 bucks. I wish I would have bought more, now that they’re hitting 300. But, I probably would have opened them all up anyway.

The box lasted me 3 days. I knew I could have opened it all up on the first day, but I was trying to pace myself.