Category: Niko’s Soap Box

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Kardboard Fantasy VI

09/22

Let’s start off the week right. Or just what we usually do. Finish up our “Week in Review” and get the Card of the Day scheduled for Instagram and Facebook.

30 day plan, and it said work on your Main Menu. And, our Main Menu is small and easy to navigate, so we didn’t have much to do for that today.

Tried installing the new lights, and for some reason I kept tripping the breaker. I had the lights off, which is usually enough to take make the change. I gave up as it was getting late. I’ll work on it tomorrow while I have some day light.

09/23

Got a new workstation for Kardboard Korner. A new/old workstation. Got to format it, and bring it back to it’s factory settings before I do anything with it. That will take up most of the day. But, luckily you don’t really need to stay on top of it, just take a look every now and then to make sure it doesn’t crash. Which it already did.

Starting to work on Rebellion’s Call today. A quick sort, and I should be able to do the restock tomorrow.

Had to do some running around for the restaurant which put my lights on the back burner. Plus I took a nice nap. I had laid down for 5 minutes, and I was out.

09/24

I got a new laptop. The old one has been around since 2009. And, it’s still running strong .. ish. It will still get the job done, it’s just that whole Windows update. As of next month they will stop supporting Windows 10 and that old computer won’t run Windows 11. They’re forcing me to buy a new computer.

Actually, I was already looking before hand, probably a couple of years now, but you know what they say. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Kids had an early day at school, and Soccer practice afterwards. I had them do all of their chores and homework before hand, so we can spend the night playing 99 Nights in the Forest.

We tied our previous record. For some reason we just can’t get passed the 33rd day.

 09/25

Started the day off working on the Rebellion’s Call restock on TCG Player and eBay.

Spent the whole afternoon painting. I always think that it’s only going to take an hour or so, and it never is that quick. Especially when you’re painting the kitchen. Cutting it in took the longest.

I spent the rest of the night chatting with AI. Gemini to be exact, and for whatever topic you decide to talk to it about, I would always tell it to respond with no filter. This way it will respond to you with information that will actually help you. If you don’t, I’ve noticed that AI is more of a hype man than anything else.

09/26

Listed new Rebellion’s Call Foils on eBay.

I keep trying to figure out these BeyBlades that I got in July. But, every time I just lose interest in them as soon as I look at them. I’ll give it one more shot, if not, I’m just going to sell them as a Bulk Lot.

09/27

It’s Game Day. And, what a game it was. we lost 6-0. Technically it was 5-0 but they didn’t call an Off Side. The kids was hanging out with our keeper while our line was at the midfield. Any way, I just figured out these are all just Exhibition matches, until the Tournament starts.

My kids were great. I never felt more proud. My son ran, bumped the attacker off the ball, stole the ball and went on to counter attack all by himself. Where he was swallowed by 5 of the opposing teams players. It was a play I wish I recorded.

The ref gave him a warning, but the bump was perfectly legal it’s called a Fair Charge.

My daughter played good too, she was a Forward in this match. She created a lot of chances for herself, but she never took a shot. We’ll have to practice on that this week.

09/28

This Sunday was a lazy day.

Other than taking care of the Weekends orders, I just played 99 Nights in the Forest with the little ones.

And, then I played by myself. And, it’s a lot easier when you play by yourself. Sure, trying to get the Cultists alone is a bit harder, but there’s less of them to make up for it.

Picked up my wife after a concert she went to with her cousin, and we stopped by Lawrence Fisheries. Got a late night snack, and then it was off to bed.

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The Week In Kardboard

09/15

Monday morning comes with the usual. Finish up this weekly recap, and the Card of the Day for Instagram and Facebook.

Other than that, it’s more or less leftover orders from the weekend.

Took the kids out to play soccer today, I haven’t done that in a while, and I’m feeling it. My legs were tired, but I enjoy it.

09/16

30 day plan.

I forgot all about this. I need to get back on track with this. Day 14. Fix the About Us section.

Again?

I thought I did that a couple of months ago.

Restock for Crystal Dominion on TCG Player and eBay.

09/17

Had a few Legacy Collection cards laying around, so I listed them on TCG Player. I got a whole bunch of boxes a while back, and nobody wants them. That’s kind of weird, maybe that means I should open them up. I haven’t done a video in a while.

Soccer Practice for the kids, we went early again and played for a bit before the coaches arrived. After that we got dinner at Wendy’s, homework, and played a game of 99 Nights.

09/18

Listed a bunch of Crystal Dominion on eBay. These ones aren’t just a restock, new foils mostly. If you need some, we got some.

We took the kids out for Soccer. That was all afternoon.

Started sorting Emissaries of Light. That’s up next for a restock.

09/19
Well, you guessed it. Restock of Emissaries of Light on TCG Player and eBay. Also listed new foils from Emissaries of Light on eBay as well.

There’s more stuff going on in the background, things I mentioned before, but I won’t speak about them until we have something going. I’ll drop hints here and there, but that’s about it.

09/20

The weekend is here, and it’s games day. Today the kids lost 4-0. And, my kids played the worst they ever did. It’s probably my fault, I had them up late. So, next week they are going to sleep early. Can’t have them fall behind on things that they enjoy doing.

I thought I was going to take my kids to a birthday party, but then they said that they didn’t want to go. That’s strange. I usually am all day at the restaurant on Saturday, but it looks like I got the night off. So, I took a nap. A long nap. And, then I went to get dinner and went back to bed.

09/21

Had to take care of things for the restaurant today. Things that I should have done yesterday.

Got home, got stuff ready to take to Storage, went to Menards, picked up a bunch of Light Fixtures. Some of those lights will be for the videos.

After that I just finished up the Weekends orders and headed to bed early. ish.

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Kardboard Fantasy V

09/01

It’s Labor Day, it’s also my daughter’s birthday, so we spent the day getting ready for her party. It was just a small party, with family, but she enjoyed it. She finally got a Switch that she was asking for, plus the game she’s been wanting Animal Crossing. Or Crossy Roads as she calls it.

After it was all done, I had to put all the orders that got stacked up from the weekend.

And, hopefully these World Champions Decks 2024 will come in this week.

09/02

I was out cold today, missed my alarm, kids were late for school. And, well, we still have plenty of things to take care of.
Had some free time, so I tried organizing the office again. It will always be a work in progress. Today was more like one step forward, two steps back.

I either need more room for it, or less trading cards. I’m thinking more room.

09/03

It was School Curriculum Night.

And, that’s where my whole night was spent. I thought it would have been an hour or so. It ended up taking 3 hours. Running around to each class, meet with all their teachers. It was a little bit hectic.

Luckily, their Soccer Practice was canceled, and it gave me more time. Other wise I would have been running around like a chicken with it’s head cut off.

Finished up some orders. And, still no word about the World Champions Deck.

09/04

Called my distributor bright and early. The World Champions Decks 2024 have arrived and they will be here tomorrow. We’re going to have to get everything ready as to where we can just slap a label on them and have them sent out as soon as they arrive tomorrow.

Started sorting all the Gunslinger in the Abyss boxes that we’ve opened. We’re going to start putting these cards in our Bulk lots as well.

Played a game of 99 Nights in the Forest again. We finally saved one of the kids. And, got to day 11 again.

09/05

Patiently waiting for the World Champions Decks to come in. I’m get excited every time a UPS truck goes by, and then I’m disappointed when they don’t turn into the parking lot.

But, they finally did arrive. Only a week late. Got everyone’s pre-order sent out as soon as they did.

Restock for Gunslinger in the Abyss, on TCG Player and eBay.

09/06

Gameday!

This kids did better this week than last week, they only lost 3-1 this time. And, 2 of those goals, were because the goalkeeper was hiding from the ball. Go figure. Yes, they’re just kids, but don’t duck so the ball won’t hit you. That’s what your arms are for.

It’s ok, we’re still keeping our heads up.

After the game, I was just running around. Didn’t stop until 4PM, and after that I was just spent. Managed to get all of my orders done. And, I went straight to bed. I think I’m getting sick.

09/07

Yep, I’m getting sick.

Time to pop some Ibuprofen. And, try and get through the day.

Ended up heading out to Indiana, and have dinner with some of our kids. We picked a place that we went to years ago. Apparently they have good burgers, or did.

After we got home, I just put the kids to bed, got their lunches ready for school, and passed out. Hopefully, I’ll feel better tomorrow.

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Kardboard Outlook

08/25

It’s the start of the work week. Plenty to do today as we get ready for the World Championship Decks 2024 coming out this Friday. Well not really a lot to do, it’s not like it’s a regular release with all new cards we have to take a look at. But, still we have some things to do before hand.

Other than that, the day was spent finishing up the weekends orders.

08/26

I usually get a call on Tuesdays if there’s a release coming out that week. And, today is Tuesday, and I haven’t received a phone call yet.

That means that they’re either really busy, or they haven’t received them yet. I’ll give them a call tomorrow to figure out what’s going on.

Opus XII restock on TCG Player and eBay.

08/27

I have Opus XIII ready to go, and did that restock for it on both TCG Player and eBay.

Called my distributor today, and they don’t have a clue on when the World Championship Decks are coming in.

I still need some product, so I ordered plenty of Gunslinger in the Abyss. It’s selling like hot cakes, and these singles are fire.
Got to wait a day for those to come in.

Took the kids to soccer practice spent an hour there, just watching them go. All they need to do now is have fun.

08/28

Gunslinger in the Abyss came in today as it was scheduled. Now it’s time for us to crack open some packs, and list those singles. But, not until later, so we can upload it to YouTube.

Spent the afternoon, posting singles on eBay. And, some of them sold in minutes! That’s something that we always like to see.

Played some 99 Nights in the Forest with the little ones before bed time, and we finally made it to day 11. Only 88 more to go. Thing is you have to restart from the begining each time.

08/29

These boosters are half way gone already! Might have to order some more. Just have to wait for the money to clear on TCG Player and eBay and PayPal. eBay and PayPal are pretty quick, but sometimes TCG Player takes up to two weeks for the money to reach my bank account.

We’ll worry about restocking once we sell out, we still have a Master Case available, so if you’re on the lookout for some, we got you covered!

Yes, sometimes I’ll just insert an image that has nothing to do with what I’m writing.

Restock for Opus XIV – Crystal Abyss on TCG Player and eBay.

08/30

Time’s flying by, I can’t believe that GConnn will be tomorrow. I have to get everything set up for it. Luckily, most of it is already ready from other events. about 70% is Final Fantasy, trading cards and toys. The rest is .. well it depends on what I feel like bringing,

I’ll probably bring some Pokemon for it.

Other than that, I spent the whole day at the restaurant.

08/31

6AM, Wake up, time to go.

Had to be at the Orland Park Civic Center at 7AM to start setting up. I probably could have arrived later, but it’s always good to be ready before hand. You never know when the unexpected can happen. It’s not like you can expect it.

It was a good show, had about 275 people show up. Made some money, made some trades, and found an Final Fantasy VIII Siren GF Action Figure still sealed.

I picked that up before anyone else had a chance to.

Went home took a nap, and headed out for a little BBQ. It’s Labor Day weekend, we got to relax a little.

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Kardboard Occean

08/18

Started off with finishing the restock of Opus XI. On both TCG Player and eBay. I still need to get some new Opus XI listings on eBay, I just have to find out where I placed those cards.

Tried Organizing the office again. The shelves in particular. Sometimes items come in, and I just throw it all on the shelves. And, that makes a big mess, because if you don’t do it right the first time, you won’t go back to it anytime soon. It does look a lot better now compared to before, but it is nowhere near to finished. And, I don’t think it ever will be.

We can always hope.

We’re really getting into 99 Nights in the Forest. I’ll play a game with the kids every night. We’ll make it to the end. So far we reached day 7, and I always die trying to save them from whatever is attacking them.

08/19

Toploaders came in today, now we don’t need to worry about them until we run out again. We got our last batch in April. 4 months. Let’s see when we’ll have to order our next batch. Let’s try for 3 months this time.

Also a batch of Heroes came in including Foils. I just wanted to pick up one card, the Full Art Ultros from Crystal Dominion, and I can’t stop at one card. I ended up stopping at around 350.

We might even have bulk Hero lots coming soon.

Did the restock for Opus XII – Crystal Awakening. Tcg Player and eBay.

Also got a deck up for The Twelve. They look like they’ll be fun to play.

08/20

Had a 125 card order today, that took me a couple of hours to put together. Mainly because it was an eBay order, and you can’t download a pull sheet that is sorted like they do on TCG Player. Maybe you can, I just haven’t figured out how. If it was a TCG Player order, it would have taken me maybe 30 minutes.

It was a busy day with the kids today. Meet the Teachers, and Soccer Practice. They’re starting to do really well, and they enjoy playing soccer. School it’s 50/50 on that one.

Going to have more Bulk lots soon. They’re all halfway done at the moment.

Also, I found a case of Rebellion’s Call Prerelease Kits! It was a nice surprise. Now if they were Opus XI, that would have been a whole lot cooler. But, if you need one they should be up on the site, so go ahead and grab one.

08/21

After a long hot summer, the kids are finally back to school. Now we can start focusing on Trading Cards. It’s always a slowdown during the summer for me, just because I can’t get as much done as I can during the school season. It’s mostly cause I like hanging out with the little ones.

Have I ever mentioned Before Dawn?

It’s something I have been working on for 20 years. On and mostly off. I keep trying to restart it from the begining, the last couple of years I’ve been getting it going. It started off as an RPG, now it’s taking on many forms, and I have some plans for it. I’ll have more info on that soon. I won’t say much more about it … for now.

08/22

I’ve been working on Before Dawn all day, almost forgot to head to the Post Office because of it.

And, that was all I did. Yesterday and today, I probably spent a good 10 hours on it.

Oh, and Dreamlike Oceans was announced. Not today, a couple days ago. We already made our announcement on it. And, yes we are excited!

08/23

The kids have a game today. Got to wake up early, open up the restaurant, and then head to the game which is about 30 minutes away.

I got there, my kids were both starters. We started off the game good, and then well, we need a Goal Keeper. They play in quarters. The first quarter they had a kid that was great. The second quarter, the kid was day dreaming, playing with the net on the side, the third quarter same thing. Last quarter they put in someone else again. We ended up losing 5-0.

At least they’re having fun.

08/24

Sunday was quiet.

Slow day.

Ended up taking one of the kids out to play soccer.

Got some dinner, and finished the orders.

Also worked on Before Dawn a little bit.

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