Category: Niko’s Soap Box

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Kardboard Fantasy : Mystic Korner

07/07

Monday is usually spent working on writing and other aspects that don’t have much to do with cards. Unless we get a collection in, then we’ll be working on sorting that collection as fast as possible. Luckily for us, our whole week in review that we usually write was gone, and we had to re write it. It;s probably missing 50% of what we had in the original, but you got a great summary there.

We missed plenty of days with the holiday weekend, and now we’re back on our 30 day plan, it’s day 4 right now and our task is to “Optimize Page Load Speed – Caching & Plugins.”

That’s what we did, we fixed the Caching options, somehow figured out how to load pictures before they load. That doesn’t make sense to me but it was an option. Hopefully the website is a little faster right now.

Got an order on the website, and I’m missing one of the items. This is the first time this happened on KardboardKorner.com, there have been a couple of mistakes on TCG Player and eBay, but never on our own site. Sent the kind gentleman an e-mail, hopefully they’ll get back to me before the night is over.

07/08

Hit up the Robbins Flea Market today, after one of the Vendors told me that it’s poppin’ on Tuesdays and that I should get there real early. I thought I’ll give it a try and got there around 9AM. It would have been earlier, but my son did not want to wake up. He’s going to bed early tonight.

We got there, and it was, they even had vendors outside of the space, cause there was no space inside. We started making the rounds, and I noticed that we did come late. Lots of cool stuff, but nothing in particular for me, until I stumbled upon a box of Nintendo Switch Accessories. Docks and Controller Grips (I think that’s what they’re called). I picked them up and called it a day.

Spent the afternoon, Trying to organize the office once more. It seems like the more I try and organize, the messier it becomes. Maybe more space could do the trick, but we don’t have that right now.

07/09

Hit the Swap today and all I got was a big fat skunk.

Almost picked up a metal detector today. Thought about it, looked at it, passed it came back, but I left it there. Then I regretted it. If I find him tomorrow at Robbins, I’ll pick it up. Might have some fun with it, going on paths and just searching for precious metals.

30 day plan, Day 5 – Checked that the website works good on Mobile devices. Make sure that the links are clickable, same thing goes for the menu too. So far everything looks good. Didn’t have to complete much today, as it was already done.

Was testing out a bunch of Cassette Tapes today. I was using a Walkman for them. And, that Walkman is either going out, or the batteries I got went empty in about 15 minutes. That’s Dollar Tree batteries for you.

07/10

Robbins, that’s where we’re headed today. I went looking for the metal detector right away, and I’m guessing the guy sold it, because he didn’t have it. Went around the first time, and some guy had a bunch of Atari games, I didn’t have enough on me to pick them up today. And, it’s a good thing I didn’t cause I would have over paid for them.

Another Interesting thing I found was a Tiger Over Lap, the one with the whole front of the car. I left that there as well. Although it looks cool and all, I have a similar one, that is just sitting there collecting dust.

Next, I found a Marshall Full Stack. And, if I was still playing guitar, and in a band, I would have picked it right up.

Ended up just picking up a pair of On Clouds. These supposedly do well.

The kids always ask me to play Roblox with them, and tonight I managed to get all my orders ready pretty quick, so I jumped on without telling them. They got excited. We played for a couple of hours before I had to send them off to bed.

07/11

I just realized, we’re 3 weeks away from Gunslinger in the Abyss Prerelease. That means that Midnight Prerelease is right around the Korner! And I never got a restock for Tears of the Planet. Let’s hope this release goes a lot better.

Spent the day sorting, and restocking Opus VI on eBay and TCG Player.

Day 5 of the 30 day plan. And all it was was making sure that the website’s menus load up correctly on Mobile devices, and that the links are clickable. Checked and they were all goo to go.

I also grilled 20 pounds of chicken breast for some fajitas.

07/12

I woke up later than usual again.

Still have to get up, and go. No point in staying home. I got to the Swap and I thought to myself, I should have stayed home.
Not much there, and when I got to Robbins it was even worst.

Didn’t head out to 42nd and Ashland today, cause I had to take my wife to her sisters house to help with a party.

Went to the restaurant, left the restaurant, went to the party. That’s what all the chicken breast was for.

07/13

I drank too much in too short of a time. That was last night.

Got up, got ready headed to the restaurant. Was there all day. Hopefully, our other employee is coming back next week, and I’ll have more time to get back to what I’m supposed to be doing.

Got all the weekend orders ready to go. And, now it’s time to get back to it. Boots on the Ground.

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Kardboard Fantasy IV

06/23

It’s still hot.

I woke up this morning and my whole body was sore. And, they said the sun was good for you. It probably is, walking around in 90 plus degree weather isn’t.

Decided to do Opus IV today. Got most of it done, they’re all up on TCG Player, and a restock on eBay, for the cards that were already on there. Still need to get the new cards up.

06/24

Slept through my alarm today. And, that’s OK. Didn’t have much to do this morning. All I knew was that we would have plenty of rain. And, that it will be humid.

For some reason my car had a horrible smell to it. It just came out of no where. I’m thinking that either one of my kids stepped in poop and smeared it in there, or they left some food in there and it’s rotting in this heat. So, I spent the afternoon trying to get that smell out. Deep cleaned the whole interior. Fingers crossed that the smell will be gone in the morning.

Spent the rest of the night organizing a bit, and putting orders together. This restock is starting to move.

06/25

Flea Market Wednesday. It’s been raining all night so I did not get my hopes up. And, it’s a good thing i didn’t because just like last week, there were hardly any vendors there. All the usual suspects though, and they all do not have anything that I want.

I got rid of most of the smell but it still lingers. Going to have to give it another clean again.

Listed the rest of Opus IV on eBay. Plenty of Foil cards and Legends.

Spent the afternoon playing soccer with my son. And, he’s starting to run circles around me. He’s taking the pointers I tell him and he’s starting to utilized them. I can’t wait to see him play on a team this year.

06/26

It’s still hot. And, I don’t like it. Give me freezing temperatures. I’ll take that over this heat any day. Tried recharging the A/C in my wife’s truck, and I don’t think that it needs a charge. I’m guessing it’s the compressor. I got to try and figure that out, and see what happens.

Spent the whole day at the restaurant, one of our workers will be out of action for a while, and that means that I will be there 7 days a week now. Starting today.

06/27

Turns out the MacBook Pro that I picked up does not want to work. Went to my guy looking for the AC Adapter, and he had a bunch there, we tried them out and none of them worked. Time to try and get rid of it for parts.

06/28

Time to head to the Flea Market. It’s Saturday, and none of the little ones wanted to come with me. That’s OK, I can get things done faster.

Once again, there weren’t that many vendors there, but that doesn’t mean we’re not going to find anything. I recognize most of the vendors now, and I can just walk up and down knowing where to take a closer look and where to just keep moving. First walk through, I didn’t find anything, I decided to take one more trip around.

One vendor had a whole bunch of old trading cards. Nothing great, mostly those Dessert Storm packs from the early 90s. I noticed a green container that wasn’t there the first time around. It was $45 for the whole container. All it had was a bunch of Xboxs. I dug a little deeper to see if there was anything else in there, and lo and behold, there was a Super Nintendo on the bottom! I grabbed it and ended up paying $10 for it. I then asked him about the Trading Cards, and he said each was $5. I grabbed a box of Super Star Musicards. I picked them up, might do a video on them soon. Hopefully someone will like it.

Off to Robbins, and nothing for me, although a Vendor did have all 4 Kiss Action Figures, he wanted $60 for all of them. I had to pass on it this time, cause part of me would have wanted to hold on to them.

One more stop today, 42nd and Ashland. It’s getting hot, and I still need to go and do something with the kids before I head to the restaurant. As soon as I got there, it already looked like there were hardly any Vendors there. I still have to get my steps in so off I go.

Top Loaders! Who would have thought I would find Top Loaders at the Flea Market, still sealed. Sure they were Beanie Babies Top Loaders. I think the only difference is that they have the TY logo on them. I haven’t opened them yet, but a top loader is a top loader, and it will hold up well when shipped. I got excited when I saw Metroid Prime, but unfortunately it was just the box with the Bonus disc, no game. Oh well, there was a Gamecube controller sitting right next to it. So, I picked that up.

06/29

It’s Sunday, it’s hot and I spent the day at the restaurant. And that’s was my day. Took care of some orders, and just relaxed.

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The Korner of Dragoon

06/16

Mondays are the hardest. Not really. It’s just hard to get much done on Mondays. Depending on the Monday as well, We’re mostly getting things set up for the week. Finishing this post for the Website, and scheduling the Card of the Day for Instagram and Facebook.

After that, it is time to figure out what we’re going to do this week. We’re going to start sorting the Basketball cards into team lots, and after that, we are going to start restocking FFTCG. Again. Because well as I mentioned, Organizing the office, is bringing out some surprises. Items I forgot we had. And, what do you do with all that stuff? You give the people what they want.

06/17

Sorted all those NBA cards into Teams, and there isn’t enough to make 100 card lots. Guess I’m going to have to find some more cards. Anyone selling? $10 per thousand. Surprisingly, there were barely any Chicago Bulls cards.

Took out the PS2 and Dirge of Cerberus. I had to try out all these PlayStation controllers and Memory Cards I had, and I figured what better way than play a very underrated game. My daughter saw it and she wanted to play, I told her she could, but we had to check to see if all the controllers work first. She played for 15 minutes and then got bored. If it ain’t Roblox, they don’t like it.

06/18

Wednesday, it was raining all night. It’s still wet outside. The way I see it there’s a 50/50 chance for the Swap in Alsip. I decided to go anyway. What’s the worst that could happen? I go and I come back with nothing.

As I rolled into the Swap-O-Rama, it wasn’t busy, but there were some Vendors there. And, it turned out that it was Free Admission today. Probably cause it was dead. That didn’t stop me though. Was it worth it? Yeah I would say so. Found a Memory Card for the PS2, a Macbook Pro, and a bunch of Michael Jordan Basketball cards. You can never go wrong with MJ cards. Also picked up a Soccer ball for the kids.

Spent the night getting back at organizing the office. We now have our photo station almost ready. There’s about 5 more shelves left to organize, and these will be the hardest. Best way I can think of is by getting rid of everything, but that would mean starting over.

06/19

I got up hoping that the rain stopped from last night, and then I thought if it didn’t stop I can sleep for a couple more hours. The rain did stop, and it took me a long time to wake the kids up. They sure didn’t want to get up today. Too bad. We have Garage Sales to go and find. Plus, we have to check if the Flea Market is open today. I doubt it will be because of all the rain, and it’s held in a lot that’s all dirt. That lot was all muddy and filled with puddles.

Found a couple of Garage Sales, but nothing worth buying.

Ended up starting a restock with all the FFTCG cards I found, we’re going to go through all of the Opus again. Starting with Opus I. They are all on TCG Player and eBay. I’m pretty sure that I have more Opus I cards somewhere, but can’t remember where I put them.

06/20

I think I’m going to have a bunch of empty binders soon. They’re all in great condition, I just won’t be using them cause they take up a lot more room than a 1000ct box. I’ll keep some binders ready to go for when I do shows, but other than that they take up too much space and that space is more valuable than the binders at the moment.

Going to start Opus II today. Plenty of Legends to be added.

I started watching the Club World Cup. Mostly for noise, I’ll look at the TV once in a while when I hear something going on.

06/21

          It’s hot outside. That doesn’t mean we’re staying inside. We still have work to do. Better to get out there early before things really heat up. It was pretty empty. Only half the vendors were at the Swap in Alsip. Still found something interesting. Ashton Drake Galleries Peanuts Perpetual Calendar Figurines. It’s a mouthful. I was on the fence about them. I passed by them a couple of times and finally looked them up. Saw the one that was there sold for 30 a while ago. I decided to grab it. Then the gentleman told me to get the one with the box. I looked and there were 10 figurines in total. I picked them all up.

Headed to Robbins, and that was dead as well. It’s too hot and everyone does not want to sit in the sun all day. I wouldn’t either.

Headed home early today, cause we had a birthday party to go to. Pick up a gift went home, and head to the party. The kids had fun, and I was sitting under an umbrella, but the wind picked up and launched that umbrella 15 ft into the air, out into the parking lot. Yep, I’m don’t with that, let me head over to a more open area.

Once we got back home I started looking more into these Perpetual Calendar Figurines. (I wouldn’t have picked them up, but I’m a sucker or Snoopy.) Some of these sold for a couple hundred. That’s all I needed to see. Got them all ready pictured up and ready to go on eBay. Not on the main shop, on our second one that’s for items that are not very Kardboard Kornerlike. I think I mentioned that one before. Not much is on it yet, but we’re slowly filling it up. Actually I hope it always stays pretty empty. That means we’re selling everything fast.

06/22

It’s still hot outside.

I finished up Opus II this morning, and got caught up on this weekends orders. After that my son got up, and I asked him jokingly if he wanted to go to the Flea Market, surprisingly he said yes. So, off we go. It was actually pretty busy, but just like yesterday, there weren’t that many vendors there.

Didn’t find much today. Just Megaman 11, and Def Jam Vendetta. Def Jam would have been a great pickup, but it did not want to work when I tested it. So, in the garbage it goes. No point in keeping it.

Opus III is up right now. Plenty of great cards, that were found in the vault. Legends, Heroes and King Tycoon!

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Kardboard Fantasy III

06/09

I can’t believe it’s already time for Card of the Week! That means that Gunslinger in the Abyss is right around the Korner. That also means I need to start writing the card reviews. 8 weeks until Midnight PreRelease. We’ll be getting a post up on that soon as well.

Started going through a whole bunch of Basketball cards. I just look at sports cards and half the time I don’t want to deal with them. But, I always pick them up. So now, I need to find a way to get rid of them. Team Lots. Yes, that is what I’m thinking right now. 100 cards for $5. It’s mostly junk, but it’ll be a nice way to check out cards from the 80’s, 90’s and whenever else the cards I pick up come from.

While, there won’t be any high value cards in there. These lots will still have some Stars in them. We’ll start other sports after we finish with these cards.

06/10

Kept working on those Basketball Cards. Almost done. Probably got 600 or so cards left. Nothing of note in them except a Sam Vincent card that has Michael Jordan wearing the number 12 on his Jersey.

Also spent the entire night working on the office space once again. We got the furniture set up to where they need to be. Now, it’s time to organize our inventory. This will probably be the hardest part of it all. I’ll probably find some things that we forgot we had. So, expect a few surprises to start popping up soon.


06/11

It’s Wednesday, and it’s not raining for once. That means I’m heading to the Flea Market. Finally after a few weeks I get to go to the Wednesday Swap once again. I went earlier than usual, and picked up my daughter on the way. She’s been wanting to go for a while now.

Everyone was still setting up, and it looked like there was nothing there today. Well not for me. I was about to give up when I spotted Scooby Doo looking at me. This guy was still setting up, and it looked like he had some decent stuff, so I stuck around, and he started asking me about coins. He had a bunch of Wheat Pennies sorted by years, I checked for that elusive S-VDB, but he didn’t have one in there.

They started dumping garbage bags on the tarp, and here comes Sonic. I went straight for it. ReSaurus Sonic Adventure 12″ Figure. I grabbed it so fast that no one else had a chance to see it. That’s why you have to get there early. The earlier the better.

06/12

Had to take the Jeep to the shop this morning. Wheel Bearings are going out. Let’s just hope it doesn’t put a dent in my pocket. Not a big one at least.

The Mechanic called me back and told me $330 for both rear bearings. And, I was happy with that. I was expecting something around $500. I’ll take it, told him to add an oil change as well.

Decided to do a Father’s Day Coupon. It might still be working when you see this. If not then you probably just missed it. But, we did have a post on it. It was on Social Media and everything. We also had a Coupon for our eBay store running this weekend. That one just shows up automatically.

06/13

With the Jeep all fixed up and no sound coming out the back, I was ready to go sailing. Found a few things worth getting today. The best thing I found, although it isn’t worth much, is a Guns N’ Roses Since I Don’t Have You Single on cassette. These bring back memories. I never had this one groing up, but now it will be mine until I sell it. I’ll listen to it a few times, but I already have the CD, and Spotify. They both work great, but there’s something to popping in a cassette tape and listening to music.

I noticed that the left speaker on my cassette player isn’t working. I don’t know if it’s worth fixing, I’ll just open it up at some point and see what I can do.

06/14

          Woke up earlier today, and the little ones didn’t want to come with me. That gave me a head start. I was out 30 minutes earlier than usual. I was moving faster through the Flea Markets today. That and there weren’t that many vendors either. I ended up going to 5 today. I could have stopped at my usual 3, but I still had money in my pocket. After 42nd and Ashland I went to the Sequin Flea Market, in Cicero, and after that to the Buyer’s Market on Division. The last one was not a Flea Market, it was more like the Super Mall on Pulaski. Lots of Vendors there, that rent out a spot for the month. That is not what I’m looking for.

I didn’t end up finding a lot of things today, and that’s ok. There’s no point in staying home. We have an empire to build. I’ll keep on searching for different places to go to.

I’d say the coolest thing I found was a MGA Electronics WWF Handheld. These handhelds would keep me busy for hours at a time. Especially a Teenage Mutant ninja Turtles one I had. I would beat that one over and over again. This one however, I’ve never played it. I might give it a shot, unless it flies out the door fast.

16/15

It’s Father’s Day. And I did absolutely nothing.

Well that’s not exactly true, I put orders together, and a couple of listings. Then I tried getting the office together, and found a bunch of FFTCG cards that I had put to the side trying to make complete sets. Expect to see them popping up on TCG Player and eBay soon.

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Sweet Korner

06/02

It’s my kids Kindergarten Graduation today. Dropped them off to school, and then it was off to wash the Jeep and decorate it. Bought some balloons and Car Paint for the windows, and it was ready. Got there with time to spare.

Sat inside watched the ceremony, and I got to tell you it makes you feel proud when your child accomplishes something. Sure it’s just Kindergarten, but at the same time, they spent their whole year going to school. And, Kindergarten isn’t what it used to be. They have actual homework, and IXLs and all of the same things that the older kids are doing.

After the ceremony, it was time for the parade. I had my son stand up out of the Sunroof, waving to the whole school as we slowly went around the parking lot twice.

Next it was time to treat him to McDonald’s cause that’s what kids like. We had time to spare so we went to the thrift store. Found nothing at the first one. Second one, we found some PS4 games at 3 dollars each. Picked up 2 Uncharted games, one was sealed, and Red Dead Redemption 2. They also had Assassins Creed III for the PS3, so I picked that one up as well.

Went to the register and all Media was 50% off. That made it an even sweeter deal.

Finally tested out the Dreamcast, and it works. Played a little bit of Capcom Vs. SNK 2. And, I think that disc isn’t an original disc. It just looks way off and the art on the cover isn’t any where near the art on the original game.

Oh, well.

06/03

They’re calling for rain tomorrow. It figures. All week no rain come Wednesday, Rain.

Went to a Thrift store in the morning, just to pass some time, before I head to the restaurant. I had 30 minutes found a Marshawn Lynch Jersey, and a Nightmare Before Christmas plush.

Orders were delivered today Final Fantasy VII Art Museum came in along with the Wii Sensor bar. I’ll finally test the two Wiis I got a couple weeks back, along with the games. Expect to see the games start popping up on eBay soon.

06/04

The kids are out of school, and it’s raining. Lucky me. I get to stay in bed for an extra 30 minutes. No Flea Market. I am disappointed, cause I like going to the one that’s today. Not that many Vendors, but there’s not that many shoppers either.

Rolled out of bed and my daughter had knocked over a cup of coffee on my desk. Yeah, I should have picked it up yesterday, but what can you do. At least I didn’t have any cards on it like last time.

Listed the Final Fantasy VII Carddass Masters up on eBay. I enjoy going through these cards, they bring out the nostalgia of playing Final Fantasy VII when it first came out.

At night we played with the Wii. We Donkey Kong Country, Sonic and Mario Kart. I was playing with my son, and we were having a great time. Laughing and poking fun at each other. But, I am not a fan of the Wii. I do not like the controls, and how they make you use the shaking of the Wiimote. I just want a controller that sits in my hand and I press the buttons. No need for gimmicks.

06/05

Had to get out there today and search for those garage sales. Only thing is that there wasn’t any worth going to.

What happened to people having Garage Sales on Thursdays? Last year I would go out and find a whole bunch of them.

Got another order of Carddass Masters. This time though a Holo Sephiroth was in them.

Did some work, on the other eBay account. Need to start getting some traction on that one as well. It’s mostly for items that are not Trading Card or Video Game related.

06/06

We did find some things today, and we’re excited. Just not too excited. Best thing we found was a copy of Stephen King’s Christine. The Book Club Version.

Listed some PS4 games on eBay, and the Final Fantasy VII Carddass Masters on eBay.

And, that’s about it for today. We stayed busy at the restaurant so didn’t get much done here. At least it’s Saturday tomorrow. That means driving from Flea Market to Flea Market. It’s calling for rain, but it shouldn’t start until after 3, so we should be good.

06/07

Woke up 30 minutes late this morning. Almost didn’t head to the Swap because I thought that all the good stuff would be gone. Then I thought, what am I laying in bed for everyone else is not looking for what I’m looking. Sure, there might be some people that do, but if I don’t go there’s a 100% chance of not finding anything.

Grabbed my son and off we went. We ended up finding a Sega Genesis, Found 2 controllers as well for it. And, Super Mario Galaxy. Everything else was priced at what I would sell them for.

Off to Robbins.

Tales of the Unknown Volume 1 The Bard’s Tale

Anyone know what that is? It’s a game for your ancient computers. And, it’s actually worth something. Especially since it has the manuals and everything that comes with it.

06/08

Sunday was a quiet day as usual. Just spent the morning putting all the orders together.

Had to run to the restaurant today, and I had forgotten about some cards that we’re delivered yesterday. So, I spent a little bit of time listing them on TCG Player and eBay.

I was looking at the inputs to the Sega Genesis, and they are not what I expected to see. That AV input. I’m wondering now if I take the cables from the Master System if they’ll work on the Genesis? Got to find a game for it first, no use figuring it out before I have a game to play.

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