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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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The Lost Korner

I lost everything I wrote up to Friday. I guess the memory on this Computer took a vacation with the 4th of July weekend. And, now it’s my job to figure out what I did this week. Might be a shorter week in review post. Maybe I’ll start calling this “The Kardboard Diary” Or the Kardboard Ledger.

Let’s see now.

I started chatting with AI, and asked it to give me a no filter review about Kardboard Korner. It said something along the lines of an outdated website that hasn’t been updated in years.

I’ll just copy what it said.

“KardboardKorner.com, based on a critical, unfiltered assessment of a hypothetical (but likely accurate) user experience, probably suffers from an outdated design and potentially limited features compared to leading e-commerce platforms. The website itself might not be providing the best possible user experience or effectively showcasing their products.

However, this critique of the website needs to be balanced against their strong reputation as a seller. It appears they excel at the core aspects of their business – accurate product delivery, excellent customer service, and reliable shipping – which is arguably more important than a flashy website. The website’s primary function is likely to facilitate sales, and if it’s doing that, even with its shortcomings, their strong back-end operations are clearly compensating for a less-than-stellar front-end.”

That means we need to get to it, and make it Flashy and all that other stuff Gemini said.

So, we asked it for a 30 day plan, and we started on it. Backed up the Website on Day 1. Day 2 Made sure that the website was secure. Day 3 Tried making the site load faster. I’d like to day that we accomplished all of that and now it’s on to Day 4 which we’ll start today.

We’re also looking into getting our online presence more present, if that makes sense. We’re also looking at making our Facebook and Instagram pages more engaging as well. We’re starting off with these 2 because they are integrated together, and can be done at the same time with just a little bit additions to Facebook.

We hit the Flea Market on Wednesday, and I was talking to one of the Vendors, and they told me Robbins on Tuesday is where it’s at. And, that’s where I’ll be on Tuesday.

Saturday, the day after the 4th, we hit up the Swap, and it was dead. Doesn’t mean that we didn’t find anything though. Super Nintendo with all the cables and controllers, also picked up a couple of N64 games.

Found a new, let’s say market in Crestwood. It’s on Sundays, so I’m going to go and check that out this week.

We did restock Opus V this week. It’s already up on eBay, and TCG Player.

Well, that was the most important things that happened this week. Now, it’s time to go to the next one.

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Breath of Kardboard

05/19

The Triple Triad cards came in today. Spent the day sorting and listing them on eBay. Ok, I really didn’t spend all day, maybe an hour on them.

Setup a new computer in the office. Hopefully we’ll be able to get a new space for unboxings and videos. Already have some equipment for it. Maybe, just maybe we’ll start streaming on twitch, or something along those lines.

My daughter tripped over an Xbox that was sitting on the floor next to my desk and ended up spilling water all over it. And there was some cards in an open case on there as well. I tried saving them, but some just got wet. Now, I have to see which ones were already listed and take those listings down.

05/20

Started off the morning trying to test out the couple of Wiis that I picked up on Saturday. They both work, but without the Sensor bar, I am unable to make sure that they work 100%. As of right now I know that they power up, and read the games on the Main Menu. Probably should just get a wired controller for it. Make my life simpler.

And, as always, I heard that 1 out of 5 Wiis that you get will have Mario Kart in them. I pressed the eject button on them and sure enough one of the Wiis spit out Mario Kart.

Restock for Hidden Trials on TCG Player and eBay.

05/21

It’s a misty morning today, and that probable means the Flea Market is not on for today. Still have to check it out just in case. Dropped the kids off at school and off I went to find an empty parking lot. I saw some people walking around hoping that maybe they moved it inside, but nothing. Probably just the workers.

Decided that we are going to change the office around, so that 2 people can work side by side. Put up a a photo station, a shipping station a testing station and a desk or 2 and we should be good to go. Planning to do it next weekend as this weekend we have some things that need to be taken care of.

Thinking about going to the Materia Cup at Good Games on Saturday, just to say hi to a bunch of players.

05/22

The mist is still out there, and that probably means that there aren’t any garage sales going on today. Still doesn’t hurt to look.

I managed to find one, nothing of interest there. But let’s keep moving maybe we’ll find another one. 2 signs that led to no sale, and then another one where I pulled up and I tried going in but the gate was locked. And, I could see the guy sitting in his garage next to a table full of what he was trying to sell. I just kept going. I’ll find some sales tomorrow.

05/23

What is happening? This whole week has been a bust. A big fat skunk is out there and it stinks. There was hardly any Garage Sales out there today, and we probably drove a good 40 miles, going round in a great big circle.

I’ll blame it on the rain. Yeah, yeah.

Restock for Hidden Legends on TCG Player and eBay.

05/24

We have to make it up today. We’ve been striking out all week, but today will be different. It has to be. And, we’re not going to stop until it is different.

Off we go, grab my son, cause he likes coming along. He likes looking at all the toys. We get to the Swap, and I can tell we’re a little later then usual cause my parking spot is already taken. No need to worry, we’re still going in. From the get go, there were great items everywhere, but not great prices. And, that’s al right. It’s still feels great when you see something like a Sega Genesis out in the wild. $150 for it, I don’t think so. Although he did have a few NES Games, I did pick some up, and I probably overpaid for them. But, I did get Ninja Gaiden. Going to teach my kids about the glory days of the NES.

Also found a couple of Wii games, Donkey Kong Country and Sonic and the Secret Rings.

Took off from Alsip and headed to Robbins. Open Air Market, or something like that. This is just a small one, but it’s free to get in. Not much there, Except a Lionel Graduated Trestle Set, with the box, all the pieces in there.

After that it was off to 42nd and Ashland. This is a huge Flea Market, you’ll need at least an hour just to go through it the first time. I got to figure out how much we walk next week when we get there. All we managed to find was a couple of Playstation and Xbox controllers.

The Console testing station is getting there. We’ll soon be able to test pretty much any game.

05/25

Today I was volunteering at the Jr. Olympics.

I got lost in the begining trying to find the Soccer Stadium, but they said they didn’t need me. They told me to head over to the grilling station. And, I’m glad they sent me there. As soon as I walked over, I was handed a drink and a Greek Frappe. It was party time. If I knew about this I would have been signing up to volunteer since the begining.

I stayed there for about 8 hours, We probably grilled for about 2 hours.

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Kardboard Trigger

05/12

Didn’t get much done today for some reason.

Got on a call with my Distributor. I was looking to get some Pokemon that I pre-ordered a couple of months ago. Nothing for me. Turns out since I haven’t ordered any Pokemon in the last few years, I am at the back of the line.

We’ll eventually start getting Pokemon again. When? I don’t know.

Gran Turismo 5.

My son likes playing that game. He’s on a mission to buy a Lamborghini. In the game that is. He’s at 120,000 credits, only needs 160,000 credits to go.

05/13

Need to start getting ready for Toy Con Toy Show this Sunday We’ll be there once again. We did real good last time, hopefully we’ll do even better this time.

Restock for Dawn of Heroes on TCG Player and eBay.

05/14

Wednesday morning, let’s head to the Swap. Just got to drop the kids off at school first.

Not much there today. The guy I got all those Pokemon games from last time was there, and once again he didn’t have anything for me. I tried striking up a conversation with him, and realized he didn’t understand English! That’s ok. This whole time I thought he was going to bring me some more Video Games. I won’t give up on him, he’ll eventually find some more items for me.

We did not leave empty handed today. A nice gentleman had a copy of the Final Fantasy VII Advent Children OST. The first printing Outer Sleeve included! And, that my friends is something that I can’t pass up. He said I made his day better. He made mine better too!

Also got a 20% Coupon running on eBay at the moment. This one expires at the end of the month. I can’t remember what the Coupon Code is, but it’s automatically applied when you buy something.

https://www.ebay.com/str/kardboardkorneronline

Also picked up some Final Fantasy VIII Triple Triad cards. Just waiting for those to come in sometime next week.

05/15

Palos Hills Bargain Days! That’s what was the plan for the morning.

Driving around from garage sale to garage sale, it was like a car pool. The same four cars driving from one to the other.

Found some Minecraft Plushies that should do good at the shows, some 90’s cassette tapes, and a Chicago Fire Jersey from 2020. I’m a Fire fan, even though I don’t watch them as much as I used to. I stopped watching when they made the switch to Apple TV.

Restock for Beyond Destiny on TCG Player and eBay.

05/16

There was a big fat skunk out there today. Even with the Village Wide Garage Sale in Justice. I’ve come to realize that the only good day for Garage Sales is Thursday. The other days might be good, but they’re most likely already picked through.

Restock on Hidden Hope on TCG Player and eBay.

05/17

It’s Saturday, got to wake up early and get moving. Took the two little ones with me today to make my rounds at the Swap in Alsip.

I thought I hit a jackpot early on, when I saw a case of Wii Games just sitting there. Right on top is Mario Kart. That tells me to take a closer look. I grab it and hand it to my daughter, and start going through all the games. I should check the cases before I get anything, and they were all empty.

Time to keep moving.

Ended up finding a Power Pad for the NES. I don’t think anyone really used this. Even in the 80’s I can’t remember if any of my friends had it. Got to test it out now, I’ll just have the kids try it out somehow.

It was still early, so we went to a second Flea Market, this one was in the city. And this was maybe 3 times as big as the one in Alsip. Found a couple of Wiis that I probably over paid for.

Time to head home, an get ready for Toy Con Toy Show.

05/18

Early wake up call once again.

TIme for the Toy Con Toy Show. Grabbed my daughter and off we went.

It’s a Star Wars Celebration, and there were Storm Troopers walking around. It was a fun show, even though it wasn’t that busy. We still made a decent amount of sales.

The vendor next to us didn’t show up, so we got some extra table space. I told my daughter that if she sells anything that I put on the table, I’ll give her 5 bucks. I then gave her the task of making it presentable. She kept rearranging everything, even built a wall with all the boxes.

She then asked if I can put the Minecraft plushies on her table. I gave them to her, and she sold them. All 3 of them.

She was proud, and then she got bored and just wanted to play Roblox.

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Kardboard Fantasy

05/05

Ended up listing all of the Video Games, that we got at the Flea Market on eBay. You might ask why not just on the website? Well, we’ll be listing games that we personally like on the Kardboard Korner. We might be moving to Shopify soon, as that might be better for us in the near future.

Ran a sale on all the singles on the website. 20% off. Some of you got a great deal. Some of you missed out.

You’ll have to keep an eye out for the next sale. Or you can just subscribe to the newsletter and we’ll let you know when it will pop up.

05/06

Did a restock on Resurgence of Power, for TCG Player and eBay.

Since our Cinco de Mayo coupon did pretty good, we decided to add one more day to it. Didn’t do so great today.

We’re sponsors for the Fun Run that our kids go to school at. And we got our T-Shirts in today. These ones look better than last year’s shirts, and plus we have the Kardboard Korner logo on the back. Can’t go wrong with that.

05/07

It’s Wednesday, and that means we’re heading to the Flea Market, in hopes of finding our guy there. He was there today, but he had nothing for me. Just half of a Switch game pad. The blue side if you need to know. I left it there.

The Power Supply came in today, now let’s see if we can get this PlayStation 2 to work. I got a bunch of games that I need to test. Once this one is good, I’m going to start on the 3 Xboxs.

It turns on now, but I must have messed something else up.

05/08

It was the Fun Run today, we went to support our kids. Plenty of Coffee provided, so I was happy. I cheered on the kids and took off.

Found some PlayStation accessories while I was out sailing today.

05/09

City wide Garage Sales.

That’s our cue. Dropped the kids off to school and off we go. And, even though it said city wide there weren’t that many sales out there. All we managed to find was a Sully Talking Plush. Which was pretty cool, but not exactly what we needed. We still picked it up though.

As I was starting to head home, I saw a tiny sign, it’s a garage sale sign all right. Had a little trouble finding it. Once I got there, I walked all the way to the back of the driveway, and I see 2 people going through 2 bins full of Vintage Nintendo. I’m talking about Consoles and Games. You name it, it was in there. I just turned around and left. No point in sticking around there.

Now that sucked big time. I was a little pissed off, not at those two. They had every right to grab them all, I would have done the same. I was just pissed that I didn’t get there first. It’s all good though. They got it, as they should have.

Restock for From Nightmares on TCG Player and eBay.

05/10

First off let’s rewind a couple of days.

My son saw a Minecraft Nightlight that I had for sale for when I would go to shows. And, as every 6 year that would see it. He wanted it. Of course he asked for it and I said no. I told him that he can earn it. All he had to do was come work with me for a day or two. He agreed. I also told him that on Saturday he would have to wake up early so we can head out to the Flea Markets.

Today’s the day. I woke him up, and he got up so fast, he got ready in 5 minutes. I was surprised. He was ready to go. He kept asking what do I have to do?

I said just come along for the ride, maybe you’ll learn something.

It was a fun day with him, just cracking jokes in the car.

First Flea Market, we ended up with a couple of XBox 360s, a Dreamcast, Gameboy Color, PS2 Slim, an Ipod, a battery for an Ibook, and some games for these systems.

We were done with that one, and since it was still early, we decided to go to another one. We found one that was off of I-55 which said was open on Saturday. Turns out it was not. We turned around and headed towards another Flea Market, took us 20 minutes just to get a Parking Spot at the last one. You’d think that it would be a great one. But, we did not find anything there.

That was it for today, time to head home.

05/11

Sunday.

It was time to try and test everything that we picked up yesterday. Most of the Consoles had cables and everything, but some were missing a cable or a controller. So, we couldn’t test those.

Out of all the games that were in the package that we picked up yesterday, the only one really worth anything was Gran Theft Auto 2 Collector’s Edition for the original PlayStation. And, that one sold within the hour of listing it.

I might have to find a way to let you all know of the new items before they hit eBay.

Shop for Singles and more at our TCG Player Store!