From jonandek’s MtG Vault

Another one for all the crossover collectors here:

vimeo.com/520082317/e5c7301413

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And one more:

vimeo.com/520163458/e12e5574fe

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Hey @jonandek ! Since you’re definitely the resident Alpha expert of this forum, I’d be curious if you (or anyone else, for that matter) knows if there was anything similar to Unlimited roller lines/marks on Alpha rares? I recently received a Raging river with a small indentation on the border:

It looks sort of similar to the roller lines/marks that are very common on Unlimited rares, but it’s only on the right side of the card and it’s very short (less than the half the length of the black border). Is this a factory error that appears on some Alpha rares or is it just an unfortunate indent?

Curious to know if you or anyone else has seen similar on Alpha rares. I haven’t, but I’ve only owned maybe ~15 Alpha rares over the course of my collecting so I don’t have much of a basis for comparison.

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some of these are insane

I know nothing whatsoever about MTG but some of these cards look amazing. I’m almost convinced to grab a few when they come out (as if my want list wasn’t long enough), damn you @jonandek

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@jonandek, You honestly would make for a great youtuber! I listened to your origin story in the background when I was listing cards. It was relaxing!

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@zorloth that’s a binder ding

It’s not. Binder dings are almost never on the right edge of cards, and this is too thin to be a binder ding.

Hey there! I have not seen printer/pack damage like that on alpha rares. Things I have seen besides the common print splotches and ubiquitous “alpha corners” are indentations kind of like wire marks (rare) and also bent corners (also rare).

EDIT: i have also never seen the unlimited style roller marks on any alpha cards. Does that go all the way across the card? Or is it just on that spot? As you know these were not produced in fully automated processes. So “bespoke” damage could have easily occurred on the card if it is otherwise pack fresh. I would second the binder ding comment if it was on the left side of the card because that’s what it looks like to me.

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Thanks man. As flattering as that is, I’m probably way too private of a person to do that. I’m perfectly content posting here and in the private mtg facebook groups. I love sharing with other collectors though. If you would have told me as an 80s kid whose passion has always been collectibles that I could watch dedicated “tv” focused just on my hobbies I would have been through the moon. People are truly spoiled these days (I mean that in a good way) to have content creators like you, Rudy etc across hobbies that focus on smart and also entertaining content

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I appreciate the help! Besides the mark, it’s in NM/M condition. So it makes me think that it might be factory collation damage since the card is otherwise unplayed. Either way, it makes the condition ~EX, which is kind of unfortunate since ABU had it listed as NM. But it’s in such nice shape otherwise that I have no complaints!

Re: Unlimited roller marks: they go across the entire card. Sometimes they’re so light, however, that you can only see a trace of the mark on the edges of the card.

Even if it was on the left side of the card, I don’t think it would be a binder ding. Or at least I’ve never seen a binder ding like it. Binder dings don’t have uniform width and are not nearly as thin. This mark has uniform width and is super thin (thinner than any binder ring I’ve seen).

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That card is old enough that it might have been put back-to-back in a binder. This would have been a step up in protection, since during A/B a lot of play was with un-sleeved decks, like playing poker. If it were on the inner column of the backside that kind of damage could have occurred.

It happened to the first Black Lotus I ever came across. Bought a collection, and there was this beautiful card that had a similar dent (only bigger) because the 9-card sleeve was able to ride into the binder ring. I still took the card, since the price back then was only ~ $100. Thankfully the dent was small enough that the card was still playable in a sleeve. I traded it to a player for a pair of Beta Volcanic Islands in better (un-dented) shape.

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That honestly means a lot! And I completely understand the privacy aspect. I underestimated how much of that is lost when making content. But maybe one day if I’m in the area we can do a mtg video. :blush:

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I would gladly cameo in an smpratte video! Hit me up if you’re in Chicago - seriously that would be awesome. I’ve got a pretty crazy mtg collection way more than I could ever post here. This includes two full sets of alpha, a graded set (third best in the world - climbing back up the ranks) and also, you guessed it, a mint binder set. And of course my complete binder sets of pokemon 1st base through EX power keepers.

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That is incredible! I plan on being in Chicago later in the year, I will definitely reach out! And if you get the top alpha set again that would be nuts. Your power set from years back was legendary. :blush:

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Thx man. I think #3 is as far as I can go this time. The top set is insane now as it’s my old set but has been even further upgraded. The guy has $100m+ net worth and will never sell it. #2 set is a similar situation. Between those two sets are roughly 75% of the population of BGS 10 alphas. Those cards will probably never change hands until I’m an old man. But I’m content where I am. Never thought I would even be back in the game. So yeah hit me up in Chi!

You’ll have to privately tell me who got your old set. I’m wondering if it is the same guy who got my player’s sets of Unlimited, Arabian Nights, Legends and Antiquities. Net worth and collecting addiction seems about right. Nice guy if it was.

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As king of binders I was hoping i could get some insight into binder storage. Recently bought a dry cabinet (ty Chansey for recommendation), but had additional questions like — laying down vs standing up (strong preference / reasoning for either way)? If laying down how many are safe to stack on top of each other (have been doing no more than 2 for now).

Just want to make sure my carelessness doesn’t make these beauties a waste in X years for my kids or my aged self :blush:

I know you’re asking Jon, but as another person who collects mint cards in binders I’ll give my input: 100% standing up. Storing binders vertically is definitely the way to go. You don’t want the surface of your cards under constant pressure. If any little bit of sediment gets stuck in the binder/sleeve, the pressure could easy lead to an indentation. Whereas there’s much less pressure on the surface of your cards if you store the binders vertically (and if you make sure to only put cards on one side of the binder sleeve). I believe that Jon does the same (at least with storing binders vertically; not sure his take on only storing on one side of each binder sleeve), but I’m not sure his rationale is the same as mine (regardless, I’d love to hear it!).

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Interesting so right now I go single penny sleeve → binder, both sides of a page.

Will definitely switch to vertical stacking (much easier anyways), when you say only one side of the binder page you basically skip a page between each right.

Ie if each page has an A and a B side you only put cards on the A side and never the B right? (Vs say only on the left or right side of the pages)