~ October 2021 - Mid Month Updates ~

It is that time again!

Friendly reminder, once you send a private message, every additional message you send resets you in the message que and causes major delays.

Markets feel "stable" right now, FaB is flat. Magic is drifting up slowely in price. Pokemon is strong. Metazoo is the hottest CCG in the industry. Weiss and Force of will feel stable.

Metazoo - PURCHASING - These orders will be HEAVILY audited, so expect slower shipping than you are used to recieving. Expect up to 2 full weeks for your item to leave my location and begin its shipping journey. If you are not a $15+ patron, your order will not ship. Crypto and Military will need to respond when the message goes out earlier in the day.

Metazoo - Nightfall Kit - The original kit was sold for $500. The biggest different this time around if the MSRP has been raise 40%. I expect the nightfall kits to be around $700-$900 range. I believe the kits contain 9 items. Assuming all the product actually shows up before this friday, the sale will go on. If the product doesnt show up, it will be pushed a week.

Metazoo - Nightfall Kit - Supply - The original release kit was sold to 1,000 patrons. The goal on this kit is to get around 2,000-2,500 kits.

Metazoo - Christmas special - Its coming.

Metazoo - Pricing - Unlike the first metazoo kit, everyone knows whats going on and none of the patrons are "upset" at the pricing like the first time. The market is fully aware now. The first kit was sold for $500 and has a market value of approx $3,000 as of this message. Nightfall kit being kept under $1k a kit is going to be a very high demand item. It is going to be a messy sale that wont make it 30 minutes. I expect the value for the "flippers" to be an immediate $1,000+ range. And after a couple months to follow a similar path of the previous kit.

Metazoo - Promos - The Halloween Rudy card and the Playmat are exclusives and i hold the entire print run. Both of which are approx 2,500 each +/- a couple percent.

Metazoo - Outlook - No matter how much negativity and attacks/thumbs down complaints i receive. This is the real deal. I have never seen a groth rate like Metazoo in the last 20 years. It's rate of change makes FaB look slow. Based on future plans and the direction of things with this CCG, its has a real potential to be industry changing. No matter how you feel about the name or the artwork, the market has accepted the product with open arms. Take notice.

The massive amount of hate Mike Waddell and Metazoo receive has fueled him to go all in and build an empire. I understand this more than anyone. That is exactly what I went through in 2016 on youtube. This is why i believe Metazoo is going to be the biggest shock to the system ever for cardboard. I was "cautiously optimistic" when i first discovered metazoo and Mike Waddell. Seeing people attack him daily...i know for a fact hes going change the entire industry.

FaB - Tales Unlimted Promo Kit - At the end of November before Thanskgiving, the Tales Unlimited kit will go on Sale to the patrons. The supply has been reduced big time. On the monarch unlimited kit, i believe 1,500 patrons purchased. I have enough kits for 400 patrons for the ToA unlimited kit. Price point will be cheap and include a case of ToA + blitz decks + promo card. Patrons who purchased the Gemkeeper card will qualify for a $69 discount on this item.

FaB - WTR/ARC - Unlimited - Unlimited does NOT mean unlimited supply. You have been warned.

FaB - Monarch - Stores and "investors/collectors" have now given up on this product. I have seen additional supply hitting the market all over the place. Most of which appear to be investors and LGS owners. I dont think we will see any uptick in price until Mon Unlimited is out of print and additional news hits the market in 2022. In the meantime i expect sideways movement between $200-$250 range per box. I no longer believe Mon to $1k will happen within the next 12 months. Outside variables like Metazoo and market sentiment becoming more pessimistic towards the game as a whole has impacted everything. Whales and big investors have backed away and many stores dont want to "sit on" any sealed product movign forward since they feel LSS cannot keep the print runs in check. I would call this a "crisis of confidence". 

FaB - Crucible - I feel Cru 1st edition is going to make a run up to $2k a box in the coming year. Out of every set, this carries the largest amount of confidence since the unlimited printing was so tight. I also expect unlimited CRU to drift up to $200-$300 a box.

I am currently working on getting another pallet of Unlimited CRU from some other LGS's and distributors. If i can lock in this additional supply, i want to run 1 last sale of Cru Unlim to the patrons for MSRP.

FaB - PROMO - LSS001-P - No additional plans at this time for any more promos or secrets including myself and not including myself. I find this to be a tragedy. I hope LSS reconsiders. LSS and myself were both blown away with the Gemkeeper promo and hope this leads to additonal creativity and unique promos with stores across the country and special items for everyone.

Fab - OUTLOOK - I believe LSS has a lot of suprises and a solid pipeling in 2022 and i think the perspective and market will be very happy. Prices across the board will firm up as news arrives.

Pokemon - Not much to say about pokemon. It is insane and stupid and surreal. I see no sign of a slowdown for new product. I expect extreme demand to continue into 2022 with strong releases.

Weiss - Once these major releases pass, i plan to increase the amount of weiss sales in 2022. I am still working on the scheule to make this happen. The amount of patrons asking for Weiss and Force of will has been increasing.

Weiss - Sealed boxes - Market liquidity is thinner with Weiss but sealed product appreciation is stronger and continues to shock even my self. Most weiss boxes take a solid 2 years from release date to see strong gains.

Force of will - The little engine that could....still trending sideways, no good or bad news to report. Sealed product holding solid. Singles appear weak.

Startup CCG's - KICKSTARTER - I am getting approached almost daily now for new CCG's. I cannot even keep up anymore on the number of startups. I want to warn everyone, this is exactly what happened in the 1990's after mtg released. Over 100 smaller card games were formed and 99% of then failed within a couple years. I feel we are in a golden age of CCG's and cardboard but use caution on many of these unproven CCG's.

MTG - OVERALL - The mtg market is healthy...i may not be happy with the state of new product. But the market is solid.

MTG - Reserved list - I would make this as the most critical category right now. I feel we are getting closer to another wave of buyouts and upticks in pricing. Its coming. 

MTG -  Collector boxes - No matter how we "feel" about this item. This is the future. Data from Throne/Ikoria/Theros is already showing solid numbers and the product isnt even that old. Collector boxes are going to age well and will become the future sealed box of choice for sealed...at least i think.

MTG - SET BOXES - The reduction in packaging and shape change on set boxes is a major game changer. This will allow myself and many stores to carry and ship the product way easier and reduce the storage and pallet space by 50%. Set boxes will be the future and take over draft boxes.

MTG - Modern/Pauper/Pioneer/EDH - Doesnt matter, whatever format your local group or friends love is going to be your bias and people believe that particular format is the leading driver of the game. I believe commander is probably the largest, but again most collectors/investors dont even play anymore.

MTG - Organized play / MagicFests - Doesnt matter, 2020 has proven organzied play is no longer important. Most people simply dont care.

Rudy's Overall Conclusion 

We are in a divided world between money/politics/opinions and "picking sides".

Whatever side you choose, we are told to hate the other end of the spectrum.

I do not expect a major crash in the near term, but yes inflation and price increases will continue to be a leading problem.

The flow of money and business continues to evolve and move into the internet/social media/culture shifts. So essentially what is happening in your local life/neighborhoor is going to give you a "jaded" opinion about the overall state of the country. This is dangerous and highly inaccurate thinking. I have experienced this since 2016 on youtube regarding mtg...then pokemon....then FaB + Metazoo. The public believes if it isnt happening in there town, its fake.

The stock market + real estate + collectibles are ALL IN A BUBBLE.

But it doesnt matter, the market will continue in this direction longer than we can make sense of it.

The market can remain wrong longer than we are alive in this world.

The fear of being wrong, makes most people a Timmy.

It is ok to get things wrong, but it is NOT ok to quit because you were wrong or lost money.

As most long term patrons have learned by now, the biggest risk is NOT taking any risk at all.

Social media has made people afraid to be mocked and laughed at. Always use negativity as fuel and lean into it. The drive 

Most people in this world are wrong. Be careful making assumptions.

Stay the course

-Rudy :)