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Falling Off The Box Busting Wagon
When I was a kid, one of my favorite memories was coming home from the local pharmacy with a few packs of cards and busting them open on my porch with my friends. A few years later, I was busting full boxes of cards at the dining room table or on my living room floor.
This was only the beginning of my cardboard addiction. By the mid 90's, I was spending a large percentage of my weekly paychecks on wax, wax, and more wax. Sure... I also purchased the occasional single, but most of the time spent at my LCS was in front of the wax boxes.
Eventually I was so far in debt that I had no choice but to quit and sell off most of my collection to help pay the bills. I spent several years away from the hobby, but like any other addiction it was always in the back of my mind.
Fast forward to 2008... and thanks to my students, I was back to my old ways. However... over the past five years I have evolved as a collector. I have specific PC's and sets that I'm building, which means that I have a firmer grasp on my wants and needs. I'm also more responsible with my money than in my youth. My priority is to pay my bills and to put money away for that rainy day.
The days of busting boxes and cases of cards are long gone. These days, I'm more conservative and focused on buying singles and sets.
At least that's what I thought.
Over Thanksgivingbreak... I completely fell off of the cardboard wagon and went on a Black Fridayshopping spree.
Here's what I purchased from Blowout Cards:
This was only the beginning of my cardboard addiction. By the mid 90's, I was spending a large percentage of my weekly paychecks on wax, wax, and more wax. Sure... I also purchased the occasional single, but most of the time spent at my LCS was in front of the wax boxes.
Eventually I was so far in debt that I had no choice but to quit and sell off most of my collection to help pay the bills. I spent several years away from the hobby, but like any other addiction it was always in the back of my mind.
Fast forward to 2008... and thanks to my students, I was back to my old ways. However... over the past five years I have evolved as a collector. I have specific PC's and sets that I'm building, which means that I have a firmer grasp on my wants and needs. I'm also more responsible with my money than in my youth. My priority is to pay my bills and to put money away for that rainy day.
The days of busting boxes and cases of cards are long gone. These days, I'm more conservative and focused on buying singles and sets.
At least that's what I thought.
Over Thanksgivingbreak... I completely fell off of the cardboard wagon and went on a Black Fridayshopping spree.
Here's what I purchased from Blowout Cards:
This week, thirteen boxes and a few random items including Leaf Holiday Packs and a pair of Jon Jonesautographs arrived on my doorstep. I'm too embarrassed to say how much I spent.
But I will say that earlier in the week I cashed my parent's birthday check and actually walked away from the casino near my parent's house with more money in my pocket than I walked in with. So the damage wasn't that bad.
Regardless... I dropped more money on unopened product that could and probably should have been thrown into savings or at least spent on something more practical. Hopefully this is a "teachable moment" and in the future I will avoid all Black Fridaysales involving cardboard.
But what's done is done. And any feelings of regret will be balanced out with joy as I slowly bust each and every one of these boxes.
Don't worry. I'll share my experience with you, so you too can learn from my mistake.
Happy Hump Day and sayonara!
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