Which E bonus for Tier 3 and Tier 4 to get? (collectors point of view) and why?

[K]

At the end of the day its supply and demand. Why E cant just reprint all all rare* limited decks and release a real limited rare deck! They will in a perfect world! lol

Say what?

So, you're suggesting they reprint all rare limited decks and release a real limited rare deck?  Wow, I can drive a fleet of semis through the holes in that logic...

If they just "reprint" it, it's no longer rare, is it?  Nor is it all that limited, either.

They ALREADY have "real limited rare decks".  Four of them in fact, of which only three are in the gift tiers - Black Ghost 1st Edition, Gold Arcane and Red Artifice, in order of release.  The fourth, Ltd., was only made available over the holidays and the remaining stock - of which Marcus said there wasn't much left - would be given out as contest prizes.

Closest thing you'll ever find to a reprint is a second edition, like the Black Ghost.  They've already said there will be no Red Artifice 2nd Edition (to preserve the value of the 1st edition).  I'm sure the same logic would be applied to the Gold Arcane, which already exists in two other versions: black and white.

The only limited-edition deck they did that was a wholly-original idea was the Ltd. - and even that borrows elements from Artifice 2nd Ed.; they have standard faces and pips, but they use the same index font as the Artifice, and the back is an elegant, classy design with no fancy glyphs or cherubs riding bicycles.

But you chose what would make you happy, which in the end is what's really important, right?  Otherwise, why buy special custom-made playing cards at all?

lol. what I meant is if E will reprint those recently released rare decks again people can actually have a chance to use it and not just to collect dust. And IMHO E has not really released a RARE deck.. sure its limited of 5000 or 3000 but that is still many.. my definition of rare is hard to find high quality item that has real value and not just because its worth a lot of $$$

Of course it wont be rare if it was to be reprinted again (duh) and If E will reprint those decks I am certain people will buy them in a whim and will still look good on their balance sheet.. If ever it happens it is a win-win for everyone except for greedy people who just want to make a profit out of it. lol

[size=78%]I am certainly sure that most people would agree on this. I say reprint those decks so everyone can use them and not only reserved for people who got a lot $$$ to shell out.[/size]

that and, business. I'm sure the people at E would like to share all their nice cards with people around the world but then it's a company which needs money to produce these nice decks thus its like a see-saw with business and fairness/values? (I dk how to describe this part) on the other side.

[Don Boyer]

lol. what I meant is if E will reprint those recently released rare decks again people can actually have a chance to use it and not just to collect dust. And IMHO E has not really released a RARE deck.. sure its limited of 5000 or 3000 but that is still many.. my definition of rare is hard to find high quality item that has real value and not just because its worth a lot of $$$

Of course it wont be rare if it was to be reprinted again (duh) and If E will reprint those decks I am certain people will buy them in a whim and will still look good on their balance sheet.. If ever it happens it is a win-win for everyone except for greedy people who just want to make a profit out of it. lol

[size=78%]I am certainly sure that most people would agree on this. I say reprint those decks so everyone can use them and not only reserved for people who got a lot $$$ to shell out.[/size]

So you want them to re-release rare decks - while at the same time saying they're not really rare...

Stop and think for a moment: there are over 6 billion people on earth.  6,000,000,000 - it's a big number.  There's only 5,000 decks in a 5,000-deck print run.  Is it the rarest of decks: no.  Is it rare: YES.  Especially since USPC probably churns out that many Standard Bicycles before lunchtime every day!  Only a maximum of about 0.00000083333% of all humans alive today can own one - and the actual number is lower than that, because some people own multiple copies.

There's a big reason why E isn't reprinting the rare decks.  Buyers are getting these decks both from E and from the after-market with the assumption that they're rare items with some significant value to them.  If E suddenly released massive quantities of them, making them no longer either rare or limited, it would greatly devalue both the decks and the marketplace's opinion of E.  A short term boost in sales may not be worth the long-term drop in consumer confidence, especially after stating time and again the decks are rare and won't be reprinted.  (Not to mention that they like having customers with disposable income - being a magician itself is a luxury unless you're doing it for a living and magicians are their prime demographic.)

You're simply ticked off that these decks cost a lot of money and you can't afford them.  I'm very sorry to hear that.  In that case, why don't you try winning them in the occasional contests that E offers, or buying them during one of the sales promotions, such as the ever-popular "buy $75 of stuff, get a Gold Arcane" special that I've seen a few times over the last year?  The specials aren't dirt cheap, but they are affordable, and you can always sell all the things you bought, making the deck pretty much free.  Occasionally, third-party companies are also giving away rare E decks in contests - look into those opportunities, too.

[jhayel84]

lol. what I meant is if E will reprint those recently released rare decks again people can actually have a chance to use it and not just to collect dust. And IMHO E has not really released a RARE deck.. sure its limited of 5000 or 3000 but that is still many.. my definition of rare is hard to find high quality item that has real value and not just because its worth a lot of $$$

Of course it wont be rare if it was to be reprinted again (duh) and If E will reprint those decks I am certain people will buy them in a whim and will still look good on their balance sheet.. If ever it happens it is a win-win for everyone except for greedy people who just want to make a profit out of it. lol

[size=78%]I am certainly sure that most people would agree on this. I say reprint those decks so everyone can use them and not only reserved for people who got a lot $$$ to shell out.[/size]

So you want them to re-release rare decks - while at the same time saying they're not really rare...

Stop and think for a moment: there are over 6 billion people on earth.  6,000,000,000 - it's a big number.  There's only 5,000 decks in a 5,000-deck print run.  Is it the rarest of decks: no.  Is it rare: YES.  Especially since USPC probably churns out that many Standard Bicycles before lunchtime every day!  Only a maximum of about 0.00000083333% of all humans alive today can own one - and the actual number is lower than that, because some people own multiple copies.

There's a big reason why E isn't reprinting the rare decks.  Buyers are getting these decks both from E and from the after-market with the assumption that they're rare items with some significant value to them.  If E suddenly released massive quantities of them, making them no longer either rare or limited, it would greatly devalue both the decks and the marketplace's opinion of E.  A short term boost in sales may not be worth the long-term drop in consumer confidence, especially after stating time and again the decks are rare and won't be reprinted.  (Not to mention that they like having customers with disposable income - being a magician itself is a luxury unless you're doing it for a living and magicians are their prime demographic.)

You're simply ticked off that these decks cost a lot of money and you can't afford them.  I'm very sorry to hear that.  In that case, why don't you try winning them in the occasional contests that E offers, or buying them during one of the sales promotions, such as the ever-popular "buy $75 of stuff, get a Gold Arcane" special that I've seen a few times over the last year?  The specials aren't dirt cheap, but they are affordable, and you can always sell all the things you bought, making the deck pretty much free.  Occasionally, third-party companies are also giving away rare E decks in contests - look into those opportunities, too.

That is my opinion about rarity and you also have yours (btw thanks for the calculations!) . Re-releasing these v1 decks will certainly devalue it (especially for greedy sellers who wants to capitalise on it! Are you one of them? lol) however it will be offset by people buying these decks as one of their practice decks especially for professional magicians and cardistricians or E can just reprint with V2 on them so at least v1 deck's value are still preserved =D. If they make these available same as the arcanes or ghost people will still buy them which will be an ongoing profit not just a temporary boost on sales.

How dare you assume that I am ticked coz I cant afford it. lol I have a FT job and I CAN afford it. Its funny you came up only with this conclusion. I know you cant please everyone but hey the way I see it will make most of us happy especially for the collectors (not the greedy ones) and prof magicians as well.

I had a chance to participate on these contests but just ignored it coz I at that those times I was not really interested on collecting. Thank you for your suggestions and will definitely keep an eye out on these specials and deals even it will be hard since I live outside US.


Nevertheless I am still thankful that E made these decks unfortunately not everyone can have them to appreciate how nice they are! 

[Don Boyer]

That is my opinion about rarity and you also have yours (btw thanks for the calculations!) . Re-releasing these v1 decks will certainly devalue it (especially for greedy sellers who wants to capitalise on it! Are you one of them? lol) however it will be offset by people buying these decks as one of their practice decks especially for professional magicians and cardistricians or E can just reprint with V2 on them so at least v1 deck's value are still preserved =D. If they make these available same as the arcanes or ghost people will still buy them which will be an ongoing profit not just a temporary boost on sales.

How dare you assume that I am ticked coz I cant afford it. lol I have a FT job and I CAN afford it. Its funny you came up only with this conclusion. I know you cant please everyone but hey the way I see it will make most of us happy especially for the collectors (not the greedy ones) and prof magicians as well.

I had a chance to participate on these contests but just ignored it coz I at that those times I was not really interested on collecting. Thank you for your suggestions and will definitely keep an eye out on these specials and deals even it will be hard since I live outside US.


Nevertheless I am still thankful that E made these decks unfortunately not everyone can have them to appreciate how nice they are! 

OK, I apologize for the crack about being unable to afford them.  It was over the line.

Rarity isn't a relative thing.  Something is rare, or it isn't.  There are degrees of rarity, but if something is rare, it's rare, plain and simple.  You can have an opinion about rarity, but that doesn't make it a fact.

There ALREADY ARE alternate, affordable versions of ALL the E limited-edition decks except for the Ltd.

Black Ghost, 1st Edition: Black Ghost 2nd Edition.
Red (and BLUE) Artifice, 1st Edition: Blue and Green Artifice, 2nd Edition.
Gold Arcane: White and Black Arcane.

The Blue Artifice wasn't intentionally meant to be rare, but they did discontinue it, so it became a "backdoor" limited edition.  The white-pip Black Tiger and the Fan Back Tally Ho Viper are on their way to becoming limited as well, since they're not reprinting them when the current supply sells out.

But the point is, there already are "practice" versions of three out of the four decks you mentioned.  I don't know if they're planning to make something similar with the Ltds., but it wouldn't surprise me.

Are they the same exact model?  No.  Are they damn near identical?  YES.  All that's different is the color - and in the case of the BG1E, the BG2E is actually an UPGRADE now, since they're being offered in Performance Coating, which didn't exist when the BG1E was printed.

Anyone who can afford to spend about $10 can have any one of the E decks for sale, including the "alternate versions" of the rare decks I discussed above.  That would cover much of the world's working population with any disposable income.