Most Expensive Deck Opened

[kmdhstew]

Curious, what is the most expensive deck you have opened?

When I first started collecting 3 years ago I always ordered 2 decks and opened one. Although my collection is still small, at 120 decks, the hobby has become too expensive for me to buy 2 decks every time I like a deck. Now I rarely open decks....seems a shame in a way. To date the most expensive deck I've opened would have to be the Sultan Treasury deck. I just had to see the inside of the box (although I paid regular price for it, it has since increase in value to $30 to $40).

[chach]

I also try to buy at least in pairs so I can open one.  I liken it to a car that just sits without being driven; what's the fun in buying a deck that someone puts hours upon hours into the artwork just to stare at the tuckbox, or worse yet, hide the deck away in a storage box, never to see the light of day?  That said, not counting vintage decks since this isn't The Cellar, and going based on resale value I'd say it's pretty even between some of the Fed 52 series decks, Blue Bloods and even the Firehost decks (which also go for a fair amount on ebay at times).  So, around the $50 mark. There are a lot of decks I have that I won't open though because they are IMO too valuable and as such drift into the investment art category. 

I do have 2 of the black unbranded limited edition Fed 52s which are going for crazy numbers, maybe one day I'll take a peek inside but I really doubt it.   

[Curt]

I would say that I am in the same range as chach. I have a Fed 52 that I play around with on a daily basis. I also opened up a Red Artifice deck a long time ago, when I had 8 of them. I don't believe I have ever paid more than $20 for a deck and opened it though, the ones mentioned above where either from trades, or from initial releases.

[Josh Blackmon]

I've opened all my decks regardless of price. In some cases I have bought an extra deck for storage, but I am slowly moving away from that habit. It defeats the purpose to let them sit on a shelf. Much like comic books, baseball cards, action figures etc. it is just silly to buy playing cards and never even see the. If I collected as an investment my perspective may change I guess. I hope this hobby doesn't go the way of sports cards where everything is graded and sealed away with a number.  For now I just wash my hands really well and try not to be too rough on cards that I do not intend to play actual games with.

[Samurai007]

I open 1 of every deck I get, and unlike many collectors, I don't buy doubles on purpose.  Effectively, that means I open pretty much every deck I get.  I only have 4 decks that are duplicates, (they were part of package deals on ebay), and I left those sealed.  I enjoy the cards for their artwork and design, not collectible value.  By far the most expensive deck I've ever bought (and thus opened) was the Piatnik Italian Cats deck for $40.  I've also bought a few decks in the $20-25 range, but typically $15-20 is my upper limit to spend on a deck.

[Knobz1]

As some of you have seen already seen based on my pics I submitted of my collection in the past, some of you asked if I was a hoarder. lol No, I am not a hoarder. It may look like that due to the fact that companies like E, T11, D&D, Blue Crown, etc... like to offer promotions where you buy a brick of these and you get a FREE RARE DECK!!! I have fell victim to this many, many, many times. So yeah, I might have 24 decks of Black Arcane playing cards or 19 decks of Blue Artifice playing cards or 35 decks of Silver Split Spades.........(why do I have 35 decks of Silver Split Spades???)

Anywho, the most expensive deck I have ever opened cost me $5.95. On Ebay it has been selling anywhere from $75 - $110 a deck. I just so happen to have 23 of these decks still sealed and have yet to be open. That deck would be..............S&M V1. 

[52plusjoker]

I've opened all my decks regardless of price. In some cases I have bought an extra deck for storage, but I am slowly moving away from that habit. It defeats the purpose to let them sit on a shelf. Much like comic books, baseball cards, action figures etc. it is just silly to buy playing cards and never even see the. If I collected as an investment my perspective may change I guess. I hope this hobby doesn't go the way of sports cards where everything is graded and sealed away with a number.  For now I just wash my hands really well and try not to be too rough on cards that I do not intend to play actual games with.

This may sound heretical, but we have opened many antique/vintage decks that we found sealed. If they have a tuckbox [normal], we slit the bottom end fold-over and bring iot out the bottom and then figure out the best way to extract the deck without really damaging the glassine or paper wrapper. We do keep the decks in the same order and handle them carefully with clean hands. Doesn't seem to impact value and it does let us admire the cards.

[yoel]

My family members had large amounts of cards in storage for years so I've been using cards from this stash since I was a kid.  I can't tell you how many of these decks I just destroyed when I was younger! Never thought they would be anything special. I refuse to just look at the cards I got them for a reason so I'm gonna use them but I try to rotate open decks depending on mood and they last a long time. I would probably make collectors cry if I listed everything but here are a few...Half a brick or so of Tax Stamped Bees and 2 Tally Ho's, Golden Nuggets x4, Dozen or so of 1960's and 70's Bees and Tally Hos. Ive opened 1 of pretty much every deck I've owned.  1 to rock and 1 to stock has always been my motto.  Well maybe more then just one to stock if its something i think I will want to use more.

Jackson Robinson has an opened deck of my Golden Nuggets and Don has a good example of some of my everyday cards Tally Ho Circle Backs early 60's and 70's.  I started conserving them a few years back when the great playing card boom hit.

[montecarlojoe]

For me it is one of a pair of Loews Monte Carlo Casino decks. I paid $150 for the pair. they date from circa 1979 and were (judging by the quality of the pack I opened) souvenirs. Rare as hens teeth but I had to know!

It's like a mix of Schroedinger's Cat and Catch 22 - You have in front of you a perfect and pristine sealed deck, but the only way to be 100% certain of that fact is to open them, thereby rendering them imperfect.

For my money - open them. or at least one of a set if you have them. Cards, whether as art, tools, gaming pieces or props exist to be seen and enjoyed. Let them Live.

[JacksonRobinson]

I opened a few of the Jerry's Nuggets I acquired just to see what all the hype was about. But I acquired those in trade so it didn't hurt the stomach to much and I don't think I've pulled them out since.

I open all of my decks for sure even if I only I have one of them. I have 1 White Centurion but haven't opened it yet, as I'm still waiting on the the second one I found to come in. I hope the back design is more enjoyable than the white tuck it's in.

The only decks I've actually paid for are all vintage as I haven't spent a dime on any modern decks. I despise cellophane and am already working on a more elegant alternative to it for some of my future decks. I love the vellum and wax papers from the vintage decks and hope to never use cello again.

[Don Boyer]

In terms of what I paid:

The most expensive standard deck I've purchased was $50 each for two packs of Moth/Myth in black.  One is open, the other is not - I still try to do this as much as possible.

Most expensive "non-standard" or gaffed deck I bought was "Get Sharkey" from Card-Shark in Germany.  $80, but it's one terribly elegant little trick.

You can't go by value so much these days, as the value of decks tends to fluctuate too frequently.  The earliest Black Ghost 1st Edition decks being offered on eBay went for enormous sums - they have a screen capture at E of a pack selling for over $400, if I recall.  Today, they're nowhere near that expensive - I've seen them for as little as $50.  But now that we know that E has pretty much distributed all but a small reserve held for company contest prizes, the value will probably climb again.

[Firdawesome]

Mine would be the Boss deck from the Draw Like A Boss Kickstarter. There were only 2500 of them printed and they're not for sale now. I've seen the auctions on eBay closing at $80+. I just had to open up a deck cos I love the artwork! I have two more sealed Boss decks but I think I still would've opened up a deck if I only had one.

[BiggerDee]

Jerry's Nugget. I couldn't resist. I did, however, wait until it wasn't my only deck of them (unopened). I have since been able to pick up a couple of decks that had already been opened by a previous owner.

The cello was already torn so it was a matter of just slicing through the seal.

I don't open a lot of decks, and never open an of the super-popular or very limited edition ones.

[sr15]

I used to open most of the decks that I got, and still do to an extent. My unopened collection of decks is much bigger than it has ever been before though. Value-wise, I have opened decks of Sultan Treasury, Tendril, S&M v4s and Split Spade Lions, all of which I've seen go for 30-40 bucks on ebay. I only paid 10, 12, 13 and 20 dollars for those decks respectively, and if I bought them at what they're going for now I might've been more hesitant to open them. The most expensive decks I own (and their value fluctuates based on auctions I've seen) are Gold Arcanes, White Monarchs, Bicycle Actuators and Brown Wynns, but I have not yet opened them.

[HandSkillz]

I just can't bring myself to open the Fed 52s, but I want to soooo badly.  The most expensive deck I paid for that I opened is Madison Players, fun deck but not worth the $20 some odd bucks I paid for it after shipping.

[John B.]

transducer lava deck -$30
Black vision - I saw it on ebay from $20 - $50. I got it right when it came out though.
 I think thats it.

[ATS]

HS / High Roller Decks. My current work place requires a gambler to be spending over us$600,000 p.a to be the bottom tier of high rollers. The deck pictured is a bit higher then this, and is for the top hand full of players in the world, for the Venetian Casino, Macau.

[bhong]

Highest current retail value of a deck I've opened would be the Black Bicycle Branded Reserve Note, but the most expensive deck I paid for would be the Oracle Mana deck. Somewhere around 18-19$ for the Mana which I know isn't a lot compared to some of the other decks mentioned.

[BiggerDee]

If you are dilligent on eBay, you will often find decks that have already been opened, of any brand/design that you want. This makes it far less painful to open and handle them since you paid so much less for them. Keep a close eye out for your favorite, and use the eBay daily search notification system, and you may just have an open version of the deck of your dreams sooner than you think!

[Lukeout]

I'm new to collecting, but I open them all. My collection is more about using then storing in mint condition as I don't plan to ever sell any!

[Sher143]

I just can't bring myself to open the Fed 52s, but I want to soooo badly.  The most expensive deck I paid for that I opened is Madison Players, fun deck but not worth the $20 some odd bucks I paid for it after shipping.

I can't,  either.  Well,  I'm waiting till I have some extra cash to buy another set of Fed 52 which I can open. I have two LE Unbranded Black Reserve Notes that I got on eBay because I didn't get a chance to get them on Kickstarter and I so badly wanted them (and they're going for crazy high prices thanks to that PunkRock seller who pre-sold one of them for $200 and set the precedent for the rest of the eBay sellers). I cannot bring myself to open a deck because of how much it cost.

Since I've started collecting just a few months ago,  I haven't opened any significantly expensive decks.  Right now I'm waiting to receive a second Ultimate Deck in the mail which I plan to open. When I do,  that would be the most expensive deck until I open a deck of Fed 52s.

[bhong]

I can't,  either.  Well,  I'm waiting till I have some extra cash to buy another set of Fed 52 which I can open. I have two LE Unbranded Black Reserve Notes that I got on eBay because I didn't get a chance to get them on Kickstarter and I so badly wanted them (and they're going for crazy high prices thanks to that PunkRock seller who pre-sold one of them for $200 and set the precedent for the rest of the eBay sellers). I cannot bring myself to open a deck because of how much it cost.

For the LE Unbranded Reserve Note, I'd suggest picking up the uncut sheet. It's 50$ plus shipping, but way less than what it'd cost you to get another LE Unbranded Black Reserve Note though the closest thing to the LE Unbranded tuckcase would be the Black Bicycled Branded Reserve note and that's pretty costly now ...

[Sher143]

I can't,  either.  Well,  I'm waiting till I have some extra cash to buy another set of Fed 52 which I can open. I have two LE Unbranded Black Reserve Notes that I got on eBay because I didn't get a chance to get them on Kickstarter and I so badly wanted them (and they're going for crazy high prices thanks to that PunkRock seller who pre-sold one of them for $200 and set the precedent for the rest of the eBay sellers). I cannot bring myself to open a deck because of how much it cost.

For the LE Unbranded Reserve Note, I'd suggest picking up the uncut sheet. It's 50$ plus shipping, but way less than what it'd cost you to get another LE Unbranded Black Reserve Note though the closest thing to the LE Unbranded tuckcase would be the Black Bicycled Branded Reserve note and that's pretty costly now ...

That's a really good idea.  Thanks

[bhong]

I can't,  either.  Well,  I'm waiting till I have some extra cash to buy another set of Fed 52 which I can open. I have two LE Unbranded Black Reserve Notes that I got on eBay because I didn't get a chance to get them on Kickstarter and I so badly wanted them (and they're going for crazy high prices thanks to that PunkRock seller who pre-sold one of them for $200 and set the precedent for the rest of the eBay sellers). I cannot bring myself to open a deck because of how much it cost.

For the LE Unbranded Reserve Note, I'd suggest picking up the uncut sheet. It's 50$ plus shipping, but way less than what it'd cost you to get another LE Unbranded Black Reserve Note though the closest thing to the LE Unbranded tuckcase would be the Black Bicycled Branded Reserve note and that's pretty costly now ...

That's a really good idea.  Thanks

Jackson, if you read this, mind if I get some commission on that? 

I have some "rare" and expensive deck, but they're modify of a design or a recolour (ie. Scarlet Dealers, White Monarchs) that I haven't bothered to open yet. Not sure if I'm hoping to trade them or I just see them as not much different from the other less rare versions in the series.

[JacksonRobinson]

@bhong

Not many people have noticed but I have lowered the price of the LE Uncuts to $40 for that very reason.