What Can't Be Bought

This thoughtful video from Rhystic Studies got me thinking. 

I know that the Magic cards I own have value but my feeling about that value is "so what?", at least from a fiscal perspective. I don't get Magic cards because I can make money off them.

As an aside: I'm going to leave the subject of how expensive (too expensive) Magic cards out of this one. 

Because I've recently dropped about $800 on Warhammer Conquest cards to complete the official set! Which is very cool and lets that part of my brain which says I needed to get all the things shut the hell up. (Special thanks to the friends who helped me find these packs!)

It also allows me to focus on the rest of the game; building decks and playing them. I'm up to five decks! {As another aside: I think it's pretty clear to anyone who reads this blog that I have a problem...} 

Similarly with Magic: I acquire these cards for the purpose of engaging in a game. I buy the cheapest sleeves I can because I want my cards to last for as long as possible-I've been playing since Ice Age, when sleeves weren't a thing and I've seen what some wear and tear can do to a card. 

But I don't care about the sleeves. I care about taking care of the pieces so that I can keep playing the game! Hell, my decks are becoming more problematic because of the cheap clear sleeves and WotC's insistence on printing double-faced cards. 

(Another aside: I do have opaque sleeves for the times when I go to official events or play with strangers, which...I hope will be soon! But I don't want to have to spend 8+ bucks on sleeves for every deck. That would be expensive!)

So when the Rhystic Studies video asks about cards that people value and gets all kinds of stories in return, that makes sense to me. All of these cards are just cardboard with pretty art on it. It isn't until we imbue them with stories that they really take on any life of their own. That they even can take on some life at all!

The ownership of what might be hundreds of thousands of cards by now, for isn't about owning them, so much as it is about having access to a library that allows me to execute on demand whatever very weird idea that I'm hoping to do, without having to go through the additional step of finding the best deal on cards. Which I will do, because my brain won't let me not.  

Case in point, the Rize of the Fenix deck that I still love to play. I kicked that idea in my head around for years before building it, and then BAM, I had everything I need to take Rize on the road against friends. 

Who all thought it was a cool deck! And we had fun games that were interesting to play. I can't imagine selling the deck or even deconstructing it, because it's got memories now. That's where I want to keep my value.