Trades 22-24

I've been on a roll with the trades lately. There have been plenty of online trades and even a couple in-person trades. I'm getting a lot more comfortable approaching people for trades. I rarely come out ahead by any stretch of the imagination so most of my trading has been speculative in both future pricing as well as looking for cards that are in a higher demand.

The first two trades that I made were done during Tuesday Night Cube Draft at 401 Games. One of the employees there, Miguel, has been following my journey and like to help out by throwing me some value in the trades that we make. He's awesome like that. I also think that he feels sorry for me when he sees my binder, some people might consider what I'm doing to be the Magic equivalent of panhandling.

The first trade I actually made though, was with a group of kids playing Magic without sleeves. I asked if any of them had traders and they all looked at me like I was from a different planet. Some people just don't talk the talk. One guy literally handed me his sideboard and said, "Uhmm, sure, I can trade stuff out of my side-deck if you want." The cards were in BRUTAL condition. I found a Ravnica foiled Mountain that I was interested in...it was in pretty good condition compared to the rest of his cards and he was willing to let it go.

He thumbed through my binder and ended up picking "Innocent Blood" for his "Savra, Queen of the Golgari" deck. I said that I valued the Innocent Blood at a little higher than the Mountain and that's when he said that he had "one other Shiny card"! He busted out a little box from his bag with more cards in terrible condition. His other shiny card was Darksteel Ingot from Darksteel. I was interested.

Trade #22:

My Wirewood Herald (it searches for Savra) and Innocent Blood. ($1.50)

for his:

Foiled Mountain and Beat-up Foiled Darksteel Ingot ($3.00)

Total: +$1.50

The night progressed and eventually Miguel showed up and told me that he was building a pauper cube. He insisted on checking my binder because there was nobody as pauper as me. He found a whole bunch of shit, unfortunately all of the cards he found were common.

He let me trade-up.

Trade #23:

My Foiled Wing Shards (Scourge), Kird Ape, Dauthi Slayer, Dauthi Horror, Arc Lightning, Memory Lapse (Mirage), Icatian Javelineers, Fireslinger, Man-O-War, Bonesplitter, Unearth, Innocent Blood. ($6.80)

for his:

Zendikar Plains and Solemn Simulacrum. ($8.75)

Total = +$1.95

He was nice. He knew he was losing value and letting me trade-up, but he did it anyway. Sometimes the generosity of Magic players will surprise you. :D

The last trade I made was through Youtube. This was a kid that I've traded with before. He put me on his "Magic People I look up to" list on his youtube channel. If that doesn't make you feel good then I don't know what would.

Trade #24:

My Garruk Wildspeaker ($5.00)

for his:

Glacial Fortress, Nephalia Drownyard and Foiled Civilized Scholar. ($6.00)

Total = +$1.00

I figured that by making this trade I'd be getting a free foiled Civilized Scholar. That has to have some value if Necrotic Ooze becomes a thing.

Anyway, I hope to post more trades after the prerelease this weekend. I hope to trade for all the goods, yo!

Trades 18-21

Trade 18:

This was a trade I made with the guy who traded me the two Devil's Play for a Paper Tiger and a Silvergill Adept. I noticed that the Paper Tiger was still in his binder and I pointed out that he still hadn't moved it. He said that he was waiting to get the full set - then he'd show us all.

This time he was interested in the big money.

My Grove of the Burnwillows and 2x Dark Ritual ($14.00)

for his:

Inkmoth Nexus and Blue Sun's Zenith. ($16.50)

Total = +$2.50

I gained a little bit of value here, which is what I needed to do after I fucked myself on a couple trades online...you'll see.

Trade 19:

I made this trade on youtube with a very well-respected trader that goes by the name of MrLuBuFu.

The trade was for my Ethersworn Canonist, Kitchen Finks and GP Fire-Lit Thicket ($13.00)

for his:

2x Day of Judgement, 2x Kessig Wolf-Run, Kargan Dragonlord, Puresteel Paladin, Labratory Maniac ($13.75)

Total = +$0.75

However, when I made the offer through youtube, I fucked up and forgot the 2x in front of BOTH DoJ and Kessig Wolf-Run. So the total I received was ($9.75). As soon as I realized the mistake, I contacted MrLuBuFu and explained the situation. He said he would more than make-up for the mistake I made with the extras he sent.

The extras he sent were: Painful Quandry, Reaper from the Abyss, DCI Mind Control, FNM Spellstutter Sprite and a Razorverge Thicket. Just the Thicket alone is $6.00. He more than made up for my idiotic mistake. Although, the extras I received don't actually help my "Donations to Something" project because I don't use the extras I receive for Donations. I made this rule up once I decided that even if I trade solely from this donations binder on youtube, I'll still include extras from my personal stock. Extra's are the best part of trading online and I don't want to ruin my fun just for the purposes of this project.

That's okay though, life moves on - the cards were all just donations anyway. :D

Trade 20:

This is a completely even trade according to SCG, but they value some promo's at weird prices.

It was my Sygg, River Cut-throat ($1.99)

for his:

Sheoldred, Whispering One NPH Prerelease Promo. ($1.99)

The regular, non-promo of Sheoldred is worth $3.99 - so what the fuck? Why is the foiled promo version HALF that price? I don't give a shit, I'm valuing Sheoldred at $4. Sometimes you just gotta tell Starcity that they can go fuck themselves with their foolish pricing.

Trade 21:

I got greeeeedy again. I need this Kargan Dragonlord for my Cube. The Cube championships are coming up fast and people want to have better red creatures to go all-in on. Kargan Dragonlord definitely fits the bill.

This was the trade I made with myself:

That's it for now, but I should have a fucklot of trades coming in during the next couple weeks. PLUS THERE'S A PRERELEASE THAT I'LL BE ATTENDING. I used to get a lot of trading done at prereleases. Hopefully, this one will be a throw-back to those days.

- Milo

Trade 14, 15, 16 and 17

Some of my Youtube trades have been coming in! Pretty exciting, right?!

I get it, you're mad at me for not posting often enough. Well I've been busy, OKAY? I've been working on "Milo: The Gathering" and it has been a lot of work lately. Now get off my back.

Let's return to the trades at hand, shall we?

Trade 14 -

My Inferno Titan ($4.99) it was slightly damaged and was valued at $3.99 when I traded it.

for his:

M11 Prerelease Sun Titan ($4.99) this was also valued at $3.99 when we made the trade.

Total = EVEN STEVEN!

Even if I was behind on this trade, I would be okay with it. I generally feel like the Sun Titan Prerelease card is easier to trade than a normal Sun Titan. Foils draw people in, especially foiled mythics. :D Plus, now that they revealed the new Planeswalker is Sorin and he costs 2WB, I could see Liliana of the Veil seeing play in that deck...and what better way to recur her than with a Sun Titan? All three of those cards are REAL cards, so what's preventing it from being a real deck?

Trade 15 -

My Sol Ring (Commander) and Invigorate ($6.98)

for his:

Sangromancer, Lord of Extinction, Mimic Vat and Etched Champion ($10.96)

Total = +$3.98

This is the most profit that I've made on a trade since the beginning of this entire ordeal (not including the generous donations that I've received, of course). However, Sol Ring is a very tradeable card. Even with "Donations to Something" I would be willing to take a loss when trading for a Sol Ring - it's pretty much a piece of power that got reprinted and is only allowed to be played in casual formats. $5.00 is what SCG has it listed for, but I don't think it's going to stay there forever. I'm absolutely looking for more Sol Ring's in the future.



Trade 16 -

My Champion of the Parish (foreign), Mayor of Avabruk and Portal 3 Kingdoms Plains x2. ($9.96)

for his:

Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker from the Duel Decks Ajani vs Nicol Bolas. ($9.99)

Total = +$.03

I believe that this is currently the most expensive card in my binder...and that's including any trades that I have coming in. It's my big poppa rare. I'm not dying to trade him down. I'd really like to run into someone looking for Nicol Bolas and then trade him at the $20.00 price range that the actual Nicol Bolas sits at. Hopefully, the person I'm trading with just won't care. I mean this one is FOILED! Why is it worth less?

If I leverage this in a bigger trade for something really neat like an Onslaught Fetchland - then we're getting somewhere.



Trade 17 -

My Bloodlord of Vasgoth, Ob Nixilis, the Fallen and Magister Sphinx ($4.73)

for his:

Gavony Township x2, Bloodgift Demon ($5.47)

Total = +0.74

This wasn't a big deal either. I gained a very small profit as well as obtaining some more cards to trade to Standard players at the next prerelease.



I just sent three more Donations to Something trades, so my binder is looking a little sparse for the upcoming Pre-Release. Hopefully, I will be able to make some cards move, even if I don't make any huge deals - just being able to rotate-out binder stock would be a great thing. Then, at least I would have something else to show the people on Youtube and then I could generate more trades with them - WHICH MEAN MORE EXTRA'S!!! :D

So that's it for now. I'll update sometime next week with the trades from the Prerelease. Until then, you can watch the brilliance that is "MILO: THE GATHERING"!!! SUBSCRIBE TO ME ON YOUUUUTUBEEEZZZZ

MORE TRADE CONFIRMATION VIDEOS!!!

Some more people from YouTube got the cards that I sent! Including my first Donations to Something trade.

I traded an Inferno Titan that was a little dinged up for a NM Promo Sun Titan, WHICH I ALREADY RECEIVED!!!!

That's right, I received a youtube trade in the mail and the "extra's" were pretty awesome~!

Here are the most recent trade confirmation videos:





I need to post a trade confirmation video for that one package I received. I should record it in my underwear and gingerly dip each card in a jar of honey as I read its name...lol

- Milo

Trades 12 & 13

I did-up some more trades!

The first trade was with a good friend, who didn't need anything, but gave me a trade that really should be classified as a donation.

It was my Dauthi Horror, Dauthi Slayer, Dauthi Marauder ($.99)

for his:

Swords to Plowshares (Elspeth vs. Tezzeret) ($4.99)

Total = + $4.00

The second trade I made was at 401 Games right before a cube draft. There were some random dudes playing some casual Magic. One guy didn't have any traders and the other guy only had slim pickin's

It felt weird asking if I could take a picture, so you'll just have to take my word on this trade:

My Dark Ritual x2, Devil's Play, Sorin's Vengeance, Khalni Heart Expedition, Doom Blade, Barter in Blood ($5.93)

for his:

Hex Parasite, Slash Panther (foil), Spell Crumple x2, Delver of Secrets x2, Mindshrieker ($5.95)

Total: + $.02 POWER 9, HEEERE WE COME!

That trade was waaaay more even than I thought. I thought Spell Crumple had the potential to be like 2 bucks each AT LEAST! It's a card that's only found in Commander....grrr. When did Khalni Heart Expedition hit .49?!?! Why did it jump from a quarter?

Oh wells, don't sweat the small stuff.

I made this dude's Shout-Out List:



Be Excellent To One Another,

MiloDaGreat1.

Some Trading outside of Donations to Something

I mentioned, a few weeks ago, that I'm going to start trading on youtube. I needed to build a little street cred and make some trades with some of the most reputable youtube traders out there. Since there aren't a lot of people that have Foreign Language Llanowar Elves on their wants lists, I have to trade from my real trade binder for the first few trades.

I posted the first confirmation video about a week ago. These are the next two confirmation videos:





I've actually made 4 trades from the Donations to Something binder since I made these trades. So this plan worked out magically. I'll post those trades as soon as I get the cards in the mail.

Also, I'm kickin' around an idea for a new Magic webshow. I don't know if we're going to actually do it, but its a fun idea and it wouldn't take a lot of work to produce.

Thanks for reading,

Milo

ANOTHER DONATION!

Just when I thought all of the donations were done, I got ANOTHER donation. This time it was from a real good buddy that would like to remain anonymous.

Here's what was very generously given to me:

Garruk Wildspeaker (Lorwyn) x2 $7.98
Fire-Lit Thicket (GP Flower-Stamped from GP Boston day 2. Drafted by the Canadian National Champion, Marc Anderson) $3.99
Wort, the Raidmother $.99
Dramatic Entrance $.49
Lightning Greaves x2 (Mirrodin) $3.98
Wheel of Sun and Moon $2.99
Paradise Mantle $2.99
Scythe of the Wretched $1.99
Cloudthresher x4 $3.96
Full Art Forest from Zendikar $.75
Full Art Island from Zendikar $.75
Savage Lands $1.49
Goblin Burrows x4 $1.96
Sulfurous Springs $1.49
Llanowar Wastes $1.99
Karplusan Forest $1.99
Treetop Village x2 $1.98
Teetering Peaks $.25
Ancient Den $1.99
Seething Song $1.49
Sygg, River Cutthroat $1.99
Violent Ultimatum x2 $.99
Bonesplitter x5 $1.25
Mask of Memory $.49
Kitchen Finks $3.49
Atog x2 $.98
Juvenile Gloomwidow (Foil) $.25
Seedcradle Witch (Foil) $.75
Tattermunge Maniac $.49
Ashenmoor Gouger $.49
Boggart Ram-Gang $1.99
Krosan Tusker $.25
Crystal Shard $.75
Darksteel Ingot $.99
Mind Shatter $.49
Doom Blade $.25
Explosive Vegetation $.99

annnnnnd a blown-up mail promo Hero of Bladehold!!! $ ?.??

Total = + $62.37

That's not including anything I can get from some additional worthless commons and basic lands that he threw in.

I'm at the point now where the entire binder is filled to the brim. What I really need to do is make some big trades and trade up as much as possible.

I'll post a binder video update shortly.

SO EXCITING! Thanks for reading!

- Milo

Trade 10 and 11 !!!

2 trades, 1 post. Just amazing.

Trade #10 was with a buddy, Jason, who needed some newer cards for his cube. I was more than happy to oblige. The Birthing Pod has been sitting in my binder since the binder's origins and the Kessig Wolf Run hasn't jumped in price the way I thought it would. However, the Wolf Run is a really solid card to have, its super easy to move right now. I didn't actually make anything on this trade. We made a dead even swap. I just took two cards that I was pretty confident that I could move - PLANESWALKERS.

I traded my: Kessig Wolf Run and Birthing Pod ($6.98)

and I received:

Sorin Markov and Chandra Nalaar ($6.98)

The second trade was with this random dude, Miguel. He's not completely random, I actually know him, but he's just got one of those faces - you know? Miguel and I have been talking about trading from the binder for a little while now. He only found a Silvergill Adept and a Paper Tiger. I valued the Paper Tiger at exactly nothing - as did he.

This is the trade we made:

I made this trade just because I gained a little value.

I traded my Silvergill Adept and a Paper Tiger ($1.74)

for his Recross the Paths and Devil's Play x2 ($2.23)

Total: +$0.49

This is the type of trade that could turn around and bite me in the ass. We'll see. I think that there must be someone out there looking for Devil's Play - and I'm going to fucking find them.

'til next time.

- Milo

Trade 9 - Trading with Iby

Iby was one of the first people to donate to the cause, so when he told me he really needed the Koth, I knew it was going to him.

I really wanted to get some Standard stuff for Koth so I could chain it off into a bunch of cards that were easier to move. Unfortunately, Iby doesn't really buy a lot of Magic cards anymore so his stuff is pretty ancient.

However, he was determined to ensure I gained value out of this trade:

My:

Koth of the Hammer ($15.99)

for his:

Minamo, School at Water's Edge, Masako, the Humorless (foil), Sunforger (foil) and Grove of the Burnwillows ($21.96)

Total: +$5.97


Now I gotta find some people who are interested in getting rid of their Standard overstock for some of these hard-to-find foils and modern playables.


I started trading over youtube to build some web-cred. I couldn't get any bites on my donations-to-something trade binder video so I started trading with popular youtube traders in hopes that their subscribers would trickle down and start visiting my youtube channel.

This is the first trade confirmation video that I've received:

Trade 8 - BIGGEST TRADE YET

I went to 401 after work on Thursday because I know there's a Standard tournament and a lot of people bring traders to those things. Unfortunately, most of those people are really only looking for cards to play in Standard. There was this one guy though...who, like me, was just there to trade.

He kinda took me to school, he was a better trader than I am. That's okay though - I got to trade up:

My: Kitsune Mystic (foil), Kuro, Pitlord (damaged/foiled), Undead Warchief (Foil), Skycloud Expanse (foil), Goblin Token (Player Reward's) and a Slagstorm = $20.94

The Goblin token isn't on SCG so we just kinda guessed - He valued the pitlord at a buck less because it was damaged.

I received: Hinterland Harbor, Magister Sphinx, Koth of the Hammer = $20.73

Total = -$0.21

...I didn't get owned as badly as I thought! :D

It was definitely nice to move the Undead Warchief at full value. I really needed to get rid of my EDH/Maginally collectible cards and gain some relevant expensive cards.

Koth's price will fluctuate based on the popularity of Mono-Red in Standard...I'm okay with that. Planeswalkers are nice to have in a binder full of unpopular cards.

Another Donation - HUGE DONATION!

A friend of mine, Sebastian, has very generously donated cards to this project twice. Some of the cards I started with were his, then he found a bunch of commons/uncommons and he gave those to me last night.

I added so many cards from the stacks he gave me, that I had to completely reorganize my binder. I also ended up taking out some cards.

I took out a bunch of French 4th edition, Russian shadowmoor and Japanese RoE commons. I also removed:

Grab the Reins x 2 $0.98
Scrabbling Claw x 2 $0.50
Russian Meekstone ?
Dragon Blood FOIL $.49
Arcane Spyglass FOIL $.25
Darksteel Pendant FOIL $.75
Arcbound Singer FOIL $.49
Granite Shard FOIL $.49

$ - 3.95

I added a bunch of cards, I'm going to try and list them all, but there is a chance that I might miss something...

Wirewood Lodge $2.99
Temple of the False God $.75
Daru Encampment x 2 $.98
Starlit Sanctum x 4 $3.96
Seaside haven x 2 $.98
Tree of Tales $.49
Secluded Steppe x 3 $.75
Barren Moor x 4 $1.00
Lonely Sandbar x 3 $.75
Armadillo Cloak x 4 $3.96
Fires of Yavimaya x 3 $2.97
Edgewalker x 2 $.49
Nebuchadnezzar $.49
Feldon's Cane x 2 $.49
Caltrops x 4 $1.96
Myr Enforcer x 2 $1.98
Serpent Generator $.98
Loxodon Warhammer x 3 (One has some writing on it - "I am worse than Crystal Shard, you dumbass") $4.47??
Crystal Chimes $.49
The hive x 2 $.49
Colossus of Sardia x 3 $1.47
Skyship Weatherlight $.99
Triskelion $.49
Tormod's Crypt $1.49
Quicksilver Amulet (Urza's Legacy) $5.99 - CRAZY RIGHT?
Spellbook x 2 $.98
Wall of Junk $.49
Thran Lens x 4 $1.96
Shield Sphere $1.99
Crystal Shard $.75
Ashnod's Altar x 2 $1.98
Moss Diamond x 5 $1.25
Marble Diamond x 3 $.75
Fire Diamond x 3 $1.47
Sky Diamond x 2 $.98
Charcoal Diamond $.49
heartstone $.49
Nuisance Engine $.49
Sungrass Egg x 2 $.50
Shadowblood Egg $.25
Aura of Silence $1.99
Enlistment Officer $.49
Soltari Priest $.99
Animate Wall x 2 $.98
Warrior Angel x 2 $2.98
Flicker $.49
Oracle en-Vec $.49
Sacred Guide $.49
Wall of Essence $.49
Divine Offering (Chronicles) x 4 $1.00
Righteousness $.49
Null Chamber $.49
Peace Talks x 2 $.50
Repulse x 2 $.50
Man-O'-War x 4 $1.00
Chain of Vapor $1.99
Rebuild $.49
Waterfront Bouncer $.25
Exhaustion (portal) $.99
Raven Familiar x 2 $.98
Telepathy $.49
Recall $.49
Second Chance $.49
Whim of Volrath $.99
Duplicity $.49
Musician $.49
Drain Power x 2 $.98
Ice Cave $.49
Legacy's Allure $.49
Elephant Grass $1.99
Channel $.49
Argothian Wurm $2.99
Call of the Wild $.49
Seeker of Skybreak $.49
Revelation $.49
Invigorate $1.99
Rebirth $.49
Quirion Druid $.49
Argothian Elder $.75
Tempting Licid $.49
Yavimaya Granger $.99
Killer Bees x 2 $.50
Tinder Wall x 3 $1.47
Living Lands $.49
Bloated Toad x 2 $.25
Reap and Sow $.49
Ruination $1.49
Goblin Recruiter $1.99
Seething Song $1.99
Goblin Bombardment $1.49
Goblin Grenade (Fallen Empires) x 3 $4.47
Arc Lightning x 2 $.50
Land's Edge $.99
Keldon Firebombers $.49
No Quarter $.49
Brand $1.49
Kird Ape $.49
Goblin Tinkerer $.49
Brawl $.49
Goblin War Strike $.49
Mogg Fanatic x 3 $1.47
Uthden Troll $.25
Wall of Stone $.49
Dragon Whelp $.25
Dark Ritual x 6 $5.94
Sacrifice $.49
Culling the Weak $.99
Bottomless Pit x 4 $.49
Hidden Horror $.25
Reanimate $5.99
Exhume x 3 $8.97
Songs of the Damned x 2 $.98
Unearth x 2 $2.98
Diabolic Servitude $.49
Bone Dancer $2.49
Kaervek's Spite $.75
Ebon Praetor $.49
Lurking Evil $.49
Endemic Plague $.49
No Mercy $4.99
Dauthi Horror x 3 $.75
Dauthi Marauder x 2 $.50
Dauthi Slayer x 5 $2.45
Stupor $.49
Barter in Blood $.99
Hecatomb $.99
Diabolic Tutor x 3 $2.97
Portal 3 Kingdoms Basic Land (2 of each) $10.00

TOTAL = + $171.70

This total is very misleading. There are a lot of $.50 cards listed that I will almost never be able to move. I'd love to trade these for Standard cards, just so my binder doesn't look like a sack of dated commons.

I also made some pages of crappy cards just for fun. IE, Page of Revised Terrors with a Mirrodin Terror in the middle as well as a page of commons from portal and two pages of John Avon basic Swamps and Mountains from Urza Saga and Mirage.

Trade 7 - Trade before Tuesday Night Cube Draft!!! :D

This one dude, Kyle, started playing cube drafts with us on Tuesdays. He usually doesn't have any traders with him and when I ask him about trading he is usually only interested in very specific Legacy playables that aren't in my binder.

However, this week he said he's making a binder of creatures that he likes. I guess it's kind of like a "Hall of Fame" for his personal favourite creatures. I could dig that, it sounds like something I would do. He showed me the binder and I told him that I was interested in a bunch of cards. He has good taste in creatures. There was also a Sol Ring in the binder...Sol Ring isn't a creature...I guess that's why he was so eager to trade it.

I traded: Cabal Interrogator, Necrotic Ooze, Arcanis, the Omnipotent (REALLY DAMAGED) = $5.23

and I received:

Sol Ring ($5.99)

Total = +$0.76

According to Starcity prices, I didn't even come out ahead by a dollar. I disagree. Even though Sol Ring is a $6.00 card by SCG prices, it's still valued as a $10.00 card by most people. Even at my LGS they sell it for more than $6.00. I can definitely get more than book value for it...I hope.

I just told another friend about the "Donations to Something" challenge that I'm working on and he has a box of random commons/uncommons that he's going to let me go to town on. We'll see if I can find any old boarded mana leaks or maybe even some Top's or something.

STAY TUNED!!!!

Trade 4

I needed 3 of the cards that I traded for, for my cube...I can't carry around a bunch of binders all the time so I'll just have to trade with myself if I end up in a situation like this.

I'll try and make the trade from the point-of-view of the cube-owner and someone else has these cards that I need for my cube. Then I'll ask myself, "What would I be willing to give up for these cube cards?"

So I traded Mikaeus, the Lunarch, Kessig, Wolf Run and Dryad Arbor ($14.97)

and I received Solemn Simulacrum, Birds of Paradise (M11), Bloodlord of Vaasgoth, Chancellor of the Spires, Argent Sphinx, Pentavus and Sorin's Vengeance. ($17.43)

Total = +$2.46

I hope that I won't have to do this often, but I'm also not going to be silly and not put cards in my possession into the cube if it will enhance cube gameplay.