There are two kinds of posts I love on Card Talk: news about upcoming releases, and when people tell us about how their hobby affects their life. This is one of the latter, and it’s a wall of text so you are warned.

I don’t have a lot of money. I’m not poor, but I have student loans, a car payment and a few credit cards to pay, so I have very little disposable income. Last September, I lost my job (that I had for over 7 years) and while I finally found a new one in January, it’s stressful to start over again. During that time, I got more and more depressed and worried. When I finally got the new job, I decided to treat myself when the taxes arrived and bought my first – and maybe only – case: Game of Thrones season 3. Cases have always seemed mythical to me. They are expensive, for one. Two, there is no guarantee of quality in a case, and I would be broken hearted to buy one and end up with a bunch of stuff I didn’t want. But I decided to treat myself to something, and it was a case of Game of Thrones.

I know that some of you buy a lot of cases throughout the year. I have never been anything more than a box buyer. I buy a box to get a base set and try for a big hit that I can’t afford otherwise. Most of the time it doesn’t work, and I pull Burly Cadet autograph or a Greg Grunberg relic card numbered to 2000. But every now and again, I pull a Chris Pine or Gillian Anderson autograph. You play the lottery for the times you win, not the times you lose.

The first time I ever bought multiple boxes of anything at once was Stargate Universe season 1 (two boxes). Then I bought two boxes of Game of Thrones season 1 (nothing too good in them), six boxes of Game of Thrones season 2 (and another box at the card shop next to my cat’s vet when I stopped to buy him some food) and pulled a few really good cards – Lena Headey in the box from the card shop was the best. I also bought two boxes of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkban Update, but they were at different times and they were both duds.

My case arrived on Friday. I sat down, turned on the USA Network and Modern Family (this show needs a card set!) and started cracking boxes. I won’t bore you with the details, but I started in and opened box #1 and the first autograph I pulled was Mark Killeen as Mero. Oh boy, that’s a bad sign. The first autograph card I pull in the set is the card I want least in the entire set. Full bleed of a character I don’t even remember. Ouch. Then, maybe 10 packs later, all of my worry went away because I pulled Carice van Houten as Melisandre.

All in all, I pulled almost all of the cards I wanted, but as I cracked into the last box, I was hoping for either an extremely limited or the card I wanted most: Iwan Rheon. I love Misfits, wish that card set had been better received and could have had autographs and relics, and wanted the Iwan card quite a bit. First autograph I pull from that box… Mark Killeen as Mero! My heart sunk. I bet the next card will be awful as well. Except, just a few packs from the end, the best was saved for last: an Oona Chaplin autograph! I don’t even collect the full bleeds, but this card is really nice and I am keeping it (for now, unless a bordered version comes out).



One thing I have to say: I have had issues with Rittenhouse collation before. I have had boxes with missing autographs. I have had missing inserts, and I had a pack in one of these boxes with no cards in it at all (yet I still opened it – can’t stop me from cracking packs, I guess). Whenever I have ever missed something, RA has come through. Their service is great. Well, somehow, their collation on this case was amazing enough that I managed to get a complete set of the parallel cards. I was surprised by that, but I made it with five cards to spare. And I had 27 total quotable cards and they made exactly three sets.

If you have read this far, thanks for listening. This was an exciting time for me, since I have been pretty low lately and this allowed me to escape for a while. And thanks to RA for making my current favorite set. Maybe I will save up and buy another case next year…

Nice story, thanks for sharing. Congrats on the Chaplin autograph. I can see it's the black ink version. Apparently, she signed in blue and black. If things hold to form, there should be a bordered version of her card in the next series.

I've only ever bought 2 cases, so it's pretty rare for me too. Congrats on getting your first. They sure are fun to open when you get some big hits. The Game of Thrones sets really are well made too, so I know they would have been nice to open.

Great case! Thanks for sharing your experience with us.

I haven't bought a case since Smallville season 4 (Lex and Lois autos)+ since I owned a shop at the time someone else bought cases and I got the Autograph Lex pieceworks card for free!

Nice to hear you had a great time!

I think you did real good Jason, despite getting 2 Killeen autos. I have never bought a case, probably never will, but a Sophie, Maisie, Oona, Carice,Rose and Gwen auto would really be cool. I pulled the Rose Leslie and Killeen auto from one of my 2 boxes. Even if the Rose Leslie isn't a limited auto, it's still a great one to have.

Haven't bought a case since "X-Files I Want to Believe" (Pulled both Gillian & David autos, so I went out on a win.)

Congrats on your first case! (Glad it was a good one.) >whew!<

quote:

Originally posted by Don Norton:
I think you did real good Jason, despite getting 2 Killeen autos. I have never bought a case, probably never will, but a Sophie, Maisie, Oona, Carice,Rose and Gwen auto would really be cool. I pulled the Rose Leslie and Killeen auto from one of my 2 boxes. Even if the Rose Leslie isn't a limited auto, it's still a great one to have.

I definitely agree that I got a great case -- before the set came out, I made a list of all the cards I wanted. Not counting the extremely limited Dinklage, I pulled all of them except for four -- Hannah Murray, Iwan Rheon, Thomas Brodie Sangster, and Ellie Kendrick -- and I am selling my dupe full bleeds (people I have bordered already, like Natalie Dormer) and using that to buy the missing cards. Although people can check my trade list too since I am looking for common blue/bordered autographs. I think that the Game of Thrones sets will be my focus for the time being. I have a limited card budget, and I can focus it on one set.