Video

No, that is a video for a players collection, not for value collectors. The drawers are an actual method for organizing my collection around the purpose of building decks. I have no more then 4 copies of almost all cards I own. Yet with nearly 50k cards I can discover if I have the cards, and build any deck within like 15 minutes. THAT is the point of the system and why it's set up like that.

Strong words there. Ok try me, name one thing you think I don't understand about currency and what I said that makes you think that.

Well?

You clearly didn't watch the video and missed what I said. This video was not talking about price in the short term. Even today I cannot and don't even attempt to predict price in the short term. It could go to a million dollars someday. What I'm saying... if you can fathom it... is that someday it will fail and likely for the reasons I listed. Right now it's just a speculative ride.

That's a very new perspective, keep digging. Here's some topics that if you wish to be honest with yourself about your investment you'll keep digging and learning on... If money must by definition be stable, but investment must by definition be volatile (profit is made in the swings) then how does something which 99.99% of the people buying it do it FOR investment... convert to totally stable (thus making it a terrible investment) without them all selling it? If Bitcoin is supposed to be such a good form of money, it has a market cap well into the Billions and millions of people all over the world who believe in it... why is nearly nobody (like literally NOBODY) using it on a daily basis for transactions even though it's been out for over 10 years? How will the blockchain size problem and network scaling problems ever be fixed? Since the source code is 100% open source, and any 1st world government who wishes to use all the benefits of the best version of crypto can just copy it and launch their own coin, then pass laws making that legal tender and Bitcoin illegal... why would any 1st world Government turn over billions of dollars to buy Bitcoin from early adopters when they can just have a better version for free?

First, note that this video was not making a short term price prediction. I said I cannot predict where the price will go during the speculative run or how long it will last. What I was saying, is that Bitcoin failed as a currency and it will eventually flop entirely. On that viewpoint, I now believe it even more strongly and I have more solid reasons to think so. None of the issues I called out in this video were disproven

@@EdwintheMagicEngineer This whole video was about some cryptocurrencies, not Bitcoin. There is a major difference between these things.

@@Boris247 I'm completely aware that the crypto variants are different and I'm aware of exactly how many of them are different. Some of them are better on the issues I covered here (like blockchain) but most of them suffer these same problems. Bitcoin suffers these issues the worst. None of the Bitcoin problems I discussed here have been solved, the price just went up because everybody is excited about it.

@@EdwintheMagicEngineer Thank you for your reply. I don't want to discuss other cryptocurrencies, because I also find them dubious. I only use Bitcoin, and it fits my need. It's not perfect so I understand that it's not for everyone, but if there is one thing I'd like you to know about it, is that Bitcoin is a fully open source project, and it's problem are slowly being solved by the community build around it. For an example, the Lightning Network protocol build on it solves a lot of the security and speed the base layer (blockchain) can't solve.

you totally missed the point. Being open source means if any nation wants to adopt it they can just make it themselves and pass laws making their version legal. They don't need to buy it from Bitcoin investors.

@@EdwintheMagicEngineer that’s literally how fiat money works right now. Governments in their jurisdictions deem their fiat legal tender and all other money as invalid. That already exists now with paper money. But black markets exist in poorer counties for dollars. Because paying the premium to use a different more stable money “illegal money” is better than using the worthless hyper-inflating legal tender of the jurisdiction. You missed the point. The real question is why are dollars seen as more valuable than pesos when they all operate on the open source protocol of Fiat currency, and the answer is the network effects and monetary policy and now all the fiats are competing on the same terms with cryptocurrencies. It’ll come down to network effects and monetary policy. Of all these competing assets and with bitcoin it’s a fully transparent and immutable policy. The fed changes interest rates on a whim. Now with BTC specifically I’m beholden to no central authority’s monetary policy, dictating the value of my savings. Whereas even if I use the dollar in a currency black market in Afghanistan, instead of the worthless local currency I’m still subject to the whims of the federal reserve. You’re misleading people I don’t have time to explain this to you. Just ask yourself why one of the largest pensions in the world as well as some of the world’s largest banks are buying it now. Idc if you miss the boat.

@@mylescharlesworth7771 No, I get that point. This is not a new topic to me. Just back up a second and follow what I'm saying. It's not a GOOD thing that Governments can pass laws making anything legal tender they want. A corrupt Government will take advantage of their people and that's a bad thing. Bitcoin was started for good reasons. But you forget that Governments are the ones with the laws, they have the police, they have the army, the courts and the jails. They have the power and ability to force their will. They can declare Bitcoin illegal and force us all to stop using it by threat of violence or loss. Those same governments can just copy/paste the source for their own crypto with some evil changes. That's what the dreaded FedCoin is likely to be and it's terrible. What's very likely is that they eventually make Bitcoin illegal and bless their own evil currency and then back that terrible action up with force.

@@EdwintheMagicEngineer give me liberty or give me death, if you wanna bow down and take your whippings like a good serf that's on you. some of us are more principled than that. You can't ban bitcoin you can only ban yourself from it. peaceful non-compliance they can't throw us all in cages. there won't be anyone left to tax or rule over. government also ok'd the ETF's they've rolled the trojan horse into troy. the state employees of Wisconsin are exposed to it through their pensions. people aren't gonna vote against their incentives. we're moving into the end-game of dollar Dominance. they can't ban it anymore and all things being equal. our money is better than their CBDC.

@@mylescharlesworth7771 I honor your position and I feel the same. But you are missing something very crucial. A money system only works when everybody adopts it and uses it. If you and a few other people are the only ones willing to die for your currency, it will fail. Adoption of a currency takes the critical mass of society. You CANNOT make one you believe in work by giving up your life for it. I don't like it either, it's why I mined Bitcoin, invested in it and learned about it. But my study of history forced me to accept that those in control of the guns, jails, armies, and threats can enforce what ever currency they want upon the people.

Please just note 1 thing that seems to get overlooked, this video was saying Bitcoin will fail eventually for the reasons stated. This video was NOT talking about the price of Bitcoin in the short term.

@@EdwintheMagicEngineer it's been 5 years - nothing about that is short term. When you made this video, the price of Bitcoin was $3,900. It's now $66,000+. If your predictions were even remotely close to correct (they're two of the laziest counter-arguments to Bitcoin that i've ever heard), we wouldn't see that level of price appreciation.

@@whatsgood22022 you are totally missing the point. This video was never about price. This video was talking about there being a speculative ride and then an eventual crash. The price even going to a million dollars per coin does not disprove what I'm saying in this video. I cannot predict the price and I cannot predict the time. What I'm saying is that there's several issues that will eventually cause it to end. Side note... MONEY is not something you can gamble on. The more it swings in value, the worse it is at being money.

@@EdwintheMagicEngineer you down to do a live debate? You're so far out of your depth with this topic it'll be really fun

@@whatsgood22022 I’m fine talking to you over video chat, but it’s a bit hard to trust a total stranger in terms of a live debate. I’ve had my fill of people mis-quoting me to make it seem like i said things I didnt say

Seems you didn't watch the video. The video made the very clear point, it will fail eventually, and here's the reasons why. I said until that point it could go anywhere.

This entire comment misses what I said in the video. I said it will fail eventually, not soon

@@EdwintheMagicEngineer The US Dollar will fail, oil will run out, and gold will have no value, eventually

True, but bitcoin would collapse tomorrow if you couldn't wash trade it in fiat. Not likely but still possible.

@@piccolojunior4766 people get so caught up in the gains of Bitcoin they miss the forest through the trees on the bigger picture. All the price gains in the world does not prove it will ever succeed as currency, it just proves to be a wild speculation. Imagine if Bitcoin ever did achieve its own goal and became “money” and thus 100% stable. No more gains or swings in price… why would anybody who bought it for investment keep their money in it… when there is gains to be made elsewhere? Why would that not cause a massive sell off as the speculators (currently 99% of those holding it) rush to the exits?

That is a completely mute point, all fiat would have to collapse. Bitcoin is a globally accepted asset that can be converted in any fiat currency. If fiat crashed all at once, all of the sudden, people that have Bitcoin would be some of the very few that have a currency of any value. In a situation like this, Bitcoin could very well replace fiat currency. If that were to happen, Bitcoin would be worth an absolutely massive amount per coin. In my opinion, Bitcoin will absorb many other assets over time which will lead to huge gains in it's value. Bitcoin is simply better, safer, faster, and under no regulated control like fiat money is. Fiat over time has and will always historically fail. Look up what the average life span of a fiat currency is throughout history. its a sobering fact. When you have a few powerful individuals or a government able to manipulate a currency, it WILL fail. Bitcoin, being decentralized is one of it's largest pillars of strength, Bitcoin is money you can't F with!

Thank you for circling back and taking the time to tell me your viewpoint. I'm an old dog when it comes to Magic. I've been deep in this area for decades and I went through every avenue to see if it made sense. The only answer that ever made sense at pleasing both the collectors/investors and the players was the proxy route. I literally spent years closely watching and testing the waters to see if the fear ever manifests... that fear being "why would anybody buy a card when they can print them for free?" It's a valid question and it makes sense on the first pass. But decades of experience made it completely clear that people don't want to be that guy with proxies. EVERYBODY with few exceptions wishes they had real cards and will eventually pay for them. The more they are willing to open their wallets is actually linked to their love and emotional investment into the hobby. It literally comes from the EXACT SAME PLACE that makes people open their wallets for a rare art variant or foil version of the same card.

The easiest answer is Ebay from an account with good feedback. There will be some fear about the packs being fake or pre-opened etc. You can mitigate that fear from hitting a sale price by putting more effort into the sale. The more effort options involve contacting people who are trusted and can verify what is being sold or sell it for you. Or perhaps having a middle person as an escrow service to verify the goods before passing on to the buyer. The more effort path could be totally worth it depending on how much you found.

If anything it's gotten worse. Many of those old cards sell person to person or over more secure methods due to their prices. So you see less transactions in places that are tracked by those websites. Some cards have such little data they show up as no price! These days if I want to check prices I look at Ebay sold, or I find a listing on a big online store, or I surf around private FB groups where people buy and sell.

Great point and very true. Kinda sad because we cannot see what that final price was. We just know it was less. Needs to be considered when figuring out prices.

Totally fine if you want to do that. The reason I suggested black is to use the least expensive ink and save the colors.

@@EdwintheMagicEngineer when done the way I am doing it, there is zero red ink exposed. each picture takes up exactly half of the red lines.

Yeah same thing with art… fk the museums that paid so much for the Mona Lisa or other art. Or paid so much for clear rocks like the blue dolly. Screw all those people… right? Nothing in this world should be rare or special right? Anybody with money is evil no matter how they earned it? You cured cancer?!? Who cares! Sleep in the gutter! Invented the smart phone? Choke on your steak! Right?

Exactly, MTG 30th was a huge missed opportunity to introduce new players to all the old formats with original cards. I would have bought a pallet of MTG 30th myself for years of booster drafts if they were normal prices.

⁠For real, the 30th Anniversary set was a disaster. It could have been a huge win for both WOTC ($$$) and a huge win for the playerbase. But WOTC completely screwed it up and we all lost. Such a shame.

i think smaller is better, tried it myself

@@pupphat I think smaller is better and just make sure the real Magic Card you put behind the print has the same color border. It will look better in a sleeve :)

Thanks for that! I’m still doing it but just not really making as many videos anymore

I have not tried that yet no... interesting

@@EdwintheMagicEngineer I guess either way you get to stick it to the slower blue players. Maybe Ice Storm wins because Avoid Fate only works if you get your cards on the board to begin with

The 1% comment was not meant as evidence. That was meant to explain what a missed opportunity Magic 30th was. It could have been a huge stepping stone for new players to enter old formats. And they messed it up by charging $250 a pack.

@@EdwintheMagicEngineer It is my understanding that those cards were not legal in any format. Forcing people to purchase ANY version of a vintage card to play with it seems counter productive if you want them to play that format. The cost of entry will never be achievable. Allowing proxies would solve the problem, but then you aren't *really* playing magic, so that is a whole other discussion. No offense to you and the others that own tons of Alpha/Beta (I aspire to own a lot of beta, but simply can't afford it), but you are in a world of your own and are largely ignorant about it, despite such videos that claim otherwise. Hard core vintage formats are simply out of reach for anyone else. I don't see any real fix for that.

@@Ranoake You yourself just said that we are in our own world. True. So as a member of that world with decades of actual first hand lived experience, I wish you would consider what I'm saying instead of rejecting it from a place of no experience like you are claiming. Perhaps you don't know that MOST of the Vintage, Legacy and Old School games I have played in the last 20 years were in person with people and proxies are almost always present. Most of us in those formats have been busy for decades playing our games with each other 100% outside of WoTC official sanctioned events. Quite specifically, the Old School format is player made, player ran, and many of our tournaments are proxy friendly. WoTC has literally nothing to do with it. So I KNOW what I'm talking about when I talk about the acceptance of proxies. The big problem is most new magic players don't know about that world and won't take the time to find out. MTG 30th is not needed to bridge that gap... but if it just made some people buy a few packs and try those formats... they would discover what I'm saying. Does that make sense?

@@EdwintheMagicEngineer It makes sense sure, but I don't think that translates to keeping the vintage market alive after all the 'old people die'. I guess we will see once they start dying haha. Estate auctions will be interesting to see.

@@Ranoake Definitely yes, there is a huge amount of "it's all theory until we see what happens." But one thing I'm trying to make clear is that this is not a spectator event. If we love those formats and we want to keep them alive... WE the players have a huge impact on whether or not new people come join us and keep them alive. Not only is my support of proxies a literal act of anti-gatekeeping and tearing down the walls for new players to join... but it's also the BEST thing we can do in order to keep those original formats alive. I think we the players and the old community have the power in our own hands to let those original formats die... or breathe life into them. This is a literal reason I do all this work to make videos and introduce the next generation.

When this video was made there was NOTHING out there explaining what I did and no products you could buy to accomplish the same thing. Now there is and that’s great. But as you noted sometimes somebody (in this case me) has to take that first step in solving a problem

Only if we gatekeep and don’t allow new people to join the format. Proxies are the way forward

Thanks Phil :)

All systems have their benefits and issues. Each system has work that must be done to protect it and it's own set of ways it can fail. Capitalism fails when the Government meant to protect the public from monopolies merges with those companies and effectively allows government supported monopolies. Socialism and Communism fails when there is no feedback loop keeping everybody working and doing their part. Good people could benefit from Soclialism, selfish people use it for work free goods and corrupt it. Capitalism has clearly shown to be the superior model for large nations, but we the people must keep those governments in check. We are not doing that right now. There you go, those theologies summed up pretty succinctly. Now what exactly is your question for me? Besides the fact that yes I'm an American.

You need to learn about Vintage, Legacy, Cube and the Old School based formats. They are VERY MUCH driving people to buy old cards.

@@EdwintheMagicEngineer I am a player of all those formats, there just aren't many of them around in most places. Your premise that only a very small number of players need to be interested in these cards for them to retain/gain value is true, I guess I just don't think those formats are active enough to drive that particular demand. The collector market is much bigger and like you said essentially anyone who gets into magic in any way could end up wanting to collect the originals.

@@oOOoOphidian I know the members of those formats are a small % but they are clear examples that players can make a format and drive demand. People like to return to a format they played before. Later years had more people in those formats and might find a larger group of nostalgic people wanting to revisit them

what is the card pack scam you are referring to?

There is a very legitimate set of issues with the future of Bitcoin specifically or crypto investment in general. Those discussions are all over the place and they DO have merit. I too have noticed that there is huge generational differences with the investment choices right now.

lol thanks for sticking around bro.