Everything that glitters
May 8th 2009 02:15
"All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost."
-- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
If you’re doing research on epilepsy, I wouldn’t advise searching on Google. One of the top results is the Encyclopedia Dramatica page with that title, and if you didn’t suffer from the disease before, you will after reading it. Somehow they found all the most annoying flashing shiny pictures on the internet and put them all on the one page.
There was a guy who used to play in Magic tournaments around Melbourne whose deck had much the same effect. Premium (foil) cards often have a way of catching the light, and the motions involved in putting them on the table and manipulating them during gameplay often make a kind of rapidly changing glare that I always found quite annoying. And every single card in every one of this guy’s decks was premium.
I dread to think how much effort he must have expended to make them. Not to mention the money – premium cards generally cost twice as much as their regular counterparts to buy as singles.
Even people who don’t make all-premium decks often over-value individual premium cards, trading multiple regular cards for one, or exchanging rares for foil commons. I never understood it, to be honest. They really don’t look that much better – some cards’ art has features, like swirls of energy or rays of light, that look good when they’re shiny, but in many cases, the foil effect makes it harder to make out details.
The only thing all premium cards have in common is their rarity and their high price, and I suspect this is the real reason they’re in such outlandish demand. The market for foil cards is Magic’s version of the culture of conspicuous consumption. Does anyone really need all-foil decks? Does anyone even really want all-foil decks? Doesn’t matter – as long as other people know you have them.
This type of consumption and the associated spending habits are considered such problems that Congress actually held hearings on their consequences. Do you want to be part of the problem, or part of the solution?
Not all those who wander are lost."
-- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
If you’re doing research on epilepsy, I wouldn’t advise searching on Google. One of the top results is the Encyclopedia Dramatica page with that title, and if you didn’t suffer from the disease before, you will after reading it. Somehow they found all the most annoying flashing shiny pictures on the internet and put them all on the one page.
That’s what happens, man.
There was a guy who used to play in Magic tournaments around Melbourne whose deck had much the same effect. Premium (foil) cards often have a way of catching the light, and the motions involved in putting them on the table and manipulating them during gameplay often make a kind of rapidly changing glare that I always found quite annoying. And every single card in every one of this guy’s decks was premium.
I dread to think how much effort he must have expended to make them. Not to mention the money – premium cards generally cost twice as much as their regular counterparts to buy as singles.
At least I only paid $45 for this guy.
Even people who don’t make all-premium decks often over-value individual premium cards, trading multiple regular cards for one, or exchanging rares for foil commons. I never understood it, to be honest. They really don’t look that much better – some cards’ art has features, like swirls of energy or rays of light, that look good when they’re shiny, but in many cases, the foil effect makes it harder to make out details.
The only thing all premium cards have in common is their rarity and their high price, and I suspect this is the real reason they’re in such outlandish demand. The market for foil cards is Magic’s version of the culture of conspicuous consumption. Does anyone really need all-foil decks? Does anyone even really want all-foil decks? Doesn’t matter – as long as other people know you have them.
This type of consumption and the associated spending habits are considered such problems that Congress actually held hearings on their consequences. Do you want to be part of the problem, or part of the solution?
Don’t be like Hank.
| 30 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog
