Think about that for a minute.

4,000 people are going to be paying $60 a piece to play Magic. It doesn’t hurt that the sealed tournament is Modern Masters. I find myself smiling inspite of myself just thinking about the fun people are going to have this weekend and the awesome cards that will be added to people’s collections.

And, unfortunately, that leads me to the real point of this post.

Magic the Gathering is more popular then ever. That means it’s more known then ever before. Modern Masters is the most valuable booster release with the most valuable cards seen in recent memory and Las Vegas is a city with a reputation slightly better then the Mos Eisley Cantina. All of these things make the Las Vegas Grand Prix a perfect place for stealing Magic cards.

Here are a few tips, from me to you, to help guard yourself against those that would Prey Upon Magic players and understand the different ways people lose their cards.

1.) Check Your Trades

Always check your trades to make sure that you’re not being taken advantage of. In a day and age when smart phones and lap tops have made price checking so easy there is just no excuse for not doing it. While Magic has grown to the point where anyone knows that Magic cards have value, the people who know this most explicitly are Magic players themselves. This leads to my next point.

 2.) Anyone Can be a Thief

Do not be fooled by thinking that the person who steals your cards will be an outsider and easy to spot. Villains don’t come with top hats and curly mustaches. Then again, that description does sound like some Magic players I’ve know… The point is that just because you’re in a hall and you’re amongst fellow Magic enthusiasts, don’t let your guard down. Some people are thieves and don’t even know it until the opportunity for theft presents itself. Which leads me to my second tip.

3.) Don’t Leave Your Deck Unattended

Most theft of Magic cards are crimes of opportunity. Someone might go to Grand Prix Las Vegas with no thought in their head except to crack packs and playing cards, but all of a sudden a player gets up to go to the bathroom and leaves their deck on a table.

“Did he just leave his deck behind?” The once innocent Magic player thinks. “He was sitting next to me in the last round. He’s running two Dark Confidants in that deck and I think I saw at least one of the Swords.” He looks around. No one is watching. Suddenly, the deck and the player are gone.

This tip, and likely all the others seem like a no brainer, but once again, we get comfortable at Magic events. We feel we are amongst friends. A deck might be safe at your local FNM, but this is Vegas baby. Don’t blink.

4.) Book bags Are Targets

Much the same as leaving a deck box unattended, a book bag is a neon sign that says, “VALUABLE MAGIC HERE” in a nice portable case. A lot of people recently have advised that you just not bring a book bag to these large events, but let’s be honest. When you come to large event you want to trade, or even sell, those prime cards in your collection that you are not using. So, be vigilant. If you’re at a match, put your leg thru the strap and try to keep it somewhere in your peripheral vision. Space is a precious commodity at any Magic tournament, but do what you can. Also, if you’ve come to sell, do it early. While we won’t be at the Grand Prix in Las Vegas, be sure to stop by our booth at Gen Con. Unload those dusty cards and put cash in your wallet. At least then you’re sitting on the value instead of leaving it on the floor for someone to grab.

5.) Don’t Bring Your Collection

In continuation of the logic of not bringing a book bag full of cards to an event, don’t bring whole boxes of your cards to events. There’s just no point. If, for some reason, you find yourself with a compelling reason to bring hundreds of cards to a tournament understand the level of security that demands. You cannot leave your cards anywhere.

No table is secure when unattended. No room in the convention center is secure when unattended. Not your hotel room. Not your car. Not anywhere, but back in your own home. Bringing a massive collection makes you like a wounded gazelle on the Serengeti plains. Be prepared to carry those boxes everywhere you go, or be prepared to face the very real possibility that they will be stolen.

All of the things I’ve said in this article have been said by others. I’m not bringing any new advice to the table, but as long as Magic players are going to be targeted or taken advantage of it bears repeating. A little common sense and some vigilance are all that’s needed to safe guard our community from disreputable people. While you’re keeping an eye on your stuff, don’t forget to have fun at the largest Magic event in recorded history.

Damn that’s fun to write.

Game on.

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What this sets up is something comparable to the post lockout 2005/06 season where we had a “double rookie class”. Of course, that year was almost a perfect storm of star power when you consider collectors had a shot at rookie cards of both Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin, not to mention other stars including Ryan Getzlaf, Cam Ward, Mike Richards, Thomas Vanek, and Dion Phaneuf. When you look to 2013/14 hockey products and the upcoming double rookie class, the future is incredibly bright. Rookies from the 2012/13 season as well as rookies who qualify at the start of the 2013/14 season will be included in 2013/14 hockey products. Let’s take a look at some of the top rookies from the 2012/13 season who will have upcoming rookie cards, as well as some of top prospects who could play early in the 2013/14 NHL season and qualify for a rookie card.

Top 2012/13 NHL Rookies:

Nail Yakupov (RW, Edmonton Oilers) – Led all rookies in goals with 17. Tallied 14 assists for a total of 31 points in 48 games played to tie for rookie scoring league. Drafted 1st Overall by Edmonton in 2012.

Jonathan Huberdeau (C, Florida Panthers) – Netted 14 goals and tallied 17 assists to tie Yakupov in rookie scoring with 31 points.  Drafted 3rd Overall by Florida in 2011.

Alex Galchenyuk (C, Montreal Canadiens) – Scored 27 points in his rookie campaign. Drafted 3rd Overall by Montreal in 2012.

Other Hot Rookies: Vladimir Tarasenko (RW, St. Louis Blues), Cory Conacher (LW, Ottawa Senators), Brendan Gallagher (RW, Montreal Canadiens), Brendon Saad (LW, Chicago Blackhawks), Mika Zibanejad (C, Ottawa Senators), Jakob Silfverburg (LW, Ottawa Senators), (This is just a partial list, as other players will surely demand value on the secondary market).

Top 2013 NHL Draft Prospects

Seth Jones (D) – Rated top overall North American draft prospect by NHL Central Scouting.
Nathan MacKinnon (C) – Rated second overall North American draft prospect by NHL Central Scouting.
Jonathan Drouin (LW) – Rated third Overall North American draft prospect by NHL Central Scouting.

Jones, MacKinnon, and Drouin look to be the Big 3 in this year’s draft and will create tons of buzz. The draft has also been labeled as being a very deep first round with lots of talent, so the double rookie class could be even stronger than thought of.

Both Upper Deck and Panini, the two licensed manufacturers of NHL Hockey Cards, will be heavily promoting their upcoming products. In The Game will also have on card autograph content of the “big 3” Jones, MacKinnon, and Drouin in their upcoming 2013 Draft Prospects Hobby Box. Looking forward, Upper Deck will begin in July with announcing their checklist from 2012/13 Upper Deck Artifacts Hockey and 2012/13 Upper Deck Series 1 Hockey Rookie Redemption Cards. Following that, the first live rookie content will come in 2013/14 Upper Deck Trilogy Hockey, 2013/14 O-Pee-Chee Hockey, 2013 Upper Deck Team Canada Hockey, 2013/14 Upper Deck Artifacts Hockey, and then in November will come 2013/13 Upper Deck Series 1 Hockey (which will be one of the first products to feature live rookie card content from members of the 2013/14 Double Rookie Class) . Panini will release it’s first new rookies in 2013/14 Score Hockey, and will be announcing much more about their product schedule and plans for the double rookie class.

It should be a very, very fun year for collectors and hockey cards in general, and we can’t wait for the upcoming draft and new hockey products. To see what products are coming up, you can always check out our hockey cards section or go directly to our hockey boxes pre-order page.

Which rookies are you planning to collect?

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I recently made a major purchase that had some great rookie cards ranging from 1933 all the way through 1984. This collection also features some star cards, but for the most part it consisted of rookies from baseball, basketball, and football. A small part of the collection was already graded and is now available for sale including the following cards:

1949 Bowman Jackie Robinson

1933 Goudey Hack Wilson

1933 Goudey Rogers Hornsby

Other rookie cards in the collection include baseball cards of Warren Spahn, Stan Musial, Yogi Berra, Roy Campanella, Richie Ashburn, Whitey Ford, Phil Rizzuto, Willie Mays, Roger Maris, Nolan Ryan, and Reggie Jackson. Basketball Rookie Cards included Lew Alcindor, Pete Maravich, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson, and Jerry West. The football rookie cards included Joe Namath, Bart Starr, Fran Tarkenton, Len Dawson, Gale Sayers, Jim Brown, and Johnny Unitas. This collection is a who’s who of sports stars! Here I am pictured with the purchase.

All of the ungraded rookie cards are being sent to PSA for grading. Once they return they’ll be added to our vintage sports cards section, where we are putting up new cards all the time.

If the time comes when you are looking to sell your vintage cards, contact me for a free cash quote. Find out just how much you can get for your collection without waiting to get paid, or dealing with extravagant fees. I can be reached toll free at 1-888-440-9787 ext. 100, via email buying@dacardworld.com, or you can fill out this simple online sell your cards form. To check out all of the items we are buying visit our buying page.

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Recently we saw a tweet from a customer that pulled quite an amazing card on the @dacardworld twitter account from @grundle_beer. It turns out that our customer Arno found something special in his box of 2012 Upper Deck All-Time Greats Sports Edition. Here’s his story of his “pull of a lifetime”.

“This card was from my first hobby box purchase after moving to the SF Bay Area from Los Angeles. I started working for Pinterest in April and decided to treat myself to a box of 2012 Upper Deck All-Time Greats Sports Edition. This product has an amazing checklist, and I would have been satisfied pulling any of the athletes that signed. (Well, maybe not Pete Rose. That dude signs too much of late.)

Each box of All-Time Greats contains one hit and three base cards. Right when I opened the tin, I saw that the top card – a Tiger Woods base card – had shifted in the packaging and was only half covering the hit. I then realized the hit was some sort of booklet, and perhaps a cut signature, when I read the word “Legacy” on it. The Tiger base card happened to cover the word “Cuts” and the names of the depicted players. Such suspense!

Now, I am usually a stoic person. This was still the case when I finally pulled out the booklet and opened it up. I didn’t exclaim or shout, nor shiver or shake. I did, however, feel a quite sense of profound disbelief that I pulled such a gorgeous and rare, one of a kind card. I believe my exact words were, “Wuuuut.”

My life has had some incredible ups and downs over the past few months, but pulling a “1 of 1″ dual autograph card of Tiger Woods and Arnold Palmer. A pull of a lifetime, indeed!

You can find my sporadically updated sports card blog at imballsy.blogspot.com. Work is pretty busy!”

Congratulations to Arno on this absolutely incredible card, and thanks for sharing a great story about this hit of a lifetime!

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Today gives us a double dosage of new Upper Deck products, with two historically popular brands launching new releases. 2013 Upper Deck SPx Football, and 2012/13 Upper Deck SP Authentic Hockey are now available. Let’s take a look at some of the product features for each release, and what you can expect when you break into a box.

2013 Upper Deck SPx Football Box Breakdown:

• 10 Packs Per Box, 5 Cards Per Pack
• 3 Autographs Per Box (Includes at lease 1 SPx Rookie Auto Jersey Cards with a jumbo jersey swatch)
• 1 Single, Dual, Triple, or Patch Memorabilia Card
• 3 SPx Finite Rookies or Legends
• 3 1996 or 1997 SPx Retro Hologram Inserts

The product boasts some huge memorabilia card patches, a chance at autographed patch cards and multi-signed parallels, and SPx Shadow Box Cards (including duals). For complete details on Rookie Auto Jersey Tiers and Rookie Auto Patch Parallel Tiers, check out our 2013 Upper Deck SPx Football Product Page.

Preview Images:

2012/13 Upper Deck SP Authentic Hockey Box Breakdown:

• 24 Packs Per Box, 5 Cards Per Pack
• 3 Autographs in Every Box
• 1 Signed Future Watch Rookie Card Per Box
• Find SPx Bonus Packs Inserted 1 in Every 3 Boxes

SP Authentic Hockey also has a couple of new features including Authentic Moments and Team Canada Authentic Moments featuring stellar signature variations and multi-player versions. The historically popular Sign of the Times autograph set also goes from single autographs all the way through extremely limited eight player sign of the times autographs. For complete details on all of the autographs, subsets, and patches check out our 2012/13 Upper Deck SP Authentic Hockey product page.

Preview Images:

To check out all of Upper Deck products, visit our sports cards section.

The post Two Iconic Upper Deck Brands Release New Editions: 2013 SPx Football and 2012/13 SP Authentic Hockey appeared first on .

As part of our free gifts on purchases over $75 promotion that is always running on our website, we’ve partnered with the National Sports Collectors Convention to add Free Tickets to the National as an option! These tickets are normally $20 to order online, or $25 at the show – and you can get one for free just by spending over $75 with us!

Here’s how it works:

With any purchase on dacardworld.com over $75, you’ll be able to select a ticket good for 1 day general admission to the 2013 National Sports Collectors Convention. The tickets  are available at every level of our free gift tiers. We will send you a ticket with your purchase, to redeem the ticket just bring it to the main ticket booth at the National. Please note: it is not 1 ticket for ever $75 spent, but 1 ticket for any purchase amount over $75.

The 2013 National Sports Collectors Convention is being held at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, IL. from July 31st to August 4th. For complete information on the show check out the National Sports Collectors Convention website.

As far as the Dave and Adam’s Team plans for the National – you can expect a massive booth in the corporate area loaded with deals on sports card boxes and cases, as well as a full selection of vintage and single cards. Our buying team will also be on hand making cash offers! You can also expect some incredible promotions and interactivity with our customers at the National. More information will be coming as we lead up to the show.

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The Dave and Adam’s Buying Team is hitting the road this week  to travel to Columbus, OH. The guys will be in the Columbus area from Wednesday, June 12th, through Sunday, June 16th. We are currently adding appointments with potential sellers in the Columbus area, and will also be attending the Origins Game Fair. If you are attending Origins, stop by booth 337 where we’ll be paying cash for gaming cards.

If you have any of the following items from the list below and are interested in having our buyers take a look at them, contact us. You can call us toll free at 1-888-440-9787 ext. 100, email buying@dacardworld.com, or fill out our simple sell to us form here.

Items we are currently buying:

•    Unopened Boxes/Cases of Trading Cards (Sports, Gaming, Non-Sport)
•    Raw & Graded Vintage Single Cards
•    Complete Sets
•    High End Modern Single Cards – Valuable Rookies, Autographs, 1/1’s, etc.
•    Vintage & CGC Graded Comic Books (Cover Price $0.12 or Less)
•    Gaming Cards from Magic the Gathering, Yugioh, Pokemon, & World of Warcraft
•    Autographs from Athletes, Celebrities, and Prominent Figures
•    Vintage Action Figures – Still in The Packaging / 1980′s and Earlier / Star Wars, G.I. Joe, and Transformers

If you have any of these items and are looking to sell but aren’t in the Columbus area, you should still get in touch with us. We travel to sellers all the time and also arrange for items to be sent directly to our offices. To contact us for a free cash quote call toll free at 1-888-440-9787 ext. 100, email buying@dacardworld.com, or fill out our simple sell to us form here. We’ve raised our buy prices and have been buying a ton of great stuff lately!

The post The DACW Buying Team is Headed to Columbus,Ohio appeared first on .

We are very excited to announce that we’ve been chosen as an Authorized Internet Retailer for Cryptozoic Entertainment! For those that follow non-sport trading cards, or just trading cards in general, you know that Cryptozoic has been putting out some awesome products. Their non-sport line includes popular brands such as  The Walking Dead, The Big Bang Theory, DC Comics New 52, Fringe, The Vampire Diaries, and many other products. Upcoming releases include Psych Seasons 1-4, Once Upon A Time, Pacific Rim, Downton Abbey Seasons 1 & 2, Archer Seasons 1-4, and Revenge: Season 1. You can check out  specific products as well as upcoming pre-orders from Cryptozoic on our Cryptozoic Non-Sport Trading Cards page.

For more information on Cryptozoic Entertainment and their product lines check out the official Cryptozoic website, Follow them on twitter @Cryptozoic, and check out the Cryptozoic Facebook Page!

We look forward to bringing our customers all the newest Cryptozoic products and are very excited to be an Authorized Online Retailer! We’ll have more information on promotions and contests soon.

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Puig cards are currently found in 2013 Bowman Baseball and various Leaf Baseball Products, and now he’s going to be in a whole lot more upcoming products. Topps just announced that Puig will be added to the following upcoming releases:

• 2013 Bowman Inception Baseball – Puig Autographs
• 2013 Topps Tier One Baseball – Redemptions for Puig Autographs
• 2013 Topps Allen & Ginter Baseball – Base Cards and Redemptions for Puig Autographs

Topps also announced that starting with Bowman Inception Puig will be signing autographs and will appear on base cards and inserts for all upcoming 2013 Topps Baseball Releases!

Panini has also added Yasiel Puig to the following upcoming releases, and has mentioned to look for his cards throughout the remainder of the season.

• 2013 Panini Pinnacle Baseball – Puig will be included in Rookies, Museum Collection Rookies, Artists Proof Rookies, and Artists Proof Rookies Blue
• 2013 Panini Prizm Baseball – Puig will be included in Rookies as well as All Prizm Parallels

Whenever a young star comes up and makes an impact collectors take notice. It will be fun to see how Puig performs for the Dodgers throughout the season and his career. If he keeps playing well, look for PuigMania to get even crazier.

To check out all of the upcoming releases for baseball cards, check out our baseball box and case pre-order page.

The post Yasiel Puig Cards are on Fire, and He’s Been Added to Upcoming Topps and Panini Products appeared first on .

The Dave and Adam’s Buying Team is hitting the road this week  to travel down to Charlotte, NC. The guys will be in the Charlotte area from Friday, June 7th, through Sunday, June 10th. We are currently adding appointments with potential sellers in the Charlotte area. If you have any of the following items from the list below and are interested in having our buyers take a look at them, contact us. You can call us toll free at 1-888-440-9787 ext. 100, email buying@dacardworld.com, or fill out our simple sell to us form here.

Items we are currently buying:

•    Unopened Boxes/Cases of Trading Cards (Sports, Gaming, Non-Sport)
•    Raw & Graded Vintage Single Cards
•    Complete Sets
•    High End Modern Single Cards – Valuable Rookies, Autographs, 1/1’s, etc.
•    Vintage & CGC Graded Comic Books (Cover Price $0.12 or Less)
•    Gaming Cards from Magic the Gathering, Yugioh, Pokemon, & World of Warcraft
•    Autographs from Athletes, Celebrities, and Prominent Figures
•    Vintage Action Figures – Still in The Packaging / 1980′s and Earlier / Star Wars, G.I. Joe, and Transformers

If you have any of these items and are looking to sell but aren’t in the Charlotte area, you should still get in touch with us. We travel to sellers all the time and also arrange for items to be sent directly to our offices. To contact us for a free cash quote call toll free at 1-888-440-9787 ext. 100, email buying@dacardworld.com, or fill out our simple sell to us form here. We’ve raised our buy prices and have been buying a ton of great stuff lately!

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