Cactus Game Design Message Boards

Helpful Links for Buy/Sell/Trade
The Bany Spreadsheet
http://www.covenantgames.com/card_market.htm
Three Lions Gaming Store
http://www.threelionsgaming.com/lists_checklist.htm
Three Lions Gaming Price Change Log
http://www.cactusgamedesign.com/message_boards/index.php?topic=15898.0
Redemption Search on E-Bay
http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=redemption+ccg,+-MTG,+-Star+-Wars,+-DBZ&_sacat=0&_odkw=redemption+ccg,+-MTG,+-Star+Wars,+-DBZ&_osacat=0&_trksid=p3286.c0.m270.l1313

AUCTIONS
Below is a list of people on this board starting with their board name (or real name), then ebay name, then a link to the page with all that persons current auctions so you can just check back here to see what they've got going on!

John Michaliszyn - faithraider10  Current Auctions
Ken4Christ4Ever (Ken Locklin) - Ken4Christ4Ever Current Auctions
Gil Galad Elven King (Phillip Coxwell) - general_kenobi Current Auctions
TechnoEthicist (Brad Coverdale) - notofthisworld Current Auctions
metalpsalm - hawkbill366 Current Auctions
The Guardian (Justin Alstad) - J2theAllstud Current Auctions
STAMP (Scott Stamp) - seekinghispath
ShipwreckersMarti - martiship
Cpt. Jaeger - technickguru - (Nick Jaeger)


If you sell redemption cards on ebay and would like to be included in this list, please post your ebay user name here, or pm me with it, and I will keep it updated.

Card Grading
Special thanks to Darcy for compiling the card grading info
Mint (MT) -- A card with four sharp corners, 50/50 centering, no imperfections or signs of wear. Even cards straight out of the pack do not always grade mint.
Redemption = you can't see any white in the red border on the back of the card, and when you shine the light off of the card, there are no imperfections to be seen.

Near Mint (NM) -- A near-perfect card with perhaps one minor imperfection, such as one blunt corner. Centering is no worse than 60/40 and the card must have its original gloss.
Redemption = there may be one or two specs of white showing in the red border on the back of the card, and minor problems when you shine the light off of the card.
**Note** - This is the most common "mint" card I've received, and it simply is not "mint" by any collector's standards.

Excellent-Mint (EX-MT) -- A card with only two or three minor imperfections. Must have original gloss and centering no worse than 70/30.
Redemption = this will have some wear beginning to show in the red border on the back of the card, and there will probably be a few scratches to be seen on the front face of the card.
**Note** - This is also considered "mint" by many players. To a collector, this was a shabby deal if he/she thought he/she was getting a mint card.

Excellent (EX) -- A card with a few minor imperfections. Some original gloss is lost and the edges show moderate wear. All four corners typically show some wear. Centering is no worse than 75/25.
Redemption = this will have wear showing, but color is still good, and the card looks pretty nice to the eye. There should be no creases or significant scratches on the card, but this card has obviously seen some gaming.

Very Good (VG) -- A card that shows obvious handling but is still attractive despite wear and imperfections. A VG card may have a crease, but one that's not severe enough to make the card unattractive. Most of the original gloss is lost.
Redemption = this card is similer to EX, but might have a small crease or two.
**Note** - This card is usually not legal in tournament play without card protectors.

Good (G), Fair (F), Poor (P) -- A very worn card with many major imperfections. Collectors use cards of these grades as fillers until better ones can be found.
Redemption = this card usually does not have a "white" border on the front face of the card as it is discolored. This card also may have significant creases, and you just wouldn't want to show this one off.
**Note** - This card almost never makes for a tournament legal card unless it is in a card protector.

If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me JSquaredAllstud[at]aol.com

God bless, and happy trading!

---

---

I'm not so sure that the centering of the image on a card can be brought into the realm of a Redemption card's condition.  Unlike baseball and other sport cards, it appears that the machines that print Redemption cards are notorious for off-centering images on cards and giving them non-even borders...in fact it's almost more normal to have an off-center card (60/40 or 70/30) than it is to have a 50/50 card!  Quality used to be better back in the Women, Prophets, and Warriors, but ever since Angel Wars, and ESPECIALLY in the Priests, the quality of the cards w.r.t centering has gone way down.  I suspect that this is because the cards are printed in China now, and I don't know if that has always been the case...but the quality of Priest cards is nowhere near what they used to be back in the "good ol' days".

Other examples of poor packaging/etc of new Priest packs is that some of the cards COME IN THE PACKS scuffed up, have a bent corner, and worst of all there are packs that have no Rare or Ultra Rare!  Right, that's only 9 cards, not 10...what a jip.  I've seen other packs that have  11 cards, one Rare and one Ultra Rare...so it's safe to say that if you have a pack missing a card, that extra card should be an Ultra Rare and somebody else just got a bonus.  Nice job, Cactus. 

"Mint" means "perfect": not faded, scuffed, bent, off-center, or anything else. Some cards are better non-Mint (WotB Errors, anyone?) but for the most part, even if they're straight out of the pack, if they aren't perfect they aren't mint.

*ON TRADING:
1.  Hang around the Redemption® Market forums regularly.
2.  Study the supply and demand activity of cards being traded.  This will give you enough info and knowledge to present a powerful proposal that frequently gets the 'nod' from your trading counterparts.
3.  Make sure to send your share ASAP.  It will make you and your counterpart feel good.
4.  Ask your trading counterpart to E-mail you a proposal that he/she has posted on the boards.  The final E-mail exchange not only becomes your legal and binding agreement, your E-mail becomes a great reminder tool to fulfill your side of the deal promptly.
5.  If you think you would be delayed in mailing/shipping your share of the deal,  immediately E-mail or post a note on the boards about the delay.  DO NOT wait for your counterpart to E-mail or post a query mentioning a request for a reason why you haven't sent you share yet.
6.  Follow-up inquiries and trades pending final decisions.  There is many a moment that your counterpart may have completely forgotten about his/her request.  This increases your trading volume as more follow-ups convert to 'done' trades.
7.  Always try to leave positive reference for a completed deal by mentioning the name or pen-name of your counterpart on our Trade References forum.
8.  Use pricelists from Doug Gray, Chris Bany, Ken Locklin, and even Scott Stamp for your sales and trades.  Use your judgment, gut, and instinct as you prepare your sale or trade proposal.
9.  Ask advice from frequent traders.  Kirk Dennison is a great gauge for most trade values, who is my best teenage trader.  I also recommend Ben Shadrick, a trading rookie and barely in his teens, who's got great trading talent, to help you with your trading value 'weighing scale'.
10.  Ask advice from veteran traders.  They are the best to answer questions regarding the 'fairness' of trade proposals.  They can give you the best tips on how to succeed with lots of your trading efforts.  Rest assured you will not be shunned nor snobbed.  They have the widest range of knowledge of cards and card values dating from the beginning of Redemption®.  Stephen Schaafer and Justin Alstad are on top of my 'active' veteran list of advisers.
11.  Determine whether your trading counterpart wants your card/cards for collection only, or for play.  It makes your proposal preparation a lot easier to handle.


*ON SELLING:
1.  If ever you wish to make an overt or covert counter-offer to sell the same card/s on an existing seller's post being offered by him/her, DO NOT do it.  The seller usually announces if his current sale offer has fallen through.  Make the offer to the buyer, hence, and NOT on the seller's post.  PM or E-mail the intended buyer if you wish not to create your own selling post.
2.  To make a counter offer and wish to post a reply on a current seller's post, the best etiquette is to word your reply similar to the following:
"Sylvester, should your deal with George fall through, kindly PM or E-mail me so that I can share with you my proposal".  This is ONLY if you decide not to create your own post/thread for items to sell.  Try to avoid making a habit of this approach.
3.  We had an 'auction' thread in the past message board.  Justin could revive this project to accommodate both sellers and buyers alike (i.e. "Buckler" up for bids OR "I need a Buckler -- want best prices".


...... more to come as memory permits.

BLESSINGS ALL!!!

A question from Daniel: http://cactusgamedesign.com/message_boards/index.php?topic=5660.msg84728#msg84728

Here's a great link to the ultimate card and pricelist combo: http://www.geocities.com/ultimateredemptioncardlist/

Thanks and Godbless, Gil!

I would like to mention that I had a good deal with uthminister.

My end of the deal came slow, but he was patient, and sent his stuff quite quickly. Great to do business with, and was polite through it all.

I had good deals with:

Cameron (Verrrry patient and always good-tempered, even when something awful happens..)

BrianGabe(Wow.  He's an incredible trader.  Every time.)

Vasbear(Great trader, sometimes slow, but nevertheless, good trades)

Amelo(Good trader)

Technoethnist(Always good prices!  Seriously great prices)

777Godspeed(I had a good trade with him.  Also, man, loved the envelope! )

NWJosh(Good trade)

GabrielArch(Good trade)

YourMathTeacher(Very easy to work with and always understanding.  Thanks )

 

DaClock is a decent trader, he is consistently late but always sends the cards.

People I can highly recommend:

NWJosh (Josh Randolph) - Traded a few times, always great
Ken4Christ (Ken Locklin) - Good trader, a man of his word
DJ (DJ Abbott) - Good trader
cmallett (Chris Mallett) - Good trader
Stamp (Scott Stamp) - Excellent and honorable every time
TJStamp (Taylor Stamp) - Good trader
Reyzen (Roy Cruz) - Excellent trader, always a pleasure
ORS1949 (Albert Bauer) - Good trader
Red Warrior (Joey Shivers) - Excellent trader, a man of his word
gray0013 (Doug Gray, aka 3 Lions) - Excellent, trustworthy and prompt
sepjazzwarrior (Zac Cornell) - Excellent every time
amelo (Austin Foster) - Good trader
The Schaef (Stephen Schaefer) - Good trader
Dreamcatchr (Pat Ficek) - Traded many times. Excellent every time
metalpsalm (Jeff Lemmon) - Good trader
EricWolf (Eric Wolfe) - Good trader
crustpope (Matthew Archibald) - Good trader
TechnoEthicist (Brad Coverdale) - Good trader
ProfUnderwood (Mark Underwood) - Good trader
White Wolf (Matthew Sipling) - Excellent every time
L-Dog (Ben Shadrick) - Good trader
RubberBandWarrior (Isaac Neal) - Good trader
Roycannaday (Roy Cannaday) - Good trader
NeverSmDkTwice (Bryan Hermann) - Excellent, always
jesusconverse (Brent Bowen) - Good trader
The Guardian (Justin Alstad) - Traded a few times, always great
Tsavong (Drew Lawson) - Good trader, every time
SoulSaver (Daniel Whitten) - Good trader, every time
jtay (Josh Taylor) - Good trader
Gabriel Arch (Gabriel Caban) - Good trader
YourMathTeacher (Timothy Harmon) - Good trader
iamcreator (Eric Christoffersen) - Good trader
CountFount (Craig Fountain) - Good trader
Prof Underwood (Mark Underwood) - Good trader, swell guy
Redemption101 (David Loukides) - Good trader
sk (Scott Kramer) - Good trader every time
Janissary (Alex Olijar) - Good trader
Warrior_Monk (Andrew Wester) - Good trader
Shaun (Shaun Taylor) - Good trader
ACe (Joey Elliott) - Good trader
TimMierz (Tim Mierzejewski) - Good trader, Fast
Rawrlolsauce (Alan Rice) - Good and quick to ship
baseball (Colton Baty) - Good trader
Aiglos7 (Kyle Parizek) - Good trader
Cameron the Conquerer (Cameron Etchart) - Good trader, Fast
777Godspeed (Mike Lasky) - Excellent and trustworthy
Ironica - (Chris Michaelides) - Good trader
soul seeker - (Jonathan Greeson) - Good trader, reliable
Smokey - Nicholas Ciardi - Good trader
StormJustin - (Justin Storm) - Good trader

People I would ask to send first:

Dragon Link (Kirk Dennison) - I've had minor problems all three times we've traded but nothing that couldn't be worked out.  I recommend asking him to send first.
RedDragonThorn (John Earley) - Minor problems that were easily worked out.  I recommend asking him to send first.
RTSManiac (Clifton Crysel) - Took weeks to get my cards.  I never did get a couple of the commons he was supposed to send.  I won't trade with him again unless he sends first.
MasterChi (Caleb Templeton) - Very minor problem was easily solved.  Still a good trader though.  I recommend asking him to send first.  Things have gone well in subsequent trades.
Vasbear (Alex Witt) - Good experience in our first trade.  The second time he was very slow to send and didn't disclose some heavily damaged cards.  Good experience overall but I'll always ask him to send first.
xCaLeBx (Caleb Priest) - Traded twice and had problems both times.  Says his cards are NM, then send me worn/creased/played cards.  Always have him send first.

I'll come back and edit this post as new trades are completed.

Thanks to all of you!

BrianGabe (Gabe Isbell)

I wanted to make everyone aware of problems I have been having with USPS deliveries. I received two envelopes today from forum trades that had postage due. I think we need to make sure that everyone is aware of new postal rates and how they affect trading.

New postal rates apply not only to weight, but to width. Just putting cards in a standard white envelope does not mean that they will ship with one stamp. If you have a stack of cards thicker than a toploader, you might need to pay more than one stamp. I saw the new device that postal workers use for the new thickness guidelines. It is a board with slots. They basically try to drop your envelope through the slot. If it fits through with no catching, then one stamp will work. If it sticks at all, the worker has the discretion to let it go or charge more. If it doesn't fit at all, then you automatically pay more.

It is important to note that some of the envelopes will be up to the postal worker and that may change from state to state. If in doubt, add the extra stamp. Don't stick others with the extra postage charge.

If anyone has cards that they are waiting abnormally long for, this may be part of the cause. Your best bet is to keep envelopes to toploader width only. If you have a bunch of cards (not just two or three) that you are ready to mail, take it to the Post Office. Don't just stick one stamp on it and drop it into a mailbox, because you may not have enough postage.

That is all. We will now return to our normal programming.

I have also seen and held there new slot thing. and the break is at 1/4 if an inch think.

Have you gotten cards from me that required extra postage? I've been sending cards in the bubble mailers and wasn't aware of the width rule.

No. I have already contacted the people involved. I wasn't really planning on going postal over 70 cents. I just wanted people to be aware.

Typically, if you use the bubble envelopes, you pay more than 41 cents anyway. The problem is usually with regular white envelopes that are over-stuffed, but only have one stamp. The other problem that I have had is the automatic USPS sorters tearing those white envelopes to shreads. I have received three different USPS baggies with mangled envelopes.

Basically, I do not recommend that you put two or more hard plastic cases in a white envelope unless you can secure them from "stacking" before they get to the sorters.