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My local wal-mart recently moved their cards to behind the customer service desk. I had seen wal-mart TCG sections completely trashed (littered with open packa

My local wal-mart recently moved their cards to behind the customer service desk. I had seen wal-mart TCG sections completely trashed (littered with open packaging, or boxes torn open and partially scavenged), and I know that even without this destructive method, there are other ways to "cheat" by weighing packs with a scale. Seems like locking them in a case like video games is probably in the future for most physical stores that continue carrying them? Even before fistfights over cards from this year.

morsch 5y ago
You can determine whether a pack is likely to contain a valuable card by weighing it? Wow.
- swiley 5y ago
  Oh wow I didn't think about that but yeah! the valuable ones tend to have holographic film and other weirdness that would make them slightly heavier.
  - bombcar 5y ago
    This could easily be defeated by simply having a holographic card in every pack - just most of the time it's a relatively worthless one.
    - graywh 5y ago
      TPCi started putting different filler non-cards in the packs and it's been hard to weigh them for years now.
- Djvacto 5y ago
  https://indoorgamebunker.com/how-to-weigh-pokemon-packs/ https://indoorgamebunker.com/how-to-weigh-pokemon-packs/ Yep! It's fascinating, aside from how it shouldn't be done. Cards that are holographic seem to weigh more.
  - mort96 5y ago
    Why shouldn’t it be done? Weighing items before buying seems completely legit to me.
    - david-cako 5y ago
      Sort of, but it's unfair when you're buying booster packs online from folks that might be selling you pre-weighed packs from booster boxes. For this reason, you're really best off only buying booster boxes or individual cards online unless you really trust the seller.
      - city41 5y ago
        It used to be you could see what cards were in a Magic the Gathering booster without opening it by pushing each card one at a time to the edge of the pack and shining a bright light behind it. The edge of the packaging was white, so the name of the card would shine through. I think most people into collectible card games know boosters aren't to be trusted in general.
      - tasogare 5y ago
        In addition to weighting, there was also a know vulnerability in the pseudo-rng method used in printing that allowed to know which boisters of a box were the most likely to contains the good cards (speaking of MTG).
    - somehnguy 5y ago
      If you want a specific card you should buy that specific card. Packs are not designed so you know what is in them. Weighing them seems like petty cheating to me. Thats just my opinion though, I know moral debates like this are highly subjective.
      - fl0wenol 5y ago
        ... but what if I don't want to gamble? It's not like buying an item at retail can enforce a "terms of service" like a EULA I'm free to ignore a box if it's dented or damaged. Weighing it to see if it's missing parts (like a return) is perfectly reasonable. How is that any different? Your position is ridiculous; if the manufacturer wanted to enforce randomness then they'd need to make the retail units all weigh the same.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- SllX 5y ago
  Foil weighs more than paper. Don’t think I could do it now, but when I was a little kid with little kid arms, I could slightly perceive the difference in weight between Yu-Gi-Oh packs. Had a pretty good success rate too, but it annoyed the folks at Blockbuster watching me rummage through the box at the register doing this so the real challenge was finding a store that would let me pick my packs.
  - kizer 5y ago
    Are Yu-Gi-Oh cards worth much now? Have a huge collection. Unfortunately my we’ll-meaning mom wrote my initials in sharpie on the back of a bunch of the cards so that people wouldn’t steal them, LOL. I’m wondering what kind of cleaner will take the sharpie off but not damage the cards.
    - lotyrin 5y ago
      Try a dry-erase pen or dry-erase solvent
      - tablespoon 5y ago
        Rubbing alcohol dissolves sharpie ink, but it's probably only worth trying if the surface is coated and nonporous. I use alcohol prep pads for this.
    - lstodd 5y ago
      Isopropyl alcohol would do it. Extremely unlikely to do any damage, but try on one first just in case. Use cotton pads. And get some 99.99% stuff, not this "rubbing" crap.
    - syntheticnature 5y ago
      Probably merely having played with them will nick a big chunk of the value; collectors are looking for perfect condition, mint cards. That said, I found https://yugiohprices.com/ https://yugiohprices.com/ if you wanted to take a look; there are some super-valuable ones, but it sounds like they were extreme rarities for special events, and otherwise the top card is just $444.44.
adamrezich 5y ago
I think this is a new Walmart policy because the local Walmarts here just started doing this too.
- Djvacto 5y ago
  Yeah it is definitely just weeks old at most, from what I can tell. I don't go super often, but definitely a few weeks back it was still the old way, and this week they were moved.
josefresco 5y ago
I've always seen (at Walmart and other department stores) collectibles and trading cards in a special isle near checkout seemingly to thwart theft. Some items were/are actually behind checkout, not accessible without asking.
HenryKissinger 5y ago
It's pathetic what people will do for money.

morsch 5y ago

You can determine whether a pack is likely to contain a valuable card by weighing it? Wow.

swiley 5y ago
Oh wow I didn't think about that but yeah! the valuable ones tend to have holographic film and other weirdness that would make them slightly heavier.
- bombcar 5y ago
  This could easily be defeated by simply having a holographic card in every pack - just most of the time it's a relatively worthless one.
  - graywh 5y ago
    TPCi started putting different filler non-cards in the packs and it's been hard to weigh them for years now.
Djvacto 5y ago
https://indoorgamebunker.com/how-to-weigh-pokemon-packs/ https://indoorgamebunker.com/how-to-weigh-pokemon-packs/ Yep! It's fascinating, aside from how it shouldn't be done. Cards that are holographic seem to weigh more.
- mort96 5y ago
  Why shouldn’t it be done? Weighing items before buying seems completely legit to me.
  - david-cako 5y ago
    Sort of, but it's unfair when you're buying booster packs online from folks that might be selling you pre-weighed packs from booster boxes. For this reason, you're really best off only buying booster boxes or individual cards online unless you really trust the seller.
    - city41 5y ago
      It used to be you could see what cards were in a Magic the Gathering booster without opening it by pushing each card one at a time to the edge of the pack and shining a bright light behind it. The edge of the packaging was white, so the name of the card would shine through. I think most people into collectible card games know boosters aren't to be trusted in general.
    - tasogare 5y ago
      In addition to weighting, there was also a know vulnerability in the pseudo-rng method used in printing that allowed to know which boisters of a box were the most likely to contains the good cards (speaking of MTG).
  - somehnguy 5y ago
    If you want a specific card you should buy that specific card. Packs are not designed so you know what is in them. Weighing them seems like petty cheating to me. Thats just my opinion though, I know moral debates like this are highly subjective.
    - fl0wenol 5y ago
      ... but what if I don't want to gamble? It's not like buying an item at retail can enforce a "terms of service" like a EULA I'm free to ignore a box if it's dented or damaged. Weighing it to see if it's missing parts (like a return) is perfectly reasonable. How is that any different? Your position is ridiculous; if the manufacturer wanted to enforce randomness then they'd need to make the retail units all weigh the same.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
SllX 5y ago
Foil weighs more than paper. Don’t think I could do it now, but when I was a little kid with little kid arms, I could slightly perceive the difference in weight between Yu-Gi-Oh packs. Had a pretty good success rate too, but it annoyed the folks at Blockbuster watching me rummage through the box at the register doing this so the real challenge was finding a store that would let me pick my packs.
- kizer 5y ago
  Are Yu-Gi-Oh cards worth much now? Have a huge collection. Unfortunately my we’ll-meaning mom wrote my initials in sharpie on the back of a bunch of the cards so that people wouldn’t steal them, LOL. I’m wondering what kind of cleaner will take the sharpie off but not damage the cards.
  - lotyrin 5y ago
    Try a dry-erase pen or dry-erase solvent
    - tablespoon 5y ago
      Rubbing alcohol dissolves sharpie ink, but it's probably only worth trying if the surface is coated and nonporous. I use alcohol prep pads for this.
  - lstodd 5y ago
    Isopropyl alcohol would do it. Extremely unlikely to do any damage, but try on one first just in case. Use cotton pads. And get some 99.99% stuff, not this "rubbing" crap.
  - syntheticnature 5y ago
    Probably merely having played with them will nick a big chunk of the value; collectors are looking for perfect condition, mint cards. That said, I found https://yugiohprices.com/ https://yugiohprices.com/ if you wanted to take a look; there are some super-valuable ones, but it sounds like they were extreme rarities for special events, and otherwise the top card is just $444.44.

adamrezich 5y ago

I think this is a new Walmart policy because the local Walmarts here just started doing this too.

Djvacto 5y ago
Yeah it is definitely just weeks old at most, from what I can tell. I don't go super often, but definitely a few weeks back it was still the old way, and this week they were moved.

josefresco 5y ago

I've always seen (at Walmart and other department stores) collectibles and trading cards in a special isle near checkout seemingly to thwart theft. Some items were/are actually behind checkout, not accessible without asking.

HenryKissinger 5y ago

It's pathetic what people will do for money.