[BUY] Looking for my first Lotrek/Oath whale

[gallardo99]

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[Kirillas]

If I remember correctly, a year and a half ago I sold you a pair of sealed Silk decks. About a year ago, you sold them and now you bought the same decks again, by selling red damask for this... It's strange for me, but everyone probably has their own oddities)

[gallardo99]

Money was a issue at the time, lost my Job and sold everything I had. Now im back in work and start building up the collection

[kevork]

Welp, it just clicked for me. I was the one who purchased those Silk decks. They have since been opened and the matching number counterpart obtained

Sorry to hear about your situation back then Anders. Best of luck on the rebuild.

[gallardo99]

Thank you Due to the economic inflation and high energy prices lots of ppl lost their Jobs. Smaller companies couldnt handle the overall cost to continue. But im glad to be back in a Job where even a pandemic or war can take it away from me got in as a IT-engineer on our local hospital.

[kevork]

I don't know if you ever saw this, but I'm so glad you sent them with the carat case.

P.S. I think it might be helpful to be specific on decks you're looking for. I know that helped me when I was prioritizing certain ones, but your approach with casting a wide net might be fruitful too.

[gallardo99]

I always pack and give extra carat case.. But damn, how they treat the mail is disgusting. I remember those photos. Glad I did my best and you got them well intact Im not a bubble-envelope kind of guy

Thank you for the tip regarding what decks I look for. Blue damask is always something I want, but After selling the red, I dont need that in the first place. I like to complete series or sets. So for now, I got the silks again and redemption stories, next up will be.... Updated in toptext

[Adonael]

I was once in a similar situation, however my thought was: technically my entire Lotrek collection can fit in the bottom of my backpack when I'm homeless! The other day I saw a 2 year old comment of mine in response to a list of decks someone was looking for which aged very badly "The easiest ones to find should be the Ravn Summer Ale, Liturgy Black Bronze, Damask Blue and Icons Signature." It was true at the time, oh how things change, this stuff really is quite unpredictable.

[kevork]

Speaking only about my personal experience, some of the hardest ones to find turned out to be: ICONS reverse and Liturgy treasure, both of which I acquired from someone who was notorious for overpricing his decks. Those were my last big ones to acquire. The rest I sort of got lucky on, but one can argue Grotesque and Venexiana signature decks would be really hard to come by too. I have a close friend who has been searching for ICONS signature for months now with no results. That's a tough one too. Given the rarity, blue oath is one I imagine would be difficult too. One of my favorites because of the blue pearlescent stock used.

Damask Blue I can say is Lotrek's most in-demand deck, I imagine partly due to how flashy it is, in both tuck and cards. Given the demand, it calls for really high prices, making it incredibly difficult for many to acquire, even if it's comparable in rarity to other decks (x/120) off the raw number alone.

[Bradius]

I was once in a similar situation, however my thought was: technically my entire Lotrek collection can fit in the bottom of my backpack when I'm homeless! The other day I saw a 2 year old comment of mine in response to a list of decks someone was looking for which aged very badly "The easiest ones to find should be the Ravn Summer Ale, Liturgy Black Bronze, Damask Blue and Icons Signature." It was true at the time, oh how things change, this stuff really is quite unpredictable.

Been there and done that. Liturgy Black Bronze was a tough one for me, but probably more because I refused to pay what was needed for a long time until I just bit the bullet. Ravn Summer Ale I picked up at the beginning and have all three versions (unsigned, signed by Lorenzo and signed by Ravn).

Back on topic, aside from Blue Damask, what decks are you looking for? Or is that the one you are hunting for?

[gallardo99]

- Looking for one of the big 3 golden oath,
- Or icons series, the reversed
- Sanctus (baby whale)

[GandalfPC]

Sanctus is super obtainable - reversed is the only one I have seen go for more than Blue Demask - golden oath is my current fave next grab

I have seen far too few Blue Oath and reverse icons to have them be my targets (not to mention the heady price tags) - but there have been a brave few who have hunted them down.

I’ll be grabbing Sanctus one of these days, when I see one at the right price and time, hopefully before the price climbs again

[gallardo99]

Of the super rare whales, what are your guys personally favourite based on front/back design on the cards, if you eliminate the tuck in the opinion?

I havent seen them all, but watched alot of videos on youtube. Damask is always nice, especially the blue as a better contrast to the gold. Silver arabesque is also a nice one

Regarding tucks, I really like the blue silk.

Cant wait to see how the new damask looks like I guess it wont be available for me and my short patreon membership, and if so, im happy to enter the line as a buyer for those who get more than 1.

[Bradius]

Personally, I wouldn't go after rarity, price or difficulty to obtain at any price. I guess if you really enjoy the hunt and have deep pockets, then maybe. My honest recommendation is to invest in the newly available decks from Lotrek and get in on his Patreon stuff. That said, that is a long, long term process and can result in a hit/miss for a given individual depending on how difficult you are to please.

It is probably easier for me to start with the list of Lotrek decks in which I am less interested. For the price, I love his unfoiled decks. However, they probably wow me the least. I love the Venexia Gold, but honestly it is really not near as stunning as many other decks. Less is underwhelming, but then again can be had for a lot less money. For me Grotesk is probably my least loved series, with the exception of it's stunning Signature deck.

If you really want to get something like a totally complete set, then there is something to be said for getting the top rarities first as they tend (but not always) get more expensive over time.

[Kirillas]

- Looking for one of the big 3 golden oath,
- Or icons series, the reversed
- Sanctus (baby whale)

An open Sanctus deck has just appeared on Ebay. You can try your luck at the auction: https://www.ebay.com/itm/155618604607

[kevork]

To Bradius' point, that's how ICONS Reverse is for me. It effectively is ICONS Imperial with the gold and silver foils swapped places, so unless someone really understands why they're trying to acquire the deck, they aren't getting anything much different when paying over 5 times the price of the regular imperial. For most people, I would say focus on acquiring the ones you like. If the main factor for buying is because it's rare, than you've fallen victim to the hype of artificial rarity. It really makes the chase fun when you have your eyes and mind set on the decks that really appeal to you.

Nice to see that Sanctus pop up! The seller is a UC member and I trust he took good care of it.

[Adonael]

It's no secret that the Arabesque Collector's decks are my favourite of all time, I have never seen any cards look like they do (the ink looks like porcelain enamel, combined with the foiling absolutely stunning in person the beauty of which can bring a tear to the eye) and probably never will again as it could only happen during that particular moment of his printing experimentation journey. If I had to choose just one deck to keep for the rest of my life it would be the Arabesque Collector's Silver.

I'm actually not much of a fan of the Damask decks. The original Grotesque decks are still some of my favourites due to the artwork and incredibly common, Grotesk not as into and has an excessive amount of variants, but the Bronze Experimental is a sight to behold. Obviously the one deck all about the cards not the tuck is Crypt, they have a lot of wow factor. I also would make the ones I like the most the highest priority regardless of rarity etc, it's more satisfying. It's been a rough couple of years in terms of new releases actually releasing, but his latest decks are also some of his best, the Silk Player's editions are looking gorgeous, so glad they aren't typical red/blue. A lot of the older decks such as Liturgy/Sanctus/Grotesk/Ambassadors Collector's had the problem of the cards being too dark as a result of the ink not showing up well on the dark stock so in terms of cards can be a little underwhelming, I was always a fan of Sanctus regardless though.

[kevork]

Many people speak highly of the bronze experimental. It's hard to see the contrast between the stock and the art, but boy is that foil shiny. Adonael brings up a good point about some of the older decks coming out quite dark, although there is an aged quality to them as a result.

Arabesque silver is also my favorite in the series. That Japanese foil is unlike any other I've seen.

[gallardo99]

Is bronze experimental the same deck as Liturgy Black Bronze?

[veil]

Is bronze experimental the same deck as Liturgy Black Bronze?

No, they are talking about the Bronze Experimental deck from the Grotesk series.

[Kirillas]

Regarding tucks, I really like the blue silk.

What a coincidence!... Someone put up for sale on ebay exactly the same pair of decks that I sold you a year and a half ago: https://www.ebay.com/itm/394691978623. I recognize the black deck by the crease in the cellophane. It looks like these decks were cursed: the one who bought them from you decided to sell them as well and the seller is still in Norway like you. Kevork was lucky - he bought another pair from you)

[Kirillas]

Maybe someone can explain some of my observations. Yesterday a Norwegian ebay seller "kartenstatz" sold a pair of silk decks for $800 (https://www.ebay.com/itm/394691978623) using a single photo. Based on a comparative analysis of photographs, I can confidently assert that this is the same pair of decks that I once sold to gallardo99. I bought these two decks at different times from different people, so the photograph of these decks could not have come before I had them and kevork hardly took such a photograph after he received them from gallardo99, so only gallardo99 could have taken this photograph.

And now the question is: why someone from Norway sells a pair of Silk decks using an old photo in the ad that only gallardo99 could have taken?

gallardo99, did you sell another couple of Silk decks again? Correct me if I'm getting too suspicious)

[brownsl]

This thread is confusing.

[GandalfPC]

I don’t know - it is the same Blue deck, I can see the points that match up exactly, but not sure at all that its the same for the Red

One might also question if those points were from the printing process from two printed one after another, so even the blue deck might differ

Seeing the differences in the blue, although there are the matching marks, the ebay one has more marks then yours, so it may have been issues building up in the printing process of a run of decks

Leaning towards them not being same. It looks like the ebay deck has fewer marks than yours, even though it shares yours.


Yours:

Ebay:

[Kirillas]

I don’t know - it is the same Blue deck, I can see the points that match up exactly, but not sure at all that its the same for the Red

Unexpectedly, but you went even further than me) In fact, I consider it indisputable that the red deck is the same (photo), since the plastic bags are soldered by hand and crumple easily, so no two are the same. At the top, at the place of soldering, there are identical folds and a diagonal fold on the front side in the same place at the same angle. As for the blue deck, I think any owner of another copy can confirm that the decks do not have any dots in the same places - for the most part these are rubbish under cellophane.

To be honest, I started discussing this not so much because I saw exactly those decks in the photo, but because our new friend is not entirely honest and consistent in his statements. He wrote that he was new to collecting

Hi,

Im pretty new to collection cards, and to be honest I own just a couple of "hype" decks so far.... But I just fell in love with Lotrek, and im pretty late to the table as it seems
Im gonna start collection Lotrek decks, and withing short time subscribe as a patreon

, but two years ago he was looking for the Damask deck

, and a year and a half ago he bought these Silk decks from me. Doesn't sound like a newbie asking a naive question: "Is bronze experimental the same deck as Liturgy Black Bronze?". I do not believe! The story of the forced sale of the Silk decks after losing his job looks plausible, but if he sold them then and bought them again quite recently (selling the red Damask for this), why are a couple of Silk decks sold again and now he is looking for other Lotrek decks (https://www.reddit.com/r/playingcards/c ... &context=3), including(!) red Damask ( https://www.reddit.com/r/PlayingCardVal ... &context=3)?

Why did he have to abandon his old reddit account (now he uses a completely different one with a different name and female avatar) and indicate here

Hi, its Anders here (ebay: andlavike_0)
(FB: facebook.com/kallven)

a non-working link to Facebook page and a link to an Ebey seller who cannot be found (not the one who recently sold the Silk decks).

It's all just too suspicious for my standards

[GandalfPC]

Doing a search on ebay for the member name andlavike_0 leads to user kartenstatz:

https://www.ebay.com/fdbk/feedback_prof ... ndlavike_0

[Kirillas]

Doing a search on ebay for the member name andlavike_0 leads to user kartenstatz:

https://www.ebay.com/fdbk/feedback_prof ... ndlavike_0

Well, then my suspicions were confirmed. This dude is just a scalper. Not that it's a crime, but I don't like being taken for a fool

[GandalfPC]

That users sold items:

[kevork]

Someone got ripped off on those Silks which saddens me. This is his actual Facebook profile:
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/profile/736350410/
https://www.facebook.com/calvenklein

Collectors beware of selling to this individual.

Kirillas, however much you sold him the Silk decks for, my purchase price after he had asked for $550 ended up being $450. Only you'll know how much he flipped it for. It is interesting that the old Reddit posts got deleted shortly after I brought up his old Silk sale on this thread.

You can change your eBay username once every 30 days so if you ever find scalpers or questionable people, keep that in mind.

[GandalfPC]