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Hi all, very new to collecting and just wondered if you open your decks. Understand there is value loss, but it also seems anything I ever see for sale is new and unopened. I really would like to appreciate the art of these, but have struggled so far to open any I have purchased…..I suppose the other option is to double my investment and always keep one sealed……just curious what others do?

I open every deck. The cards are meant to be seen.

Unopened decks make me sad

When I started collecting I opened one of each - once I got over 100 open I have kept most (but not all) sealed - usually try to get an extra or three to keep sealed if I do open one

Exceptions being hanafuda decks and handmade decks, which I always open - not caring, but not considering it to lose much if any value by doing so (I do wear white gloves for the handmades, not the fudas)

I think you will find a pretty good mix of open or keep sealed around here - with some of the bolder folk busting seals on decks that cause great shock and delight, no deck seal withstanding their gaze and others who wonder to this day what cards feel like.

hsbc wrote: ↑Mon Mar 20, 2023 7:55 pm Unopened decks make me sad

Love that statement, hahaha.

I intend to open all my decks but like Gandalf, after 100+ opened decks I don't open everything nowadays. Mostly due to not being in the mood when the decks arrive or life being in the way sometimes. For example today two hand gilded uusi decks arrived but opening them in my lunch break or after a busy work day doesn't feel right so I'll see whenever I open one of them.

There is still no better feeling in the world of cards than neatly cutting the seal, opening the tuckflap, handling and shuffling the deck for the first time, breaking it in and then being in awe for the marvel of craftmansship, technology and art that wents into these little pieces of paper, ink, foil and glue.

Opening hand gilded uusi deck - that would be the aforementioned shock and delight

I used to buy multiples: one to open and use, one to keep sealed. I still buy mutliples, but rarely open them as I can only use so many decks.

#FreeThePip yes I collect cards, not boxes

Most of my decks are unopened. But, I do open a number of them. A fraction of a large number, is still quite large.

Im like many others in that I use to open, but now much slower to do so, particularly when I don't have duplicates. I started collecting during the height of the pandemic, I suppose as a bit of a diversion, and amassed quite a few decks very quickly (really, too many. ha ha). I've now become much more selective, but still try to get at least 2 of a deck, so I will feel ok about opening one, when the time comes. There are of course better ways to 'invest' if that is the aim, but there is something about the feeling of having a deck in a pristine, sealed condition for me - however irrational it is.

If you buy decks with the intent to sell, you might be setting yourself up for disappointment. These collectibles should not be seen as an investment as statistically speaking, most of the decks in existence will not rise in value, in fact quite the opposite. Emotionally speaking, it's nice to have the ability to open up one deck and admire the cards, while knowing you have a duplicate in pristine condition, untouched. There's comfort in knowing you can preserve one and then of course there is the added benefit of trading/selling it if you ever did decide to do so.

Some decks I'm not sure if I'll keep, so I may keep them sealed in case I decide to sell off to try to recoup my costs. I am a year in to collecting and have hundreds of decks now, and since my taste has become much more refined, I'm glad I didn't open every single one as I can try to sell them to collectors who may be looking for the decks. The ones I know I want to hang on to, I'll open. Sometimes I'll delay opening them for when I feel like rewarding myself.

Lotrek is my favorite designer. I've opened all his decks minus really rare signatures where the cards inside are the same as the standard versions. I've also unsealed decks of his I've purchased for several hundreds of dollars each because you better believe I'm appreciating the art inside.

TL;DR: It depends.

Thanks for the replies, the more I think about it perhaps I have done it backwards and need to look for opened decks to purchase secondary if I plan to open them instead of paying sealed prices? Just seems opened decks are not for sale as much. I guess the other key to collecting modern decks is to get in early on Kickstarter etc. to buy first hand….

You should manage some luck putting up a post in the marketplace: viewforum.php?f=7

njt124 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 23, 2023 10:24 am Thanks for the replies, the more I think about it perhaps I have done it backwards and need to look for opened decks to purchase secondary if I plan to open them instead of paying sealed prices? Just seems opened decks are not for sale as much. I guess the other key to collecting modern decks is to get in early on Kickstarter etc. to buy first hand….

I would agree that generally, the most cost effective way to get modern decks is Kickstarter, Patreon, New release drops, etc. - usually. Some like Lorenzo G. (Stockholm17), this is absolutely the best way. Sometimes, however, getting things that are over-hyped at release can yield to paying more than what you can find on resell later

I would also add that as you get further into collecting, you will find that there tend to be sales throughout the year. 14% off on Valentine's day, 17% off on St. Patrick's Day, etc. The big ones are often Black Friday sales. Seems to be a time of places looking to unload excess inventory. Strong caution with brands like Art of Play/Dan&Dave/Fulton's when it comes to pricing. They strongly attempt to leverage FOMO with limited/special edition/deluxe runs at particularly high prices. We appear to be coming out of a period of heavy speculative buying which was driving up prices, so perhaps there will be a bit less of that going forward. Ebay pricing for some decks are 25-30% of where they were a couple of years ago.

In getting new decks for your collection, it is now becoming increasingly important to join the artist's patreon programs to pick up their very limited offerings that in some cases can only be obtained through their Patreon rewards (other than through the secondary market).

njt124 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 23, 2023 10:24 am Thanks for the replies, the more I think about it perhaps I have done it backwards and need to look for opened decks to purchase secondary if I plan to open them instead of paying sealed prices? Just seems opened decks are not for sale as much

They are harder to come across, but SoCal and Wounded Corner both have open decks for sale sometimes, and occasionally you can find sellers with open decks on eBay, /r/PCM, and here

Forgive my ignorance but what’s PCM?

Oh boy that could be bad news for my wallet is there anyway to get around the one month and 50 post thing to comment or chat with a user…..I’m not a Reddit user but just signed up

Nope. They're pretty vigilante (which they should imho) about that.
Fifty karma is not hard to earn on reddit though. Just browse r/playingcards and make some comments or share some pics of cards there and you'll have 50 karma easily.

I open every new decks that comes into my doorstep and into my room
IF the deck turns out so nice, I consider getting another copy - EXCEPT if I decide to get many copies in one go

EXCEPTION - I don't open decks that:
- Gilded decks that just merely gilded the standard edition without any changes to the artwork
- Experimental decks where the creator promises to create the better version
- The extra decks, unless the first time I got the deck got any defects (which is sad)

When I open decks, I make sure the cellophane still remains intact, and the seal is still in one piece and can be stamped elsewhere safe. Decks that have seal YET have a bottom opening, open from the bottom