August 16, 2026 · 7:10 pm

Miniverse Make It Mini The Lord of The Rings Mini Collectibles

I picked up this Miniverse Make It Mini The Lord of The Rings Mini Collectibles pack, on sale for $4 at Marshalls. I honestly didn’t know quite what it was. I thought it was like Mini Brands but for fantasy weapons. It is actually a resin kit to make these collectible mini weapons. But I was actually excited to try it since follow the Evan and Katelyn youtube channel and they do all sorts of fun resin projects.

I actually pulled Sauron’s Mace which had the limited edition rarity so I guess it is the chase. But this mace was A PAIN to make. Part of the problem is I didn’t have all tools, mainly a UV light so I had to use the sun to cure the resin. It comes with just one mold, you need to make 6 blades and it takes 30 minutes each to fully cure. So if you do the math, this process was 3+ hours. I was doing this in the park and the sun actually shifted enough that I wasn’t in direct sunlight anymore. I made 2 blades that are not bad and 1 that is iffy but the pipette that the kit with got clogged so I just gave up. Plus the blades were so difficult to take out of the mold and they do not stay in the grooves where it supposed to go so I guess you need to use more resin to make each stick.

I was planning to use this pack as props for D&D and Sauron’s Mace is going to be Sauron’s Spear. It does come with some fun extra like a stand, mini hammer, map and ring so it wasn’t complete waste. I probably will never get anything like this in the future but I am still glad I tried.

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August 7, 2026 · 6:49 pm

Thrift Store Haul: Comic Hunters Board Game, Soulblight Gravelords Warhammer Book & More!

I didn’t get the chance to go to the thrift stores as much as I like this month but I still had a couple of good finds.

First off, I got this Lego like Halloween Party/ Haunted House construction set for $6. I saw it two weeks in a row at Goodwill and I should have probably waited for it to be half off but I had a feeling it wouldn’t last another 2 weeks. I love the look of the set but I am a little wary because generic/ knockoff/ bootleg Lego sets tend to have terrible instructions. We’ll see about this one. It has a huge dent on one corner of the box but it was still sealed so I don’t think it will impact the building process in anyway.

Also, I found Comic Hunters at the Barnes & Nobles clearance section for $8. I had some rewards too so it was only $3 in the end. Comic Hunters was a board game that had a lot of buzz when it first came out. It is a set collecting game with four different ways to draft. I like a lot of similar games so I should like this one too. Plus it has an unique theme.

Finally, I was in a mood to run something different, something for a high level party and I found this Warhammer Age of Sigmar Soulblight Gravelords book for $5 at an used bookstore. I like some of ideas for big bads and I am going to translate it for 5E.

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July 31, 2026 · 9:15 pm

Pulled a Big One! | Pokemon TCG: Binacle Pitch Black 3 Pack Blister Break

I come to the Pokemon TCG collecting hobby mostly as a player but I still get super excited by a very rare pull. I actually like the Pokemon TCG Pitch Black set especially when you compare it to recent sets. It has some fun new decks to play around with (most notably the Hide n Seek deck), some interesting ex’s and some useful trainer cards. The Barnes & Nobles closest to me actually had a few Pokemon TCG products in stock. But only thing they had remaining for Pitch Black was just two Binacle 3 pack blisters and I picked up one of them.

I’ll cut to the chase. I pulled a big one. I got the Mega Darkrai ex special illustration rare! It is a beauty and is the most expensive card from the Pitch Black set (worth about $300). I haven’t had a big pull is so, so long so it makes this all the more special.

Chaos Rising and Perfect Order were big misses for me so I was spending more and more of my time and money on Magic cards but with Pitch Black and now this big pull I am so back to Pokemon.

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July 25, 2026 · 6:24 pm

Awesomely Awesome Comics: Kroma

I read a lot of comics and very rarely do I get lost in the world so that my mind wanders to fill in the blanks. Lorenzo de Felici’s Kroma is one of those comics. It is why I like getting mystery bags of comics. To be fair, a lot of the comics aren’t great, a lot of them are cliché but every once in awhile I do come across a real gem. I honestly wouldn’t have come across Kroma otherwise.

My mystery bag came with Kroma #1. It is the type of story that is best if I don’t spoil any of it but it can be (badly) described as a fantasy Pleasantville (movie) that plays on the theme of black & white vs bright vibrant colors and the theme of conformity through fear. Kroma #1 ends in a shocking cliffhanger and the next day I went out to get the rest of the story. I even manage to chase down a signed trade paperback!

Kroma’s story and art are hauntingly beautiful. It is sad and dark and I can’t stop thinking about it. So much so that I am thinking about writing a D&D campaign around this world and the Pale City so that I can fill in the blanks with others.

So all in all, I can’t recommend Kroma enough. Just a warning though, it is definitely not a kids comics since it can be quite violent and has dark themes.

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July 21, 2026 · 2:32 pm

What’s Inside a 40 Magic Cards Legendary Pack?

I picked up yet another repack, a Magic Cards Legendary Pack from Wayne Global LLC. (Maybe Bruce Wayne??) It has 40 cards with one guarantee legendary rare. I love a good deck building challenge so I am going to try to make a commander deck with whichever legend I get. The catch though is this repack is $10 which is about double what similar repacks go for. In fact, I picked up another $5 Gaming Emporium 50 Magic cards repack with 5 rares or better to compare.

I am pretty sure the guaranteed legendary rares are mostly from Commander precons. My legend is Jenny Flint which is actually a fun commander to build around. As for the bulk, unfortunately I got two duplicates and the colors were skewed towards black and white which isn’t the worse but also not ideal. Surprisingly a lot of them are from older sets like Chronicles, 4th and 5th edition, Exodus and Tempest but that also means the power level of these commons/ uncommons are also weaker and more vanilla than comparable repacks. Allay may be the only card I would consider to include in any deck.

My Gaming Emporium Magic repack this time around is much better than the last one. Most of commons/ uncommons are from the Commander Legends set so I got a lot of interesting cards like the ones with cascade and encore. To compare with the Legendary Pack I got 3 legends here: Living Brain, Mechanical Marvel, SP/dr, Piloted by Peni and The Prismatic Piper (all bad commanders) and 5 rares: Saheeli’s Artistry, Rakshasa Vizier, Fumigate, Cold-Eyed Selkie and Paladin Class but to be fair no legendary rare cards.

You won’t pull anything valuable in either repack. Legendary Packs can be fun to open but they should really be priced at $5. Some company should really come up with a repack designed to be drafted as commander decks. I am thinking guaranteed 10- 20 commanders, 10- 20 rares and at least 500 card bulk with minimum duplicates. Price it around $20 maybe $25 and I would definitely get it!

I actually built the first draft of my Jenny Flint EDH deck. I just picked a copy of Madame Vastra and Strax, Sontaran Nurse because I can’t imagine the deck without the trio. The deck is mostly synergies with fight cards and clue/ food tokens. I also have a landfall and +1/+1 counter subtheme to tie it all together. I am actually pretty excited to try the deck and honestly it isn’t a deck I would think about if I didn’t pull Jenny Flint from the Legendary Pack.

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July 13, 2026 · 10:22 pm

Thrift Store Haul: Savernake Forest, Masters of Crime: Rapture & More!

I recently donated 10 or so board games which means I got more space for games this month! I got a couple of good deals on murder mysteries and escape rooms in a box type games that I am very excited about.

First off I got Break In: Alcatraz for just $1.50. I actually got this game a couple of years ago in Marshalls for cheap but I just couldn’t find a group to play escape rooms in a box with so I gave it away. I have a group now that plays these types of games roughly once a month and you really can’t go wrong with any game for $1.50.

Similarly I had a lot of fun playing Masters of Crime: Vendetta with its ARG elements so I picked up another one in the series Rapture for $8. I have big hopes for this one so I hope it is just as good.

Finally I picked up Savernake Forest from Barnes & Noble for $10. It is a little more than I hope to pay but it has a lot of elements that I like in a game: easy to learn, tile laying, drafting etc.

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July 6, 2026 · 8:35 pm

Random Pack Break: MTG Marvel Super Heroes Jumpstart Boosters

I never looked into jumpstart boosters before but the format seems perfect for the MTG Marvel Super Heroes set. There are 51 different themed packs with varying rarities and with fun themes like Great Lakes Avengers, Runaways, Fantastic (Four) and (Doctor) Doom. You just need two packs, shuffle them up and you have a 40 card deck. I was going to pick up a few play boosters at my local card shop just to have something fun to open but I decided to see what I can get from jumpstart boosters instead.

My two themed packs are Returned and Geniuses so I guess I have a blue black controlish deck which is usually an archetype I do like to play in drafts. Maybe I can get my friends to buy two jumpstart packs too and we can see how fun this format can be. Outside of this jumpstart format though, only Kid Loki and maybe Reed Richards, Smartest Man stand out by having some potential.

Thinking about it, I think the jumpstart format would really work for the Pokemon TCG. The problem with drafting Pokemon cards is that you need specific cards for other cards to work and you won’t have that problem with 20 cards themed packs. I guess it is close to what Build and Battle boxes used to do with two random themed half decks but it would have so much more variety if there were like at least 20 themed packs so you can draft it more than once.

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June 30, 2026 · 12:24 pm

Pokemon TCG: Charmeleon 3 Pack Blister & Prismatic Evolutions Poster Collection

I actually found Pokemon TCG packs at Miniso. I picked up a Charmeleon Chaos Rising 3 pack blister and a Prismatic Evolutions Poster Collection. They were a bit over retail but still cheaper than online. The 3 pack blister was $20 and the poster collection was $25.

My packs from Chaos Rising were better than usual. (I have had really bad luck with this set.) I pulled a Philippe full art trainer and a Claydol illustration rare. I have a Metang and friends deck so I am pretty excited to add this card to that deck. I also pulled another Special Red Card so I should have everything I need from this set for deck building.

My packs from Prismatic Evolutions was also better than usual. (It is sometimes referred as Traumatic Evolutions.) I got a pokeball Dusclops and Dusknoir and a Hydrapple ex and Umbreon ex (of course that THE moonbreon.) In addition, I pulled a Regigigas which I also needed for my Metang and friends deck. I probably own the card already but this saves me from going through all my bulk. On a side note, Prismatic Evolutions packs have been way overpriced everywhere I looked (I remember they were $20 a pack) but I was putting in the codes for PTCGL and I have only opened 6 packs of this set. Wow, easily the lowest amount of packs I’ve opened of any set since I got back to collecting.

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June 24, 2026 · 11:55 am

Strand Books Sidewalk Sale Haul

Instead of the usual Thrift Store Haul post this month I have a book haul! Strand Books is probably the most famous, most popular used bookstore in New York City. When I was a kid, used books there were just $1 and I got a lot of books over the years. Nowadays books go for $3- $7 but they do have an annual sidewalk sale where you can get a $10 for a small bag or $25 for a large bag and you can filled it with as many books as you can cram in.

I did go on the second day of the three day sale, late so I didn’t have the first choice in books but I am still pretty happy with my haul. I was looking for comics, fantasy books, kid books for my nephew and I guess anything that stood out to me. Four of my books were actually signed: Year of the Dog, Priest, Princeless: Get Over Yourself and Ambition Studios Anthology so that was a fun little bonus. None of the books could be sticking out and the bag was awkwardly shaped but I think I got most of it. In the end, I packed 10 books so I got back to the magically $1 per book price.

Honestly none of these books I would have picked up outside of such a sale. The book I am probably most excited about though is Year of the Dog from the Detective Jack Yu by Henry Chang. The author is an old acquaintance and it is a crime novel that takes place in the neighborhood I live in so it should be a fun read. I actually finished Order of Darkness: Changeling already, it was OK. It was kind of like a religious X-files set in the medieval times. But I did cut up the book for its maps and artwork, possibly to use for a RPG one shot.

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June 20, 2026 · 2:45 pm

2025- 26 Topps Signature Class Basketball Blaster Break

My last basketball blaster wasn’t great so I picked up another blaster. This time I got a 2025- 26 Topps Signature Class Basketball blaster aka value box. It was $35 and has 6 packs with 7 cards per pack. It is not guaranteed anything but the box says to look out for SP Odyssey Inserts. But I am basically looking for anything Knicks.

Signature Class has a fun gimmick of highlighting where everyone was drafted. I could tell this is a very boom or bust type of product and I think I got super lucky? The LeBron James Class Algorithm is a super short print case hit if I googled it right. So it is so nice to finally pull something good. The Khaman Maluach clear rookie card might also be a SSP. Both cards came from the same packs and were stuck to each other.

I didn’t pull anything Knicks though. But I did get a Jordan Clarkson who did play a pivotal role the Knicks team. I also got a bunch of random parallels but I doubt any of them is worth mentioning.

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