The Subtle Art of searching old Magic The Gathering Booster Packs

The Largest UNAPPROVED / UNSPONSORED / UNCONTROLLED Magic The Gathering Channel in the world filled with Greed Monsters, Evil Investors, and 0.04% of WOMEN.
Selling a Collection? [e-mail]
PATREON : / alphainvestments
Twitter @MTG_AlphaInvest
SHIRTS: www.ebay.com/sch/m.html?_odkw...
~FAN MAIL~
Rudy's Magic Store
10950-60 San Jose Blvd.
Box # 139
Jacksonville, FL 32223
~October 2018 Special~
Oath of the Gatewatch
Commander Anthology 1
MTG - Guilds of Ravnica
MTG - Commander 2018
MTG - Core 2019
MTG - Challenger Decks
MTG - Dominaria
Force of Will -New Dawn Rises
Pokemon - Lost Thunder
Pokemon - Forbidden Light
Pokemon - Roaring Skies

[@MarknBeth]

Hey everyone, just wanted to let you know, this was my collection. Rudy, I appreciate your comments on the packs. I actually never tried looking at them in detail (or searching), and never saw the Serra Angel on the face of the pack. That's quite an eye opener to me. As you stated, I bought those older single Unlimited, Arab, Legends, dark, Antiq off of eBay. I bought them back around 1998-2005. (That's right, I've been an eBay member for 20 years) I have had them in a cardboard box since then and am probably responsible for some of the wear on the edges just from folding the wrappers over to fit in a box meant to hold stacks of cards. The comments and analysis were an eye opener to me. I just wonder, if someone had an unlimited pack, that they knew had a serra in it, if they would have opened it back in 2000 when the pack was worth a hundred bucks or so... Anyway, it was a pleasure dealing with you. For anyone questioning whether to trust Rudy with a few thousand dollars worth of cards, I can attest that he was very responsive to emails, (in fact we went back and forth about 20 times before I shipped the cards) very quick to send the payment, and even made the video of the collection... Thanks again Rudy.

[@sneibarg]

Get your cash for that Tabernacle while you can. Super overpriced for the value you get in Vintage/Type 1 IMO. Propaganda is a far better alternative.

[@Th3budtender]

Never responded to my email

[@patmacrotch5611]

Found Rudy’s sock account

[@ryvrdrgn15]

You had some cool stuff. :3

[@fsmoura]

I'm Spartacus

[@scramblex2692]

"Im sitting on 1500 of these duel lands. also I think the price is artificially high for some reason"

[@trexasaurus5322]

There’s 200,000 of each revised rare printed. He doesn’t have enough to influence the market

[@scramblex2692]

@@trexasaurus5322 if there were 100 people doing the same thing, thats the majority of the market

[@trexasaurus5322]

@@scramblex2692 if they bought out only 1 revised rare. Not all of Rudy’s dual lands are the same, so no.

[@donaldgunderson3335]

That's awesome. All of mine burned in the paradise fire. Unlimited and legend sets too

[@autumnalgloom5360]

God, i love the old pack design. Just the circle, no picture. Looks so classy.

[@openboosters]

Open them, even if searched! Opening is always priceless! Huge card purchase!! Thanks for sharing Rudy!!!

[@OregonRoo]

He should. Great seeing you out of your cave!

[@clow0123]

Open 1 a day for 30 days =)

[@brooksnorthcutt668]

Hullo and welcome to Fomo Investments!! Ahh the floppiness!

[@czechpirc3212]

every pack from alpha - guilds would be insane and the most epic thing on the web, you could guarantee that it has never been done or replicated again, cmon rudy dont let us down. maybe at 200k subscribers???????

[@MarknBeth]

Hey openboosters, I probably should have sold them to you, so you could have opened them and we all could have seen what was in them...

[@michaelsarzynski7876]

Hilarious watching this two years later when all those caution cards are up significantly.

[@papaversomniferum5247]

RUDY BE CAREFUL WITH THAT HURRICANE COMING, I think it’s the revised edition hurricane

[@Cosper79]

Oh no sir that hurricane is almost a cat 5. That's a summer blue hurricane!

[@BitWarVeterans]

Part of the 0.04% and I don't even play, buy, or sell MTG. I just like Rudy's videos for some odd reason.

[@Ziko577]

Same here. I became interested after all the scandals and stupidity of the SJW's as well as continued bad decision making of WOTC. I love old school MTG and not the cookie cutter, cucked up version of it with a lot of forced diversity, non-existant lore, and censorship.

[@Phelibas]

same. can't stand magic boring as hell, but rudy somehow makes it interesting.

[@airbomb34]

Same. The dude is entertaining and I like tacos.

[@CGoody564]

That pattern of rebirth foil was absolutely beautiful

[@MarknBeth]

I personally pulled it from the pack, put it straight into a card sleeve, and it stayed there (unplayed) until sold to Rudy.

[@jonathantillian6528]

When I opened boosters I'd always save one of every booster pack. Thanks for the memories Mr. Fox and Rudy!

[@anghbalahr2971]

your pack-opening are enjoyable....even most of your magic-discussions...keep up the good work.

[@bajexe]

Seeing all those old packs is awesome. I really hope someone does message you to buy them for an opening video!

[@mikegrazick684]

Thank you so much for putting up these buy videos. I have always enjoyed what you show us. Thanks!

[@GRat9717]

In this video Rudy plays Sherlock Holmes and uses intuition to show us whether or not packs that he's looking to buy were searched or not.

[@cameronday9889]

I've recently started watching your videos after expanding my presence in the online magic community. I've started building my collectionnagsin and going to standard and commander events. I just wanted to say I really enjoy watching your videos and insight on a lot of the magic "crap" going on lately. 👌🙏💯

[@Danielhyam1]

Great Video. I'm very nostalgic for the vintage packs!

[@sherekhangamedev]

Thanks for this kinds of videos, I love the almost curator labor you input in your investments. It's a really great travel to the past to good old days. Thanks for all.

[@henkdachief]

i won a Revised Pack at a Sideevent at a GP in 2007. Everybody said it is likely already checked, like you said. So i tried it myself, because i was curious, i couldnt believe it is possible and i thought i cant be searched because its from Wotc directly, but i wasnt able to spot what the rare card is, or any card for that matter. I left it closed, opening it seemed low value. 10 years later, in 2017, i realized that i will never sell the pack so i should just open it and have the card as the souvenier even if its a bad one. The pack was just amazing: a fresh bayou, swords to plow. and a lightning bolt. So if you got your packs from wotc directly, its likely not from a 3rd party that searched the packs.

[@timewalkinc4]

yay revised 2 dollar card and 2 dollar bolt.. arent revised packs like 300 bux?

[@henkdachief]

i dont know about that, it was much cheaper to get mine: Winning a chaos draft that costed 15 bucks. Like I said: opening it wasnt the smartest move, but i am pretty sure a brand new bayou is worth more than a beat up pack, the rest is gravy.

[@wigglytuffgaming]

@@timewalkinc4 do you understand how much og duals are?

[@Y2KNW]

I remember showing the owner of the first card store in my town how to search packs way back before Ice Age, that it worked, and why he shouldn't let us (or anyone) look at packs before buying them.

[@loganmarshall5414]

This was an excellent video Ruddy. This is the kinda stuff we need to know.

[@1uckywanderboy519]

Very informative. Thanks for the detail on the packs.

[@jennifer9084]

I'm part of the 0.04%. I watch the videos because its interesting and because your knowledge is incredible on Magic. I've bought some cards to see what they were like.

[@criticalmissives9245]

I just always assumed loose packs on eBay were sketchy. Earlier this year, though, I bought a couple of Weatherlight single pack auctions (I think I paid like $11-$12 apiece) for my buddy’s birthday. We each opened one of the packs and I was blown away. He opened a brand new Peacekeeper. I pulled a Scorched Ruins. Two of the best cards in the set!

[@brooksnorthcutt668]

This is great news to hear on Tabernacle since I'm planning to buy one in the coming months. I'll keep an eye on prices!

[@andrewlaverghetta715]

Oh wow, I was blown away when you ripped the sheet away to show all the packs lol

[@stevenbest4841]

Hey Rudy, just heard about the pending hurricane and wanted to say to stay safe! Although im confident your house will pass the bend test :D

[@BStar555]

I feel like knowing that the first card is a Serra Angel could increase the value of that pack to the right buyer. It's kinda cool knowing that you've got a SEALED Serra (unless of course it turns out there's power in that pack behind her). This reminds me of when openboosters opened the Black Lotus from the starter deck. If I'm not mistaken, the lotus was the front card in that sealed deck, i.e. the card you can see before you break the seal. I feel that had the seal on that deck not been broken, that Black lotus would have been worth even more than it was after grading. There are a lot of Black Lotuses in this world, but how many are sealed behind the original plastic in a provable way?

[@musicman7943]

Rudy selling repacks of repacks this just in!

[@GigaJigg]

We can see the card as well. LMAO! "Oubliette" is pronounced like "oo-blee-et'" btw. Love the vids!

[@spaceberries8707]

Love your videos man

[@moxavenger]

Thank you for another fine video show sir. I leave these fine comments to assist with your algorithm.

[@JustinOhio]

I have a bunch of older cards that I'll probably never use again and have no use for. What is the best way to go about getting rid of them and pricing them? Just put them on eBay individually? Is there a website I should be using to price check? Thank you.

[@TheMagicHistorian]

This was a method I used to determine whether I should trust a new LGS I had never been to, buying some old packs like legends or the dark. After cracking something absolutely worthwhile like a tabernacle it becomes obvious that the store is on the up and up. If you don't score big it doesn't mean they scan the packs ahead of time but if you hit something insane it is clearly an indicator that nobody has been trying to determine the packs contents.

[@Peranine]

A still-proud member of the growing 0.04% New to the game, but one day I'll own something from Alpha or Beta. One day.

[@Chukijay]

Vraska's Sister if you want to start getting into A/B, lands are a great start. Cool art, there’s a panache to using old lands if you play, they’re nostalgic. They’re also relatively cheap to get into alpha/beta. Something I enjoy isn’t necessarily alpha/beta collecting but collecting the oldest version of a card. There are cards that have been reprinted that have slipped through the cracks and are cheap, but have the same nostalgic effect. Good luck!

[@Peranine]

Good idea. Some of my favorite lands are from Urza's and Lorwyn, they're so pretty.

[@Cosper79]

Actually those lands are higher priced that alot of the common cards.

[@Kingspadeb]

Just buy fakes. They can't prove it and if they want to damage your highly expensive cards to try and prove it they better put the money on the table first. Only at a GP will it ever matter and only if you do well will they ever even think to question it. Want to know a secret? Fix your deck at a pre-release. Oh wait that's not even a secret. If you've ever done it and got to the end you'll be like "Oh it's like that huh? Everyone up here is doin it huh?" Fuck this game, take em for what they're worth. Don't buy that expensive old shit. Stupid idea

[@bigteddybear5962]

Paderick Monahan Way to bring shame to the game bro. You are right though. If it isn't some, "friend" of your local card shop cheating the legit players, it's somenese knock offs smahaming it up. Sad. Wizards needs to bring back the old Guillotine game:)

[@solidkingcobra]

15:25 "...Have a fantastic Swensday" Ah, the day of Love that The Beatles were talking about.

[@implode3]

If framing, are you gonna get the missing artwork packs before framing?

[@Sly.Artorias]

unrelated to the vid but hay rudy good luck with the hurricane i live in orlando so ima get some of it but you from jacksonville will get hit hard stay safe my friend

[@foefer1973]

@Alpha Investments recently I bought Magic the gathering chaos 6 pack (green and black box) from walmart. It came with 6 assorted boosters from recent sets and 1 promo card. I think it all reseal packs!!! Nothing was good and 1 of the pack I open it has 2 rares and 4 uncommon. The pack felt very weird like they use heat to reseal it because the seal on top of the pack are not straight. Can you look into this? Thanks

[@zachn279]

The serra angel face on the pack is Wild!

[@crusherdevourer]

You should demonstrate pack searching in one of your videos some day!

[@MyLittleMagneton]

You should totally sell a one of each legacy boosters thing. I'd love to frame something like that as well :p

[@EdwintheMagicEngineer]

This is funny, I actually recorded a very similar sentiment video last night and just didn't have time to edit/post it. I also feel we are going into a consolidation phase and much of the insane growth of 9394 cards in the last few years is done. I also totally agree that the non-playable 9394 cards are going to fall the most. People want the GOOD cards in 9394 (Disenchant, Bolt, Sol Ring, etc) and who the hell cares about Camel?

[@demoney405]

Recently I've bought some The Dark packs myself. But I notice that many have tiny little dots which looks like they were made by a needle or something behind the flap. Can you also search the packs by just poking tiny holes in the bottom?

[@aaron_3oh3]

"....don't you love those old oils from peoples hands..."

[@nolife874]

can you sell the angel as mint because its still in the pack?

[@screwthenet]

Once he said that, I focused up a little, and I really could see the serra angel card through the wrapper. THose crummy old card wrappers, sheesh O>o

[@YanShum]

8:30 AM: checking feed - A Rudy from Beta Investment video What's happening here... What kind of Rudy you are?

[@TheSenselessName]

really like to get some older boosters but i am so scared to get a searched one......this will help a lot to figue it out!

[@mdeluxe1929]

Yeah, that prophecy at the end about the market...

[@comicbookgallery4431]

I remember collecting packs, and someone pointing out if you look close you can see the first card. I also sold off everything in 1999. Couldn't find people to play with and got bored with the game.

[@mimir7668]

Haven't played MTG seriously in ages, tried getting back in during Ixalan and such, but it doesn't have the same feel like it did back in the old days around Urza's and Weatherlight block. Seeing those packs, the Tempest and the MM pack brought back so many fond memories

[@Arashekhoeur]

Yep. Actually, in the old days we could only trust or have faith to some type of sellers or shops. If the game store owner was an old lady/man, we were sure the box and the boosters werent search. If the seller was a younger one or someone who knew about magic, sadly probably you wouldnt be lucky lol... It was also the days of early scanners, not for documents only use.

[@ReMeDy_TV]

What camcorder does Rudy use?

[@DataCollaborate]

Is it possible, to create a Desk Table with all Boosters at once. That would be SICK!

[@tardcore4life]

I had a foil Palinchron when I was a wee lad. Wonder what ever happened to it.

[@stayblazinyt3455]

Not into magic never played a day in my life im more a yugioh player but i watch all your videos love the content brother keep on keeping on rudy

[@JaldaboathIrghen]

Is there a market for damaged or heavy played cards? Id' love to have some of the older cards, but all I see is graded and out of my budget.

[@higheloshow]

Cardmarket

[@jakesynapse6417]

Rudy, what do you think about WOTC selling singles? Seeing several videos out this week saying exactly that!

[@Reggaetonaldo]

They've always sold singles. It just how one views it and how it's packaged. Besides the only channels covering that topic are the conspiracy gun loving drama channels that hate wizards but keep buying their products.

[@bigpattyboy36]

sure: Yes. Can certainly see casting cost through front of first pack.

[@daveautzen9089]

A box of Revised that came in an order at the game shop I worked at, had 4 rares in each pack, but no uncommons. Me and a buddy split the packs.

[@Cosper79]

Trivia: They had to put Magic under Garfield Games to start because Wizards was dealing with a lawsuit at the time.

[@alexmendozaarchdemonofburg7856]

that would be so cool to have one of every pack, do you want soft or crunchy tacos this year for Christmas beta Investments?

[@smalltown4855]

I still fantasise about roasted penguin in a baboon sauce, served on a bed of old dust balls.

[@barath4545]

1,400 duals. Let that sink in. 35 full playsets of duals if evenly distributed.

[@chrisp2757]

A quick google gives an estimate of almost 300K of each rare in revised (excluding Italian version) X10 duals = almost 3 mil total duals. 1400/3mil X 100= roughly .05% of all revised duals in existence. “If” Rudy owns 3 Alpha + Beta Black Lotus, that’s 3/~5000 X100= about .06% of all the AB Lotuses in existence, let THAT sink in.

[@MTGUnpacked]

Probably explains why I just pulled hot garbage from a bunch of packs of The Dark earlier this year😜

[@trickedoutz32]

You mentioned the dark had the black lotus in them, where are you getting this information from? I can't find anything stating the black lotus could be found outside of the first 3 core sets

[@DOORMANLIKE]

When will we get a modern league for force of will in the states starting from Grimm?

[@AndelsHistory]

oh man i want that foil pattern of rebirth!

[@hardworkingtaxpayer]

No idea how to play the game, but watch your videos cause it's interesting 🤔

[@HazmanFTW]

You should Open Boosters it up, get your blue gloves and open some old boosters!

[@TheJcris87]

a rudy video this early in the morning? are you feeling well?

[@Billy-bd2oe]

I sold one of my Underground seas Revised edition for 540 dollars a few month ago.

[@MRYAYOR]

How do they see what card it is without actually opening the pack?

[@A1Authority]

Searched is one issue, another is, many of those older packs were very easy to peal open on the ends with no tears. Packs ,could actually be opened, restuffed and heat sealed again. THAT SAID: On one hand, if you can stop the stresses of the pack having been searched, then at least it probably was never opened. On the other hand, what better a way to cover up a reseal than a search-stressed wrapper as camo? If you can think of it, somebody, somewhere, has probably done it.

[@tomglpn]

I remember searching them, the good old days.....

[@michaelmcduffee771]

Have you encountered any tells for when a search pack is hit with a heat gun to tighten up creases? Your antiquities "tightened" marks on the back could be a sign.

[@michaelmcduffee771]

Feel free to delete this comment, as I don't want people to know how to do that.

[@Tariq8ification]

Heart me, I've taken marketing 1000 in college so I see the subtleties in your videos but I still watch anyways

[@Offhandheart7]

wait I didn't even realize until i saw them, my collection has a few dual lands i got from my father in pretty good shape. What is the usual price on these?

[@patrickdurst3495]

Depends on what set. Revised will be $50-1000 ($1000 is probably a bit high, but if it's in spectacular condition, and it's an underground sea, it might be worth that). Alpha and beta duals are like a couple hundred minimum, up to a few thousand each, again, depending on quality and which land it is. I'd definitely take very good care of them, and take them to someone who you can trust to identify the set they're from and see if they might be gradable. 100% worth your time for the research and legwork. Maybe you can get a down payment on a new car :p

[@codelicious6590]

"The easy money has been made" indeed. Believe it y'all.

[@grelgen]

you never actually displayed how to search a pack...

[@teachmemagic1587]

Learned something new today Rudy. Thanks for teaching us all the greedy tactics. I'm going to grow up to be the best greedy A Hole ever lol

[@114andyman114]

have you ever bought a cube before?

[@xaer0knight]

I remember flipping out when the FOIL odds changed from 1:80 cards to 1:67 cards. Out of 36 packs x 15 cards = 864 booster box total cards. 864 / 36 = 10 FOILS a box in older sets compare that to M19 thats 13 FOILS. The Older odds if booster pack contained a foil card it would replace the card normally found in that rarity this was up to Time Spiral. After Time Spiral, in every set a foil card replaces a common card regardless of the rarity of the foil card, nothing sucked more than pulled a FOIL Forest in a pack. WoTC never guarantied the rarity of each foil in a box either. The Newer Odds allowed for double Rares or Double Mythics or three in the Innistrad, Dark Ascension, Shadows over Innistrad or Eldritch Moon packs due to the double faced card slot. Battlebond could be crazy, FOIL Will and Rowan Kenrith Mythic (all pairs are paired together in packs), and a Mythic Rare Land Tax. Dominaria (and Time Spiral "time shifted" slot), since you get a Legendary card at any Rarity at the back ("time shifted" too), you could get a FOIL Mythic Rare Dawnbringer, FOIL Blast and a Steel Leaf. I'm not sure where the flip cards of Kamigawa fit, i think they were just in there respective Rare Slot.

[@bensterna3075]

is it worth to buy a beta booster pack for 200 ?

[@hlehman1987]

I don’t understand why I watch these videos

[@215Daniel]

Long on duals, 7th, Urza's and Masques.

[@lionelg4648]

How much for the lot?

[@Reggaetonaldo]

Morning upload? What have you done with Rudy?

[@ThatWildcard]

Probably problems with his internet, causing the video to upload very slowly. Rudy is physically unable to upload videos in the morning.

[@mattmathmattmath9174]

Did anyone thought he was going to say newer cooler homelands

[@WesTECH]

@2:15 We can see it on 1080p.

[@herts9999]

The Serra Angel is signed. Rudy perfected it and resealed. Ipso facto, Rudy = Warlock

[@willperfect242]

Hi Rudy, im a collector from Sweden, dont worry I dont want to buy your stuff...It would be interesting with a video about how much old unopened displays, starters and boosters you have from the revised era and earlier. Becouse you have connections in the USA, witch is the Mecka of Magic, do you know how many of the the old Alpha/Beta unlimited and revidsed boosters there are left in the world, of course you cant know but I guess you have a thought about it, interesting is also Legends and Antiques. And a question to all the wievers, does anyone know if WOTC have stocks of the old stuff in their vauldts? I know people with printing companys and they always keep a couple of cases of whatever they print just for fun and for future possabilatys.

[@chrisperciavalle3142]

I don't have any inside information or anything, but I believe I heard somewhere (possibly wizards stated this themselves?) That when they were doing the beta drafts at certain Grand Prix for the 25th anniversary, and the silver showcase at the pro tour, that they don't have any old product in their vaults and that they had to go out and buy the sealed product to host these special events. Whether that is true, or just a marketing ploy or whatever, I don't know. But that's what I heard.

[@cmdrfun1]

Spicy bit of info - Rudy has ~700K locked up in Revised dual lands, holy smokes

[@klangsmithtoo]

I don't trust that ANY old packs like that aren't searched. Why? Because I spent a good portion of my comic book store career doing it back in the mid-90's. It wasn't nefarious or a cash grab. The cards weren't worth much back then. We had a bunch of good, regular customers who didn't have a lot of money who wanted rares they didn't have and didn't want to keep buying packs with dupes so they would ask me to go through the box and call out the rares to see if they wanted/needed the card. A group would huddle at the counter as I searched a box and claim packs that they needed. The boss didn't care because all of the packs would sell quickly, searched or not. I got REALLY good at it with minimal wear to the packaging. Rudy is spot on about what to look for and if you see any wear like that AT ALL, I would assume it has been searched.

[@TheMrSlyxx]

I literally waited the whole video for you to open those packs. Damn you to hell.

[@b.o.353]

Thanks for the video. Great stuff.

[@ilovemykitties84]

the unlimited volcanic islands should go up, some unknown dude is buying them all slowly

[@giroppa99]

Oooh, now i get it: Rudy is buying out the dual lands so that he can sell them to his patreons for way less the price he bought them for. What a nice guy, we should all turn to patreons.

[@joshuajordan6632]

Just now watching this, laughing that nearly 100% of his predictions are wrong as of 2021

[@phoenixmar1]

Rudy, tell me more about the wrinkles on the brown area...

[@iaronbartal8393]

damn this video is great!!!