[0:00] I have what is officially known as an
[0:04] addiction problem.
[0:06] While I haven't been professionally
[0:09] diagnosed, I think all of the symptoms
[0:11] and signs are abundantly clear.
[0:16] But I just disagree with that
[0:17] nomenclature. I don't subscribe to the
[0:20] idea that it's an addiction problem. I
[0:22] prefer to call it an addiction blessing.
[0:25] And as you can probably tell,
[0:27] this old Florida homunculus ain't
[0:29] looking to change it. You see, on the
[0:32] totem pole of addictions, you have your
[0:34] standard ones everyone's familiar with.
[0:36] You've got alcohol, porn, drugs. But
[0:39] what a lot of people don't mention is at
[0:41] the very top, sitting on on the throne
[0:44] above all the others is an addiction far
[0:47] more insidious and let's be honest, far
[0:49] more embarrassing. Trading card
[0:51] addiction.
[0:53] And that's what I have. You see, as I've
[0:56] always said, drugs are temporary. Shiny
[1:00] cardboard is forever. And many of you
[1:03] might recall six years ago, I was lost
[1:06] in the whirlwind of this addiction. It
[1:08] had me by the nipples and it was clamped
[1:10] on, [ __ ] titty twisting them.
[1:12] Couldn't stop myself from buying more
[1:14] boxes to open constantly.
[1:18] Thanos with all the Infinity Stones
[1:20] couldn't stop me from buying more boxes
[1:22] of cards to open, specifically like
[1:23] Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokemon. And also, people
[1:26] got the timeline super twisted, just
[1:29] super [ __ ] up, cuz I started ripping
[1:31] boxes on stream all the way back in
[1:34] August of 2020. It actually I started
[1:36] doing it in July of 2020, but those
[1:38] streams are lost to the ether, but there
[1:40] are still a few surviving streams of me
[1:42] ripping Yu-Gi-Oh on stream in August.
[1:44] Logan Paul when he blew up the TCG space
[1:47] with his Pokemon video was a couple
[1:50] months later. I had already ripped a
[1:52] thousand boxes by the time Logan Paul
[1:54] even learned how to spell Pokemon. So,
[1:57] it wasn't Logan Paul's laring adventure
[1:59] that he started up that got me back into
[2:02] opening cards. I've been cracking these
[2:04] sarcophagus full of treasure since like
[2:08] 2016. I was buying Pokemon and Magic the
[2:11] Gathering to open. Then I took a break,
[2:13] came back in 2020, did it again. And
[2:16] then I finished the collections I set
[2:18] out to achieve, which in Pokemon was
[2:22] every first dead card, as well as gold
[2:25] stars, and Yu-Gi-Oh was Starlights,
[2:28] ghost rares, and some really meaningful
[2:30] vintage ultra rares and such. All first
[2:32] dead. I finished my collection. I beat
[2:35] the addiction. I I gave it the
[2:37] smackdown.
[2:40] And for four years, I was clean. I was
[2:42] sober. And then I made a big mistake. So
[2:47] many of you have noticed I have been
[2:48] [ __ ] on scalpers relentlessly for
[2:51] like the last 6 months cuz the hobby has
[2:53] completely gone to the birds. It has
[2:55] spiraled down the [ __ ] It is just
[2:57] disgusting. It is degenerate. People are
[2:59] fighting and [ __ ] over Pokemon cards
[3:01] every single day, scamming each other.
[3:03] There was even a murder over Pokemon
[3:05] cards cuz they wanted to steal their
[3:06] collection. It is a disgusting
[3:08] environment that the hobby has became
[3:10] has become. And as I've been making
[3:13] these videos, I decided, you know what?
[3:16] I never learned how to play this card
[3:18] game. I never learned how to play
[3:19] Pokemon TCG. I only ever collected it.
[3:21] And I'm a big TCG guy. I have a whole
[3:23] channel dedicated to like Magic the
[3:25] Gathering, and I have like hundreds of
[3:27] videos on Yu-Gi-Oh across multiple
[3:29] channels. So, I wanted to learn this
[3:31] one. Maybe it's a fun card game and I
[3:33] feel like I owe it to Pokemon to at
[3:35] least learn how to play the TCG. So, I
[3:37] did a little over a month ago. I learned
[3:39] how to play Pokemon.
[3:42] That was a big mistake, man. Cuz the
[3:44] card game is actually super fun. So, I
[3:46] was I learned on TCG Live and then I
[3:48] thought to myself, okay, let's make some
[3:50] decks. Let's make these in real life.
[3:52] Cuz like in One Piece, for example, in
[3:54] the One Piece card game, I actually went
[3:55] to tournaments and competed. I had a
[3:57] great time doing so. I love card games
[3:59] and the Pokemon TCG was actually a lot
[4:00] of fun. So, I wanted to make the decks
[4:03] in the real world physical,
[4:06] but I didn't want to just buy the
[4:08] singles. I thought, what's the harm in
[4:10] getting some some boxes to open and pull
[4:13] the cards myself? Plus, in doing so, you
[4:16] get the code cards, which I know
[4:18] basically everyone who opens Pokemon
[4:20] boxes just throws that right in the
[4:22] trash, but they have a legitimate use,
[4:25] which is on TCG Live, where you scan
[4:27] them and then you get packs in the game.
[4:29] It's like the only way to do so. So,
[4:31] I've been keeping like all the code
[4:32] cards and stuff to build my decks in
[4:34] game and in real life.
[4:37] And that opened up a big can of worms
[4:40] cuz now I haven't been able to stop
[4:41] myself from buying boxes of Magic the
[4:44] Gathering and Pokemon specifically cuz
[4:46] now I'm doing the same for Magic where
[4:48] well, I want to build myself a really
[4:50] cool commander deck and I love the Lord
[4:51] of the Rings set. So, I've been buying a
[4:53] [ __ ] ton of Lord of the Rings boxes,
[4:55] and now on the Skill Check channel, I
[4:58] have been opening so much sealed Magic
[5:02] and Pokemon. Bro, I even went to a
[5:05] [ __ ] card show a week ago cuz we had
[5:07] some friends in town and they're big
[5:08] Pokemon uh fans. So, they wanted to go
[5:11] to a card show and I was like, "That
[5:13] sounds fun." So, we went to a card show.
[5:15] I bought so much sealed Pokemon to open
[5:17] on the channel and it was such a good
[5:20] time and now I just can't stop opening
[5:23] cards again. So, the addiction is fully
[5:25] in place again
[5:27] and I don't regret it. I I have been
[5:30] having such a good [ __ ] time with it.
[5:32] Now, I still refuse to engage with
[5:34] scalpers, so I don't pay scalper prices
[5:36] or anything like that. And I think
[5:38] there's been a big confusion and
[5:39] misconception on what scalping even is.
[5:41] Scalpers aren't someone that like has a
[5:43] Lord of the Rings box that they got back
[5:45] when the set launched and they've just
[5:47] held it for all this time as it's
[5:48] appreciated in value. That's not
[5:50] scalping. Scalpers are those worms, this
[5:52] [ __ ] fungus that goes around to get
[5:55] as much of the new product as they can,
[5:57] whether it's through botting at MSRP
[5:59] when the like Sam's Club does an MSRP
[6:02] launch or going to the Pokemon vending
[6:03] machines and exchanging knuckle
[6:05] sandwiches. But they get new product and
[6:07] immediately try and turn it around for a
[6:09] huge markup because now it is more
[6:11] scarce because all the scalpers have
[6:13] flocked to it. So now normal people
[6:14] can't find it at MSRP. So the scalpers
[6:18] try and take advantage of that by making
[6:20] it a huge markup for a quick profit.
[6:22] Scalping is not someone that has like a
[6:24] case of [ __ ] Pokemon forbidden light
[6:27] that they got in 2018 and now all of a
[6:28] sudden they decide to try and sell it
[6:30] while it's much higher now than it was
[6:32] in 2018. That's not what scalping is.
[6:35] Scalping is when they hit this product
[6:37] and immediately try and turn it around
[6:39] for a huge markup for a quick profit to
[6:41] capitalize off this new scarcity that's
[6:43] been introduced into this market. So,
[6:46] they are constantly trying to just flip
[6:49] it immediately for a profit off of the
[6:52] big hype train around this product. But
[6:54] anyway, I just couldn't resist talking
[6:56] about my addiction popping off again
[6:59] because I've been opening boxes like
[7:01] every day now on the Skill Check
[7:03] channel. So, if you ever want to see
[7:04] like a bunch of card openings for Magic
[7:06] and Pokemon, I've been doing that [ __ ]
[7:08] over there daily. I wanted to show you
[7:10] like a little montage of some of the
[7:13] wackier pulls. These aren't even like
[7:14] the best polls I've gotten so far, but
[7:16] these are just some of the really fun
[7:18] moments from some of the openings I've
[7:19] been doing with Magic Lord of the Rings
[7:21] special edition boxes as well as the
[7:23] Pokemon Convention Hall. Riders of the
[7:26] mark. Shielders fade.
[7:29] Surge foil paragant.
[7:32] This can't. No.
[7:36] What is this even a real card? I haven't
[7:38] even seen this in the set. What is this
[7:39] one? I haven't even seen this poster.
[7:42] There's no way on pack one. Come on now.
[7:45] Come on now. What do you got for me?
[7:47] Bang.
[7:49] Wow. A Quinton Tarantino card.
[7:52] Very cool. Foot fetish hobbit. Beasting
[7:55] hobbit. Devour food three. What a cool
[7:58] keyword though. Oh,
[8:02] nice.
[8:04] Battle by water. Surge foil. ELAND. OH
[8:08] MY GOD.
[8:10] Mount Doom. Oh, it's not foil though.
[8:13] [ __ ] bro. I'm already cook. Are all of
[8:15] the special edition boxes like this? Do
[8:17] they all have just a ton of poster
[8:20] cards?
[8:23] Like is that just how it goes? This card
[8:25] even not foil 180 clams, bro.
[8:30] Holy Toledo.
[8:32] The Shire
[8:34] Aroreal Alliance,
[8:37] Serge, King of Oath Breakers, and oh,
[8:41] Yami Maya. Yami Maya. Oh, there's
[8:43] something else there, too. Just nothing.
[8:46] That's a good card, actually. That's a
[8:47] really good card. I shouldn't say
[8:49] nothing. Whenever another creature
[8:50] enters, gain a life. Actual just banger
[8:51] card. I think the Surah Javi Maya is
[8:54] also a juicer.
[8:56] I'm pretty sure it is.
[9:00] Oh my god.
[9:02] $365
[9:04] for the surge foil Yavi Maya. What a
[9:08] what?
[9:10] We are going ballistic in here.
[9:14] The [ __ ] is this thing? I've never seen
[9:16] this card in all of the boxes I've
[9:18] opened.
[9:20] They got Tree Beard in here.
[9:23] Why does he look so goofy? Take a look
[9:25] at that guy.
[9:26] He looks like the glob gabla.
[9:30] Can you see him? It's not focusing super
[9:32] well. There it goes. Actually looks like
[9:34] the [ __ ] gibble gibble gibble gibble.
[9:38] A surge elven chorus. And
[9:42] bro what?
[9:45] Another poster. It's the same one I got,
[9:46] but this time nonfoil.
[9:49] That's kind of cringe. That's actually
[9:50] kind of cringe. They did that to me.
[9:53] That's You hate to see that. Surge foil.
[9:56] Shagrat loot bearer. Not exactly the
[9:59] surge foil you want to see there. Oh,
[10:02] right into a pheramir. Yikes.
[10:08] And it's just that easy. And it's just
[10:11] that easy.
[10:14] Yep.
[10:16] Yep.
[10:18] Last march of the ins.
[10:21] Nonfoil, by the way, is 150 bucks. I'm
[10:24] waiting for foil to load. Foil 235.
[10:30] 235 clams for the last March of the Ins.
[10:33] I'm pretty sure I pulled the nonfoil in
[10:36] one of the first boxes of these I
[10:38] opened.
[10:39] Sarroman,
[10:41] Rise of the Witch King. Yeah, we got
[10:42] some good we got some good commons and
[10:44] uncommons in here. A nauseoul. How much
[10:47] is just a normal nause?
[10:50] Oh my god. Near mint nonfoil is 60
[10:54] bucks. Foil,
[10:57] bro. Foil is 123 bucks for the 727
[11:02] nausehoul.
[11:04] That is not bad.
[11:06] Okay, no more courageous resolve,
[11:08] please. Both those definitely nothing.
[11:10] And then a Froto. Oh no, no, no, no, no,
[11:13] no, no. I have three of this poster. Oh
[11:16] my god. I have three Hue the Antwood.
[11:19] Actual worst poster in the set. I have
[11:20] three of it. Stop.
[11:23] Please.
[11:25] It's a $15 or $14 card, so I mean it's
[11:28] not bad.
[11:31] I thought that was serialized for a
[11:32] second. Okay,
[11:35] finally
[11:37] a juicer.
[11:41] Okay, bro. I really thought that was
[11:43] serializ. Maybe it is. Let me let me let
[11:45] me take a closer inspection.
[11:48] Yeah, upon closer inspection, I'm not
[11:50] seeing X out of 100. Not serialized, but
[11:54] finally
[11:56] a new poster foil, and it's a really
[12:00] good one. It is
[12:07] that can't be right. Hold on.
[12:09] Wow. No, it is $300.
[12:13] I thought it was like 150.
[12:16] Wow. The Palunteer 300 clams.
[12:20] Rangers. We looked that up last time. It
[12:22] was like five bucks or something if I
[12:23] remember right.
[12:26] Okay, I'm not even going to make any
[12:27] predictions here. Just surprise me.
[12:34] There's no way.
[12:36] There's no way.
[12:38] There is no way. I've just pulled my
[12:40] fourth border. My fourth poster Huegh
[12:43] the Antwood.
[12:45] My fourth Hue the Antwood poster. Or is
[12:49] it third? Third or fourth? I can't
[12:51] remember. I have two
[12:54] poster foil Hugh the Antwoods now. And
[12:57] then I think I have two nonfoil.
[13:01] That is tragic. That is actually that is
[13:04] my least favorite card in Magic the
[13:05] Gathering history. I want it to be
[13:06] known.
[13:09] And you couldn't even you couldn't even
[13:10] do me the kindness of at least being
[13:12] serialized or something. At least that
[13:14] would have been fitting.
[13:17] Oh wow. I am deflated. I am very very
[13:22] sad now. Holy.
[13:24] You cannot pass. You cannot escape. Hugh
[13:27] the antwood. Wow. I can't. Thank you
[13:31] build a pony. It's good to see you. I
[13:32] actually
[13:35] I made up for it.
[13:38] Yeah, I made up for it.
[13:40] Mhm.
[13:42] Okay. Can't be that mad anymore. Cannot
[13:45] be that mad anymore.
[13:49] It's not foil, though, which is a shame.
[13:52] If it was foil, it's $1,000. Nonfoil is
[13:55] $270.
[13:57] Wow.
[13:59] Wow.
[14:01] That's hot. That That is hot.
[14:07] Man, if that was just foil.
[14:10] Still looks beautiful. That [ __ ] is
[14:13] precious man.
[14:16] Just wasn't foil, which which hurts me a
[14:18] little bit. Here, I'll set it up like
[14:20] that. That looks cool. Okay.
[14:23] Wow. 270. Our first one ring hit.
[14:27] Gloin. We know he's like a dollar. I
[14:29] remember him from last time. Oh my god.
[14:32] Herborg to him of Yogmoth.
[14:35] We dead I know dead marshes is big and
[14:39] it's surge
[14:42] and it's surge. I know that this is
[14:44] huge. Yeah. Holy [ __ ] 365
[14:49] clams.
[14:51] Holy Toledo, bro. We are starting to
[14:56] cook. Oh, also that's the end of the
[14:57] pack, by the way. I don't know why I set
[14:59] those off to the side.
[15:01] We are really starting to scale into the
[15:05] late game here from Chargers born upon a
[15:08] wind surge. Already had that Gimly and
[15:13] why, bro? What? So, here's what I've
[15:16] noticed. Here's what I've noticed.
[15:17] Here's what I've noticed. These two
[15:18] travel together.
[15:21] I I constantly hit these two in the same
[15:24] box. Hugh the Intwood and Treebeard are
[15:28] legitimately always paired together.
[15:32] I don't man I don't I've had enough of
[15:35] it. So Born Upon a Wind Surge is 10
[15:38] bucks. That is not bad. But what I'm
[15:41] looking for is this poster behind it. So
[15:44] one thing I've noticed is that when I
[15:46] have an uncommon in this slot with one
[15:47] more slot behind it, it means it's a
[15:50] poster. So I just need this to be
[15:52] serialized.
[15:54] And we can all smile. We can all smile
[15:56] ear to ear.
[15:58] Holy [ __ ] I actually thought I hit
[16:00] serialized.
[16:02] I actually thought I hit serialized. I
[16:05] Oh my god,
[16:07] that's still okay. It's still a really
[16:09] good poster. I really thought it was
[16:11] serialized.
[16:22] Wow. Wait, this is a Whoa. This is still
[16:25] Whoa. I thought this was like a hundred
[16:27] bucks. This is 350
[16:30] poster foil. 350.
[16:34] I genuinely thought we just hit
[16:36] serialized off rip.
[16:40] Still very very very very good. Still
[16:43] very very very very good. Let me get a
[16:44] sleeve on that puppy. I'm I'm happy that
[16:48] gives me a slight smile.
[16:51] Not big time cheesing, but smiling.
[16:57] We got the Aragorn.
[17:00] Wait, we looked this one up last time.
[17:01] It actually wasn't that huge, I don't
[17:02] think. Oh, there's the Loath though.
[17:05] Hey, that when I said this guy's
[17:07] definitely nothing. He is something. He
[17:08] is something. He's pretty good.
[17:10] Definitely not bad.
[17:12] Oh, wait, wait, wait. We're going back
[17:14] to back on posters. Back to back on
[17:16] posters.
[17:18] I think this one has to be uh nonfoil as
[17:21] well. I'm pretty sure. Nope. It's foil.
[17:24] It's Gandalf.
[17:26] I thought I'm not gonna lie. I thought
[17:27] for a second right here was serialized.
[17:31] Oh, that's nice though. That's big.
[17:33] That's big. That's one of the That's one
[17:35] of the better ones.
[17:39] Oh, that's nice.
[17:43] Having a hard time typing.
[17:48] Okay, there we go.
[17:50] Oh yeah, this one's chunky. This one is
[17:53] very chunky.
[17:56] Oh my god, bro. Near mint foil for
[17:59] Gandalf is 515. 514, excuse me. 514 for
[18:05] the Gandalf the white poster foil.
[18:09] This This is our juiciest box yet.
[18:12] Somehow we keep getting juicier boxes,
[18:14] bro. We keep getting juicier boxes.
[18:18] Let's go. Let's [ __ ] go,
[18:25] bro. Never mind. We're early game comp.
[18:28] Another Tommy Bammy
[18:31] poster foil. Bro, we're cooking. We're
[18:34] kind of cooking.
[18:36] It is unfortunate
[18:39] because I've already pulled this card
[18:40] before. Holy though. Wait, the price on
[18:45] it the price on it's gone astronomically
[18:48] up since the last time I hit this.
[18:51] It's 440 bucks now. It's a dollar.
[18:55] Shouldn't have I shouldn't have looked.
[18:56] We've hit this a thousand times. We've
[18:58] hit this a thousand times. We've hit
[19:00] this a thousand.
[19:04] New poster. Witch king.
[19:07] We got the witch king.
[19:09] Not boiled though. [ __ ] my tight little
[19:13] [ __ ] ass. Dude, this could have been
[19:15] huge.
[19:18] Still a great one. Would have loved
[19:22] loved if this was serialized or foil,
[19:24] but even nonfoil.
[19:26] $300.
[19:28] Oh, $40 for this version. That's kind of
[19:31] surprising. I thought it would still be
[19:32] like a ton like the other.
[19:37] I was not expecting another poster.
[19:40] We have hit this one before, but I don't
[19:42] think
[19:44] it was foil last time. Watcher in the
[19:47] water foil $80,
[19:51] I think. Let me double check. No. Watch
[19:54] her in the water foil $172. I don't know
[19:57] why I thought it was 80. It looked like
[19:59] it said 80, but that one was just
[20:00] normal.
[20:02] Wow.
[20:04] We are cooking.
[20:06] >> I'm kind of feeling this one.
[20:07] >> All right. I'm excited.
[20:08] >> Kind of feeling this one. energy. Okay,
[20:10] so I think it's three.
[20:12] >> Three.
[20:12] >> Yeah, I think so. What? Gio, dude.
[20:14] >> Mhm.
[20:16] >> Oh.
[20:17] Oh my [ __ ]
[20:18] >> That's That's actually unbelievable.
[20:20] That's actually unbelievable. That's
[20:21] unbelievable.
[20:22] >> Oh my god.
[20:23] >> Way.
[20:23] >> Oh my god. What' I say?
[20:25] >> You actually [ __ ] said it. You
[20:26] actually [ __ ] said it.
[20:27] >> Oh my god.
[20:28] >> Oh my god.
[20:28] >> All right. All right. What are we
[20:29] looking at? What are we looking at?
[20:31] >> Come on. Look. I look. They're beautiful
[20:33] cards. They're great cards. How do you
[20:35] >> OH MY GOD.
[20:36] >> OH MY GOD.
[20:36] >> OH MY GOD.
[20:39] OH, WHAT THE [ __ ]
[20:42] >> Oh my god.
[20:44] >> 150 on that.
[20:45] >> That's not quite as good, but man, it's
[20:46] beautiful.
[20:47] >> What the [ __ ] bro?
[20:49] >> My bones, man.
[20:50] >> Dude, that's sick.
[20:51] >> OH, THAT'S
[20:52] >> GODAMN YOU, KYLE. WHAT THE [ __ ] BRO?
[20:55] OKAY. OKAY. PLEASE. Three for four.
[20:58] Three for four. Three for four. Come on.
[21:00] >> Oh, wait. I think I see I think I see
[21:02] something.
[21:02] >> Oh my god. Do it.
[21:03] >> I think I see something.
[21:04] >> Do it.
[21:06] >> No, that's still
[21:07] >> It's still It's not bad. It's not bad.
[21:09] >> I thought it was I thought it was I was
[21:12] >> THAT'S YES. YES. It's still good. It's
[21:15] still good.
[21:16] >> That's not bad.
[21:16] >> Oh, it's just Yeah, it's just a what it
[21:18] could have been.
[21:19] >> Yeah, the near mint is still 80 bucks.
[21:21] >> You just cooked so hard on those packs.
[21:24] >> Three out of four with juice. That's
[21:27] crazy.
[21:28] >> Good idea.
[21:28] >> I need to end the dry spell here. Come
[21:30] on,
[21:30] >> Kyle. We need you now, brother.
[21:31] >> Come on.
[21:32] >> We need you now.
[21:33] >> Change the winds, man. Come on.
[21:34] >> Bring that Bring that down a little bit.
[21:36] Bring it down. Bring it down. Bring it
[21:37] down. Bring it down.
[21:41] >> Oh my god. That's [ __ ] crazy.
[21:44] >> There's no way,
[21:45] >> dude.
[21:48] No way.
[21:49] >> I wish it was I wish it was a different
[21:50] one, but that is a beautiful hit.
[21:53] >> No, you take them.
[21:54] >> We take those.
[21:56] >> Juiced. They are so juiced.
[21:58] >> And Chansy. Oh boy, guys.
[22:01] >> Show no fear. Show no fear. I think I've
[22:04] been I think I've been had they've
[22:06] they've played me like a fiddle.
[22:09] >> Unless
[22:10] >> Unless
[22:10] >> Unless obviously
[22:12] >> nothing yet.
[22:13] >> Unless
[22:13] >> Unless Unless Unless
[22:16] >> Wait, playing with a reef blower.
[22:18] >> Let's just have a little bit of
[22:20] >> Mhm.
[22:20] >> Oh, nice and slow. Nice and then fast.
[22:23] >> We pick up THE SPEED.
[22:25] >> OH, WAIT. JESUS.
[22:26] >> I WENT TOO FAST. I WENT TOO FAST. I
[22:28] DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED.
[22:29] >> DUDE, YOU GOT THE BLASTOISE,
[22:30] >> DUDE. LISTEN, I just I could I told you
[22:32] it was just talking to me. Talking to
[22:34] me.
[22:34] >> That was a good good technique.
[22:36] >> No, nothing in there.
[22:37] >> Get in there.
[22:39] >> I've not done well with the ones yet.
[22:41] Yet
[22:43] yet.
[22:44] >> Yet.
[22:44] >> Yet.
[22:45] >> YET.
[22:47] >> OH my god. No way.
[22:48] >> Oh my god.
[22:53] >> I looked AWAY FOR ONE SECOND. THAT'S ALL
[22:55] I DID. MY GOD. IT'S FAST. WHAT?