From:	Justin Marcinkus <marci001@***.EDU>
Subject:	Re: Boxes of Cards
Date:	Fri, 29 Aug 1997 08:49:28 -0500

My buddy and I were getting into this same conversation last night.

> According to www.allstartradingcards.com, current price is $55 per box
> for starters, and $65 per box for boosters, making starter deck boxes
> the OVERWHELMINGLY better deal, however, there is a chance that the
> prices will change or that the card/rarity ratios are not exactly on
> target. I'll continue to track the economics of the cards for the list
> when I have the time, as I already have free access to Scrye and
> Inquest.

We went and bought a bunch of booster boxes and one starter box from All
Star Trading Cards. He argues that we could have gotten a better deal if we
would have just stuck with the starter boxes, but the way I look at it is
this:

In a box of starters (I only got ten starter decks in the box), you'll end
up with 30 rares versus 36 for buying the booster box. That averages out to
$1.81 per rare with the boosters and $1.83 per rare with the starter box.
Granted, you get more Uncommons and Commons with the starter box; however,
if you're going for a full set and will be buying a couple of boxes,
chances are you are going to end up with a drekload of those cards anyway
that the money issue with those is nil.

Of course, you could run into the same problem I did and fail to get some
common cards.

BTW, if anybody is interested, I'll be happy to e-mail them my inventory so
you can see how the breakdown happened with my 4 boxes of boosters and 4
starter decks.

Justin