April 21, 2026 · 6:05 pm

Thrift Store Haul: Pokemon TCG Battle Academy, RPG Zines & More!

I find myself with less free time lately which sadly means I have so many games unopened and unplayed so I have been pretty picky in picking up new games which includes games I find in a thrift store. I was tempted though. Just off the top of the my head I passed on a Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective for $8 and Mages and Macrophages (a 5E set for kids) also for $8.

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A game I did picked up though is the Pokemon TCG Battle Academy for $4. I am teaching my nephew the game so it is quite fortuitous to come across it now. I rarely see any cards in thrift stores but I know it will likely to be missing cards. The thrift store was crowded while I was shopping so I couldn’t thoroughly look through it but at the time I knew the Pikachu V was missing but the Cinderace V and Eevee V was there along with three “decks” and all the accessories which was worth the risk to me. The decks all ended up being slightly altered with some cards missing and some random cards thrown in and each deck was short a few cards. But I still have more than enough to have two decks and to even slightly upgrade them.

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One of the gaming stores near me is still doing some cleaning which means they have been uncovering a lot of interesting gaming stuff, some for free and some for sale. I am pretty excited about this RPG haul. In particular, they had a lot of Dungeon magazines and I admit I was in the store for quite a while to narrow down to just one to buy. I did also get a bunch of old Free RPG Day freebies and I am probably most excited about the dice towers.

This gaming store also had Heroclix for sale but I save that for another blog post.

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April 15, 2026 · 12:55 pm

Random Pack Break: Pokemon TCG Perfect Order & MTG TMNT

I have been finding Pokemon TCG Perfect Order packs here and there but there is usually a 1 or 2 pack limit or priced at double MSRP. I actually didn’t know the Target near me had packs until I saw someone asked for it in line before me so I guess I got lucky too.

Pokemon TCG Perfect Order Packs
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I got two packs of Perfect Order and pulled a Mega Skarmony ex. Not bad but not great either. I have 2 Skarmonys now so I wonder if a deck revolving around Metang and Mega Skarmony ex is worth building.

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I also got two packs of Magic the Gathering Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from Barnes & Nobles nearby. I am actually pretty excited to pull The Ooze, Cool but Rude and a boarderless Metallic Mimic. I was going to skip the set honestly but there are some interesting cards from Commander. But the Ninja Turtles look so weird too to me but I guess I am just used to the 90’s cartoons.

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April 9, 2026 · 1:31 pm

One More Time: Presstine Pokemon Gaming Surprise Bags

A discount store near me had a bunch of these Presstine Pokemon gaming surprise bags, probably fresh out of the box so I got first pick of them. They were priced at $6 and they are usually bad buys but you do get a bonus item which can be a original sealed Pokemon pack (the chase). Out of maybe 30 repacks though I found just one repack with a Pokemon pack but I also got one with a premium repack which I am curious about too. These packs have a window on the front so they are super easy spot what’s inside which again can be a good or bad thing.

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I admit these gaming surprise bags are kind of fun to open. As expected, I got a Paradox Rift pack and various theme repacks.

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Whoa, I actually got something good in these repacks! I pulled a beautiful Yveltal illustration rare from the Paradox Rift pack. So I guess the packs aren’t searched or resealed. The repacks come in bunch of different tiers. The energies one is clearly the worse and the premium and the ultra pack (with 1 ultra rare card) are the best. I have bought a few of these Presstine repacks already and haven’t pulled a premium pack before and honestly it is a bit of a letdown. It is just 3 cards that are holos or a rare and got 2 common reverse holos and a Kyogre rare from the Celebrations set. One thing I do look for are anything cards from old sets but no such luck this time around.

I should probably stop getting these even though I got super lucky this time around (maybe even 1 in a million chance) but I haven’t pulled a ultra repack yet…

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April 1, 2026 · 7:29 pm

Random Pack Break: Pokemon TCG Mega Evolutions Raikou 2 Pack Blister & MTG Avatar Packs

I am so glad that Ascended Heroes, Perfect Order and probably Chaos Rising will have little impact on the Standard format because packs are still very, very hard to find. I am lucky I got basically everything I need to build decks from the Perfect Order prerelease. Anyways I was feeling a bit under of the weather and was looking to open some packs for fun. I went to my go to for Pokemon packs nowadays a specific Duane Reade near me. This Duane Reade and only this Duane Reade has a lot of packs maybe every 2 weeks or so. This time around I got a Mega Evolutions Raikou 2 pack blister.

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Unfortunately I didn’t pull anything notable. I just got the same rare in both packs and it isn’t even a good card, monetary or game play wise, Dialga.

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So the packs were a bit of a downer so I picked up 4 play boosters of Magic Avatar The Last Airbender from my local hobby shop too. I am happy I did because I pulled not one but two of the the best card in the set, a Wan Shi Tong, Librarian (one foil and one not). The foil is going straight to my U/B Azula control EDH deck along a few other thematic cards I pulled.

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March 27, 2026 · 2:54 pm

Thrift Store Haul: Year of the Horse Lego Set, D&D Magazines and More!

I admit all the deals I got this month weren’t actually from thrift stores but I am excited about them nonetheless.

KPop Demon Hunters Monopoly Deal

First off, I saw the KPop Demon Hunters Monopoly Deal game at Marshalls like a month ago and decided I will get it once it got a red clearance sticker. It didn’t take that long and I picked it up for $8. Monopoly Deal isn’t my favorite card game but I wouldn’t mind playing from time to time and plus a lot of my friends are fans of Kpop Demon Hunters so it shouldn’t be too hard to get on the table.

Random Board Gaming Magazines and Magic Comic
2016 Free RPG Day Zines

The board game store near me was doing a bit of cleaning and I got a huge haul of random board game magazines, Dungeons & Dragons magazines, a Magic comic with the promo card and some Free RPG Day stuff from 2016 for just $10 (some of it was printed price, some of it was half off and some of it was free). The Level Up magazines was especially a huge find for me. On a side note, I am sad that the Game Trade Magazines are being discontinued. I just love flipping through magazines and I remember always getting the Wizard, InQuest, Scrye magazine when I was younger and if I am not mistaken, GTM was the last magazine in the tabletop gaming hobby which is such a shame.

Year of the Horse Lego Set

Finally I picked up the Year of the Horse Lego set at Book Off for $15. I got the Year of the Rat, Ox and Horse now so I am a few sets if I aim to collect the whole set.

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March 19, 2026 · 1:01 pm

Big Heroclix and Dungeons and Dragons Minis Haul

I totally forgot about Cool Stuff Inc until recently I saw that they had a huge sale on all their miniatures including Heroclix and the Wizkids Dungeons and Dragons minis. They were 75% off so most of the minis were just $0.25! They are likely getting out of that market so there weren’t too much in stock. But I am still excited about what I got.

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My Dream figure from the Sandman Iconix box was fresh on my mind so I got any characters that might work with him on a team including anything themed around sand, anything revolving around dreams or just having the cosmic or mystic keyword. I also think I got enough figures for a Guardians of the Galaxy team. It is nearly impossible for me to find a game of Heroclix but I really, really want to try it again.

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D&D minis were also on sale and I got a lot of interesting figures. I probably won’t use most of the them but it is always good to have a random collection just in case as a DM. I was really surprised how big the Kirin figure was and I definitely want to write something with it asap.

This haul ended only setting me back about $14 (which includes the shipping). You can’t beat that! Four of the figures (1 Heroclix & 3 D&D minis) were broken in transit though. Two were repaired easily with crazy glue, one I can leave alone (the green hag figure was missing a hand but I can write that into her back story) but 1 figure was not repairable, Vargouille Reflection which is a bit of shame because it is a really weird figure but I don’t really mind since it was just a quarter.

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March 13, 2026 · 8:39 pm

Building a Commander Deck with Only a 1000 Count Magic Cards Bulk Box

I played EDH/ Commander in the early days and it was the format where you can use weird old cards and random draft chaff that you can’t play elsewhere. It was a fun deck building exercise and nowadays it is not the same with all the cards design specifically for this format (although it is still very fun).

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I think the easiest way to recreate the magic of the early days is building a commander deck with only a 1000 count Magic bulk box. I got my box for like $15 plus shipping so in total maybe a little over $20. It has a 1000 commons and uncommons. There are some bulk boxes/ lots that guarantee rares, foils etc but I kind of just went with the cheapest possible.

The quality of these bulk boxes can vary. I was just hoping for a good diversity of cards and hoping for less duplicates. The box I got was middle of the road. I did get a good mix of new and old cards and a good mix of the colors but there are still a bunch of duplicates. The most copies of a card I think I got was 15 but I have heard it can be a lot worse. If I had to guess, maybe 20% of the box are duplicates. Also luckily I did pull a bunch of legends to potential be my commander.

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I think the only two viable choices are Aron, Benalia’s Ruin and Uurg, Spawn of Turg and ultimately I went with the frog. One because random green commons/ uncommons tend to be better than random commons/ uncommons in other colors in a multi player format and two I can just play a lot of lands instead of just filler. I also have a few cards that synergizes with Uurg by dumping lands in the graveyard. I add a few pump and evasion spells so the main strategy is get a big Uurg, protect it and hope to win with commander damage.

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Overall, I am pretty happy with the deck and it has a good curve. I like sorting cards and building deck with restrictions so this is a fun challenge for me. My friends tend to play low power decks a lot of times so I definitely will be trying this deck out very soon.

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March 8, 2026 · 4:43 pm

What’s Inside the Pokemon Gaming Cards Exclusive Mystery Bundle?

I was drawn to a new type of Pokemon TCG repack solely due to it being packaged rather oddly. It is the Pokemon gaming cards exclusive mystery bundle from UCC Distributing (which is a company I haven’t heard of before) and it has 9 cards packed in a 9 card binder page. It was $6 a pack and I have very, very low expectations for it since it doesn’t even tease the chance of bigger pulls like exs or Vs like most repacks (but it does guarantee a holographic card).

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As expected, all the cards are basically worthless bulk. The cards are all from the Sword and Shield era and I wouldn’t be surprised if they came from the same pack with a random holo tacked on. Oddly though, a foil Rapid Strike Milotic was a card I might need since I am building a Rapid Strike water Gym Leader Challenge deck. Milotic might not make the cut though but I am still just gathering all the Rapid Strike cards just in case. So I guess I got lucky even though I basically got $0.50 worth of cards at best for $6.

The weird thing about this repack is still the fact it is packaged in a card binder page. It is was a pain to carry back home since I was worried about the cards bending in my bag. I also imagine it was a pain to packaged too since I don’t think a machine can put the cards in binder page so you have to have someone do it. But I guess, the binder page is an added bonus.

All in all, don’t get this. It is probably worse than some of the Presstine repacks.

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March 3, 2026 · 6:27 pm

Thrift Store Haul: A Place for All My Books Board Game, Sandman Iconix & More!

The thrift store I frequent the most only had kids board games or just games I owned already last month but I did come across one good find.

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I got A Place for All My Books board game sealed for $6. I think is a great deal and it is a game that has been on my radar for some time now, mostly due to the unique theme. I haven’t play it yet but I have high hopes for it. It has a lot of mechanics I do enjoy like tile laying and worker placement.

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The comic book store closest to me is closing for a few months for renovations/ expansion and they had a 60%- 75% off sale on most things in the store! I picked up a bunch of comics/ graphic novels, both Eberron Dungeons and Dragons books, a ton of card sleeves (which is always useful to have around), two Pokemon books for my nephew and a Heroclix Iconix The Sandman Dream figure. I used to collect Heroclix here and there but it is just been too expensive especially the Iconix line. I honestly was hoping to find the Dungeons & Dragons Iconix figures but the Sandman is still good find for $10. Although for a premium product, the paint job is still pretty mediocre…

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February 27, 2026 · 10:53 pm

My Small Haul from Pokemon Day 2026

Today is Pokemon Day and it is a big anniversary, the 30th anniversary! Every year my friends and I hop from shop to shop just see what’s going on and pick up some cool merch. But honestly I was a bit disappointed this year. I am mostly excited about the TCG side of things and there weren’t a lot to look forward too.

We start at the Nintendo store every year and oddly for such a big anniversary there was a lot less things going on than even last year. There were photo ops and meet and greets with Pikachu and friends (which happens every year) but in the past, you can battle the employees, get demo decks, etc. Also you usually could count on some fun giveaways and/or gifts with a purchase. But this year they were only giving out a poster (which honestly is just an ad on nice paper) and a tiny sticker. I miss the days you can buy a few packs and get a Pokemon Day promo card. I also think both the 30th anniversary merch and the new “celebration” TCG set teased are uninspired. It really feels like they are just recycling what the Pokemon company did in the 25th anniversary.

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Oddly, the one freebie I did get was from Five Below which was a pleasant surprise. They were hosting a Pokemon trading card event which I was a bit early for but they said I could still get a promo card which a purchase of anything Pokemon. Unfortunately they didn’t have any Pokemon packs so I had to get a Presstine repack… Anyways, I got another copy of the Illustration contest cards (last year’s promos) so I have now have one that I opened and one I will keep sealed. Oh I also got some My Hero Academia cards that caught my eye.

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As I hinted above, the biggest reason Pokemon Day was a big disappointment is that you can’t find Pokemon packs (for retail) anywhere. I thought the supply was getting better during the holidays but this past month I only saw packs/ boxes for like double sometimes triple the MSRP or stores with bare shelves on the Pokemon section. I think I visited like five card shops and many stores didn’t even have many singles available. I did get a few cards from bulk bins, card vending machines and even made a small trade. I am building a Team Rocket deck for the rotation and I think I now have everything I need.

One trend I do notice is more signings for voice actors and Poke influencer’s stream in stores during Pokemon Day and they are very popular. In fact, the biggest Pokemon Day event in NYC was organized by eBay and featured some Youtubers even I follow. But I can’t help to think that these events just celebrate the Poke finance on things and not the game so I guess it is just not for me.

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