.hack//ENEMY obsessed (Questions and offers!)
Posted: Tue Sep 17, 2019 6:22 am
Hey there! I'm...absolutely stunned my account still exists from so long ago! I couldn't find my old avatar, and it looks like the vast majority of my posts were purged, but I'm good for that!
Anyway, I recently got a random itch to dig through my //ENEMY collection and found that with a couple of ebay purchases I could actually complete it! With that finally done after 15 years...I kinda want to make multiple complete sets. No idea why.
To that end, I've got some questions:
1 - We're like 120% sure 3P2 doesn't exist, yeah? I asked this on Reddit and a person confirmed it was skipped on accident but just seeking a second on that.
2 - What happened to make the Epidemic expansion so rare? Was it just a very limited print? That's the one set that's nearly impossible to find a booster box for. There's reliably a $5 single booster pack on Amazon with $4 shipping but...sheesh.
3 - Were there any "error" cards? I know there were some typographical errors, but I don't think they were fixed (like Corbenik being phase 5) in future prints (or were there only one print of each expansion?)
4 - In all of my cards, I have one Kite (1S110) that's not a foil. My understanding is the Starter cards were...well, exclusive to the starters, and as a result, always foil. Are there a number of non-foil starters, or where did this come from?
5 - Breakout didn't have any foils or Starter Decks...right?
6 - Recently I've seen "sample" cards for .hack//ENEMY pop up on ebay. I feel like I've seen them before, but I can't find much out about them. My guess is these might have been for trade shows or as pre-release cards? They have squared off corners instead of rounded, and the backs have just a flat red background stating "sample deck" on it. Any other information about these? Is it known how many cards make up the "sample deck...set" or what they are?
7 - Outside of the known collections (Contagion, Distortion, Epidemic, Isolation, Breakout, Tournament, Promo, GIFT) I only know of 3 cards - the tournament schedule card, the all-black "test" card, and the giant Helba 2.0 card (ID'd as 4M1). Are there any others?
8 - Speaking of the oversized Helba card, any ideas on how one would go about displaying that? I'd love to find a way to merge it into the binder with the other cards but it's just a beast!
9 - Any hidden gem sites I should know about? I'm aware of Hill's Wholesale Gaming, spielmixac on German eBay, and InMint (well, at least for a couple booster packs). I found what is most certainly a scam website claiming to have a buttload of //GIFT sets available and decided to give it a whirl with the credit card, so we'll see if my identity gets stolen or if I've found a gold mine for //GIFT (with the former most likely).
10 - If I were to get an even wilder hair and decide to make a graded set, any recommendations for what company to go with? Never done the grading process before but my understanding is it's a very expensive and pointless effort to try to make a perfect 10 set, of any cards.
11 - I bought some booster boxes off Amazon. They were still sealed and everything, but all of the packs were slightly bowed inwards - it's pretty noticeable to me. Any ideas on how to fix these cards?
12 - By any chance are you willing to part with any of your rares, xtra rares, promos, tournament, GIFT, or other (see 6 and 7) cards? I'd like to buy them off you! For //GIFT, if you've also got the deck box, divider, cards, and certificate of authenticity, all the better! PM me about it (mods, I'm hoping this is cool - if not, please let me know how I might go about this proper).
That should be about it! Any and all information you could give would be greatly appreciated!
Anyway, I recently got a random itch to dig through my //ENEMY collection and found that with a couple of ebay purchases I could actually complete it! With that finally done after 15 years...I kinda want to make multiple complete sets. No idea why.
To that end, I've got some questions:
1 - We're like 120% sure 3P2 doesn't exist, yeah? I asked this on Reddit and a person confirmed it was skipped on accident but just seeking a second on that.
2 - What happened to make the Epidemic expansion so rare? Was it just a very limited print? That's the one set that's nearly impossible to find a booster box for. There's reliably a $5 single booster pack on Amazon with $4 shipping but...sheesh.
3 - Were there any "error" cards? I know there were some typographical errors, but I don't think they were fixed (like Corbenik being phase 5) in future prints (or were there only one print of each expansion?)
4 - In all of my cards, I have one Kite (1S110) that's not a foil. My understanding is the Starter cards were...well, exclusive to the starters, and as a result, always foil. Are there a number of non-foil starters, or where did this come from?
5 - Breakout didn't have any foils or Starter Decks...right?
6 - Recently I've seen "sample" cards for .hack//ENEMY pop up on ebay. I feel like I've seen them before, but I can't find much out about them. My guess is these might have been for trade shows or as pre-release cards? They have squared off corners instead of rounded, and the backs have just a flat red background stating "sample deck" on it. Any other information about these? Is it known how many cards make up the "sample deck...set" or what they are?
7 - Outside of the known collections (Contagion, Distortion, Epidemic, Isolation, Breakout, Tournament, Promo, GIFT) I only know of 3 cards - the tournament schedule card, the all-black "test" card, and the giant Helba 2.0 card (ID'd as 4M1). Are there any others?
8 - Speaking of the oversized Helba card, any ideas on how one would go about displaying that? I'd love to find a way to merge it into the binder with the other cards but it's just a beast!
9 - Any hidden gem sites I should know about? I'm aware of Hill's Wholesale Gaming, spielmixac on German eBay, and InMint (well, at least for a couple booster packs). I found what is most certainly a scam website claiming to have a buttload of //GIFT sets available and decided to give it a whirl with the credit card, so we'll see if my identity gets stolen or if I've found a gold mine for //GIFT (with the former most likely).
10 - If I were to get an even wilder hair and decide to make a graded set, any recommendations for what company to go with? Never done the grading process before but my understanding is it's a very expensive and pointless effort to try to make a perfect 10 set, of any cards.
11 - I bought some booster boxes off Amazon. They were still sealed and everything, but all of the packs were slightly bowed inwards - it's pretty noticeable to me. Any ideas on how to fix these cards?
12 - By any chance are you willing to part with any of your rares, xtra rares, promos, tournament, GIFT, or other (see 6 and 7) cards? I'd like to buy them off you! For //GIFT, if you've also got the deck box, divider, cards, and certificate of authenticity, all the better! PM me about it (mods, I'm hoping this is cool - if not, please let me know how I might go about this proper).
That should be about it! Any and all information you could give would be greatly appreciated!