New hobbies: Poker Card Collection

Hey there guys, Endblade here.

Some updates on my current hobbies, I've transitioned from playing card games like Yu-Gi-Oh, Cardfight Vanguard and Duel Masters years back to something fresh and new: collecting cards. I used to buy booster packs or singles to complete decks and play with friends, but having grown older, you realize that the amount of people in your age group playing trading card games dwindle quite a fair bit and it can be difficult to find people to play one a regular basis.

Plus, decks do cost quite a bit to create, and constant releases make older decks phase out of the 'meta' and make them obsolete due to power creep. Meaning the vicious cycle repeats itself all over again: you buy new cards to update you deck or replace it entirely in order to keep up with the changing environment. Costly and ineffective unless you own a card shop and have access to cheap singles. Another issue I have with such TCGs is the fact that most older cards (with the exception of flagship characters or games like MTG or Pokemon) usually fall in value quite a bit to about less than 50% of the original price, such that it is actually not financially sustainable in the long run.

What I found attractive about card games was always the art and the design of the artists, which I greatly appreciate the time they put into illustrating the cards.

So to find a hobby which is related to cards, focused on the art and somewhat financially sustainable (no requirement to buy every months to 'keep up' and having at least a slight chance of price appreciation over the years) was not something that came automatically.

However, while browsing YouTube about a year back, I chanced upon a video about Texas Hold'em Poker. After watching it, I was taken by how strategic some of the decisions are made during the various stages of a hand (pre-flop, post-flop, turn and river) and the cards used - I now know were Jumbo Index in the game that I watched, intrigued me.

You see, where I'm from, poker cards usually were normal index (which meant that the lettering was small and the pips (the diamonds, hearts, spades, clubs) were regular-sized. Below is a picture for reference:

Left: Jumbo Index / Right: Regular or Standard Index

I told myself: I need to get the Jumbo Index cards. Another thing I found out while researching back then was that some of the brands printed their cards on plastic stock! Amazing, isn't it. You can play your drinking games (not condoning drinking, don't drink if you're underage and even so, drink responsibly!) and not be afraid that your cards might get soaked due to an accident.

My very first deck. Picture not by me

Above is a picture of a plastic deck, similar to the one which I got a year back. Really sturdy, waterproof and easy to shuffle! Might feel a little weird if you haven't shuffled plastic cards before, but it is totally different from the usual paper stock poker decks.

Here the sad part: I went to the store which supposedly sold the Jumbo Index cards, but sadly they ran out of stock. But I did manage to get the plastic ones, and the intricate back of the playing cards really got to me. They looked so different from the usual depressing patterns of your dollar-poker card decks. 

Thus began my love for poker card collecting. I don't actually open most of the decks that I buy or get, but those that I do open and review, I share the unfiltered experience with you guys. You can check out my Youtube here (shameless plug), leave a comment there if you came from my blog here!

That said, moving forward on this blog, I might be posting new content related to some of the reviews that I do on Youtube for poker cards in the near future. Do look out for them! 

Until Next Time,

Endblade

Random Thoughts #8: Restarting this blog?

Hey there guys,

Endblade here. So recently I was exploring Google and its' apps, and I stumbled upon Blogger (Yeah the dead site). Not sure how many people still use this, if anyone even posts regularly on this website at all, but hey, this is a good website to supplement my Youtube channel.

So basically, I'll be posting discussions, reviews and thoughts on some of my new hobbies (Yes, hobbies do change) as well as maybe revisit some old ones too! Do look out for my new postings as I will be exploring new and old content, nostalgic as well as forward-looking content!

This will a be a short post, so until next time,

Endblade

Some updates: Changing of the focus of this blog

Hello everyone, its' been a long time since I last posted, with my passion for Vanguard long gone. However, the urge to blog has not, and I have decided to reuse this blog but under a different focus: to blog about 3DS games and news relating to Nintendo from a casual gamer's point of view.

Previously, I had posted under a subsection known as Random Thoughts, which were things not pertaining to Cardfight Vanguard, and were of my other interests. You may have read my reviews prior about 3DS games like Pokemon X and Y and the Legend of Zelda.

I am a casual gamer, a supporter of Nintendo's handhelds since the days of Gameboy and have a decent collection of Gameboy games as well as the more recent DS and 3DS games, more often than not the titles which either 1) interest me OR 2) are famous, like the Pokemon franchise. I would like to share with all readers my love for handheld gaming, especially Nintendo's games, thus the reason for using this blog again.

I have gotten 2 'new' games, or rather new for me because only recently have I managed to lay my hands on them, and I will be posting my first impressions of them as well as a final review of the two games, which you should check back to look out for. I will not be spoiling any major plot lines or events in any games, or at least I will try not to. Haha.

Do give me constructive advice and feedback on how can I better improve the layout and content of this blog, all suggestions are welcome! Look out for my first review soon!

And until next time,

Endblade