So, I’ve always had a certain interest in collecting trading cards. I used to have a lot of Pokémon cards when I was younger, but I was too young to really think about actively collecting them. Still, I always like looking at all the card art. Something I still enjoy a lot to this day. But I never got into it seriously beyond that. And these days, it’s just a terrible hobby all around, with scalpers making it impossible to get anything.
There was a time I collected a lot of Yu-Gi-Oh cards. I had three fairly stuffed binders of them. My older brother had started my collection off when I was maybe 15 or so, and I collected them fairly regularly after that. I despise the actual card game aspect of Yu-Gi-Oh, to be honest, at least in its modern form. That being said, I love the stories the arts often tell between them, so I like Yu-Gi-Oh cards as well.
All this is to say, I’ve gotten back into collecting them, and it isn’t either of those series. I’ve started collecting Weiss Schwarz cards. Weiss Schwarz is basically one of the many TCGs made by Bushiroad, but one of the more popular ones. It has this whole theme of White and Black decks that you use, which makes sense since the title Weiss Schwarz translates to white and black.
The game seems simple enough to play, but due to how complicated they make it to actually experience since there’s no online clients or apps, and they shut down any fanmade ones, I’m not very interested in the actual game. The main appeal for me and a lot of other people is the IPs they got for the different sets. They do all sorts of anime and manga
I started opening some Shakugan no Shana Booster boxes, then some SAO packs. They have premium boxes for some, which are like less cards but a guaranteed hit per pack. Then they also do normal booster boxes. I’ve just been on the lookout for good deals, but there are a ton of sets. Even some Japanese exclusives have unique art as well.
The first set I really got into was the Shakugan no Shana set, which was a premium box. 3 cards per pack, but always a hit. My first box didn’t have anything too crazy, but my second box actually had this swimsuit Shana, which is worth like 40 bucks. Kind of a good pull to get. I also got this climax card worth like 9 bucks. Pretty decent pulls that pay for the box.
Alongside this, I grabbed some random SAO packs, got some Rent a Girlfriend in there. Just a bunch of random stuff, which I didn’t pull anything crazy, but cool to see the cards. I also grabbed a lot of like 200 random commons on eBay. The point is, I had a good start. But by far the biggest card I’ve ever pulled came from the next booster box, this Signed Asuna card from the Dengeki Bunko Japanese set.
So these are the best cards you can grab in a set. Something I love about Weiss Schwarz is that you can pull signed cards autographed by the voice actors or writers of the series. It’s really cool. Some of the Japanese ones are hand-signed as well, which makes it cooler. This Asuna card, in particular, is one of, if not the most desirable, card in the set I grabbed.
So the Dengeki Bunko set is interesting because it’s a collaboration of a bunch of their different works. That means it’s also one of the biggest sets and has signed cards from so many different series. I don’t have to tell you that Asuna is obviously going to be one of the biggest to grab, considering how big SAO is, how many signed cards there are, and how she’s the main girl.
At a PSA 10, this card actually sold for 1k on TCGPlayer like 3 months ago, so I’m going through the process of getting it graded now, to hopefully sell it for a pretty penny. It’s not that I don’t like Asuna or don’t like the card, I think that’s hype, but I don’t really want to worry about potentially damaging a card that valuable. And I’d rather use it to continue funding more packs and boxes. I plan to treat myself a bit by buying this card, though!
Gurren Lagann being as popular as it is and the set being as old as it is means that it’s incredibly hard to grab anything from it. So buying this signed card is the only way I’ll reasonably ever get it. So I’ll treat myself and happily sell the Asuna to someone who really wants it. Now, how much I get depends on how it grades, but I really feel like it should be a 10. However, I’ll at least get a good bit out of it anyway. I had to learn how to grade cards and all that as well. It was fun to learn, really, just kind of complicated.
To be honest, I really feel like grading in general is a pretty big scam, but you kind of have to play the game to get more out of it. I’m just happy the card will be nice and protected afterwards in the slab, which I am happy about. Anyway, that’s my little adventure with Weiss Schwarz, and that love of collecting cards coming back. I’m glad I picked it up again. I might make another post when I get the results from the grading. Who knows. I’ll say something about it somewhere.
