How to Be a Neodeck Card Collector

Part 1: Why Neodecks?

Well, many people wonder why they should collect neodeck cards. I mean, really, what are you supposed to do with them? You can’t play with your pets with them, they aren’t food (I hope), you can’t put them in your Neohome, they’re expensive, and other than a few cards there are no avatars, so why bother? Well, I’ll admit, I’ve found my bank account empty many a time after going on a shopping spree to the collectable card shop. They have no real avatar value, and there is not much you can do with them, but there is one thing they are useful for. Gloating. And isn’t that the most important thing of all? Plus, it no longer costs you NP to get a neodeck, so it’s cheaper than running a general gallery. Although those can be fun, too. Plus, they are better than collecting stamps in that you can take them out again after you show them off. And even if you aren’t really a collector, and none of this matters to you, then with many retired cards, the price will only go higher. So get in the game now, and you could make some serious profit in a couple years! If that’s not enough for you, then you are just hopeless. :p

Part 2: Okay, I’m collecting. Now what?

Well, you may want to pick up some cards. Here is what you should do, based on how many Neopoints you have or are willing to spend.

1-50,000 Neopoints: You may want to buy a few blue or red cards to get you started, but play some flash games first if you really want to collect.

50,001-100,000: For a good start on your neodeck, try collecting all the blue and red cards. Try and make some NP though. You’ll need more than this for the perfect neodeck.

100,001-250,000: Very nice. Try living at the collectable card shop to get some relatively cheap rare cards. Be careful, though. Many purple or expensive cards are cheaper on the wiz.

250,001 or more: Wow. That’s a lot of NP to spend on cards. Of course, I’ve probably spent that much by now, but I’m crazy. Go for it! Try the trades to find rare cards, and make the collectable card shop your new home if you still can’t afford some of the rarer ones. Who knows, you could have a full neodeck someday!

Part 3: Where do I buy my cards?

Well, you can either buy from the collectable card shop or search shop wizard for cards. It really depends on what card you need. Always do a shop wiz search before buying a card. Many gold or purple cards are going for half as much on shop wizard than they are in the card shop. But here is an important tip. NEVER buy cards from the marketplace malls. They are almost always overpriced. What they do here is try and get newbies to buy from them when they don’t know about the shop wizard yet, or try and get regular people to buy from them for quests. If you are collecting, never do this. The shop wizard is your best bet, but once you get a feel for the prices, try and go to the collectable card shop to get good deals on some rare cards. I personally go there.

Part 4: Reselling Cards

So, you’re just in it for the money, huh? People like you disgust me. Okay, not really. I sell sometimes too. :p Anyway, if you are selling, then you need to decide how you are going to do it. Are you going to treat it like any shop and restock that way (I’m not really a restocker. There are lots of helpful pet pages out there that will help you with that though.) or are you just going to walk in and buy whatever is left? That is one of the great things about the trading card shop. There is almost always something left. Now, most people would be thinking, “Yeah, of course they have stuff left, but so does the Tiki Tack Shop. But I don’t see anyone restocking there.” True enough, but that’s because many of the items there are given out free at Tombola and such. Cards usually aren’t given out free, and therefore even many of the common ones retain some value. So, anyway, as I was saying about just buying what’s left behind. You won’t make much on each individual card, but check the prices on all of them, and then buy the ones that you can make money on. Simple as that. Plus, you can do this fairly slowly, since almost no one else will be there. This is ideal for people with slower internet access. Plus, while you are doing this, you might just accidentally refresh on a restock and get there first!

Well, that was my article. I hope it was helpful to you, and may you have a huge neodeck! Until next time, Falling Star, signing off.

Author’s note: Wow. My first article to get into the NT. Right now I’m working on an interview article, and a series starring my Lupe. I hope you liked it, and keep a lookout for me again in the Neopian Times. My next stuff won’t be guides though, and hopefully not as boring. Bye!