Hello all,
Alexis just activated my account and asked that I make a post concerning the mysterious "Specimen" and "Number" cards :) so here we go:
After discovering the "Specimen" cards, Shaun (who helps me out at the store) took 15 of them to a larger magic event in Columbus to test the waters and see if anyone had seen anything like them or could suggest a value (or make an offer). At this time, these were the only specimen cards I had seen and if I remember correctly, we had not yet seen the "number" cards. I had a customer (we call him "Wiley") purchase this specimen pack (which came from a Chinese 5th booster box) and after shopping it around locally and no one making an offer on it, he traded the pack back to me (I wasn't at the store when he originally purchased it). One person in Columbus was quite interested in the cards (I believe his id here is Johnstown), but unfortunately Shaun nor anyone he went with made second day and he couldn't locate the interested party before leaving the event. Upon his return to the store, I decided to list one of the specimen that I had a duplicate of on Ebay. I have not listed one since. The person listing on ebay (royal T) is not me and is not selling on my behalf.
The "specimen" box was mostly Chinese 5th packs (meaning, most of the packs were what they were supposed to be), so after the one pack was traded back to me, I opened a few packs and hit nothing but Chinese 5th, so I figured it was a one shot deal and left the packs on the shelf. Then, a day or 2 later, I arrive at the store and "royal T" and Shaun are opening packs and saying "look at this craziness" and show me some cards with colored numbers on them. After Shaun and and royalT get a few packs for themselves, I decide to pull the Chinese 5th and Shaun and I open what's left of that box and another box. At this time, I assumed "royal T" only had number cards (as that's all that Shaun and I opened from these packs), but it turns out he hit some specimens as well (I think about 3 packs worth) . The "Specimen" cards were running 15 specimen per pack (full packs were all specimen)....in addition to mine, royal ts and Shauns, there is one other pack that I am aware of (about 6 packs worth total that I am aware that exist).
Here is a scan of one of the "Specimen" cards (I attempted to show these without the links, but I guess the site doesn't allow new users to post images):
http://www.mrwaynes.com/webfiles/specimen.bmp
The "number" cards ran anywhere from 2-8 cards per pack, with the other cards being Stonghold commons (regular back....darn it!). From royalt's auction, he seems to have hit a few of those as well, but I believe he hit mostly specimen cards (he didn't buy many packs). I have apx 150 of the number cards ranging from #1 to #109. The numbers are printed in 3 colors (red, green, blue) and some numbers are printed in mulitple colors (I have #105 in red, green, and blue).
Here is a scan of the number 4 in green:
http://www.mrwaynes.com/webfiles/4.bmp
And another specimen card and a blue "69":
http://www.mrwaynes.com/webfiles/specimen69.bmp
I have held off on running further Ebay auctions, as I feel the prices these are bringing now are too low considering the rarity of these. Royal T is a good guy, but his auction listing skills and knowledge of Magic are.....well, not the best and I think that hurts the value of his listings. Once his supply is gone, I may leak a few out on Ebay unless someone makes me an offer on what I have before then.
I'll answer some specific questions posted here:
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is this guy a fraud?
Absolutely not. What I have stated above is 100% true (odd as it sounds).
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It just seems too weird that a Chinese pack would be opened in Tennessee.
Actually, I sell quite a bit of foreign Magic product......just sold out of
Japanese Future Sight last week and have a restock on the way from
Wizards......
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Even if they are real isn't it childs play to counterfeit them?
Well, you'd need to have a bunch of Artist proofs laying around :) and,
honestly I think anyone could easily tell the difference in printed at the factory and having an ink stamp on the back.
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To me and my dear freind, these cards are legit and a great addition to any filler collection!
Well said, pickle! If I had the ability (and evil desire) to counterfeit
these, I'd have a bunch of specimen Moxen, believe me :)
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Specimen = Sample, test copys.... etc.
I believe these were test copies that were meant for destruction, but somehow ended up in these packs instead....
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Just so you know he has cards of all colors and when i saw them in person there was no Mana Leak so this is starting to get quite sketchy.
Two different sellers. When you saw our 15 cards, the mana leaks and others were still sealed in my packs back at the store (darn it!!!)
Hope that answers the questions you've all had. If you have any others, feel free to post them...I'll check back on this post in a day or two. If any of you are interested in purchasing my numbers or specimen cards, drop me a line at:
mrwayne@charter.net
On the numbers, I prefer to sell all to one person (one person who happens to have a lot of money) :) or to sell the few duplicates I have. I may consider partial trade on the collection, or on duplicates or specimen cards....
Thanks!
Wayne @ Mr.Wayne's
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