Holo Pulling Guide

[whatah]

Evan Vargas Sucks
proof: metagame.com/yugioh.aspx?tabid=33&ArticleId=3384

information compiled from and credited to Pojo.com
thanks go to ExMinionofDarkness @ pojo.com for helping hundreds of active players and collectors get their money's worth out of this game


Alright, I'm going to compile on this thread methods to follow to increase your odds of pulling holos from yu-gi-oh packs. Many of these methods can be applied to other trading card sets that have "foil" premium card in their sets (such as many sports card sets as well as many games like pokemon and DBZ)

This first post will contain many of the "tricks" that you can use on a booster pack either before or after you buy it to determine if it has a foil in it prior to opening it.

The second post will contain information on how to accurately use a pocket scale to weigh packs. This is the single best tool for getting your money's worth (and then some) out of opening card packs.


holo pulling tricks


Eye tricks:

when UDE prints the cards they use 2 different machines, 1 for holos and 1 for normal rares. The holo printer prints the booster pic on the holo packs and the normal rare printer prints the booster pic on the non-holo packs. The holo printer often prints the booster packs pic a shade lighter or darker or sometimes with random dots on some complicated part of the pic. it you look at 10 booster packs closely and find 1 or 2 that appear a different shade or have some dots in the pic then you may have a holo. Here are some "eye tricks" for the various sets:

-ALL Packs: Darker packs (Works 20% of the time)

-LOB- Scar below Yugi's face

-LOD- Dot above Yugi's left eyebrow

-DCR- Dot on Yugi's face and arms

-MFC-
In 1st Edition Magician's Force all 6 boxes I got (3 - 24 count and 3 - 36 count) the holo's had a grey triangle on Yugi's left eye at about the 4 or 5 o'clock position. The secret rares and regular rares I pulled did NOT have the marking on them.


-SOD- Hair behind the foil on the back of the pack

-SOD- Dot above his eyes

-RDS: Dot/scar on Creator's chest

-DB2: looks for packs with blue dot on celtic guardian's right leg (unconfirmed)

Air in the packs:

Sometimes packs with holos appear to have more "air" in the packs bacause the foils were not laying perfectly flat when packaged.

-DB1: Put the pack on your left hand. Hold it on its side. Then use your right hand and push down. Packs that are harder to push have holos.

-FET: Feel for the denser pack. The pack with less air, the higher chance you get a good card. (unconfirmed)

Freezer trick:

A variation of the above trick, holos will "curl" a bit if left in the freezer for about 10 min. if you have several packs and want to know of any have foils, put them all in the freezer side-by-side and wait 10 mins. when done, the holo packs will be more "poofed up" than the non-holos (great way to find ultimates)

Gap trick:

take a packs and hold it without squeezing the top to the bottom. run your finger nail along the side of the pacck from top to bottom. if your fingernail "catches" on something halfway down the pack then you may have a foil (regular rares are uniform ot the commons, holos are sometimes slightly offset in placement and sometimes create a "gap" between the cards.

Foil Trick:

Take a pack and use your nail to move the first 4 cards downward inside the pack, then take a pice of aluminum foil and rub carefully back and forth where the name is. If nothing appears (any you did the trick right) then the card is a super rare. Otherwise you can tell if it is an holo or a normal rare.

Bar Code trick:

Look at the bar codes on the back of packs, the last 4 digits are the crucial ones. If you find 1 pack with a differnet bar-code than the rest then that pack is the secret rare. If you find 2-3 packs with the same different bar-code then odds are great that those packs are holos. (works mainly on older sets)

Bending Test:

Just bend the packs, the packs that are harder to bend
are usually the ones with the holographic cards since holographic cards are slightly thicker. When doing this trick, remember you only need to bend it slightly. (many people swear by this trick but like many of the tricks this one cannot be used for packs in carboard "blister" packs at stores like wallmart)


Flap Trick:

members.aol.com/MewtwoStruckBack/FlapTrick.jpg

look at the pic, see how thw "flap" is not attached normal. Good sign of a holo pack.

********** new trick
TLM special edition trick
the the TLM special editon boxes that contain 3 TLM packs and 1 promo card there is a trick for pulling a Chaos Emperor Dragon every time. If you squeeze the box from the sides a little and push the top flap down a little you can look into the box without bending the cardboard or tearing the stickers holding it closed. The promo is facing the back of the box, away from the packs, hold the box in a well lit area and you can see which promo it has in it. you end up paying 9.99 for a CED promo and 3 TLM packs, the CED sells on ebay for $15 and I have gotten amazing trades with each one I have pulled. the packs are worth $4/e ratail, scale them, open the foils, use the freezer trick on the rest to pull the ultimates, then trade the regular rare packs away or sell them for 2/5$


Holo pack placement: (The 3/6/7/11 trick)

Often the holos are not randomly "tossed" into an unopened box. there are somewhat confirmed holo placement patterns in many sets, and an overall patter from almost any set. In almost every box you will find a spot where there is a holo with another holo directly accross form it and another holo directly abobve or below it. here are some placement patterns and some box layouts. knowing how many holos are in a box and where in the box they might be is helpful for pulling the one you are looking for.


This won't be true for every box. But for a fair number of boxes (including from older sets), this is the best poor man trick we have.

For sets without Ultimate Rares (everything Ancient Sanctuary and before), many boxes have their holos in the 3rd, 7th, and 11th packs from the top on each side.

For sets WITH Ultimate Rares (Soul of the Duelist and after), many boxes have their regular holos in the 3rd, 7th, and 11th packs from the top on each side as well. IF THIS IS THE CASE, the Ultimate Rares will be in the 6th pack from the top on each side.

some example box diagrams (with pack weights)



here are some examples of TLM box diagrams:

got a box of TLM today here's what I've got in terms of weights/locations/pulls

Left side (top to bottom)

13.15
13.16
13.30 --- Super Master Monk
13.19 --- Ultimate Flame Wingman
13.39 --- Super Card of Sanctity
13.15
13.19
13.38 --- Super Insect LV7
13.09
13.18
13.10
13.14

Right side (top to bottom)

13.14
13.14
13.14
13.38 --- Ultra Flame Wingman
13.18 --- Ultimate Reshef
13.13
13.12
13.15
13.36 --- Super Winged Kuriboh
13.17
13.15
13.19

ok -- 2nd Hobby box of Lost Millenium:

Left side (top to bottom)

13.34
13.25
13.48 --- Super Master Monk
13.32
13.35
13.27
13.31
13.31
13.32
13.54 --- Super Card of Sanctity
13.33 --- Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem
13.51 --- Ultra Flame Wingman

Right side (top to bottom)

13.28
13.33
13.49 --- Super Brain Control
13.29
13.36
13.30
13.30
13.28
13.33
13.51 --- Super Winged Kuriboh
13.34 --- Ultimate Flame Wingman
13.32


(ALL CAPS == ULTIMATE)
(First Letter Cap == Foil)
(all lowercase == rare)

Box 1
Left Side
13.4 RESHIF
13.2 royal surrender
13.3 mid shield
13.3 mistress dorado
13.5 Reshif
13.2 black belt
13.2/3spell stopping
13.3 scorpion
13.3 nitro unit
13.3 dd survivor
13.4 grave ohja
13.5 ultimate insect LV7
right side
13.4 Megarock
13.3/4 ELEMENTAL HERO FLAME
13.4 Hieracosphinx
13.2 spell stopping
13.3 scorpion
13.5 Brain Control
13.2 token festival
13.3 criosphinx
13.3 self destruct
13.3 gear beast
13.3 hero signal
13.3 black belt



Box 2
Left Side
13.4/5 Card of Sanc
13.4 HIERACOSPHINX
13.4 Elemental Hero
13.4 dd survivor
13.3 grave ohja
13.5 Ultimate Insect
13.2 gear beast
13.3 hero signal
13.2 black belt
13.3
13.2
13.3
right side
13.3 nitro unit
13.5 winged kuriboh
13.3 ANCIENT GEAR GOLEM
13.2 token festival
13.3 criosphinx
13.2 self destruct
13.5 Master Monk
13.3 dd survivor
13.3 grave ohja
13.2
13.2
13.3


Box 3
Left Side
13.5 Winged Kuriboh
13.3
13.4 Master Monk
13.3
13.2
13.4/5 Card of Sanc
13.2
13.3
13.2
13.3
13.2
13.3 self destruct
right side
13.4 Elemental Hero Thunder
13.4
13.2
13.2
13.2
13.5 Brain Control
13.2
13.3
13.2
13.3
13.2
13.3


Box 4
Left Side
13.4 Brain Control
13.3 HIERACOSPHINX
13.4 Winged Kuriboh
13.3 ancient gear beast
13.2
13.5 Master Monk
13.2
13.3 mid shield gardna
13.2
13.3 token festival
13.3
13.3
right side
13.2
13.2
13.4 Elemental Hero Thunder Giant
13.3 ELEMENTAL HERO THUNDER GIANT
13.2
13.3 dd survivor
13.2
13.5 Hieracosphinx
13.2
13.3 ancient gear beast
13.2
13.3

Box 5
Left Side
13.3 royal surrender
13.3 CARD OF SANC
13.4 Megarock Dragon
13.3 cirosphinx
13.3 self destruct
13.5 Hieracosphinx
13.2
13.3 hero signal
13.3 mid shield gardna
13.3 elemental mistress
13.3 token festival
13.5 Ultimate Insect
right side
13.2
13.2
13.2
13.5 Card of Sanc
13.2
13.3 grave ohja
13.3 self destruct
13.3 ancient gear beast
13.3 hero signal
13.3 black belt
13.5 Master Monk
13.3 MASTER MONK


here are some DB2 box diagrams: (I put ***s next to the holos)

Box 1

Left
18.75- Kycoo
18.71- Horn of Heaven
18.91- Guardian Sphinx ***
18.78- Fusion Gate
18.75- Bazoo
18.77- Riryoku Field
18.78- Royal Oppres
18.75- Jowgen
18.74- Graceful
18.94- Great Dez? ***
18.74- Emergency P.
18.74- Morphing Jar (not a foil but a nice pull)

Right
18.70- Thunder Nyan Nyan
18.90- Mirror Force ***
18.85- Blade Knight ***
18.83- Reinforcements
18.70- Dark Balter
18.75- Statue of Wicked
18.75- Last Turn
18.72- Ryu Shen
18.79- Spiritualisation
18.87- Susa Soldier ***
18.90- Creature Swap ***
18.77- Kuriboh

Box 2

Left
18.77- Blast w/ Chains
18.72- Pyramid Turtle
18.75- Reinforcements
18.76- Fiend Skull D
18.86- Solomens Judgement ***
18.88- IFL ***
16.92- Riryoku Field
18.77- Emergency P
18.75- Cyber-Stein (not a foil but still a $10 card)
18.75- Horn of Heaven
18.93- Cannon Soldier ***
18.96- Book of Life ***

Right
18.73- Witch of Forest
18.66- Spiritualism
18.72- Fusion Gate
18.73- Sangan
18.68- Royal Oppresion
18.86- Hino - Kagu - Tsuchi ***
18.70- Ring Of Mag
18.75- Fiber Jar
18.75- Blast w/ Chains
18.89- Airknight Par ***
18.71- Marauding Captain
18.74- Sasuke Samurai


***Note Out of the 2 boxes i only pulled:
3x Toon CS
3x Toon Defense
3x Toon MS
1x Toon Index
3x Needle Worm
10x MechChaser
3x Yata
3x BTH
3X Book of Moon and a few other good commons


LEFT:
Sangan (RARE)
Royal Oppression (RARE)
Kuriboh (RARE)
Reinforcement of the Army (RARE)
Ryu-Senshi (RARE)
Solemn Judgment (SUPER RARE)
Dark Necrofear (ULTRA RARE)
Emergency Provisions (RARE)
Thunder Nyan-Nyan (RARE)
Last Turn (RARE)
Susa Soldier (SUPER RARE)
Heavy Storm (SUPER RARE)

RIGHT:
Dark Baltar the Terrible (RARE)
Statue of the Wicked (RARE)
Morphing Jar (RARE)
Fusion Gate (RARE)
Jowgen the Spiritualist (RARE)
Blast with Chain (RARE)
Swift Gaia the Fierce Knight (ULTRA RARE)
Ring of Magnetism (RARE)
Horn of Heaven (RARE)
Command Knight (SUPER RARE)
Great Dezard (SUPER RARE)
Graceful Charity (RARE)


CRV Box Diagrams:

Right Side (top to bottom)

13.19 -- R
13.23 -- R
13.21 -- R
13.20 -- R
13.43 -- Cybernetic Magician
13.19 -- Skyscraper Ultimate
13.19 -- R
13.22 -- R
13.23 -- R
13.41 -- Skyscraper
13.21 -- R
13.18 -- R

Left Side (top to bottom)

13.20 -- R
13.19 -- R
13.23 -- R
13.21 -- R
13.26 -- R
13.41 -- Cyber Dragon
13.20 -- Cybernetic Magician Ultimate
13.34 -- UFOroid (damn -- wanted to avoid him)
13.26 -- R
13.18 -- R
13.33 -- BES Crystal Core
13.16 -- R

[whatah]

Evan Vargas Sucks
proof:
metagame.com/yugioh.aspx?tabid=33&ArticleId=3384

information compiled from and credited to Pojo.com
thanks go to ExMinionofDarkness @ pojo.com for helping hundreds of active players and collectors get their money's worth out of this game
*EVERYONE on this board who gets a scale needs to post on POJO's holo-scaler thread:

www.pojo.biz/board/showthread.php?t=193208

*Everyone on thid board looking to get into the Scaler Territory List MUST post ON POJO's holo scaler territory list requesting territory. (so one scaler doesn't try and scale places where another scaler has already been to)

The single best trick to pulling holo is getting a pocket scale. Any small scale that can measure to the .1 gram will work. you can find then on ebay, (search for pocket postal scal or pocker jewelry scale) sometimes you can win an auction for $5 US + $12 shipping. Some have claimed to find them at walmarts recently. Look on their postage aisle and you may find a pocket "postal scale" make sure it weighs to at least .1 of a gram.

Many yugioh players trade scales, you can sometimes find one at a regionals event, having extra scales can be a good thing because it is not uncommon to get +$50 worth of cards in a trade for one.

I personally got my scale about 3 months ago at it is amazing. It reminds me of when I first started playing M:tg when the game came out and I thought every pack of cards I bought was amazing and worth my money now I can go into a store and in about 5 mins select the 1/8th of the packs that have supers or ultimates. I end up hitting about 4-5 stores and spending about $25 at each to buy all the supers and ultras out of all their boxes when a new set comes out.

In my personal experience I have yet to have an employee not allow me to scale. Yugioh here in memphis has maybe 20 older (collage +) aged collectors, maybe 4 competitive (will travel to nearby regionals) players and a ton of kids / n00bs who don't really keep up with the latest sets or tech. There is only 1 other scaler in my city and I give him 2 stores to himself and he emails me if he scales elsewhere. I hit all the gamestops, they thing it is the coolest thing ever (gamestops and other places that have booster packs that are not covered in cardboard are great places to be able to scale, the cardboard covered "blister packs" sometimes create a margin of error) I scale at targets and walmarts right in fromt of the checker... sometimes they ask me if "I'm looking for 1 card in particular" and I say "sure, yea" many people spend more time hanging around the cards or examing for dot-tricks than I take scaling 6 times as much product. I know the guy who runds the weekend card playing at the toys-r-us near where I work and I go and scale there the day the set comes out, I weigh out all the heavies and leave him 1/3 of the packs with a specific bend on the cardboard so he can buy them next time he is in working.

the following is taken from the holo puller's guide at pojo.com:



Weigh each pack out of the set you desire to purchase from. Do not mix sets -- they weigh differently from each other. If you wish to purchase from multiple sets, weigh each set separately. (e.g. do all your Pharaonic Guardian weighing, then your Legacy of Darkness weights, and so on.)

Note: Once you remove a pack from the scale, it may still say it has 0.1 grams or -0.1 grams on it. If that doesn't go away after a second or two, put the pack back on, then take it back off. Do this repeatedly until it says 0.0. Either that, or turn the scale off and back on. Using the -TARE- function can mess you up a bit, if EVER so slightly (although it hasn’t hurt me when I did it, it was still a risk.)

Sort the packs into piles based on their weight, in 0.1 gram increments. (For example, all of your packs that weigh 13.3 grams in one pile, your 13.4 gram packs in another, then your 13.5, and so on.)

Compare the packs and set aside all packs from the TOP TWO TENTHS OF A GRAM. (For example, if there are packs that weigh 13.3, 13.4, 13.5, 13.6, and 13.7 grams respectively -- note that these are the correct weights for a run of 1st edition Pharanoic Guardian packs -- set aside the 13.6 and 13.7 gram packs.)

DOUBLE-CHECK THE PACKS YOU SET ASIDE. The way you put the pack on the scale, its position on the scale, etc. could affect the packs by a tenth of a gram or so. Nothing would be more aggravating than buying a 13.6 gram pack that's actually a 13.5 gram pack and getting a Normal Rare.

Buy all the packs that are still in the top .2 grams. Remember to THANK THE CASHIER or person who let you weigh the packs. If you're polite about it, and don't take up too much time/counter space, you'll be more likely to be repeat the process the next time you go into the store.

All packs shall contain Super Rares or higher


On The Law of Averages (and why 24 v. 36 count boxes are important)
This section will do several things for you, so read it will. It will make sure your scale is working, let you know when you have successfully cleaned everything out of a box, and, more often than not, make sure that you get the staples out of a set.

I’d first like to cover why 24 count boxes vs. 36 count boxes matter. If you’re new to this game, you’re probably thinking -Why would it matter? If I weigh through 3 24-pack boxes (72 packs) I’m going to get the same amount of holos as if I weigh through 2 36-pack boxes (72 packs).- Well, you’d be right - but the holos differ.

Most players know this already, but for those who don’t - the 2 Secret Rares are put into different kinds of boxes. One is only put into the 24-counts (which will always be the card numbered 000) and one is only put into the 36-counts (which has the number 1 higher than the total number of cards listed in the set - if the pack says there are 102 cards in the set, this card will be 103.)
During and after Pharaoh’s Servant, most of the 24-count boxes have better Secret Rares than the 36-counts. This is an attempt to encourage players to go to hobby shops and buy from them.

Generally speaking, between Pharaoh’s Servant and Dark Crisis, players who obtained 3 of the hobby box Secret Rare and used all 3 in their Deck were superior to players who did not have those cards (excluding Magician’s Force). More often than not, the Hobby Secret Rare became restricted (Gemini didn’t, but Jinzo, Yata-Garasu, Ring of Destruction, V-Lord, and Chaos Emperor Dragon -- one per deck.)


Make friends with a hobby shop owner so that he or she will let you weigh packs, if at all possible. You want to have access to at LEAST one place that can give you guaranteed holos out of 24-pack boxes.

Next: Let’s go over the rarity scheme. Yes, that thing printed on the side of the box, telling you what the odds are on pulling cards.
Super Rares appear 1 in every 6 packs.
Ultra Rares appear 1 in every 12 packs.
Secret Rares are not posted, but are generally believed to be 1 in every 36 packs.

What does this mean for you?
In a 24-pack box:
There will be 0 or 1 Secret Rares.
There will be 2 Ultra Rares. (as they are 1 in 12. 24/12 = 2.)
There will be 4 Super Rares. (1 in 6. 24/6 = 4)

In a 36-pack box:
There will be 1 Secret Rare on average.
There will be 3 Ultra Rares. (36 / 12 = 3)
There will be 6 Super Rares. (36 / 6 = 6)

This means that if you happen to get to an unopened, fresh 24-count box, there should be either 6 or 7 heavy packs out of those 24 (the 4 Supers, 2 Ultras, and a possible Secret). If you get to an unopened 36-count box, there should be about 10 heavy packs out of those 36 (the 6 Supers, 3 Ultras, and 1 Secret Rare).

********** edit:
please note that the odds of pulling holos have gotten even lower since SOD now in a 24 count box (the only size box they make) you can expect 1 ultra and 4 supers or just 5 supers in the box. hobby boxes are still superior because the ultimates in a hobby box are of the super and ultra rares (if you only open hobby boxes and open about 4-5 boxes it is not uncommon to pull more ultimate rare copies then ultra rare copies of the big cards in a set) while the ulimates in retail packs are of the normal rares (very pretty but only worth $3-$5 each)
also not that it is impossible at this time to weight out ultimate rares, they are so close to a normal rare in weight (sometimes a tiny bit heavier, sometimes a tiny bit lighter, sometimes the exact same) that the most consistant trick for busting them is the "freezer trick"


On Erroneous Packs:

Sometimes a pack will weigh 1.0 or 1.1 grams more than normal. (A 14.6 gram pack where 13.6 constitutes holographic, for example.) These packs have 10 cards. I've seen them contain 1 rare and 9 commons...I've seen them contain 2 rares and 8 commons...I've literally watched a guy open a pack and pull TWO RING OF DESTRUCTIONS out of it. Most often it is 2 rares.

This part is a gamble. The entire point of the scale is to eliminate the factor of the Normal Rare. (Those of us who have scales are above that) If a pack weighs 1 gram more, typically you don't want to buy it. (Unless it's like 1.2 or 1.3 grams higher, then it's typically a double or triple holo or something and thus worth the risk)


On Weight Differences:

Pack weights differ between runs. 1st edition LoD differs from Unlimited LoD by .1 grams. Most 1st editions vary from their Unlimited counterparts. Make sure not to mix the two or you may error and buy a non-holo.

Pack weights differ between sets. From my personal experiences, PGD weighs between 13.3 and 13.7 grams...LoD weighs 13.2 to 13.6...LoN about the same as LoD...but PSV is radically different, ranging from 13.8 to 14.2.

Sometimes, pack weights differ between different boxes out of the same set, out of the same print run. I have seen first edition Magician’s Force be between 13.0 and 13.4 at one box and 13.1 to 13.5 out of another 1st edition Magician’s Force box.

Average Wieghts of Boosters and Blisters:


Please not that sometimes there are multiple weight runs (especally with blister packs) it is usally a good idea to weight 10 or more packs against each other than go by the figures listed here. On the other hand, say you just got a new tin that cames with an assortment of packs from different sets, this can help guide you

If Your Weighing The Packs In The Plastic [Like At Wal-Mart] (blister packs)
DR1
30>
FET
24.7>
TLM
24.6>
LOD
24>
IOC
25.4>
DCR
24.8>
PGD
23.6>
DB2
29.4>
CRV
23.9>

If Its A Regular Booster Pack
PSV:
12.9>
LON
13.4>
PGD
13.4>
LOD
13.4>
MFC
13.3>
DCR
13.4>
IOC
13.5>
AST
13.3>
SOD
13.3>
RDS
13.4>
FET
13.3>
TLM
13.4>
DB1
18.7>
DR1
19.0>
DB2
19.0>
CRV
13.3>



On Non-Weighable Prizes:

Sometimes you may win packs at a tournament -- but since that tournament is held within a card shop, you won't be able to weigh the packs before you pick them -- or worse -- they may just HAND you your prize and give you no say.

Take the packs you just won. Weigh them. (They're your possession now, you can do with them what you wish.) Keep the packs that contain holos.

Your best bet is to sell the remainder of the packs to other players or on eBay. Just because your tournament organizer won't let you weigh the packs doesn't mean you are stuck with bad packs. (Unless you've been winning TPs, in which case you weigh them, open the heaviest, and eBay the rest for - you really have no other choice here.)


Miscellaneous scaling advice

Anonymous:
Don't snack. What I'm saying is don't buy 2 or 3 foils from 4 different partially filled boxes. If you can find a full box, strip it clean. You'll get 4 SR, 2 UR and maybe a SEC. I've skimmed many a partial box and come away with 12 SR, and crappy ones at that! Which leads me to my next point...

Be choosy about what sets you buy. Pick a set with good SUPERS in it. Get a set with SR that you need, or that are good trade-bait. In general, I avoid MRL like the plague. What do I want with ANY toon, toon world, MoP,BotL,Invader or any of that other junk in the set just to try to pull an AoD? I find LOD or LON a MUCH better choice. I'm also avoiding PGD because I can't unload ANYTHING but RoD/Don from this set and the chances of pulling them are small. The only reason I get any LOB packs at all is because 1 Exodia piece pays for the whole box pull (more or less). Everything else I pull from this set is dead weight (except Raigeki, but I have yet to pull one). I have a stack of Mystical Elf and Dark Hole's.

Don't get into a confrontation. If approached by the manager, make sure to smile and stay calm. Explain that all the packs cost the same, so what's the difference? But don't argue or cause a scene. One employee saw me weighing packs in a department store and got on his walky-talky and called the manager. I packed-up my scale, looked around the store for a few more minutes (the manager followed me from a distance) and then I left. There's no sense getting kicked out (banned) from a store I shop frequently. There's always greener pastures.

(Comment on the idea here: If the manager argues that you’re cheating customers out of good cards, ask them who gets packs more often. Usually it will be little kids, or parents of little kids. Young kids typically don’t know how good a card is, so they don’t even know about what they’re missing. The store still makes the sale, and that’s where the consideration should stop. If they tell you that you can’t weigh packs, and they’re NOT a specialty card shop, you’ll REALLY want to consider telling them you will get all of your YGO playing friends not to shop there for ANY reason. There is power in numbers.)


Submitted by TheProfessor:
Finally, try to make an unnoticeable bend in the cardboard if you're weighing blisters (like a small crease in the top corner of the packaging -- not the pack itself) so you'll know that you've already weighed it and it wasn't worth grabbing last time. That will keep you from re-scaling stock and drawing packs that are now heaviest, but weren't winners before.

My own little add-on, regarding investment vs. reward:

Coming out ahead in the scaling world is usually dependent on you pulling a big hitter from whatever set you happen to be scaling. In addition, you're absolutely right that if you need just -one- card, you're better off eBaying it (barring tournament packs).

But just as a reminder to those with a little money vs. those with a lot of money -- the amount you save/profit goes up the more you buy.

Here are a few examples.

$75 budget:

Non-scaler: Buys a box of the new set, gets 1 Ultra, 4 Supers, 2 Ultimates, 17 rares on average, and 24 packs worth of commons (192).

Scaler: Buys a scale ($25), 11 scaled packs ($44 + tax). If done with booster boxes, will end up with 2 Ultras, 9 Supers, 0 Ultimates, 0 Rares on average. If done with blisters, you end up with 2 Ultras, 6 Supers, 1 crappy Ultimate, 2 Rares on average.

It's about tied here, tiebreak going to the scaler because they still have a $25 piece of equipment after the fact and still have about the same resale value worth of cards as the box buyer (less if the box buyer pulled the Ultimate Rare version of a big hitter.)


$250 budget:
Non-scaler: 4 boxes -- 4 Ultras, 16 Supers, 8 Ultimates, 68 Normal Rares + commons on average.

Scaler: Scale ($25), 52 scaled packs. Booster box scaling -- 10 Ultras, 42 Supers on average. Blister pack scaling -- 8-10 Ultras, 32-36 Supers, 8-12 Normal Rares on average.

At this point, it's HEAVILY in favor of the scaler; even IF the box buyer pulled a couple ultimate Phoenixes/Gear Golems/Horus 8's, you have so many more Ultras than they do that you probably got 1 or 2 of the regular version of it to counter that -- AND you have SO many more supers than they do, you have a better chance of having what some kid/inexperienced player wants so you can trade them for their high-value cards -- that, and there are a few good supers out there that still hold some value (Vortex, Brain Control) that you'll end up with more of.


Basically, the more you spend, the more you stand to make -- if you only put $50 or so into Yu-Gi-Oh every 6 months, you're better off taking your chances with a box. If you are in this game to win, to make money, to get an edge, then you're nuts NOT to get a scale.



Blister Packs

The Blister packs prevent a problem for many scale users that play this game. Sometimes, the cardboard on one weighs differently than the other. The plastic may be different, or bent. It IS possible to determine holo packs in blisters, but you have to be MUCH more careful than normal. If you have the ability to get a 1/100th of a gram scale, it will help you IMMENSELY. You may want to buy less of these; it’s better to miss a few foils than to buy a Normal Rare. Also, these have NO advantage over other Retail packs; these carry the Retail Secret Rare.

bbccards35 offers some VERY valuable insight through a scaling report of Ride of Destiny blisters:

Just got back from the friendly neighborhood Wal-Mart, where they got in their unlimited RDS blisters. It seems to be 2 different runs of weights: 23.7-24.3, and 24.4-25.1. I tried a little of both. Here's what I bought:

1-24.1-foil
2-24.2-2 foils
1-24.3-foil
1-24.6-foil
2-24.8-2 foils
1-24.9-rare (extra glue?)
1-25.1-foil

I think the 24.6 was a fluke weight. When I took it out of the blister, I reweighed it, and it was 13.4 outside. All the other packs were 13.6, except the rare was 13.3.

So you wanna know what I got?

Fusilier Dragon, the Dual-Mode Beast (rare)
2x Triangle Ecstacy Spark
Big Core
Divine Wrath
Tragedy
Thestalos, the Firestorm Monarch
and......

Mystic Swordsman LV6
The Creator!


I can confirm this "two different weight runs of Blisters" thing myself -- I saw it firsthand when weighing Soul of the Duelist blisters. If the two weight runs are that far apart, you can safely get the foils from both. If the two weight runs clash (meaning...one's 23.3 to 23.8 and one's 23.7 to 24.2, thus some of your 23.7s will be foils and some of your 23.7s will be rares), just go with the higher weight run, which is more concrete of a choice.


I you get to a retail store and they have multiple "pegs" of blisters it is best to scale 1 peg a time. Treat each peg like it it it's own box (if it is new product that hasn't been mixed up) you should be able to pull 4-5 foils off each peg.

Always when scaling blisters beware of overlaping/multiple weight runs. It can be very important to get to your retail store before every kid in the city has a chance to mix up the packs.

[Artix]

Did you at least asked ExMod for this?
Did he permit? Also, give him credit if you didn't..
Last time sommeone stole this from him he was Mad..

[whatah]

I gave credit to pojo.com and the holo pulling thread but maybe you are right and it is wrong to post it here...

[Artix]

But it was ExMod that created this, at least give him credit and ask for it..

[whatah]

ok, I have the posts saved on my computer, I'll edit it away untill I get response from him that it is ok to post it. thanks.

[Artix]

Don't be mad at me, it's just that i also know him and he won't be happy that we are taking it without permssion..
Also, a lot of pojoer's are comming here, so they will report it

[Overlord]

Everything has checked out which I'm glad to see. This is some very useful information.

[whatah]

especially if you decide to get back into yugioh, the scale tricks are invaluable. you but a scale for 20$ and then you can go and pick out every pack that has a super or ultra out of a box and end up spending only 20-24 dollars for the valuable part of a box

this is emexicanally awesome for when the new sets come out every 3 months, everyone always will trade anything for the newest stuff

[Overlord]

yes, this topic deserves to be stickied. *stuck*

[Artix]

Heck, why don't you try it for Dbz?

[Overlord]

I may try it but I don't know where to buy a pocket scale.

[whatah]

it does work well for other games too, the main difference is that in yugioh normal rares go for about .50-1$ while supers can go from $2-15 and ultras from $4-30+

with M:tg and DBZ the foils you are getting aren't neccisarily better than the normal rares. In DBZ I can go to walamrt and but a box of babity or majin saga for $15 and have a 50% chance of pulling an UR that may sell for 10-20$ as well as other foils.

If I weigh out a box I lose the box discount and I can expect about 3 foil rares and 9-10 foil commons/uncommons in packs with regular rares... still a good deal it you were going to buy the packs individually anyways. you end up only buying a third of the packs and if you pull a UR then you are hooked up (I can't verift if DBZ urs weigh more than regular foils. score used som many different foiling processes throughout the game that I would imagine the URs would be scalable in almost half the sets. I've tried weighing some in my collection but even slight handling can cause a card to weigh +- .1g over time so I'm not sure.

Other examples of high-return scaling would be pokemon (many of the valuable foils are much heavier than regular foils) and many sports card sets (I actually would help the employee at my gaming shop weight out the "autographed foils" out of a few different sports card boxes, in return he would let me trade in light packs I needed to get rid of for heavy packs in the store)

I've been meaning to scale out a box of 9th edition M:tg cards, they are using a new "rainbow foil" that looks real pretty, players trade well for 9th edition foils (but there's no gaming shop left in my city atm, oh well...

does re-Z have foils in their packs?

what about inuyasha?

[Overlord]

Yes Re-Z does have foils in their packs and would be much more practical to weigh out since all foils are tough to get in that game. As for regular DBZ, they even guarantee a foil card in every second pack so weighing only to get a foil common or something wouldn't make sense. Inuyasha has foils as well.

[whatah]

admin said:

I may try it but I don't know where to buy a pocket scale.

ExMoD recommends OldWillKnott's ebay scale store, here's a link to his "10th gram pocket travel scales":

stores.ebay.com/www-OLDWILLKNOTT-com_10th-Gram-Pocket-Travel_W0QQcolZ2QQdirZQ2d1QQfclZ4QQftidZ2QQsclZ0QQtZkm

scroll down to his scales that are about 25$, any of those would work fine.

Here is a ebay stores shearch result for "pocket scale"

search.stores.ebay.com/search/search.dll?query=pocket+scale&sacat=-6%26catref%3DC6

personally I prefer the kind with the removalble lid and the info at the front to the kind with the flip-lid and info on the side. The removable lid can be used as a tray to lift blisters away from the LCD panel, otherwise the cardboard tends to cover the readout.

It is pretty easy to win an aution for less than 5$ but there is usally 10-15$ shipping charge.

When I got my scale I did not want to buy it from online, I instead went to my local head shop (you know, the place that sells blacklight posters and "water pipes") I paid 40$ for a scale with a lifetime warranty (Oldwillknotts and many others offer lifetime warranties). Be prepared to pay a decent markup if you decide to buy it like this but you can find one in a shop like this 100% of the time.

Some people have sighted 10th gram pocket scales in walmarts. Look for a "pocket postal scale" on their Postal items isle and it might be there next to staplers and stationary and stuff. I'd try this first thing but I personally haven't looked for them there.

anything pocket sised that can weigh to the .1g is perfect. About 1 in 20 scalers opt to pay the extra 20-30$ to get a 100thg scale that measures even more accuratly but personally I haven't gone there yet.