January 24, 2026 · 2:29 pm

Thrift Store Haul: Golden Heroes RPG, Unsolved Case Files Game & More

I got a couple of good gaming deals over the holidays and the weeks after. I honestly been trying to getting rid of stuff so I actually probably donated more stuff than I picked up this month.

First off, I traded for Golden Heroes RPG set. It reminded me of the Villains and Vigilantes RPG and it was just too interesting to pass up. Though, it is a RPG game I probably never play but should still be fun to read through and perhaps borrow ideas from.

Barnes & Nobles seems to have their biggest sale of the year right after Christmas and this year I picked up The Dungeonmeister Random Monster Generator. It is a flip book to makes all sorts of random, weird D&D monsters to use. I have already use it in my campaign and my D&D group loves it!

Finally one of the deals I am most excited about is this Unsolved Case Files: Sandra Ivey for $4 from a Goodwill that usually prices everything fairly higher than everywhere else so I am actually quite surprised. I usually like the Hunt a Killer series of games but Unsolved Case Files are usually fun too.

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January 18, 2026 · 5:22 pm

What’s Inside the Presstine Pokemon Gaming Surprise Bag?

I like repacks probably more than most but Presstine repacks are easily the biggest ripoffs in the hobby. Their repacks are usually priced way, way too high for basically worthless bulk. Still I saw these Presstine Pokemon gaming surprise bags for $7 at Marshalls. They all seem to have the usual bulk cards along with a mystery item. These mystery items can be really random like sleeves and toploaders???

Presstine Pokemon Gaming Surprise Bag

One repack at the store felt and looked different through the little window though and had a Pokemon pack of some sort. According to the packaging, it can contain original sealed Pokemon packs so my curiosity got the better of me…

Whats Inside the Presstine Pokemon Gaming Surprise Bag
Temporal Forces Pack from a Presstine Pokemon Gaming Surprise Bag

If you go by the packaging of repack, the “original sealed packs” seem to be the chase of the product. I didn’t get anything good in my Temporal Forces pack though, just a Flutter Mane and Relicanth but I might have needed an extra Relicanth. I remember I was looking for one when I was brewing decks not too long ago.

The surprise bag also came with 3 themed repacks. I didn’t even get a single rare but packing them with themes and having “chase” repacks is a fun twist compared to other repacks in the market.

Honestly, this was a way better deal than the other Pokemon Presstine pack that I got at Five Below. That repack just had 8 worthless cards for $6. Nothing else. The items/ cards in this gaming surprise bag was a lot more interesting at the very least. But with that being said, a “real” pokemon pack is not guaranteed but are easy to search for which I guess can be a good or bad thing. So all in all, stay away from these repacks, surprise bags or mystery boxes.

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January 11, 2026 · 1:50 pm

My Last Blaster of Monopoly Panini Prizm and Hearthstone Collectible Figurine

I got some random things to open today that I have gotten over the holiday season.

I decided to open my last blaster of 2024-25 Monopoly Panini Prizm. I picked them up for $9.99 each but if I timed it right I could have actually gotten then for as low as $5.99. I got really lucky with this one and pulled a Luka Doncic question mark parallel. It is not numbered but if my little bit of research is correct it is a super short print which means this easily my best pulled from all the blasters of Monopoly Panini Prizm I got.

I was also gifted a Hearthstone Tavern Legends figure blind box. I got 1/9 chance to pull one of the original nine heroes and a 1/72 for a secret edition figure. I was kind of hoping for a Jaina Proudmoore but I pulled the priest hero, Anduin Wrynn which honestly is probably the class I played the least. I honestly don’t really have to the space to collect or display figures but it looks great and Hearthstone is something I have thinking about lately. I know that recent sets haven’t been that fun according to some of the Youtubers I watch but I have been getting the itch to play it again…

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January 6, 2026 · 8:59 pm

Random Pack Break: Yu-Gi-Oh 25 Cards Repacks & Union Arena Goddess of Victory Nikke

I was at Target like two weeks ago and was in the mood to open some packs. Unfortunately with the holiday season, the shelves were pretty bare and I only had few choices, Lorcana packs, Yu-Gi-Oh repacks with 25 cards + 1 rare and 1 foil or random Union Arena packs which were new to me. I settled for two Yu-Gi-Oh repacks and a Union Arena Goddess of Victory Nikke pack.

I got a Hero Flash and a Red Supernova Dragon in one repack and a bonus rare in the other, Chaos Command Magician, Clear New World and Fire King Avatar Rangbali. Most of these cards are worth only a few pennies but the Chaos Command Magician is surprisingly worth $1.50. But the condition of it isn’t great but it is still probably my best pull. One of my other cards also looks like it was cut twice with a box cutter…

Anyways, Yu-Gi-Oh is a game I probably will never play. The deck building and board states are just too complicated and the font size is always going to be too small for me. Still these repacks usually have a good mix of old and new cards and opening random Yu-Gi-Oh cards like Scapegoat, Cyber Dragon and the Kaiju is just nostalgic for me. In fact, just opening these repacks are nostalgic for me too since during the pandemic lockdown similar Yu-Gi-Oh repacks I found at Rite Aid were the only thing I can find to open for fun so I guess in this case not much has changed. Although I remember they used to come with sealed packs…

Union Arena is probably another game I won’t ever play but I was curious about them and although, this may not be the first time I have seen them in big box stores, it is the first time I took notice of them. The cards with the characters facing backwards is weird but I assume it is a reference I don’t understand. I really don’t know anything about the Union Arena game or honestly the Nikke video games but I think I got like $0.50 worth of cards here too.

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December 31, 2025 · 1:14 pm

What’s Inside the 2025 Pokemon TCG: Trainer’s Toolkit?

Happy New Year!

I got a Pokemon TCG: 2025 Trainer’s Toolkit at Pax Unplugged but got another one as a Christmas gift. It has a Fezandipiti ex, 3 OK Ace Specs (Hyper Aroma, Maximum Belt and Grand Tree), 5 promo trainer cards originally from the Japanese ex Starter Deck Generations (3 Professor’s Researches and 2 Black Belt’s Trainings) and a bunch of other useful trainer cards with like Night Stretcher, Buddy Buddy Poffin and Crispin. It also has a bunch of extras like enough sleeves for a deck, dice and counters. But honestly the sleeves usually split after only a few shuffles and I find regular d6’s are better to keep track of damage when playing the game. In fact, the best extra is the box itself. It holds maybe 500 cards. I have a couple of Trainer’s Toolkit boxes and I keep them filled with Pokemons with some potential and good trainer cards, organized by the regulation marks so I don’t have to go through my bulk box when brewing.

The Trainer’s Toolkit also has 4 packs, 2 Mega Evolution and 2 Destined Rivals. I am again super unlucky with my packs lately and only pulled an Arven’s Mabosstiff ex. The only other cards worth mentioning are Shaymin and Team Rocket’s Watchtower which can see some play as counter cards.

The trainer’s toolkit is one of the few Pokemon products consistently available at MSRP or below. It is a good product for anyone looking to take the next step in the Pokemon TCG and brew your own decks which in my opinion is the most fun part of TCGs. I actually have many copies of most the trainer cards already but I don’t mind extras so I don’t have to swap them between all my decks.

I think I am going to try to build a deck with all the Pokemon TCG cards I got from Christmas (so this and the 2 Mega Kangaskan ex boxes). It definitely starts with 2 Mega Kangaskan exs and 1 Fezandipiti ex.

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December 26, 2025 · 7:51 pm

Pokemon TCG: Mega Kangaskhan ex Box Break

I got not one but two Pokemon TCG Mega Kangaskhan ex boxes for Christmas! I have a set of Mega Kangaskhan exs already but it is probably my favorite mega pokemon. Each box has a Mega Kangaskhan ex promo, a lenticular oversize card and 4 packs. I think the new lenticular oversize cards are a fun new addition. In the past, the oversized cards are probably the least exciting thing from these boxes. These boxes also comes with packs from 2 popular sets, Mega Evolution and Destined Rivals. One trend I don’t like though is these ex boxes don’t come with code cards for PTCGL for the promos and random extras anymore.

Anyways, I haven’t had much luck with Pokemon TCG packs lately (when I do get to open them). This time around, I got a full art Mystery Garden (which is a very pretty card to be fair) and a Mega Latias ex as my only pulls from the 8 packs. I also did get a Kirlia I needed so I am going to upgrade my Gardevoir ex deck.

All signs are pointing that Pokemon TCG packs and products will be a lot more available in 2026 so I am very happy with that. Definitely wait a little while longer and don’t pay the scalper prices.

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December 16, 2025 · 1:59 pm

My 2025 Cyber Monday Haul

I had to wait a bit to get everything I ordered during Cyber Monday in the mail but I am very excited to unpack everything now.

First off, I did get an Universus demo at Pax Unplugged and I love, love the game. I am trying to get my gaming group to play it too so it is good to have a deck to lend out. So I picked up a Universus My Hero Academia League of Villains Deck Loadable Content to add some cards to my Eraser Head starter deck since it only has 50 cards. Unfortunately, this DLC really only added 3-4 cards to the deck, 1-2 Eraser Head character cards and 2 random foundations. I am a little disappointed that the cards all have pretty significantly curls which isn’t ideal.

One problem on trying to teach the Universus game is that the board states can get quite complex. There are a lot of little choices you have to make so I also picked up a demo deck kit with 16 mini decks which should be perfect to get people in my group to try the game.

Finally Button Shy Games are best known for their solo games but the games I really like from them play well with 4 sometimes more players. I picked up a few new games at Pax Unplugged but unfortunately they didn’t have the expansions for them so during Cyber Monday I picked up the expansions for Skulls of Sedlec, The Walking Dead Surrounded and Shallow Regrets. I unfortunately got the base game of Shallow Regrets instead of the mini expansion, Lingering Remorse. But I think I can just shuffle 3 random 0 cost fish and 3 other random fish to fit in a 4th player instead. I really can’t complain since they sent me a bunch of exciting freebies. Of them, Dionysia was a game I really was on the fence on and happy to get now.

Since most reviewers only focused on the solo Button Shy Games here is my Top 5 Button Shy Games for 4+ players.

  1. – Skulls of Sedlec (I have played this game with as many as 5 players and also drafted 9 cards each by adding expansions.)
  2. – Tussie Mussie
  3. – The Walking Dead Surrounded
  4. – Shallow Regrets
  5. – Forest Sky

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December 14, 2025 · 7:11 pm

Thrift Store Haul: Children Board Game, Star Wars Lego Advent Set & More!

I admit I didn’t get the biggest deals this month but still pretty excited about my thrift store haul. Also I noticed my favorite thrift store raised its prices for games but oddly they seem to price it mostly on the size of the box and maybe weight so the biggest boxes were priced as high as $10. Strange.

First off, I got the Children board game for $6. I haven’t read the rules but it has somewhat of a low rating on Board Game Geek but I love the creepiness and the story of the game so I think I can run it as an RPG one shot. A haunted house with a life of its own, a sketchy headmaster, 13 ghost children trapped in a mansion/ orphanage after a mysterious fire who need their favorite toy to calm down. Yea I think it is ripe for storytelling. In fact, I have been getting quite a few “bad” board games and just ignoring the rules and reusing the story and components. It is actually cheaper than buying a one shot zine and still gets my creative juices flowing as a DM.

But… I also found a bunch of Rifter RPG magazines that looked interesting for $5 each at an used bookstore near me. I don’t know too much about them but I wanted to pick up one just to check it out first and it turned out it was difficult to do since almost every issue had something that caught my attention. I ended up picking #63 because it came with some interesting mythical monsters and a bunch of tables to make a supernatural/ horror one shot which is always useful.

I got a Mario Kart Yoshi Bike Lego set for $10 at the Target clearance section. Again, it isn’t the best deal and normally I would wait for a better price but it is a cute set and I didn’t think it will last until another markdown.

Finally I picked up a Star Wars Advent Calendar for 50% off, so $22.50 at Walgreens of all places. I actually bought one for my nephew and when I saw it on sale I picked up one for myself. It is droid themed and has a bunch of fun minifigures.

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December 7, 2025 · 2:31 pm

What’s Inside the Pokemon TCG Salamence ex & Reshiram ex Premium Collection Box?

I actually got a “deal” on Pokemon TCG cards a couple of weeks back. My local comic shop was having their 15th anniversary and they had a sale where most things were 15% off. They had Pokemon TCG Salamence ex & Reshiram ex premium collection boxes for $60 so with the discount was roughly $5 per pack + two promos. These boxes have 10 packs (5 Surging Sparks and 5 Destined Rivals), a Salamence ex, a Reshiram ex promo and 1 oversized card.

A few thoughts before I get to the packs. Pokemon TCG products have probably the most wasteful packaging in the hobby and my oversized card was damaged with a huge crease on the bottom so the packaging with all its plastic didn’t even do its job. Also oddly this premium collection box didn’t have a code card for the promos and I hope this isn’t a thing going forward. The two promos are super random too. They are two cards from the the Journey Together set, yet the packs are from Surging Sparks and Destined Rivals. Wouldn’t make more sense to have one promo from each set?

Anyways this products is a reprint of two popular sets, Surging Sparks and Destined Rivals. I am especially excited to open more Destined Rivals packs as I am a huge fan of Team Rocket cards. From the 10 packs, I only got a Cyclizar ex (meh), a Spheal illustration rare (cute) and a Team Rocket’s Ariana full art trainer (OK) which all together honestly is a bit underwhelming.

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November 29, 2025 · 12:57 pm

My 2025 Black Friday Haul

Black Friday used be a much bigger deal. I remember waking up at 4 AM and waiting on lines outside in the cold just to get the best deals. Nowadays I can wake up whenever and hope to get some OK deals…

I only went to one store so I have a small haul this year. There were some good deals on Legos and I settled on a Ninjago one for $24.99, mostly for the minifigures.

Target also had some deals on TCGs and board games but honestly I knew they wouldn’t have Pokemon TCG cards that were on sale and the Lorcana bundle simply wasn’t worth it. But they did have 2024-25 Monopoly Panini Prizm basketball blasters for just $9.99. I remember when they retailed for $30 so I guess they have A LOT of blasters left. I ended up picking up two, one to open now and one to give as a gift.

I finally pulled something good from one of these blasters! I got a Cameron Johnson pink parallel of some sort numbered 009/199 in addition to some good rookie cards like Matas Buzelis and Jared McCain.

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