I write an annual Vorthos gift and holiday buying guide, and this year, of course, should not be any different. I won’t write about cheaper Magic art because, well, a few collectors have already contacted me about if I would write it. That means, all the art would be posted and it would all be sold before anyone could get any. That’s a feel bad all around.

Instead, I’m going to talk about a variety of Magic and gaming related things that Gathering Magic, being under CoolStuffInc, relates to our lives. I can’t play Magic with half of my friends, my wife included, but were I to bring out a three-hour board game, it’s smooth sailing. Having options for friends being over is being a good host, after all. I’ll highlight a few other things too! Let’s go!

Board Games

We write about Magic: The Gathering here though you should know that CoolStuffInc, or CSI, should be the only place you buy board games online. It’s just the cheapest place, and with its perk program that nets you additional percentages points off, it’s a no brainer. I have been checking the Daily Deal to see if something is a must add to a cart, like fat packs.

For board games, a few you should know about:

https://twitter.com/misterorange/status/803417658028883968

7 Wonders ($40) is phenomenal. If you loved Theros, pick up Olympus ($36). It’s like the board game Puerto Rico except more god iteration. If you want to go more economic, Food Chain Magnate ($110) is one of the “greasy pencil” games that are complex, deep and model around building a restaurant and you go from one employee to an empire.

Personally, I love playing co-op board games. I translated Legends of Andor ($41.50) from German to English and while the rules are a little clunky, it’s a beautiful game. To go next level into playing a masterfully created cooperative game, try out Kingdom Death: Monster. I’ve played it once and it’s silly immersive. It’s very much not for kids, rather male-gazey and yet, it’s a well-made game. I would just know your audience while playing it. It’s also >$300 on eBay regularly, with incredibly sculpted minis that are unpainted. It’s a Warhammer level of commitment, for a Warhammer level depth of a game.

For quicker games, Sushi Go ($10), Coup ($10.50) and Codenames ($13) are all incredible short game options to play as you wait for your 8th friend to come to draft or cube. Magic was created to be an in between for Dungeons and Dragons. We now have shorter games for even them!

Magic Jewelry

I like Etsy for some things, and while guild symbols aren’t necessarily kosher, you can’t argue fo $45-65, they aren’t beautiful. Jewelry has struggled with official licensing via the Badali folks, but there will always be people wanting it, even if they can’t afford it. There definitely is a sweet spot of at $20-50 for this sort of thing for it to actually move.

Magic Sockgame

I’ve been pushing for Magic themed socks for years. They just aren’t going to be made in an official sense. So, you’ll see vendors pop up, likely get shut down, then pop up again every few months. It’s a whack-a-mole problem but we Vorthos folks want them. For $13.50 in this case, you get two pairs of socks. That’s rather cheap for such a specific want and for #sockgame level creations.

Magic Books

I own nearly every Magic book and even chatting with Cary Thomas Barkett, honestly, if you’re going to buy any books, there are three books to buy. Agents of Artifice, Alara Unbroken, and Theros: Godsend, Part I-II are all worth buying. The two books can be found for less than $10, with the Theros ebooks both being $2. The rest of the novels, well, if you have a friend who can lend them to you, do that.

Card Catalogs

I wrote an article a few years ago, Show Me Your Stash, asking people to show me how they display their Magic card collection. Some were messy, some clean and others, well, upgraded by using card catalogs. If you’ve ever wanted one of Dewey Decimal’s required furniture creations, you’ll learn that they’re quite expensive since paper records to find a book went out of style in about 1994. Some college reuse centers or recycling places have them for sale to Pinterest lovers if you have a large higher education institution in your hometown. (Even then, they run $400-2000, yes really.) For the majority of us, they’re just too expensive to hold all your bulk, sorted Magic and decks. I found two pretty nice options that might be close though.

The library style multimedia storage cabinet for $300 on the bottom left would be perfect if you’re someone with a ton of Modern and Legacy decks. Deckboxes would fit in those shelves perfectly. If you have small amounts of decks with sideboard options and variations, check out Target’s library style storage for $134. Both ship free and aren’t made by Ikea, though they aren’t solid Amish created.

And here’s a link to build your own, if you’re handy like that. I don’t love the website, though the how-to is helpful, for what it’s worth.

Cheap Art

Original Magic art starts now at about $500, with pieces you actually would do a payment plan for escalating into the thousands. What you don’t know is oddly how Lithographs and numbered prints really haven’t taken off.

The Serra Angel is the most expensive 6x9” at $60-80 with the Library of Alexandria being a little less, down to the beautiful Mirage Forest for about a dollar.

Add in a $15-$20 Target frame and you have a unique piece of art you won’t feel bad putting in a basement bathroom, a kids room, your Magic den or a workshop. I can’t make that easier for you.

Cosplay

Any creative expression of cosplay means two things: money and ever so much time. If you’re working a full-time job, and have kids and other responsibilities (like writing a column), creating a unique cosplay isn’t really in the cards. I’ve been searching for cheaper ways to do it and while Ali Baba has Jace cosplays, the quality is marginal at best. Etsy is where I look for Chandra goggles ($20) or

Playmats

And the most fun deal, at Cool Stuff Inc, all GP Playmats will be on sale from Dec 1-4 for 10-15% off. I would look for the rare playmat you actually want to own and finally getting around to selling the 5-15 playmats that you never use. If nothing else, sell them on Craigslist locally while letting your local game store know you have infinite numbers of them.

John Avon is also selling sole source playmats through CSI like the Lotus Vale below. It’s gorgeous beyond belief in person, trust me.

Search out the Magic singles sales but don’t forget the rest of your home!

— Mike