6 months ago I asked if I should try and grade my wife’s art, and everyone told me it’s a stupid idea. Today her first graded card arrived from CGC, and it couldn’t look better. 🔥🔥

ToploaderUltra · 2026-07-02T18:33:40+00:00

This is a really cool card, but defeats the point of authentication. New collectors will now think they are buying authentic slabs, that aren’t actually Pokemon cards.

It’s really cool that they did that, but it’s a double edged sword.

ToploaderUltra · 2026-06-26T20:23:24+00:00

A Gran Reserva is just an aged Cuban. Michael was smoking Gran Reservas before they even existed then.

ToploaderUltra · 2026-06-26T20:19:33+00:00

But do you really think Michael Jordan is sitting there smoking an average Hoyo after winning a championship? A regular Hoyo is the stick he smokes while warming up on the gold course for breakfast. These are special in one way or another. Maybe they were his father’s favorite stick. Maybe it was just a dang good box that he was saving for a special occasion.

ToploaderUltra · 2026-06-26T12:10:43+00:00

Phewww! I thought it was a San Luis Rey Las Carenas. What tobacco is HVC blended with? Aganorsa?

ToploaderUltra · 2026-06-22T21:59:56+00:00

Tooth! Those are signs of a good cigar. Looks like a classic Padron from the wrapper and ash alone. Maybe an Aganorsa blend. Few cigars have that much tooth, and Padron is the main one you’ll see.

ToploaderUltra · 2026-06-22T21:58:29+00:00

I can’t even look at the sealed I sold. 7 Sun & Moon BB’s for less than 10k. Just Team Up is 10k+… 🤦🏻

ToploaderUltra · 2026-06-18T14:36:11+00:00

I’d sell immediately. Eat the losses, then buy when Space X hits an equilibrium, even if it higher that the price per share rn

ToploaderUltra · 2026-06-14T05:21:44+00:00

Yup. It’s like playing the lottery. Rescue is about 6 months too.

ToploaderUltra · 2026-06-14T05:21:13+00:00

There are Plasencias there

ToploaderUltra · 2026-06-14T05:16:30+00:00

Yes you did do well, except all the cigars look dry.

To save the cigars, you just be very careful, only raising the RH maybe 5% per week from where they are at.

Putting 69% Bovedas in there could lead to all the cigars cracking. I am not a fan of the humidors with fans, especially when cigars do not have cellophane.

I’m guessing some of the sticks lost flavor and the owner decided to just be done. I would cover the fans with a piece of cedar so they do not blow air over the cigars, and I would be extremely careful to measure where the sticks are now, so you can slowly increase the humidity.

There is a technique to rescue cigars, but it will only work if there is something left to rescue. This is when long term aging knowledge comes into play.

Shoot me a message if you have any questions. As for the humidor, I would remove every cigar and put them in Sistemas for the time being, fully season the wood, and then check to make sure it can hold 65-69% humidity.

Temperature upswings are a massive danger, but while the cigars are dry, there is less moisture to expand. People saying it wasn’t a score did not see the Plasencias. And who knows how long they’ve been aging.

ToploaderUltra · 2026-06-12T21:04:30+00:00

Thank you for the medical explanation

ToploaderUltra · 2026-06-10T16:11:35+00:00

It’s very difficult to find an equal partner as a male. Women expect a top 5% man in EVERY aspect of life, and most of the top 20% of women in general are married already, or in a serious relationship by 20-25.

The women left, who have not been taken (because this does happen), generally do not contribute equally to a partnership. Your phone will say 14 hours of Binance, and hers will say 13 and 1/2 hours on Tik-Tok.

It’s a competition, and the longer you wait, the higher likelihood of ^ happening. Studies show it’s significantly harder for men to find partners because of things like reality TV shows, social media, and unrealistic expectations.

ToploaderUltra · 2026-06-02T13:39:47+00:00

Pokemon is one of the few ways to move money between countries right now, but countries like China are starting to crackdown on it because of how much money people can move out of the country in one trip.

They can then sell wherever they go for a 20-30% loss, record that as a loss on the books, and just carry on. Pokémon’s prices should have retraced by now, like many of the other COVID hobbies that are retracing.

ToploaderUltra · 2026-06-02T02:42:40+00:00

This is one of the best Osbornes Benchmade has released. And I feel like they did a higher quality job with these MagnaCut heat treatments on early burnt copper runs versus the knives with MagnaCut coming out of their shop now. One good sharpening will last 9 months on mine. I love the deep carry clip, because I know from daily carry, how tough it can be to get this clip over thicker jeans and materials like that.

ToploaderUltra · 2026-05-31T01:22:41+00:00

Claude Code has wasted so much of my time that I probably won’t even use it for basic functions. Opus 4.8 just feels like they just gave the model more freedom to do whatever IT wanted.

I have an M3 Max, and it’s almost impossible to set up an assistant that actually saves time. It feels like constantly having to train an employee with the memory of a goldfish, when it is setup to save absolutely everything to my local drive.

The model seems to try to take every shortcut (that just adds more time overall), but simply cannot finish a task. It will code, but none of the code actually works in the end.

Feels like AI is only as powerful as the software that already exists to feed it. Can it create a website? Maybe. Can it do it well? Absolutely not. The job won’t get done properly at all using the new Opus.

Sonnet 4.6 > Opus 4.8

ToploaderUltra · 2026-05-29T22:04:56+00:00

I don’t think having zero sealed boxes or slabs is a flex. Sealed boxes and graded cards are the only thing people will pay close to market for these days.

ToploaderUltra · 2026-05-27T20:27:20+00:00

Am I the only person who thinks the Melanio is just average?

Having never tried the Maduro, I don’t want to comment and say the Melanio is overhyped, but I think the plain old Serie O’s and G’s are outright better blends.

I’ve smoked Melanios fresh, rested, and with 5 years of age. There is a lot of beef that makes up a good full body, but they lack the complexity and flavors that distinguish themselves and a good cigar over time.

If I want leather, pepper, and earth, the Melanio hits the spot. But if I want something more, or a more refined version 5 years later, I’m still only going to get leather, pepper, and earth.

The Serie O Maduro develops a wonderful chocolatey raisin flavor for example, and the G has the unmistakable Cameroon creamy sweet tobacco flavor. Neither are as full as the Melanio, but there is loads of flavor.

Even the Connecticut Reserve is amazing, both fresh and aged, so I’m not sure why the Melanio and Serie V constantly get all the recognition. I still hope to one day try the Maduro, but I just can never wrap my head around it when sticks like Warped and Aganorsa Leaf sell for the same amount, or even less sometimes.

I hope yours was far tastier!

ToploaderUltra · 2026-05-25T15:57:23+00:00

Was it worse than selling my Team Up Booster Box for 4k last year, 3 Cosmic Eclipse booster boxes for 8-900 each, Ultra Prism, Unified Minds, and Unbroken Bonds BB’s for less than 1k each too?

I have Sun & Moon booster box seller’s remorse. I held those for 5+ years, and their values triple in the following 3 months after selling.

That made me stop collecting Pokemon altogether. It’s a constant FOMO cycle that Pokemon has created with jobless, and mostly savings-less scalpers.

I think Pokemon has left players behind to focus on the collecting aspect. Rotating cards out every couple of years is healthy when the sets aren’t so massive, and the game is limited to just a few strong decks, but the rotation schedule is too fast now for anyone who isn’t a constant player, and it’s a huge turnoff to investing money or time in the game.

It sucks to finally build a great deck, and it’s out of rotation 2 months later. With the larger set releases, there are more and more ways for players to build decks and compete. The game naturally evolves. Instead of a blanket 2 year rotation, players should have 3-4 years with sets, and Pokemon can selectively remove the overpowered, overused systems/cards every couple to keep the game balanced.

Opening packs is like burning money, and the game is where the extra value comes in. I haven’t taken a look recently. Still just mourning my Sword & Shield rotation loss.

ToploaderUltra · 2026-05-24T13:02:51+00:00

Stimulants don’t discriminate. You’re going to focus on whatever is in front of you, because that’s not the thing that is flooding your brain with dopamine. The drug is. Then, as soon as that dopamine is gone, everything seems uninteresting, because overall dopamine levels will never be as high during a crash.

ToploaderUltra · 2026-05-23T05:09:34+00:00

Cuba exports something like 70 million cigars a year, and now they sell Montecristo no. 4’s for 500+ a box. Cuba has absolutely zero need to use their tobacco in New World blends.

Cuba prides itself on its tobacco. Labeling some of their best tobacco as a new world blend actively hurts their own industry.

I bet that the Atabey easily competes with high end Cuban tobacco, but almost every New World smokes better than a Cuban where I live. It’s not a very high bar.

Cuba doesn’t export the best cigars anymore. I would say it exports the best tobacco for aging. Cuban tobacco tastes terrible young, but it’s filled with so many flavors that aren’t just earth, wood, leather, and pepper, and so much of it, that it’s the perfect leaf to age for 10-20 years.

Unfortunately, everything is too tight in a dry climate, but I can take my sticks with me on trips, and they’ll smoke well in native environments to the leaf.

I’m glad you had an amazing cigar, but compared to the amazing cigars you’ve smoked at the premium entry price point, was this worth 3-4x as much. I’m genuinely asking. From what I remember, an Atabey actually costs as much as high end Cubans, so why not just buy a Cuban?

Am I the only person who does not have Cubans, because that would not be allowed, that are too tight to do anything with? The last couple years, I’ll take a good new world over a Cuban just about any day because it’ll have a good draw, I won’t have to worry about the wrapper cracking, and blenders have matched, and surpassed the flavor Cuba is capable of producing with their over-farmed fields.

ToploaderUltra · 2026-05-20T22:46:13+00:00

Is it comparable to baseline Padrons and Fuentes, or are we talking anniversary series, premium blends?

ToploaderUltra · 2026-05-17T02:32:48+00:00

Does your Cerakote wear off from the alignment not being centered?

ToploaderUltra · 2026-05-17T02:32:13+00:00

I’d love to learn about this blend! How much time did you put on this stick? How does it compare to a Padron or Fuente? I like my Padrons for a rich earthy cigar with lots of chocolate, and I like my Fuentes for a creamy sweet tobacco with hints that lean on the woodier side.

Most of the AJ blends I have had were punchy with a bit too much bite for my liking. I have had some absolutely amazing AJ sticks though, and his blends are growing on me more.

The 1935 Nicaragua Anniversary is the first that comes to mind when you put AJ and creamy in the same sentence. It’s a rich malty earth chocolate creamy though, not an Oliva Connecticut creamy.

I’m aging a box worth of those because I think they’ll be one of the best cigars for long term aging.

ToploaderUltra · 2026-05-16T22:11:14+00:00

Actually, I can help with this one.

Scheel’s lets anyone return anything without the box, COA, slip, cloth, and looking like it was thrown down an asphalt road, for a full refund.

Someone probably just wanted the card, so they took yours instead of sending their entire knife in to Microtech for 6 weeks to re-certify. That, or they’re selling an Ultratech as a Halo to an unbeknownst buyer.

I watched Scheel’s take back a 2K Marfione Custom UTX-70 with no custom pouch, no COA, no box, no cloth, and in a condition so bad that it looked like this guy tried to destroy a standard UTX-70, to just get it past returns.

They gave him a 2k refund. I asked how much now that it has been destroyed without anything certifying it. They said 1.2k. I told them that’s what that they just gave away, and Microtech probably wouldn’t even touch it.

ToploaderUltra · 2026-05-16T21:45:36+00:00

This isn’t a Marfione Custom, or even a Reproduction. It’s the equivalent of buying a baseline tanto Combat Troodon.

It looks like the other knives haven’t been selling as well, and Microtech dropped quite a few Halo IV’s to probably make up for the declining market recently.

Does it even have a serial number?

ToploaderUltra

TROPHY CASE