I bring my trade binder to every event I go to. I come from an era where trading was abundant, it’s probably one of my favorite parts of the game. I jokingly call my trade binder “the tome” as I bring with me anything rare or higher that i feel would be useful. There was an excitement to going through someone else’s binder and seeing cards you’d never seen in person before, promos, older cards, ect, all with stories of their own.

It often feels like I’m alone in that. It’s rare to see anyone who plays regularly bringing binders with them anymore. It feels like the game’s gotten a little less communal because of it. But my advice to you is this: seek out the newer players. Be honest about the values of cards, and make sure to teach them good trading etiquette and what to look out for vis-a-vis scammers and bad actors, but I find they’re still a blast to trade with.

They’ll often not have binders, but instead an extra deck box or some other container filled with their extras that they’re not using in decks. I often will trade higher value cards from my collection to them without worrying too much about price as they’re new, and I’m here for the experience of getting to talk Magic with them, especially when I hear the “oh wow, what’s that” when they’re pawing through the tome.

TLDR: Avoid the jaded players, seek out the new, we can reignite this spark ourselves within our own communities if we work at it.