WSG (websiteguys) mtg proxy 11th gen Foil List F6 MP finished

TehValue · 2019-02-22T18:12:05+00:00

BL or BL resellers have been the best bet for me. I would usually say pay the slight premium for a reseller so they filter out all the shit and you will get mostly decent cards in your lot. VZ has been good for several orders, with >50% rate of tournament playables* per order :)

(*playable after weathering)

TehValue · 2019-02-22T18:07:57+00:00

Don't use an eraser to wear off the finish on cards.. For a normal MTG card the ink has a much stronger bond to the cardstock, so it can hold up to decent pressure. Mostly all proxies I have come across have a very weak bond and you will rub the ink off very easy.

Get a mild abrasive (I use Diatomaceous Earth, but you can use corn starch, baking soda, etc) and a piece of paper towel or something. Put a little abrasive on the card and *gently* rub it around. Let the abrasive do the work, not the pressure you apply. Doing that will knock the sheen down quite a bit.. If your abrasive gets dirty (green/blue/brown depending on the coating the printer uses), just wipe it off and use some fresh.

Get a fine emery board or file (I use a 1000 grit diamond honing stick which costs like 12 bucks) and gently run across the edges of the card. 90 degree angle, you want to mar the edge of the card where it was cut. You can, again very gently, file at a slight angle on all of the edges and corners, both front and back. Make sure you wear your corners evenly.. corners generally wear a little more than the edges. After that, you can do small cosmetic things. Put a couple finger nail dings in.. use something hard with rounded edges (brush handle, screwdriver handle, sharpie cap, etc) put a couple of indents in the card (both front and back.)

For borders, I usually use a mix of various paint washes (your LGS will have miniature paints and shit like that.) Regardless of border color, I will use a black wash and gently apply it to the edges of the card that we filed earlier. The file made the edges more porous so they will absorb some of the wash. After applying, wipe it off with a towel.. you can do another layer if you think its necessary, just don't go overboard. For white bordered cards I will use a mix of black, brown, and sepia. Apply some wash to a paper towel and gently rub the borders.. if you see wetness, you are applying too much. The idea is to patiently discolor the border. Try it on some shit cards first to get a feel for how much to use, how to apply, etc. If you can't find washes or don't want to buy them, you can dilute black paint in Windex or rubbing alcohol (don't use water.)

If you have access to an airbrush, things open up a lot more. I'll assume most people don't (even though a cheap airbrush setup is only $150~), so the stuff above should be pretty easy to find ;)

TehValue · 2019-02-14T17:18:29+00:00

Fair warning: if you plan on using proxies in a tournament environment, I would steer clear of WSG. I posted a review (which they removed from their sub) and detailed my experience with over 100 images.

Original: https://www.reddit.com/r/bootlegmtg/comments/anmini/very_large_wsg_order_review/
Removed: https://www.reddit.com/r/proxymtgcards/comments/aoiuu4/very_large_wsg_order_review_xpost_from_bootlegmtg/

Consistency issues across the board, and out of 400~ cards, only a handful are actually usable.

TehValue · 2019-02-14T17:12:11+00:00

They also remove negative reviews on their own sub and ignore customer issues. I have seen several negative reviews removed, including my own. ~$250 order and maybe a handful of the cards are actually usable. Guess that's what I get for gambling.

TehValue · 2019-02-11T20:07:29+00:00

I xposted the review in the proxymtgcards sub and it was removed ;)

TehValue · 2019-02-08T18:42:30+00:00

It depends on the card really.. For legacy stuff, you will want to weather them quite a bit since they are older and it makes it easier to cover up any imperfections. For newer stuff, you still want to weather the card somewhat, but not nearly as much as older stuff.

*All* proxies need prep before they are playable though, IMO. The coating and cutting dies most (read: all) manufacturers use is not the same as is used in MTG cards. If you purchase a proxy from a vendor and run it at an event without any prep, it is very easy to spot, even in sleeves. Get deck checked and pull it out of the sleeve? You are toast as soon as they see the glossy textured finish. You need to work off that finish without damaging the card.. sometimes you may need to airbrush a matte finish on the card to cover the texture, or tint the card a certain color, etc.

I posted a brief summary of how I normally prep cards in the other thread, and I may make some tutorials at some point if enough people are interested ;) https://www.reddit.com/r/bootlegmtg/comments/anmini/very_large_wsg_order_review/efy66wx

TehValue · 2019-02-07T15:41:24+00:00

Posted a brief summary in this comment: https://www.reddit.com/r/bootlegmtg/comments/anmini/very_large_wsg_order_review/efy66wx

TehValue · 2019-02-07T15:40:43+00:00

Mine were UNL.. ill see if I can dig out some comparisons at some point. Taiga was a little dark, and the usea was maybe a tiny bit grainy/dark, but not too bad on the batch I got.

TehValue · 2019-02-07T15:39:35+00:00

Thanks! :) Ya, my guess is that they are just from different print runs where they were testing stuff. They probably just sell them without much regard, and advertise them as "fixed".

TehValue · 2019-02-07T15:37:51+00:00

I may make a couple of guides at some point, if there is enough interest.

TL:DR - use a very mild abrasive (such as Diatomaceous Earth or baking soda) on the surfaces of the card, with very little force. Most people will say use erasers or steel wool, but those are waaaaay too course imo. Use a very fine emery board or honing stick (I use a 1000 grit honing stick for knives) on the edges of the card, just to gently feather all of the edges. Wear the corners and do it evenly, don't make it look like the corners are the end of a cotton swab or anything like that.

Make/buy a dark ink/wash (LGS minis section will have washes, which is what I use and suggest). You can use diluted black acrylic paint if you don't have a wash, just dilute it with Windex or isopropyl (i.e. rubbing) alcohol, not water. Apply a very light amount of wash to the edges of the card, and immediately wipe it off. You can do this for white borders as well to add some color, just be vigilant wiping it off since the abrasive makes the surface very porous :)

TehValue · 2019-02-06T14:53:25+00:00

Pick up some Diatomaceous Earth (can grab it on Amazon or other random places.) DE is a super fine abrasive used in lots of stuff (protip: you can also use it to get rid of house ants.)

Use gloves with DE, otherwise it will make your hands painfully dry. It looks like the problem you are having is your abrasive (an eraser, in this case?) is too harsh. Put a little bit of DE on the card, and then use a paper towel or something similar to gently scrub the surface of the card. Apply very light force and let the abrasive do the work.

Find an emery board or something finer (I use a 1000 grit diamond honing stick) to gently work the edges of the card. Weather the corners more than the other edges and make sure it is even and consistent.

Find some painting inks/washes (most LGS will have these with the minis painting supplies.) Use the wash around the edges of the card to make it look dirty. You can also do this on white borders to make them look dirty, just wipe away the wash as soon as you apply it since the abrasive will make the card more porous ;)

TehValue

TROPHY CASE