Those decks are NOT rare.
Although, inverting the colors of the Rider Back design, which is not theirs, adding a slightly better stock, telling everyone that they're rare; hyping them up, and then selling them for $300 each, my bad "givin' them away for free, *" is probably one of the smartest business decisions for E.
MEGA PROFIT RISE.
*with purchase of $300 (or was it $350?) of ELLUSIONIST-only material.
..:Z:..
Dude, don't panic, but there's a huge chip on your shoulder. I'm going to try to brush it off before it stings you.
These decks are "rare" because they on purposely created only 5000 (which is a lot), and they hyped them up.
..:Z:..
The Black Ghost was intitially created as a collector's item. Since you didn't actually do your homework, I did it for you.
The Black Ghosts were originally released as prizes in random drawings or for being among the first to purchase a new product. Fairly standard publicity stunt in retail, really.
After the fact, the Black Ghosts started appearing on eBay. Before long, the collectors were so determined to have one, that the prices skyrocketed in bidding wars. Soon, those who wanted to auction off their decks were using this as the standard.
The value of the deck was determined in the secondary market.
E started offering it as a tier prize after the fact as the supply was starting to shrink, and they wanted to keep up with the growing market value of the deck.
This is not difficult to understand. What excuse could you possibly have for not getting it?
Magicians can't use them because they look so suspicious the spectator usually thinks you couldprobably put a bomb inside them.? (what? put a bomb inside them?!
)
If you can't use the deck without losing your spectators, it's your fault as a magician. Not the deck's.
I would never pay $300 for a deck of cards unless they were Jerry's Nuggets... then I might. But definitely not for some dumb over-hyped E deck.
Considering the second editions are going to be sold for about $7-8 a pack, it's kind of a moot point.
It saddens me though that maybe three people in this thread understand how market value works, and what the deck means to a collector.