My main problem with it is that Wizards is giving these sets to some privileged people who can get them at retail, and consequently sell them for $100… my esteem for Wizards dropped a few notches.

From the post:
“I really wanted to play with these cards…”
“Personally, I’m not going to open my box.”
“This is a huge disappointment to me.”

Sounds like a personal problem. Instead of coming up with a “reason” that reeks of self-pity and/or martyrdom, maybe you could just…open the box and play with the cards? Even if the box is open and the cards are sleeved, they are still in your collection, are they not? Once you cease your self-inflicted, misguided “protest”, they’ll gain way more play value than your baseball cards.

I’m not trying to be overly critical here, and I don’t want this to sound too harsh, so I will clarify that I normally enjoy your posts, which even when I disagree with them, are typically very thoughtful and well done.

But in this one (and the “99 problems controversy” one), it just seems like you are looking for things to complain about, for things to feel sorry for yourself about. As you said before, this is a hobby, it is supposed to be fun. Where is all this angst coming from? My unsolicited advice is to open the cards and enjoy them, for they are very cool. Sounds like you would be much happier if you did.