Why We’re Reorganizing Lorcana Before the August 16 Show
Getting ready for a card show usually starts long before we load the tables and displays into the car.
This time, it started with a decision to completely reorganize our Lorcana sales binders. Then my preordered case of Attack of the Vine arrived, and naturally, I opened three booster boxes.
That created an entirely new mountain of cards to deal with.
First, I needed to sort through everything for my Attack of the Vine master set. Then I needed to determine which cards were duplicates and could move into the Wickler’s Zards sales inventory before our August 16 show.
The Fun Part
Opening the packs was the easy part.
There is a little rush that comes with ripping packs, especially when the set is brand new. I like to look at every card as I go. I want to see the artwork, notice the characters appearing in the set, and take my time getting toward the back of the pack where the cold foils, legendary cards, and really shiny epic cards might be waiting.
That anticipation makes it very easy to say, “Just one more pack.”
Chris opens cards completely differently. Whether it is Pokémon or Lorcana, he usually looks toward the back of the pack first to see the big pull, then goes back through the rest of the cards afterward.
We enjoy the same hobby, but our pack-opening rituals could not be more different.
Our sorting habits are different too.
When Chris opens Pokémon, he usually has a sorting tray in his lap. As I hand him the cards, he separates the full arts, ex cards, shiny cards, and base cards right then.
When I open Lorcana, I put everything into the sorting tray and tell myself I will deal with it later.
Later eventually arrived.
Building the Hoard
With three booster boxes worth of cards waiting for me, I began by separating them into groups: card numbers 1–50, 51–100, 101–150, and everything above 150. From there, I can put each group into exact numerical order and determine what belongs in the master set.
It is the same process every time. I get the fun of opening the packs, followed by the punishment of sorting all the cards I enthusiastically opened.
But this round of sorting is about more than building a new master set. It is also part of changing how we present Lorcana at our shows.
More Than Just a Binder
Previously, our sales cards were mostly organized by set. That made sense from a collector’s perspective, but it did not always make sense to the people browsing our table.
Lorcana is still gaining popularity in our area. Many people who stop at our table do not play the game and may not recognize the names of the sets. What they do recognize are Disney and Pixar characters.
After organizing one binder by movies and characters, I noticed more people stopping to look through it.
They would pause while flipping the pages and suddenly say things like:
“I loved this movie when I was a kid.”
“That’s my favorite character.”
“Do you have Stitch?”
“Do you have Angel?”
“Do you have Lady and the Tramp?”
They may not know the rules of Lorcana, the card’s ink color, or which set it came from. But they know Mickey and Minnie. They know Winnie the Pooh, Toy Story, Buzz Lightyear, Woody, and the characters connected to their own memories.
With Pixar now joining Lorcana, there are even more familiar stories appearing in the binders.
That is when I realized people were not necessarily searching by set.
They were searching by feeling.
More Than Cards
A card may remind them of a favorite childhood movie, a character they have always loved, or something they now share with their children or grandchildren. Organizing the binders by movie and character makes those connections easier to find.
So before the August show, both Lorcana sales binders are being reorganized around the way people actually browse.
Yes, Wickler’s Zards is there to sell cards. But Chris and I are collectors too. He builds Pokémon master sets, and I build Lorcana master sets. We understand the excitement of finally finding a missing card and the attachment someone can have to a particular character.
We like hearing those stories.
Why Gengar?
Why Mimikyu?
Why Dragonite?
Why Piglet, Buzz Lightyear, or Woody?
Sometimes the answer is about the game. Other times, it is about a memory, a family member, or a character that has meant something to them for years.
That connection is what we want Wickler’s Zards to be known for.
We want people to recognize our table, find cards they are excited about, feel that our prices are reasonable, and leave happy with what they found. We want to be more than another table covered in inventory.
We want to be part of the collecting community—and help build it.
So, for now, the Attack of the Vine cards are being numbered, sorted, added to the master set, separated into duplicates, priced, sleeved, and placed into their new homes in the sales binders.
The hoard is getting ready.
And hopefully, somewhere inside it is the card someone has been waiting to find.
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