Everyone had their thing, that area of specialization and interest in which they could sort the wheat from the chaff, the valuable from the worthless. And for Maggie Kincaid, it was Arcards: Magic Decks.

She constantly sought out all sources of the cards, be they local hobby shops, social media sales postings, or the huddles outside of tournaments. Always ready to get the cards flipping, sorting them into three piles: buy, check, reject. It was pure muscle memory by this point, and Maggie could often feel her fingers reflexively twitch just looking at any sizable pile of the things.

What people always want to know, though, was why. Why would Mrs. Kincaid, age 53, care about a collectable card game that had been invented in 1996? The answer was always the same: it was fun. Not the game, per se: Maggie rarely actually played Arcards and was not terribly good when she did. But the hunt? The constant searching for deals? The thrill of getting a $2 card for 5¢? That was the real game, and it was as much fun for Mrs. Kincaid, age 53, as it had been for Mrs. Kincaid, née Ms. Tunney, age 26.

Some people traded stocks. Some collected rare baseball cards worth thousands. Maggie Kincaid could get that same endorphin rush for pennies, and yet people always asked why as if it were something that needed a deeper reason.

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