Tell me all your Magic The Gathering stories

All discussions regarding Board, Card, and RPG Gaming, including industry discussion, that don't belong in one of the other gaming forums.

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JSHAW
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Tell me all your Magic The Gathering stories

Post by JSHAW »

I recently got into MTG in late january, and I've been buying/acquiring cards, sets, collections, etc. ever since.

The other day I bought 7000 bulk cards, mostly commons and uncommons from my local game store, got another 3000 from ebay, and had already purchased 7,200 last month from the same LGS. I bought a sealed booster box of Ultimate Masters for $350, and Dominaria for $125.

That's not all I have bought, leaving alot of the good stuff out, maybe for another post another day, maybe some pics of the collection.

I haven't played a single game...yet. I like the art work on the cards, I like the physical act of cracking open booster packs, getting really cool
rare and mythic rare cards, the process of sorting cards and putting them in their individual color groups (white, red, blue, black, green) is
something that keeps me entertained and gives me something to do during my days.

I've been able to finance my Magic card buys by selling off ALL xb1 console games, and an extra system I had, sold off some
collectibles and have been able to make alot of sales using the OfferUp app. Sold an Original Charlotte Hornets Starter jacket to a guy for $80

So...I'm hooked, cardboard crack. WORTH IT!!!
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Re: Tell me all your Magic The Gathering stories

Post by YellowKing »

I haven't played in about 20 years, but there was a time when I was pretty heavily into it. Enough so, at least, that I participated in a few weekly tournaments.

I kick myself constantly that I didn't hold on to my cards, as they'd probably be worth a good bit today. At some point I must have thrown them out. There was never a thought that Magic would not only still be around two decades later, but thriving.

I've mentioned it in another thread before, but I was talking to the owner of our local game store which does a lot of online business in Magic cards, and I was asking him how he thought our area was able to support a board gaming store for as long as it had (it's been here about a decade). He replied that he could literally stay in business on the revenue from Magic: The Gathering ALONE. The board games were all just side money. I was pretty astounded. :shock:
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JSHAW
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Re: Tell me your Magic The Gathering stories

Post by JSHAW »

My local game store is called Parker, Banner, Kent & Wayne, website is www.pbkwcomics.com, he has a long history of being a huge fan of comics, his personal story is on the site. His store at one point had comics, and board games. Now an entire side of the store is an area for magic tournments and
for people to play board games.

I've seen the transformation of his store into a huge MTG gaming/meeting place, tournaments, sales, he does it all.

From my perspective I'm seeing a huge surge in the popularity of MTG, and it's stores like his that are keeping it alive and well.
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Re: Tell me all your Magic The Gathering stories

Post by hepcat »

YellowKing wrote: Mon Mar 11, 2019 7:45 am I've mentioned it in another thread before, but I was talking to the owner of our local game store which does a lot of online business in Magic cards, and I was asking him how he thought our area was able to support a board gaming store for as long as it had (it's been here about a decade). He replied that he could literally stay in business on the revenue from Magic: The Gathering ALONE. The board games were all just side money. I was pretty astounded. :shock:
I've heard from someone who worked for a distributor that this is often the case for game/comic stores. It's either Magic or Pokemon. The latter is still pretty huge, I guess. Go figure.

I played briefly in college. Wasn't really my bag back then. So I traded all my first run cards (around 300) to a friend for some computer games. Those cards are probably worth thousands of dollars now. :x
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Re: Tell me all your Magic The Gathering stories

Post by MonkeyFinger »

As I mentioned in another thread, my FLGS (which handles a plethora of board games, miniatures, comics and coffee) only deals with Magic when it comes to CCGs. They were happy to take mine off my hands. :D
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Re: Tell me all your Magic The Gathering stories

Post by LawBeefaroni »

JSHAW wrote: Sun Mar 10, 2019 7:14 pm I recently got into MTG in late january, and I've been buying/acquiring cards, sets, collections, etc. ever since.

The other day I bought 7000 bulk cards, mostly commons and uncommons from my local game store, got another 3000 from ebay, and had already purchased 7,200 last month from the same LGS. I bought a sealed booster box of Ultimate Masters for $350, and Dominaria for $125.

...

So...I'm hooked, cardboard crack. WORTH IT!!!
I did this with baseball cards for a few years starting around 2012. Loved it as a hobby and relaxer but it eventually got way too big. The last two years I've been selling off and am down to a small, focused collection. Probably spent $8K, churned several times that, and have around $3k worth left as a limited collection. Storage is a PITA so it's all about consolidating


Obviously it's different with Magic since you build decks and whatnot but I get it.



Here's a story. I had a ton of 2011Mike Trout rookies. I was selling them at $10/pop back when a box was $60 and easily had 3 or 4 plus tons of other cards. Felt like...cheating. I probably sold 40 like that. Well, joke was on me. Fast forward 7 years or so and I had a few left lying around and sent them off in my latest consignment batch. First one up sold for $379. I yanked the rest back. :shock: :grund:
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Re: Tell me all your Magic The Gathering stories

Post by Blackhawk »

YellowKing wrote: Mon Mar 11, 2019 7:45 am I've mentioned it in another thread before, but I was talking to the owner of our local game store which does a lot of online business in Magic cards, and I was asking him how he thought our area was able to support a board gaming store for as long as it had (it's been here about a decade). He replied that he could literally stay in business on the revenue from Magic: The Gathering ALONE. The board games were all just side money. I was pretty astounded. :shock:
That's actually become a big problem in the stores around here. There are actually two 'board game' stores in Terre Haute that ostensibly sell board games, RPGs, and CCGs. Walk through the door in either and the staff walks right up to you, ready to please. The second they find out you're there for the 'side' products and not CCGs, they turn their back on you and walk away. Their board games are out of date, out of stock, or over priced. And if you have a problem with one after purchase, you're fucked. I've heard similar horror stories about stores from other places. They're run by hobbyists, not business people, and they don't give a damn about customers that aren't interested in their money makers.

And these are the stores that big board game companies are forbidding online sales in order to support. Of four tabletop stores within about 70 miles of me, three are like that.
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Re: Tell me all your Magic The Gathering stories

Post by El Guapo »

I started playing Magic in middle school (around 1994-1995) and played through high school. I sold my most valuable cards on eBay a couple years ago, and netted ~ $1,200 total. And the thing is that I missed the real gold rush - I started during Revised Edition, and if you started during the edition right before that (Unlimited) you were opening packs with some cards that are now worth $200 - $500 per card. The shame is that in high school one friend with parents who basically bought him everything (so he had every one of the out-of-print "power cards") had a going out of business sale when he was quitting Magic, and sold all of those cards for 70%+ discounts. I did buy one power card (Mox Sapphire) from that sale for around $70, but if I had been smart I should've borrowed money from my parents, bought literally everything, then sold a few of the cards to pay my parents back almost right away, and then made huge profits from everything else. Oh well.

My one regret (I guess aside from that) is that at one point I had a pretty killer type II merfolk deck. I took it to one tournament and went undefeated in the main round, before losing in the playoffs to a deck I had (narrowly) beaten during the main round. My regret is that I really should've taken that deck around to a bunch of tournaments, as I think I would've won one sooner or later.
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Re: Tell me all your Magic The Gathering stories

Post by hentzau »

I was there when Magic was born, my friends. I was at the Gen Con where it premiered. Everywhere you saw people sitting wherever you could find space, playing this card game.

So of course, we each bought a beta deck and like 2 booster packs...it was the limit as to what you could buy at the time. We were instantly hooked. We wanted more!

And then, you couldn't get more. It was gone. Sold out everywhere. When a store would get in boosters, they would mark them up, or only sell by the case. And because we were stuck playing with the same cards over and over, we got bored. And lost interest. And moved on to other things, and eventually gave away our starter beta decks and cards to a buddy.

So I avoided the money pit that is M:tG. But I found other things to spend the money on. :)
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Re: Tell me all your Magic The Gathering stories

Post by hentzau »

Forgot I uncovered this while clearing out my game room...the premier issue of The Duelist, the magazine dedicated to playing. M:tG.

Image
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Re: Tell me all your Magic The Gathering stories

Post by Archinerd »

Toy Boat Mayhem

My brother came up with this format a few years ago. Goals were to promote varied decks and avoid 'mana screw'. You don't have to keep spending money on the game either if you can convince your opponents to play this format.
It actually works quite well.

Lots and lots of more info at the linked site above.
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Re: Tell me all your Magic The Gathering stories

Post by YellowKing »

Blackhawk wrote:The second they find out you're there for the 'side' products and not CCGs, they turn their back on you and walk away.
Yikes! I consider myself very fortunate then.

This store not only has the latest releases, they're extremely reasonable. Typically they charge about what I'd pay buying it online with shipping, so I buy local whenever possible.

The staff is also exceptional - they're very attentive and I've seen them go out of their way to help game "n00bs" and others who aren't very comfortable in a store like that. They're also constantly promoting events to help people learn new games or bring in families.

A little later this year they're expanding into the next door space and opening a full gaming cafe, which I'm really excited about.
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Re: Tell me all your Magic The Gathering stories

Post by Blackhawk »

I've generally found that there are four types of dedicated game stores:

~Hobby game stores, like what you described. We're lucky to have one around, although it's the furthest from me. They tend to be friendly, helpful, enthusiastic, and a fair.
~Boutique game stores. They only carry a few top releases, don't do events, and good luck ever finding a sale - everything is at the highest price they can get away with.
~GW stores. They look like hobby stores, but exist for the sole purpose of Games Workshop products. They tend to be friendly, but a little elitist. They aren't too bad, though, and the larger ones can pull off hobby store at the same time.
~MtG stores. These look like hobby stores, too, but are generally focused around Magic, and only Magic (/Pokemon/X-Wing/etc.) They tend to be the most elitist and most unfriendly to people not interested in games that don't require continuous investment.

GW stores seem to be getting rarer, and in my experience, it is the hobby game stores that are the most likely to go out of business. Sadly, they all require one of the 'big' properties to stay in business these days.
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Re: Tell me all your Magic The Gathering stories

Post by Redfive »

Don't want to stray too far from the OP, but this is the FLGS about two blocks from where I work. It is absolutely awesome.

I believe they move quite a bit of magic product and they hold tournaments as well, but as you can see from the gallery on the site, they cater to tabletop gamers (including / especially D&D) and Ren Faire enthusiasts. They charge MSRP for all products so you can find everything cheaper online. I just like to support the awesome environment they have cultivated.
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Re: Tell me all your Magic The Gathering stories

Post by JSHAW »

Redfive wrote: Tue Mar 12, 2019 9:32 am Don't want to stray too far from the OP, but this is the FLGS about two blocks from where I work. It is absolutely awesome.

I believe they move quite a bit of magic product and they hold tournaments as well, but as you can see from the gallery on the site, they cater to tabletop gamers (including / especially D&D) and Ren Faire enthusiasts. They charge MSRP for all products so you can find everything cheaper online. I just like to support the awesome environment they have cultivated.
That's a real nice place, I like the wooden tables and chairs. It has that "medieval times" feel to it.

I'm not the expert of local game stores, but I feel that game stores survive and last by selling products that people want, at a reasonable price
with customer service that's not too pushy, that's friendly without being too intrusive and continue to strive to be the best game store they can be.

It's very easy to buy everything on amazon, there's way more risk in being a game store owner and making ends meet, meeting payroll, keeping the rent paid and the lights on. I respect the entrepreneur who has the balls to go brick and mortar.
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Re: Tell me all your Magic The Gathering stories

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hentzau wrote: Mon Mar 11, 2019 5:59 pm

So I avoided the money pit that is M:tG large profits from buying cards back then. But I found other things to spend the money on. :)
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Re: Tell me all your Magic The Gathering stories

Post by hentzau »

El Guapo wrote: Tue Mar 12, 2019 1:45 pm
hentzau wrote: Mon Mar 11, 2019 5:59 pm

So I avoided the money pit that is M:tG large profits from buying cards back then. But I found other things to spend the money on. :)
Potato, potato.
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Re: Tell me all your Magic The Gathering stories

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hentzau wrote: Tue Mar 12, 2019 4:16 pm
El Guapo wrote: Tue Mar 12, 2019 1:45 pm
hentzau wrote: Mon Mar 11, 2019 5:59 pm

So I avoided the money pit that is M:tG large profits from buying cards back then. But I found other things to spend the money on. :)
Potato, potato.
Not to get off track, but doesn't it need to be "potato po-tah-to"? Otherwise you're just repeating the word potato twice.
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Re: Tell me all your Magic The Gathering stories

Post by Isgrimnur »

El Guapo wrote: Tue Mar 12, 2019 4:40 pm
hentzau wrote: Tue Mar 12, 2019 4:16 pm
El Guapo wrote: Tue Mar 12, 2019 1:45 pm
hentzau wrote: Mon Mar 11, 2019 5:59 pm

So I avoided the money pit that is M:tG large profits from buying cards back then. But I found other things to spend the money on. :)
Potato, potato.
Not to get off track, but doesn't it need to be "potato po-tah-to"? Otherwise you're just repeating the word potato twice.
Potato, potatoe
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Re: Tell me all your Magic The Gathering stories

Post by Skinypupy »

I made a very concerted effort to get into MtG with Little B 10.0 last year. We bought about 10 different starter decks and a few booster packs, and we used to play pretty regularly. Problem was that neither of us could really figure out how to build decks (and didn't really feel like dedicating the time to learning), so it kinda fizzled out. Opening boosters ended up feeling like more of a chore, because we would have to try (unsuccessfully) to figure how how these new cards jived with what we already had. We also ran into a barrier because all of her friends are into Pokemon and kept telling her MtG is "creepy", which really limited her excitement. We did have some better luck with the digital versions, as the flashy bells and whistles are pretty cool and it managed all the rules.

I'm hoping that she'll eventually give it another shot. If not, I've still got the Wonder Twins...once they can handle the math.
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Re: Tell me all your Magic The Gathering stories

Post by Isgrimnur »

For deck building, look for card synergies and stick to 2-3 colors max. Use a range of costs with a good structure of cheap stuff to get started early.

My personal favorite deck, which took way too long to get running, was a Blue-White-Artifact deck that had Phantasmal Walls (7/4 Flying, First Strike), Animate Wall so that I could attack with them, and a Skull Catapult.

I won one game when my opponent was down to 9 points. I hit him with the wall unblocked, then used the Skull Catapult for the last two points.
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Re: Tell me all your Magic The Gathering stories

Post by El Guapo »

Skinypupy wrote: Wed Mar 13, 2019 3:58 pm I made a very concerted effort to get into MtG with Little B 10.0 last year. We bought about 10 different starter decks and a few booster packs, and we used to play pretty regularly. Problem was that neither of us could really figure out how to build decks (and didn't really feel like dedicating the time to learning), so it kinda fizzled out. Opening boosters ended up feeling like more of a chore, because we would have to try (unsuccessfully) to figure how how these new cards jived with what we already had. We also ran into a barrier because all of her friends are into Pokemon and kept telling her MtG is "creepy", which really limited her excitement. We did have some better luck with the digital versions, as the flashy bells and whistles are pretty cool and it managed all the rules.

I'm hoping that she'll eventually give it another shot. If not, I've still got the Wonder Twins...once they can handle the math.
Honestly, if her friends are into Pokémon, I'd avoid swimming upstream and just go in that direction. The social aspect will make it much more fun for her. And while I've never played the game, it seems to have a significant enough fan base that it's probably not terrible at least.
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Re: Tell me all your Magic The Gathering stories

Post by Isgrimnur »

Especially given the upcoming release of the Eighth Generation game and ensuing sets.

7th Gen Sun and Moon had Team Up drop in February and Unbroken Bonds will drop in May.
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Re: Tell me all your Magic The Gathering stories

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El Guapo wrote: Wed Mar 13, 2019 4:18 pm
Skinypupy wrote: Wed Mar 13, 2019 3:58 pm I made a very concerted effort to get into MtG with Little B 10.0 last year. We bought about 10 different starter decks and a few booster packs, and we used to play pretty regularly. Problem was that neither of us could really figure out how to build decks (and didn't really feel like dedicating the time to learning), so it kinda fizzled out. Opening boosters ended up feeling like more of a chore, because we would have to try (unsuccessfully) to figure how how these new cards jived with what we already had. We also ran into a barrier because all of her friends are into Pokemon and kept telling her MtG is "creepy", which really limited her excitement. We did have some better luck with the digital versions, as the flashy bells and whistles are pretty cool and it managed all the rules.

I'm hoping that she'll eventually give it another shot. If not, I've still got the Wonder Twins...once they can handle the math.
Honestly, if her friends are into Pokémon, I'd avoid swimming upstream and just go in that direction. The social aspect will make it much more fun for her. And while I've never played the game, it seems to have a significant enough fan base that it's probably not terrible at least.
We actually gave Pokemon a very concerted effort as well. We found that while she loved the cards and the whole "collection" aspect of getting new monsters, neither of us really liked the actual game itself at all. In fact, she's the one who asked that we quit playing it because it was "so lame".

Funny thing is, she confided to me that of all her friends that soured her on MtG, there's only one who knows how to actually play Pokemon. The rest just collect the cards and have no clue about the game itself. :lol:
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Re: Tell me all your Magic The Gathering stories

Post by Isgrimnur »

Sounds like a trip to the local game store is in order for game night.
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Re: Tell me all your Magic The Gathering stories

Post by El Guapo »

Skinypupy wrote: Wed Mar 13, 2019 4:26 pm
El Guapo wrote: Wed Mar 13, 2019 4:18 pm
Skinypupy wrote: Wed Mar 13, 2019 3:58 pm I made a very concerted effort to get into MtG with Little B 10.0 last year. We bought about 10 different starter decks and a few booster packs, and we used to play pretty regularly. Problem was that neither of us could really figure out how to build decks (and didn't really feel like dedicating the time to learning), so it kinda fizzled out. Opening boosters ended up feeling like more of a chore, because we would have to try (unsuccessfully) to figure how how these new cards jived with what we already had. We also ran into a barrier because all of her friends are into Pokemon and kept telling her MtG is "creepy", which really limited her excitement. We did have some better luck with the digital versions, as the flashy bells and whistles are pretty cool and it managed all the rules.

I'm hoping that she'll eventually give it another shot. If not, I've still got the Wonder Twins...once they can handle the math.
Honestly, if her friends are into Pokémon, I'd avoid swimming upstream and just go in that direction. The social aspect will make it much more fun for her. And while I've never played the game, it seems to have a significant enough fan base that it's probably not terrible at least.
We actually gave Pokemon a very concerted effort as well. We found that while she loved the cards and the whole "collection" aspect of getting new monsters, neither of us really liked the actual game itself at all. In fact, she's the one who asked that we quit playing it because it was "so lame".

Funny thing is, she confided to me that of all her friends that soured her on MtG, there's only one who knows how to actually play Pokemon. The rest just collect the cards and have no clue about the game itself. :lol:
Ok. Then try to steer her towards board games (or P&P RPGs, if you are so inclined - with luck you'll avoid the recurring costs of CCGs that way.
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Re: Tell me all your Magic The Gathering stories

Post by Isgrimnur »

El Guapo wrote: Wed Mar 13, 2019 4:56 pm Ok. Then try to steer her towards board games (or P&P RPGs, if you are so inclined - with luck you'll avoid the recurring costs of CCGs that way.
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Re: Tell me all your Magic The Gathering stories

Post by Tao »

Anyone have any experience with selling MTG cards recently? I was cleaning out a closet and came across my collection and decided to get rid of what I have. I kept things pretty organized and a quick review of some of the card buying sites online would indicate I have some items worth over $1,000 each, either sets or individual cards. My preference is to sell to a local shop even though I know I will take a hit on resale value, which I am okay with for the ease of it all but I don't want to get completely ripped off. Anyone know what the average mark-down is compared to sites like Card Kingdom or MTGSeattle, etc? If I am looking at 30 to 40 cents on the dollar might be worth the aggravation to pack it up and sell online.
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Re: Tell me all your Magic The Gathering stories

Post by Skinypupy »

Isgrimnur wrote: Wed Mar 13, 2019 5:31 pm
El Guapo wrote: Wed Mar 13, 2019 4:56 pm Ok. Then try to steer her towards board games (or P&P RPGs, if you are so inclined - with luck you'll avoid the recurring costs of CCGs that way.
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Re: Tell me all your Magic The Gathering stories

Post by LordMortis »

Tao wrote: Tue Feb 04, 2020 6:01 pm Anyone have any experience with selling MTG cards recently? I was cleaning out a closet and came across my collection and decided to get rid of what I have. I kept things pretty organized and a quick review of some of the card buying sites online would indicate I have some items worth over $1,000 each, either sets or individual cards. My preference is to sell to a local shop even though I know I will take a hit on resale value, which I am okay with for the ease of it all but I don't want to get completely ripped off. Anyone know what the average mark-down is compared to sites like Card Kingdom or MTGSeattle, etc? If I am looking at 30 to 40 cents on the dollar might be worth the aggravation to pack it up and sell online.
you can try PMing chaosraven. I don't know if he'll respond though. He's been absent across all media for a long while as far as I know. He has been active MTG trader for a very long time. For him, who knew all the vendors all over, if he wanted cash, shops that wanted the cards but could not basically just hand them to someone else the second you sold them, would give about $.25 on the dollar. If the cards had value but the shops weren't looking for them, you'd get less. He primarily traded. Shops tend toward $.50 on the dollar for trade.

When last I spoke to him, when he was looking for money, he'd sell consignment or online. Online, he would typically bundle cards that people tend to want together.

He was very good but he truly enjoyed the sorting and selling and it was a part time job for his efforts. I don't think most would see his kind of success.
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Re: Tell me all your Magic The Gathering stories

Post by wire »

A friend got a job at WotC when they were still pretty small, they hadn't moved into their big corporate office that they are still in yet. He invited me to a game night shortly after he started and we learned to play there. It was shortly after Revised was released so I got in early and spent way more than I should have been spending on cards. I have a full set of Revised with lots of duplicates and several dual lands stored away. I stopped buying cards shortly after Ice Age was released as I could keep up with all of the expansions and deck building and haven't played for well over 20 years. One of these days I should look into selling my collection but it seems a bit daunting.
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LordMortis
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Re: Tell me all your Magic The Gathering stories

Post by LordMortis »

It was shortly after Revised was released so I got in early and spent way more than I should have been spending on cards.
I got in at the ground floor and spend over a grand on alpha/beta Arabian knights and fallen empires before getting out. To a college kid working at 7-11 to pay for said college, a grand in early 1990s money was a semester of tuition.

I remember playing to hoard rats and moxes and black lotus before the 4 cards rule.
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El Guapo
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Re: Tell me all your Magic The Gathering stories

Post by El Guapo »

Tao wrote: Tue Feb 04, 2020 6:01 pm Anyone have any experience with selling MTG cards recently? I was cleaning out a closet and came across my collection and decided to get rid of what I have. I kept things pretty organized and a quick review of some of the card buying sites online would indicate I have some items worth over $1,000 each, either sets or individual cards. My preference is to sell to a local shop even though I know I will take a hit on resale value, which I am okay with for the ease of it all but I don't want to get completely ripped off. Anyone know what the average mark-down is compared to sites like Card Kingdom or MTGSeattle, etc? If I am looking at 30 to 40 cents on the dollar might be worth the aggravation to pack it up and sell online.
A few years ago I sold my expensive cards (dual lands plus a few others) on eBay, and got what I think were pretty reasonable prices. I don't have experience with local stores or Card Kingdom or the like.
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Tao
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Re: Tell me all your Magic The Gathering stories

Post by Tao »

I wound up calling my local gaming shop on Tuesday, where I know they are big in to MTG. They told me they had a gentlemen who purchased cards and he was in house a few nights a week. The person on the phone asked if I had a large collection, I asked what he considered large and he said several hundred cards. I laughed and told him I probably had roughly 10,000 cards, was it still okay to bring it in, he said sure.

So last night I brought 4 large binders and 3 large (3,000 card count) boxes to the shop. I spoke with the young man at the counter and told him I was the one that called about selling my MTG collection, he told me to bring it all in and showed me where to place it, I brought in the binders which contained my sets of un-played mint cards and within minutes I had a crowd gathered around with lots of "Oh my god" and "Holy Shit, why are you selling this". The highlight of the evening was when one of the clerks flipped a page in the binder and said a little shakily " Is that a Tabernacle", to which I responded "uhm yeah I guess so, pretty sure there is another one in the other book", I thought he was going to faint. They are currently evaluating my collection and stated they use pricing from a online site called StarCity Games, I think the main person either owns or works there. Unfortunately I was told it might be worth more than they have the resources to purchase, but they were really nice and told me if that was the case they would be more than happy to help me find a larger venue or a collector.

The bulk of the more valuable cards I have are apparently from Antiquities, Legends and Revised. If anyone is sitting on any old MTG collection, particularly with similar cards or even Beta/Unlimited/Arabian,the really valuable stuff, and it's just collecting dust it might be worthwhile to have it looked at. I don't have a Lotus or a Mox and my stuff is mostly 20+ years old so I figured at best it might be worth a couple hundred bucks but apparently people are looking to pay a premium for some of the older stuff.
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Re: Tell me all your Magic The Gathering stories

Post by LordMortis »

I am under the impression anything from the Dark and before is worth a ton if you can find the buyers. When you say 30 or 40 cents on the dollar for 1000's of cards, I'm guess your are looking at substantially more than a couple of bucks no matter how low a buyer goes.

Good for you!

First site I could find on Legends lists Tabernacale between $1800 and $2100

https://shop.tcgplayer.com/price-guide/magic/legends

So you figure 20% of $1800 and a dealer ought to pay you at least $350 for that card alone.

You'll have 1000s of cards that will get pennies but you should have 100s that will get dollars and a few that will cash in (though none like the tabernacle. Mersa's Workshop, maybe.)

I do wish chaosraven were still around. He is a MtG Rainman.
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Re: Tell me all your Magic The Gathering stories

Post by El Guapo »

Why would you take only 20% of the value? There are Tabernacles on eBay right now selling for $1,000+.

Anyway, yeah you should be able to get a ton of money out of your collection. I sold maybe 30ish cards of my mostly Revised Edition (and on) cards and got over $1,000. From what you have it sounds like over $10,000 is not out of the question.
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LordMortis
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Re: Tell me all your Magic The Gathering stories

Post by LordMortis »

El Guapo wrote: Fri Feb 07, 2020 5:22 pm Why would you take only 20% of the value? There are Tabernacles on eBay right now selling for $1,000+.

Anyway, yeah you should be able to get a ton of money out of your collection. I sold maybe 30ish cards of my mostly Revised Edition (and on) cards and got over $1,000. From what you have it sounds like over $10,000 is not out of the question.
To have a dealer take it off your hands and be done with it. That was the original question. Do you sell to a dealer or make the effort to sell online?
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Re: Tell me all your Magic The Gathering stories

Post by El Guapo »

LordMortis wrote: Fri Feb 07, 2020 5:58 pm
El Guapo wrote: Fri Feb 07, 2020 5:22 pm Why would you take only 20% of the value? There are Tabernacles on eBay right now selling for $1,000+.

Anyway, yeah you should be able to get a ton of money out of your collection. I sold maybe 30ish cards of my mostly Revised Edition (and on) cards and got over $1,000. From what you have it sounds like over $10,000 is not out of the question.
To have a dealer take it off your hands and be done with it. That was the original question. Do you sell to a dealer or make the effort to sell online?
Seems like an easy decision if the dealer will only give you 20% of value, given the dollar amounts involved here. Personally I doubt I'd be willing to take much more than a 5% haircut.
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Re: Tell me all your Magic The Gathering stories

Post by Blackhawk »

It's been my experience in other collectibles that you're lucky to have a dealer pay half value, and will often be looking at 25-30%. You're selling to the guy who loses access to his money until he finds a buyer, and he takes the risk that the market will drop before he does so. If he pays you $900 for a $1000 item, and in the six months it takes him to find a buyer the market drops to $750, he's screwed. And he needs to make enough money off of risk #1 that he's covered when the above happens to risk #2 next week.

The only time you're likely to get a higher percentage is if it is a big ticket item that is in a stable market and hot enough that a quick sale is almost guaranteed. They'll be more willing to take the risk when they know they can pay $1800 today and sell it for $2100 by next week.

The alternative is to research them yourself, learn the market yourself, find buyers yourself, deal with the potential fraud yourself, and sell a large collection of one piece at a time over a period of years. A lot of people do that. A lot don't want to deal with opening a side business to get their money.

That doesn't mean you should get yourself screwed. If you have a valuable collection you should research it to some degree yourself (ebay is not a good source of prices on collectibles), and you should get multiple appraisals and/or offers.
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Tell me all your Magic The Gathering stories

Post by Zarathud »

Apparently there are many ebay scammers happy to swap your real card for fakes and demanding refunds.

A friend after college collected Revised to Arabian Knights heavily. Sold 1/3 of his collection a decade ago for the down payment on his house. At 20% he could walk out of a store with over $50,000 in cash. And possibly get mugged because selling a large collection gains attention.
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