Old cards always lost value when they rotated out of Standard compared to their newer counterparts; that's not a new thing. The cards that retained value had uses in eternal formats and often were not reprinted. The only difference now is that some cards that used to be very expensive due to scarcity are dropping in price because they see less play and because WOTC has adopted a less stringent and less predatory reprint model.
Sets (OTJ) Outlaws of Thunder Junction Previews
- Thread starter TrainmasterGT
- Start date
Yes, and that's a good thing! More cards and hugs for the masses!
I have a group of people who play, but no one who collects. So, no.
I would sell if I weren't lazy.
It's super rare that I go to anything other than a cube draft of my own cube lol.
So, to affirm with you: You do not trade your cards away for other cards and you do not sell them for money so instead you keep them at home, or in other words, you collect them?
I am participating seriously, the metaphor illustrates my disagreement. You're the one not engaging with it in good faith.
Let's say I draft magic every Thursday. I keep the cards I drafted, and I get some amount of change from paying the entry fee (this is over ten years ago when people still used paper money.) I have all the cards from my drafts lying around in some box, and I have all the change in some drawer, because I can't bother getting rid of either of them. Am I a Magic: the Gathering collector and a coin collector?
I'm not. I am at best (and worst) a hoarder. Collecting, from a hobby perspective, implies a deliberate attempt to seek out a category of items to add to a collection. Brad is clearly apathetic towards his leftover cards and isn't making an active effort to collect more of them, so he is not a collector.
Then answer the question.
Are you or are you not still trading your cards away or selling them?
I still do a lot of trading, but I'm getting to the point where I have fewer valuable cards that I want to get rid of than cards that I want. In that respect, I've done a little bit too good of a job trading!
I would add that I am trading a little bit less than I used to, but I think that’s because I've switched LGS’s fairly recently and that community just tends to trade less in general.
Great question lol
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
I still trade when I get the opportunity, but since I have a disposable income nowadays, unlike 20 years ago, I often just buy the cards I want through MagicCardMarket.
Many of the players in my playgroup have been playing for over 15-20 years, and are in a similar place.
Many of the players in my playgroup have been playing for over 15-20 years, and are in a similar place.
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You might not have noticed but the cards in your collection have drastically dropped in value. Also in a faster rate than they would have a few years ago. Even your old cards that are in no danger of rotating out of a format. So this is probably the reason why it doesn’t feel worth it to spend time trading. Because grown ups with disposable income DID trade when it was worth it.
The reason is Hasbro decided they wanted part of that value so they decided to reprint collection gems into oblivion. Nothing is off limit for hjem. Remember how Planeswalkers were a snap-shot picture of how they were at a given point in time in the story? Say hello to Liliana of the Veil in Standard set again. Even reserved list cards are being reprinted which is crazy!
Honestly I think this has more to do with the convenience factor provided by directly ordering cards. During the Pandemic, people really couldn't trade for the cards they needed, so they had to buy online instead. If you're an adult with disposable income, it's way easier to just buy the singles you need than lug around a binder with all of your random cards. I used to trade for low-cost cards all the time, but I've noticed recently that people don't bother trading cards that are under 5 or 10 dollars anymore– it's just easier to buy from a vendor. I still make big trades, the last two times I've traded has been for cards totaling over $50 in value!
I think what's happening to the singles market is a lot like what happened to shopping malls– they used to be very common and popular, but purchasing things online is so much more convenient that it's not as worthwhile anymore. Malls aren’t “dead,” people will still go for experiences like eating at a fun restaurant or shopping at a high-end store in order to try on something expensive before purchasing. However, for day to day purchases, the internet is just so much more convenient, and much less expensive!
My Cube has dropped in value by about 50% from its peak. It's a little embarrassing in the sense that I told my wife "if something happens to me, have this friend help you sell the Cube first thing" with the 2021 inflated dollar value associated, but most of that value had appreciated from the time I had bought the cards so it's not like I "lost" a terrible sum.
I think it's probably a mixed bag for the game. LGS owners have miserable margins and take homes in most circumstances anyways, so the fact that singles are so dangerous to have in inventory now days is not ideal. It's not as though the game has gotten meaningfully cheaper -- Commander is the main way to play, and is just as staple-hungry and expensive for "optimal play" as Modern was in the mid 2010s. I'm personally happy that Standard and Pioneer aren't terribly expensive outside of outliers like Sheoldred, even if cards tank faster than they used to.
I guess I wish it felt to me personally as though all the reprints made Magic cheaper/more accessible rather than just devaluing my collection, but that's realistically just negativity bias.
I think it's probably a mixed bag for the game. LGS owners have miserable margins and take homes in most circumstances anyways, so the fact that singles are so dangerous to have in inventory now days is not ideal. It's not as though the game has gotten meaningfully cheaper -- Commander is the main way to play, and is just as staple-hungry and expensive for "optimal play" as Modern was in the mid 2010s. I'm personally happy that Standard and Pioneer aren't terribly expensive outside of outliers like Sheoldred, even if cards tank faster than they used to.
I guess I wish it felt to me personally as though all the reprints made Magic cheaper/more accessible rather than just devaluing my collection, but that's realistically just negativity bias.
YUP!
And it’s only going to continue in this direction as per Hasbro.
But to give them some credit I personally love that all cards are getting so many variations on art and frame and flavor text. Okay Velrun out
Would you play a split card of these two in your Cube?
Now you can:
Now you can:
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
I just did a sealed event on Arena, and boy does this format have some heavy hitters! Only lost twice, once to a mana screw (my very first game), and once to a really cool and cohesive UB crime deck that gained major card advantage on the back of Intimidation Campaign. I nearly managed to stabilize on very low life, but then they dropped a Rakish Crew. Nice! Mana was surprisingly solid with 3 duals, two Dance of the Tumbleweeds (which is awesome in the late game, by the way), and the Oasis Gardener.
Ghired, Mirror of the Wilds did some funny shit for me, including copying a Treasure created by Jolene, Plundering Pugilist to cast a turn 5 Vaultborn Tyrant, and of course copying said Vaultborn Tyrant's token copy twice after an opponent killed the original Tyrant to dodge combat damage. Oops. In the final win, I actually managed to get Ghired, the Tyrant, and Calamity, Galloping Inferno onto the battlefield at the same time. That was very funny (for me)
Mana was surprisingly solid with 3 duals, two Dance of the Tumbleweeds (which is awesome in the late game, by the way), and the Oasis Gardener.Ghired, Mirror of the Wilds did some funny shit for me, including copying a Treasure created by Jolene, Plundering Pugilist to cast a turn 5 Vaultborn Tyrant, and of course copying said Vaultborn Tyrant's token copy twice after an opponent killed the original Tyrant to dodge combat damage. Oops. In the final win, I actually managed to get Ghired, the Tyrant, and Calamity, Galloping Inferno onto the battlefield at the same time. That was very funny (for me)