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Comics? Nah, let's talk real nerd stuff!

Started by USArmyParatrooper,

48 posts in this topic

USArmyParatrooper

USArmyParatrooper

Posted
Posted

I never understood the game of magic cards, and when one guy I briefly knew a few years ago tried to explain it to me I was still lost.

 

That being said, I don't hate on anyone but it strikes me as even nerdier than my comic hobby. He told me some of them are valuable, and pointed out a card called "Black Lotus"

 

Something reminded me of that and I just decided to check Ebay. Here's one graded 7.0 that sold for $2700.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/PSA-7-NM-Alpha-Black-Lotus-/120771667371?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c1e8d65ab

 

Here's a 10 asking $100,000 OBO!

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MAGIC-MTG-BETA-BLACK-LOTUS-BGS-10-HIGHEST-GRADED-/310327005845?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4840ee5295

 

Is this a growing hobby? Are there really an abundance of guys who can afford five and six figure collectibles that are into magic cards?

 

It's probably not something I would ever get into, although I was big into D&D as a kid in the '80s. But I am curious about the culture.

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Darkmind

Darkmind

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OMG I used to have 5 or 6 of those when I was in high school! Wow, wish I knew back then what they would be worth now.

 

 

Used to play MTG a lot when I was a kid, another one of those things that as I got older I just never had the time for. Sold all my cards to a buddy for 100 bucks a long long time ago.

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Darkmind

Darkmind

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Is it a growing hobby? meh, maybe. It was really big for us between 1997-2000 while in high school. I'm not really sure what kids are into today.

 

There was tiny anime convention at my local library and there were some kids playing it there.

 

 

Cool, i've seen some kids playing it at my LCS. Never had the time or want to get back into it. Just wish I would have kept all the cards I had. Checked out ebay and it seems I could have had a very nice down payment on a house with all the cards I had, if they are actually selling for what I'm seeing on ebay.

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Darkmind

Darkmind

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I remember it being a lot of fun, but I think thats because it was different from anything else we knew of. A lot of fun was in the building of a deck and seeing if it would smoke all your friends. Then the internet killed it for our group, everyone started looking up the best way to build a deck and took all the fun out of it.

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B3AST

B3AST

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It was the first CGC and it says alot that it is still around. I wouldn't say it's growing but maintaining a status quo. Which is more than can be said for comics in the almost two decades that magic has been around and I know a bunch of comic shops that are kept afloat by it.

 

The company, Wizards of the Coast, has done some genius marketing moves with it once it hit big around 1994. They created organized league play and made it illegal to use anything but a core set of cards plus the last 2 or 3 expansion sets in official tournament play. They release pretty much 3 expansion sets every year if not more. To the tournament player they are like crack they have to have them

 

I stopped cold turkey in 1995 I sold a bunch of cards then at about a %500 profit but still managed to hold onto some. Two years ago I sold the last 80 of my rare cards, including a very heavy played Black Lotus for just over $1400 which I then turned into an AR-15

 

As to the big figure cards, most of those are not tournament playable so the average tournament player isnt interested. I'd say there are about the same percentage of players who are collectors as there are comic guys who buy 9.8/9.6 only. The world championship pays $45,000 so there are some possible big spenders out there. An American hasn't held the world title since 2000. That gives you an indication of how wide spread it is.

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DailySuperpower

DailySuperpower

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Is this a growing hobby? Are there really an abundance of guys who can afford five and six figure collectibles that are into magic cards?

 

It's probably not something I would ever get into, although I was big into D&D as a kid in the '80s. But I am curious about the culture.

 

It is definitely a growing hobby with an age range of everything from 5-50. Most good tournament players are very down to earth normal guys who just enjoy a competitive and challenging game.

 

The expensive cards you're talking about are only played in one specific tournament format, and that format is rarely played. It's basically a different game than what most players participate in. When it is played the majority of tournament organizers allow up to 15 "proxies" to be used so you're probably only spending $200-$400 on a deck, and it's a deck you can use for the forseeable future because the cards never rotate.

 

I played a lot when I moved up to Minnesota. It's a great way to meet people when you're new in town.

 

I didn't make much money, but I did win a trip to Berlin to play in a Pro Tour in 2008.

 

 

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chrisco37

chrisco37

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Don't know much about MTG at all. I do remember a few years back, at some of the WW-Philly cons, they wold have massive tourneys and there always seemed to be a bunch of people there.

 

My LCS does a weekly game (Friday nights, I think). I've never been and have no idea how to play. Not interested in it, but there appears to be alot of people that are into it.

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goldust40

goldust40

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I remember at the Pittsburgh Cons I used to go to several years ago there would be as many people in the halls outside the main convention area playing that game as there were inside the show. None of them as far as I could tell ventured into the convention itself - there seemed to be no overlap there.

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Jeffro.

Jeffro.

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It' still a pretty big game. I played in the early days although I missed out on a lot of the "power" cards. About the best I have is dual lands from the revised set. I've been thinking about selling off all my cards.

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Chespirito

Chespirito

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Cards??...maybe not the same but I remember having the card collection for the movies Superman and Rocky on Topps cards way back in the day, I got the entire movies by buying single packs..in Mexico, of all places...I had those damn Rocky stickers that came with each pack on all of the mirrors of the house...pretty cool, looking back on it...

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mikenyc

mikenyc

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Oh boy. Some of you got me wanting to try it. Between coins, comics, and metal detecting if I add MTG to the mix my nerd status would be quite comprehensive. lol

 

You start a "real nerd stuff" thread, and don't kick it off with metal detecting? :baiting:

 

 

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whisp

whisp

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Magic is popular because of ease of play. It is one of the games you can just grab a starter deck and within 30 minutes can be playing a game. My lcs still holds matches and such with at least 20 players or so coming every week. They however had a world tournament player at one time working for them that brought in new methods of playing it in which I believe they are even using for tournaments now worldwide.

 

I have noticed though that Magic died off for a bit with the alpha and few of the older series loosing value but as of late they have been spiking in value even though the cards can't be used in majority of tournament matches.

 

Fun game though. Evereyonce in awhile I but a starter deck and screw around with friends and drink beers.

 

 

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Ogami

Ogami

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Three of my best friends play. MTG Online has kept the game fresh. For very little money, you can have pretty unlimited access to online decks and play friends online. Like any other collectible, it is as cheap or as expensive as you want it to be, but the players seem as passionate as ever.

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