Tips On Going Through Magic Cards?

[PovertyRow]

A friend asked me to go through her older brothers' Magic Card collection. There are several thousand of them and the collection seems to have been begun at the beginning of when Magic came out. Her brother told her to keep whatever money she gets from them. My friend gave them to me and said I can keep whatever I can get from them. I told her I would split it with her.

 

Going though ebay completed I see the occasional card bringing a decent amount when graded. The fact this collection goes back to the beginning (and stopped several years ago) is a little more promising?

 

I found a Magic Card web site that goes into details on each card but the sheer number of them is overwhelming.

 

I assume the first step is to go through them and get them sorted by card? And can further assume if I have 50 or so of the same card it is of no value.

 

Beyond that, any tips on going through this mess are welcome. FYI they are all stored in card boxes and appear to have been unhandled.

[DiceX]

Get them in order first. It will be a little easier once you do that.

Some of the older ones are worth some serious money.

The worthless stuff will be easier to move if you sell them in big bundle deals and price them cheaply.

 

However, I predict you are in for a world of PITA just getting them organized and figuring out which ones are worth money.

 

Good luck, though. I wish you many Black Lotuses and Mox Sapphires. (thumbs u

 

 

[Pirate]

separate the rares and take the rest to a comic store that sells singles. Dump them.

[Warren Oates]

Last I saw stuff past 1992-93 was worth about nothing. Look for Alpha and Beta series, even the commons from those have some value. Legends and Arabian Knights have some valuable cards as well. Lotus and jewelry should be worth big money, and any restricted cards, time walk etc. See if there are any Force of Wills from Alliances, at one time they had value. The rest sell as a big lot to the local game shop, or donate to some kids.

[Moondog]

Klozd24/7 (Brad) is an expert on Magic. Look him up.

[Jeffreykli]

Michael --

 

I can probably help, although my schedule's pretty tight over the next couple of weeks.

 

First, separate out the cards with the black borders from everything else. You can also try to sort by series, which you can identify by the little icon on the card. Once broken down by series, it'll be easier to determine which cards are rares or uncommons -- those are the ones that will have the most value.

[PovertyRow]

Michael --

 

I can probably help, although my schedule's pretty tight over the next couple of weeks.

 

First, separate out the cards with the black borders from everything else. You can also try to sort by series, which you can identify by the little icon on the card. Once broken down by series, it'll be easier to determine which cards are rares or uncommons -- those are the ones that will have the most value.

 

Thanks! i may take you up on that. I have been doing some reading. Where exactly is the identifying icon that designates the series?

[Snake Eyes]

 

It is the X that is on the right hand edge toward the center.

 

Note that some older cards do not have this symbol (if I remember correctly from my playing days these were the main base sets like revised and fourth edition). However, this symbol will let you seperate out the expansions and later base sets(each has a different symbol). After sorting out the sets/expansions, sort by color, and then alphabetically within the color...or just straight alphbetically disregarding color...either way should allow someone who knows the cards to move through them fairly quickly and pull the money cards (thumbs u

 

 

[Jeffreykli]

Here's a scan of a card that I found off of eBay. (Not my card, but I'm only using it for illustrative purposes).

 

[/img]

 

Note the black border: This means that this is from the first run of the series; for several series there was both a black border and a white border.

 

See the little sword below the card image to the right? That means that this particular card is from Arabian Knights.

 

So if you wanted to look up the card's value, you would search for limited Arabian Knights, King Suleiman card.

 

Hope that helps.

[Artboy99]

Separate the cards by set if possible. This is done by looking at the symbol on the side/ middle of the card. Do not separate by black border / white border and disregard the white border stuff. Some white border cards are very valueable, the unlimited set as an example is a white border set and is worth money especially the rare cards from the set.

Determining what the rare cards are in a set is virtually impossible on the older sets, the newer sets made the rare cards have a gold colored set symbol, the uncommons a silver set symbol and the commons a black set symbol. This doesn't mean that only rares are valueable, several uncommons are worth money, as an example the uncommon called mana drain from the Legends set is very valueable.

If we are talking thousands of cards and you are not familiar with the card game I highly recommend getting someone that is to help you.

[PovertyRow]

If we are talking thousands of cards and you are not familiar with the card game I highly recommend getting someone that is to help you.

 

I have actually never even held a Magic card before this. I know a lot about ephemera and that knowing helps me realize,as I puruse the net, there is importance in small details. Luckily I know enough to know how little I know about these cards!

 

And thanks very much for the tips so far. Greatly appreciated!

[thirdgreenham]

Klozd24/7 (Brad) is an expert on Magic. Look him up.

 

I was just going to say the same thing, but if he were an expert, he would have sold his years ago.

[thirdgreenham]

If we are talking thousands of cards and you are not familiar with the card game I highly recommend getting someone that is to help you.

 

I have actually never even held a Magic card before this. I know a lot about ephemera and that knowing helps me realize,as I puruse the net, there is importance in small details. Luckily I know enough to know how little I know about these cards!

 

And thanks very much for the tips so far. Greatly appreciated!

 

Oh, and if you want to come to London, Ontario, bring the cards. I can help you sort them out as well. It's not hard, really.

[Pirate]

where's holiday ham and his announcements?

[mikephoen]

There is no way for the uninitiated to go through a Magic collection and have a realistic way of figuring out values. Don't waste your time, just take them all to a couple stores in your area and get them to make an offer. Take the best one.

[Snake Eyes]

There is no way for the uninitiated to go through a Magic collection and have a realistic way of figuring out values. Don't waste your time, just take them all to a couple stores in your area and get them to make an offer. Take the best one.

 

I would advise against this, unless you are looking for absolute minimum time investment. At the very least, there is a list of about 50 cards or so that you should pull from the collection prior to selling the bulk. These cards, if present, would probably rake as much (if not more) than the rest of the collection combined. Unless you already have relationships with local stores they most likely will not be making fair market offers.

 

You do not have to figure values...just ask for such a list (bet a few guys here can generate it for you) and then let those individual cards rip at auction or take them in as singles to sell at the Gaming Stores, just not as a bulk deal.

 

Kind of similar to moving comicbooks...you go to sell a midgrade run of Neil Adams Batman books...the run of the mill LCS will likely give you a few bucks a book for the stack regardless of what is in there. So makes more sense to pull the 227, 232, etc. before selling the bulk and piece the big issues out seperately.

 

Just my two cents

[PovertyRow]

There is no way for the uninitiated to go through a Magic collection and have a realistic way of figuring out values. Don't waste your time, just take them all to a couple stores in your area and get them to make an offer. Take the best one.

 

I would advise against this, unless you are looking for absolute minimum time investment. At the very least, there is a list of about 50 cards or so that you should pull from the collection prior to selling the bulk. These cards, if present, would probably rake as much (if not more) than the rest of the collection combined. Unless you already have relationships with local stores they most likely will not be making fair market offers.

 

You do not have to figure values...just ask for such a list (bet a few guys here can generate it for you) and then let those individual cards rip at auction or take them in as singles to sell at the Gaming Stores, just not as a bulk deal.

 

Kind of similar to moving comicbooks...you go to sell a midgrade run of Neil Adams Batman books...the run of the mill LCS will likely give you a few bucks a book for the stack regardless of what is in there. So makes more sense to pull the 227, 232, etc. before selling the bulk and piece the big issues out seperately.

 

Just my two cents

 

Just what I was thinking. Went though the first box - started one by one - found a few rares. Nothing special. Started going menhtal after a hundred or so cards comparing them to the database. SO I just did a quick sweep for the obvious Lotus, Mox, etc. Took me maybe 15 minutes to sweep the first box. Also it looks like there is some order by the owner, as I see a lot of multiples sitting together.

 

So first order of biz will be to take those multiples and set them aside, while looking for the obvious cards. That will account for a decent percentage of the collection and should take me maybe 3 or 4 hours.

[mikenyc]

Is it true that if you hold Magic cards for too long you get your virginity back?

[PovertyRow]

Is it true that if you hold Magic cards for too long you get your virginity back?

 

[porky]

dual lands are ok money if you have any. moxes are better