Magic The Gathering TCG Cards - Show us yours! 3 3

[dikran]

24 minutes ago, Angel of Death said:

Comic books and trading card games are completely different things. Magic cards are used for P2P interactions and competition. The only difference between a graded Mox Diamond and a double-sleeved Mox Diamond is that one of them is useless.

If you’re shuffling a mint Mox Diamond into your deck, then you’re a better man than I am 😊

I think utility vs collectibility is where the divide rests. People have no qualms grading ABU AQ AN L. But when 99% of standard cards are bulk why buy the next set if there’s no incentive? 
People crack cases of Pokémon and dance in the streets when something good pops out but Magic? Not so much... 

Again, just trying to understand the mindset. 

[theCapraAegagrus]

1 minute ago, dikran1 said:

If you’re shuffling a mint Mox Diamond into your deck, then you’re a better man than I am 😊

I think utility vs collectibility is where the divide rests. People have no qualms grading ABU AQ AN L. But when 99% of standard cards are bulk why buy the next set if there’s no incentive? 
People crack cases of Pokémon and dance in the streets when something good pops out but Magic? Not so much... 

Again, just trying to understand the mindset. 

I actually had a play-set of Mint/Foil Mox Diamonds, and shuffled them in my rainbow Artifact deck, prior to selling them last year.

I know a lot of nerds. Some that even collect Pokemon cards. I don't know any people who even knows a single person that actually plays Pokemon. When people that I know 'crack' a good card in MtG, they celebrate because they want to use it. I don't really know a single person that collects MtG cards other than to play with them.

[geraldfordfan69]

23 minutes ago, dikran1 said:

If you’re shuffling a mint Mox Diamond into your deck, then you’re a better man than I am 😊

I think utility vs collectibility is where the divide rests. People have no qualms grading ABU AQ AN L. But when 99% of standard cards are bulk why buy the next set if there’s no incentive? 
People crack cases of Pokémon and dance in the streets when something good pops out but Magic? Not so much... 

Again, just trying to understand the mindset. 

A few reasons I can think of.

1) Modern cards get printed into oblivion. The expeditions already had a psuedo reprint with Zendikar Rising. Masters sets/reprint sets are just going to keep coming and no non-reserved list card is safe.

2) Lots of quality control issues. Foiling in Magic are so cheap in terms of the materials that get used. Even with masterpieces and the cards from the Amonkhet block all have issues.

3) The obvious in that Magic is a game that is more heavily played. Pokemon has a tournament side to it too, but most people just dont seem to care for some weird reason even then it is a TCG.

Yugioh also has similar issues in that most of the modern cards arent worth much. They are trying to push a collector's market with these Starlight Rares, but the problem kind of similar to newer Pokemon is that most people just dont care about the new creatures. People only care about Yugioh's 1st 3 generations it seems like in that the most graded cards tend to be anything from Yugi or Kaibas deck, Elemental Heros, and a few of the dragons from the 5Ds. Everything else is kind of an afterthought. Pokemon kind of has that same problem in a way except that each generation has at least a small handful that stand out, but generally speaking its biggest sellers are always Charizards, Mewtwos, Eevee Evolutions, Pikachus, any sort of Legends / Mythical creatures and any female trainer card.

And the same could probably also be said about Magic. Too many forgettable planeswalkers/creatures and the ones that stand out like Jace or Liliana get printed into oblivion, come out of a pack with problems or people want to foil out their decks. 

 

Edited February 24, 2021 by mattyzeepgam

[dikran]

Interesting... do you guys think there will eventually be a market for graded modern cards or it’ll never be a thing? There’s a finite amount of vintage cards and I doubt CGC was banking on only grading those long term... 

Another thing I’ve noticed (vis a vis comics) is the near absence of price stratification for the vintage cards by grade... 9-10 seems to be the only desirable grades. So if I can only afford a HP Black Lotus I’d have to buy raw and hope it’s authentic? 
 

[theCapraAegagrus]

9 minutes ago, dikran1 said:

Interesting... do you guys think there will eventually be a market for graded modern cards or it’ll never be a thing? There’s a finite amount of vintage cards and I doubt CGC was banking on only grading those long term... 

Another thing I’ve noticed (vis a vis comics) is the near absence of price stratification for the vintage cards by grade... 9-10 seems to be the only desirable grades. So if I can only afford a HP Black Lotus I’d have to buy raw and hope it’s authentic?

It's almost impossible to counterfeit an MtG card. Their MFG process has been relatively consistent since inception, and it's easy to discern a real from a fake.

The great thing about Magic is its inclusiveness. Constantly reprinting cards and keeping their products affordable is what keeps the game popular. So, no, I don't think that the grading of Modern cards will ever be large (and that's a good thing).

[geraldfordfan69]

1 hour ago, Angel of Death said:

It's almost impossible to counterfeit an MtG card. Their MFG process has been relatively consistent since inception, and it's easy to discern a real from a fake.

The great thing about Magic is its inclusiveness. Constantly reprinting cards and keeping their products affordable is what keeps the game popular. So, no, I don't think that the grading of Modern cards will ever be large (and that's a good thing).

Eh I dunno if I agree with that. Magic has this reprint equity nonsense to where they save reprints only for their "premium" products while standard just gets jank in it. Your never going to see them reprinting format staples below rare or mythic rarity so its got this weird mix of it never being dirt cheap but not being too valuable. And counterfeits to the average joe are hard to determine. The chinese ones that have been coming out are getting better and better. You could probably get away playing with counterfeits at tournaments since the average player cant tell a difference from a far.

 

[theCapraAegagrus]

Just now, mattyzeepgam said:

Eh I dunno if I agree with that. Magic has this reprint equity nonsense to where they save reprints only for their "premium" products while standard just gets jank in it. Your never going to see them reprinting format staples below rare or mythic rarity so its got this weird mix of it never being dirt cheap but not being too valuable. And counterfeits to the average joe are hard to determine. The chinese ones that have been coming out are getting better and better. You could probably get away playing with counterfeits at tournaments since the average player cant tell a difference from a far.

As a consumer, you can use any phone light to determine a counterfeit. Very easy and convenient.

It's also incredibly easy to acquire mythic and rare reprints. Especially at pre-order. I've gotten $5 mythics that skyrocketed once they were found to be playable in Standard, or enabled a Modern combo.

[geraldfordfan69]

1 hour ago, dikran1 said:

Interesting... do you guys think there will eventually be a market for graded modern cards or it’ll never be a thing? There’s a finite amount of vintage cards and I doubt CGC was banking on only grading those long term... 

Another thing I’ve noticed (vis a vis comics) is the near absence of price stratification for the vintage cards by grade... 9-10 seems to be the only desirable grades. So if I can only afford a HP Black Lotus I’d have to buy raw and hope it’s authentic? 
 

If they go the sports card route of making like 1/10's and finding some way to circumvent the reserved list, yeah it could be a thing. But as it stands with what we know, probably not. 

And yeah its risky business dealing with old magic cards. With pokemon, its just dead obvious if something is real or not. With magic, you really have to had experience with older cards to tell if they are fake or not. The quality of counterfeits keeps getting better every year. Ironically, the card stock of counterfeits and quality control is probably better than WoTC LOL.

[geraldfordfan69]

2 minutes ago, Angel of Death said:

As a consumer, you can use any phone light to determine a counterfeit. Very easy and convenient.

It's also incredibly easy to acquire mythic and rare reprints. Especially at pre-order. I've gotten $5 mythics that skyrocketed once they were found to be playable in Standard, or enabled a Modern combo.

If your not experienced with Magic, its not very easy to spot a fake. If your looking into getting to play Magic and want to play old school, its easy to get scammed. Its avoidable if you buy the cards from a trusted dealer, but buying in the dark from a random gets tough if you dont know what your doing.

And format staples like Liliana or Tarmogoyf or Snapcaster are never going to be $5. And each time a reprint happens, whatever is not reprinting goes up in value. Its an expensive game. Id only want to play Legacy or Vintage and Im not dropping that kind of money on cardboard. Pauper is cheap but its not really heavily supported at an organized play level.

Edited February 24, 2021 by mattyzeepgam

[Jeffro.]

All I know is that I should have never opened up all those boxes back between Alliances and the Urza sets. Holy carp, what those sealed boxes are going for now. 

[Mephisto]

3 hours ago, dikran1 said:

Interesting... do you guys think there will eventually be a market for graded modern cards or it’ll never be a thing? There’s a finite amount of vintage cards and I doubt CGC was banking on only grading those long term... 

Another thing I’ve noticed (vis a vis comics) is the near absence of price stratification for the vintage cards by grade... 9-10 seems to be the only desirable grades. So if I can only afford a HP Black Lotus I’d have to buy raw and hope it’s authentic? 
 

People grade those big cards even in lower grades. I mean even graded stuff has slid by. There was a rebacked Black Lotus that made it’s way into a BGS holder.

I’ve actually noticed less of a price stratification for graded comics across various grades to a much greater degree than in the past. I actually find it very surprising as it was never that way in the past.

[dikran]

4 hours ago, Mephisto said:

People grade those big cards even in lower grades. I mean even graded stuff has slid by. There was a rebacked Black Lotus that made it’s way into a BGS holder.

I’ve actually noticed less of a price stratification for graded comics across various grades to a much greater degree than in the past. I actually find it very surprising as it was never that way in the past.

I really hope you’re in WandaVision 😁😁

[dikran]

Thanks for the input guys! It’s given me a lot to think about... I just find it odd CGC would begin this venture when probably a near totality of the cards will never be slabbed by the community. Or maybe they see it as a fledgling market with potential, who knows?...

[dikran]

5 hours ago, Jeffro. said:

All I know is that I should have never opened up all those boxes back between Alliances and the Urza sets. Holy carp, what those sealed boxes are going for now. 

Don’t get me started on that BS. With expected values vs prices of boxes, more MTG nonsense... 

[Jeffro.]

Last week I was going through boxes looking for my 1990 Marvel cards and came across a box with card binders filled only with sports cards, or so I thought. One binder was all Magic cards. I completely forgot about this binder. This is some of what was in it.

Spoiler

 

 

 

[theCapraAegagrus]

17 hours ago, mattyzeepgam said:

If your not experienced with Magic, its not very easy to spot a fake. If your looking into getting to play Magic and want to play old school, its easy to get scammed. Its avoidable if you buy the cards from a trusted dealer, but buying in the dark from a random gets tough if you dont know what your doing.

And format staples like Liliana or Tarmogoyf or Snapcaster are never going to be $5. And each time a reprint happens, whatever is not reprinting goes up in value. Its an expensive game. Id only want to play Legacy or Vintage and Im not dropping that kind of money on cardboard. Pauper is cheap but its not really heavily supported at an organized play level.

All you need is Google and a light. I don't see what "experience" that requires.

Sure, there will always be expensive cards. You don't need a Liliana, Tarmogoyf, or Snapcaster to be competitive.

[theCapraAegagrus]

11 hours ago, Jeffro. said:

Last week I was going through boxes looking for my 1990 Marvel cards and came across a box with card binders filled only with sports cards, or so I thought. One binder was all Magic cards. I completely forgot about this binder. This is some of what was in it.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

 

I used to have a play-set of those old Demonic Tutors. Beautiful.

[Yeahiwasder4dat]

I really like the art on this card.

[geraldfordfan69]

4 hours ago, Angel of Death said:

All you need is Google and a light. I don't see what "experience" that requires.

Sure, there will always be expensive cards. You don't need a Liliana, Tarmogoyf, or Snapcaster to be competitive.

Its not just having a light or having google. You need experience with the cards since I think your out of the loop with how good counterfeits have gotten. Its not like Pokemon to where its super dead obvious if a card is fake or not.

Unless you plan to play pauper or burn forever, yeah, your going to have to throw down on format staples. Especially for Legacy or Vintage. Plus with all the banning lately and needing to change your deck all the time, the game isnt cheap at all. Id argue its very overpriced since the value gotten out of playing it just is not really there. Like yeah, Magic is much more interesting than Pokemon or Yugioh, but I cant see myself buying dual lands just to play Legacy even though I have the money to do so. There just isnt enough tournament support. If you win a Legacy GP, your PT invite is basically worthless unless you like playing Standard or whatever the newest limited format is, which personally I dont. 

[theCapraAegagrus]

22 minutes ago, mattyzeepgam said:

Its not just having a light or having google. You need experience with the cards since I think your out of the loop with how good counterfeits have gotten. Its not like Pokemon to where its super dead obvious if a card is fake or not.

Unless you plan to play pauper or burn forever, yeah, your going to have to throw down on format staples. Especially for Legacy or Vintage. Plus with all the banning lately and needing to change your deck all the time, the game isnt cheap at all. Id argue its very overpriced since the value gotten out of playing it just is not really there. Like yeah, Magic is much more interesting than Pokemon or Yugioh, but I cant see myself buying dual lands just to play Legacy even though I have the money to do so. There just isnt enough tournament support. If you win a Legacy GP, your PT invite is basically worthless unless you like playing Standard or whatever the newest limited format is, which personally I dont. 

Nope.

Vintage? Sure. Legacy? Not really. You're ignoring Standard, though, which is the prime source of contention for the question.