yz2428, all of your points make sense to me. Some of the “OGs” in the MtG hobby are reaching early retirement age, or the age when people want to start locking up their nest egg. Tap4black from the 2007 thread that qwachansey posted is a collector named Len Osborn who lives in the seattle area. He has probably opened more sealed alpha product than anyone else alive. A lot of cards from my old set came from Len. A friend recently reached out to let me know if I wanted back in the hobby, Len was selling his set. That is a collector that was in it from the very beginning. It’s a sign that the MtG market is in a transition point, and pokemon is nowhere near that.
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Lol, so what was that about Daniel exhausting all of his options and there was no way he could have made more today? That’s really funny though.
I’ve been emailing Len about buying a few cards. He had an unbelievable collection! Probably impossible at this point to put together what he had.
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My feeling is that this is a card that could have sold for much more than $250k and that the seller didn’t play his cards right at all.
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Yeah he definitely had (or still has) the deepest well of pack fresh alpha product out there. Nice guy too. One of the most attainable and ridiculous MtG sets still intact out there is the Arabian Nights top Beckett set. I started the set and graded many pack fresh arabian nights sets, then bought all of the BGS 10s in sight. At this point the set is still intact and almost every card is a Pristine 10. Those that are not have near-perfect subs. I sold it for $35k years ago to a guy in Dubai. It has sold a few times since then. Last time was maybe $125k. It’s out there for roughly the price of a first edition base set, but is one of a kind (IMO).
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Yeah but per zorloth’s point, this seller (dchang) is a special kind of dude. He would hustle the last penny from his own grandma. He’s not one to settle. And he knows MtG in and out. Lives in seattle and has been at it a LONG time
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Yeah that’s fair. He knows the space and I don’t, so my comment is essentially meaningless. It was just my gut reaction.
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MTG only came out a few years earlier (1993). Doesn’t this mean Pokemon would be nearing a similar transition point (based on age) as well? 
That may be the case, but if the buyer in this case was willing to pay “much” more, I would have the same gut reaction as Bulb.
It’s honestly incredible to see someone with that much alpha. He even had numerous original alpha art, which there isn’t a parallel for Pokémon. Maybe trophy cards, but even then they are still rarer. I know Jim bought like 12 of his paintings in one go. I heard the estimate was around 500k.
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There’s a video on YouTube of him negotiating a collection purchase – I think it’s on Rudy’s channel. I recommend anyone who thinks Daniel possibly undersold the card to check out that video.
Then again, Daniel always struck me as a guy who spread himself a bit thin financially. Maybe he’s just incredibly wealthy, but I doubt it. His house is super middle class, and he just generally concerns himself with every dollar of every transaction – in other words, he’s a cheapskate. Yet, at the same time, he has a very expensive collection of original Magic art (well in the 7 figures, maybe 8). I think the vast, vast majority of his net worth is in collectibles. So it’s possible he was pretty desperate for the cash. Still, I’m sure he gave plenty of opportunity for people to buy the card for more than it sold for lol.
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I think it came out 6 years earlier. Also, I think most playing MtG then were like high school age. The game is pretty dark. Well beyond the average age for pokemon. So I would add some more years beyond the start date for the “maturity” of the hobby. In MtG I felt like I was right at the mean age. In Pokemon I’m old 
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The difference in pokemon is there is always new people getting into it who will like a certain pokemon, how many people are getting into mtg now that care about and want to buy lets say a graded Sunglasses Of Urza from alpha? versus how many people wanna buy a graded Gyarados from 1st base set.
On the topic of the lotus its was a steal theres what 2 psa 10 and 1 bgs 9.5 that are signed?
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SPOILER ALERT: Yes. 
Your observation is right on. Here’s the thing: there are many more ways people collect Pokemon than people collect MTG. Basically the only way people collect MTG is collecting ABU and Arabian Nights. To a lesser extent also Legends. And to an even lesser extent Antiquities and the Dark. But only really the 1993/1994 sets, with the possible exception of Urza’s Legacy/Destiny foils, but that’s relatively fringe.
The principal way people collect MTG is through collecting complete sets. There are some niche subgroups, the largest being the misprint collecting community, but it’s 90%+ 1993/1994 set collecting. For Pokemon, on the other hand, people don’t only collect 1st Edition WotC sets. People collect the e-Series, the EX-series, trophy cards, promos, Japanese cards, species, regional or national PokeDexs, etc. It’s a much more diverse collecting community. Everything is collected, even modern cards. Whereas for MTG, no one grades shit after 1993/1994. And even then, sets like Fallen Empires and Revised aren’t graded. But everything is graded in Pokemon, which evidences the greater diversity in what people collect.
Ultimately, collecting Pokemon cards is much more engaging than collecting MTG. There is so much more that people collect. There’s no way to ‘complete’ a Pokemon card collection. Whereas once you’ve collected Alpha and Arabian Nights, you’ve basically exhausted the entirety of MTG card collecting. The only real next step is original artwork, which obviously doesn’t even directly involve cards. Which is one of the main reasons why I think Pokemon cards generally have a brighter future as a collectible than MTG. Although MTG is no slouch, and the community is robust enough that it’s not going anywhere anytime soon.
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If you are able to share his contact with me in the DM, i’d love to reach out and see if I am able to acquire some of his collection to add to mine! mine is not ever gonna be big, but I do want a few cards from some of the older sets to enjoy with my Pokemon stuff.
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Len is on Facebook and has posted before in the original art group. People occasionally tag him when people make WTB posts, since the guy has so much Alpha art it’s insane.
EDIT: oh, and also the sealed collectors group. He has Arabian Nights packs and some other awesome stuff up for sale there.
Please elaborate. You can hide your information, name, country, even the specific amount. The only information one individual as part of the market would like to know, is the actual price “x card sold for around y amount” that’s it, that’s all one needs to know. Who did it, why he did it, where he did is not required (for multiple reasons).
I think DChang mentioned that not all his cards are his, some he is consigning for clients. Not sure if this is his own card, so maybe the actual card’s owner was satisfied with the offer?
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Almost none of the cards he sells are his lol. The guy’s whole card collection basically consists of Summer, which he single-handedly made a thing. Basically everything he sells is on consignment.
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