MTG wanna start exploring the tcg HELP

[zorloth]

@xileets

@zorloth

Very few people grade these, though, and I’ve been having a very difficult time finding mint raw copies. There are so many great cards from that era and it’s a shame that so few people collect them.

It’s ironic, because so few people “collect” from tha tera, but at the same time, some of the iconic cards are kept for commander, legacy, etc format, so many people don’t “collect” but they do “keep” them. No?

Yeah, MTG players are sort of forced to be collectors, in a sense. In my experience, though, most people involved don’t care about collecting the cards at all. Most just want to play in the most cost-efficient way possible. Although, as you noted, this does involve “keeping” cards (which is collecting, in a way).

For people (like myself) who both play and collect, a common practice is “pimping” decks – which is basically just creating decks using the coolest, most interesting/collectible versions of cards possible. For instance, I’ve built numerous foiled-out EDH decks that only use the original foil English printings of cards. That’s the way, as a player and collector, I engage with both dimensions of the hobby. Most people who are only interested in playing just use the cheapest versions of cards, and only keep them for as long as they’re interested in keeping the deck together.

[jabby]

For me, collecting MTG definitely feels more niche for some reason and I would agree that it feels more ‘forced’. A lot of people tend to prefer raw cards & sets over graded and myself I’ve acquired a good mix of graded but also several completed raw sets. I got probably a dozen or so graded MTG cards which is much smaller than my Pokemon holdings. Graded MTG has been a thing for a while and has grown more popular for sure but as mentioned a lot of people actually play Magic a lot more it seems and therefore collecting/preserving the cards is often a complete after thought. This definitely seems to apply even more the older the cards are, as we know many of the ABU cards were played a lot which adds to the already insane scarcity of them in NM let alone high grade conditions.

Many of the vintage foils were also played and very few have been preserved it seems and were already incredibly difficult to pull from packs. Just recently I acquired another Gem copy of a vintage foil that I had as a kid which I still have in played condition and most people I knew who played never preserved the foils because they looked so cool in our decks or on the table.

I have 2x 7th Edition graded foils (an already hated product for it’s time with very limited sealed product available) and one of them is a pop 1 card while the other is pop 9 or 10. I highly doubt anymore will be found in the wild at this point, I rarely even see NM raw copies of the ones I own and since I bought mine I’ve never seen any others for sale in a slab of the same grade/condition. One of them is a Serra Angel which I currently see one of the highest graded on eBay for sale: www.ebay.com/itm/294600273761. Mine is a BGS 9 (quad +) which is a still a very solid condition card in my books.

I think due to this level of insane rarity, it’s not as “fun” to collect MTG cards in slabs. They are very interesting cards and very beautiful in a high grade condition, but it’s soo much harder to track them down than most Pokemon cards for example. I love my graded MTG cards but I definitely enjoy collecting Pokemon more overall. Almost all of my MTG graded copies are simply my favourite cards I played with when I was younger and I have zero intentions to let them go at this point in time so that is how I find more enjoyment in the collecting side overall.

[zorloth]

@jabby

For me, collecting MTG definitely feels more niche for some reason and I would agree that it feels more ‘forced’. A lot of people tend to prefer raw cards & sets over graded and myself I’ve acquired a good mix of graded but also several completed raw sets. I got probably a dozen or so graded MTG cards which is much smaller than my Pokemon holdings. Graded MTG has been a thing for a while and has grown more popular for sure but as mentioned a lot of people actually play Magic a lot more it seems and therefore collecting/preserving the cards is often a complete after thought. This definitely seems to apply even more the older the cards are, as we know many of the ABU cards were played a lot which adds to the already insane scarcity of them in NM let alone high grade conditions.

Many of the vintage foils were also played and very few have been preserved it seems and were already incredibly difficult to pull from packs. Just recently I acquired another Gem copy of a vintage foil that I had as a kid which I still have in played condition and most people I knew who played never preserved the foils because they looked so cool in our decks or on the table.

I have 2x 7th Edition graded foils (an already hated product for it’s time with very limited sealed product available) and one of them is a pop 1 card while the other is pop 9 or 10. I highly doubt anymore will be found in the wild at this point, I rarely even see NM raw copies of the ones I own and since I bought mine I’ve never seen any others for sale in a slab of the same grade/condition. One of them is a Serra Angel which I currently see one of the highest graded on eBay for sale: www.ebay.com/itm/294600273761. Mine is a BGS 9 (quad +) which is a still a very solid condition card in my books.

I think due to this level of insane rarity, it’s not as “fun” to collect MTG cards in slabs. They are very interesting cards and very beautiful in a high grade condition, but it’s soo much harder to track them down than most Pokemon cards for example. I love my graded MTG cards but I definitely enjoy collecting Pokemon more overall. Almost all of my MTG graded copies are simply my favourite cards I played with when I was younger and I have zero intentions to let them go at this point in time so that is how I find more enjoyment in the collecting side overall.

The way you’re collecting MTG is far from typical, though. Very, very few people collect graded foils. I have partially-complete pack fresh foil sets from the 2003-2009 era and I’ve never even considered getting cards from them graded (despite the fact that many, if not most, would get gem).

Also, a recommendation: if you’re looking to get mint foils from sets Invasion onward, consider buying foil redemption sets. They’re relatively inexpensive (with the exception of the early ones, which are rarer due to shorter redemption windows). CK has quite a few in stock (at reasonable prices, for the most part), and the owner has even cracked some and graded the cards from them with CGC.

[jabby]

@zorloth, Agree. I don’t think too many people regularly seek out graded foils either, all though I have to say all the ones I’ve gone after have sold pretty easily or quickly if I didn’t buy them. The supply is definitely a factor as they’re simply very difficult to collect in general which I think turns off some potentially. I’ve seen a few opinions and arguments that vintage foils could be like the next ‘reserved list’ for this reason, as many of the cards it could be the only time they were printed or the only time they were printed in a foil, etc. I know for myself they’re more for strict personal enjoyment and less for investment (all though I’m pretty confident they are a reasonable investment piece for various reasons). The first graded card I ever bought is a pop 6 foil, mainly because I really loved the non-foil version of the card and the idea of owning something with only 6 copies seemed very interesting to me.

So overall, they’re definitely a very niche sub-set of collecting MTG I would conclude with. Maybe down the road it will become more popular (and like I said before, I have seen a lot of people buying them compared to when I first started). The other good news is I only find something I’m after every few months so I always usually have some extra money to buy one by then. Surprisingly I’ve basically acquired every foil I was ever after and I feel pretty much priced out of the big 7th Ed ones which it seems a lot of people go for (i.e. Birds, Shivan Dragon, etc). I did get the Serra Angel though so that’s good enough for me.

[andrea]

Thank you all for continuing to add to this thread.

I wanted to focus a bit on the japanese side of Magic: what’s exclusively released in japanese? For example I’ve seen promos of a reprinted artwork but as a magazine’s promo. Or I remember reading of a set that had planeswalkers with japanese variants limited to the japanese boxes.

Probably the question is: does Japan get consistently exclusive cards?

[zorloth]

@andrea

Thank you all for continuing to add to this thread.

I wanted to focus a bit on the japanese side of Magic: what’s exclusively released in japanese? For example I’ve seen promos of a reprinted artwork but as a magazine’s promo. Or I remember reading of a set that had planeswalkers with japanese variants limited to the japanese boxes.

Probably the question is: does Japan get consistently exclusive cards?

Prior to the past few years, Japan very rarely got exclusive cards. The only examples that come to mind are planeswalkers from the Jace vs. Chandra duel decks, some of the MPS basic lands, and this Archangel promo from the late 90s. But over the past few years, WotC has released boatloads of different Japanese-exclusive artworks, the most notable of which are probably the alternate arts on Japanese War of the Spark planeswalkers. But they’ve done tons more besides those (i.e., Strixhaven mystical archives, Ikoria Godzilla cards, etc.).

So yes, Japan seems to now be consistently getting some number of exclusive arts, though this almost never happened prior to the past few years. Whether WotC continues with it is anybody’s guess.

[digismithy]

As long time Magic player, I can say that Pokemon has had an influence over the game over the past few years. If I were to say anything, the Collectability of a Magic card is the playability of a Magic Card. A lot of people, such as myself, get cards for our arsenal since we always are in the thought process of “we might need this for a deck later.” The mentality of this is completely different from Pokemon. However, nowadays, WotC is catering to the collector crowd with Secret Lair, Collaborations (like Godzilla and Dracula), and the new Collector’s Boosters.

As far as collecting MtG, yes, Power Nine is the grail. They are uber powerful, but in Magic, we also have something called the reserve list (sorry if somebody brought this up already). Basically, there are cards that can’t be reprinted. For the most part, they can’t even be functionally reprinted (the closest they got was probably the Ixalan MDFC Lands). So, for the equivalent of Vintage Pokemon cards, the reserve list is what you want to collect.

Now, if you just like the art, I think lands are the best. Even basic lands. I think they have the best art in Magic: the Gathering. Then, I think next you go to the fantasy realm and the art of Angels, Dragons, Demons, and other fantasy tropes are nice. I personally like having cards like Wrath of God and Damnation next to each other.

However, I have a conundrum. I am changing up the display behind me to have cards, and even though I am more a Magic player, there is nothing I could really thing of displaying for Magic: The Gathering. Do I display something because it means more to me? Well some of those cards don’t make good displays. Do I display lands? Well… they are just lands… In Pokemon it’s easy. New Eeeveelution VMAX alt arts? Damn, those look nice. I’ll display them. I don’t have power nine, so there isn’t really any show stoppers or talking points I would display.

What I will say, is thank god for 12 pocket pages because Magic: The Gathering cards look great in binders since you always want a playset of 4. Again, because of the “I might play this later” mentality. Me personally, I’m collecting dual land sets (Fetches, Shocks, Fast, etc.).

Now cool modern things to collect in MtG, in my opinion, are the following:
-Japanese War of the Spark Planewalkers (I wish I had the funds to get them in foil)
-Ikoria Box Toppers (The Godzilla Cards)
-Strixhaven Mystical Archives (I like both Japanese and English versions)

For vintage, Reserve List for sure.

I’m sure Japan will get more exclusives since it is a huge market for Magic: The Gathering.

[goonhoon]

@digismithy

I were to say anything, the Collectability of a Magic card is the playability of a Magic Card.

Although that is true, to a certain degree, it is less and less true as time goes on. Some cards increase rapidly in price just because they’re on the reserved list or from an iconic set (eg, Arabian Nights).

Sorceress Queen from Arabian Nights has been reprinted a couple times, and in the past people saw no reason to pay more for an Arabian Nights copy if a 0.01 USD copy is available from a newer set (as you said, players were all concerned with playability - unlike Pokemon, where the most expensive English card has been reprinted what, 6 times?). Now, however, the Sorc. Queen from Arabian Nights nears 200 USD for a BGS 8.5 copy.

As to the Reserved List point, that is cards that have been ‘promised’ to never been reprinted, some of them are extremely useless, like King Suleiman (my favourite card for sure), but a BGS 9 copy can go for 400 USD. Another example is a Merchant Ship from the same set, which is also useless and originally worth a few cents is now 100 USD for a NM copy because it’s ARN and reserved list.

I am now at 60% of completing Arabian Nights and I have to say, I am not particularly happy about the above in respect of the missing cards, but extremely happy that the ones I’ve obtained surged drastically in price.

I doubt this will ever apply to newer sets, or perhaps even some of the later 90s sets, but it just shows that slower players do not only care about playability but about simple set collectability and printing order (ie buy a card from the ‘first’ set instead of a cheap reprint).

Edit: to add, Arabian Nights set is my favourite piece in all of my collectibles and I love the janky 90s fantasy art to death.

[rpl]

@andrea

Hello, I think I finally want to start collecting/opening boxes of MTG, I’ve always been attracted to the artwork of the cards, but I’ve never bought anything related to Magic.
So, where do I start? Where do I find informations on cards, what’s inside a box, what is the chase card. How do I defend against fake cards? There’s an equivalent of e4 for Magic? How do I explore the history of the tcg?
I mostly want to enoy the artwork and not make money/profit off the cards, so I’m fine with opening some of the new/cheap boxes or maybe buying bulk. (japanese is fine too)

Anyway any advice if appreciated since I know nothing

Like some others have already pointed out I too reccomend watching Alpha investment to get inspired and to keep up with latest in Magic, and as a collectibles channel Rudy is really enjoyable to watch!

I too have just recently, like this month, gotten into a Magic-hype and asked myself the exact same question. I too value artwork/theme so I started to search the web for all released magic sets and just went on from there. My first two boxes where Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths, because I love monster-movies, and a collector box from the new set Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, because it reminds of Teenage mutant Ninja Turtles which is one of my favourite shows from my childhood.

[jabby]

@goonhoon

@digismithy

I were to say anything, the Collectability of a Magic card is the playability of a Magic Card.

Although that is true, to a certain degree, it is less and less true as time goes on. Some cards increase rapidly in price just because they’re on the reserved list or from an iconic set (eg, Arabian Nights).

Sorceress Queen from Arabian Nights has been reprinted a couple times, and in the past people saw no reason to pay more for an Arabian Nights copy if a 0.01 USD copy is available from a newer set (as you said, players were all concerned with playability - unlike Pokemon, where the most expensive English card has been reprinted what, 6 times?). Now, however, the Sorc. Queen from Arabian Nights nears 200 USD for a BGS 8.5 copy.

As to the Reserved List point, that is cards that have been ‘promised’ to never been reprinted, some of them are extremely useless, like King Suleiman (my favourite card for sure), but a BGS 9 copy can go for 400 USD. Another example is a Merchant Ship from the same set, which is also useless and originally worth a few cents is now 100 USD for a NM copy because it’s ARN and reserved list.

I am now at 60% of completing Arabian Nights and I have to say, I am not particularly happy about the above in respect of the missing cards, but extremely happy that the ones I’ve obtained surged drastically in price.

I doubt this will ever apply to newer sets, or perhaps even some of the later 90s sets, but it just shows that slower players do not only care about playability but about simple set collectability and printing order (ie buy a card from the ‘first’ set instead of a cheap reprint).

Edit: to add, Arabian Nights set is my favourite piece in all of my collectibles and I love the janky 90s fantasy art to death.

Nice ones, I too have around half of Arabian Nights, mostly raw/NM condition. The prices have gotten just insane in the past couples years or so, so I haven’t been able to collect some of the Rares that I need just yet. Overall a very cool & unique MTG product all around. It’s also the 1st MTG expansion so it has a lot of things going for it. I am personally not as attached to the early MTG since that isn’t what I grew up with or even really played but I can definitely acknowledge it’s strong appeal among collectors/investor types so I did collect what I could afford from this era when I returned to collecting several years ago now.

I’ve been noticing huge moves into a lot of other early 90s stuff lately too like The Dark, Alliances and of course Legends. Not much love for Fallen Empires or Ice Age yet but wouldn’t surprise me if it picks up over time as well. Personally I’ve mainly been collecting the sets I played with when I was younger which is mostly late 90s and early 2000s as a lot of them are readily available and affordable for now. I say ‘affordable’ because I built the entire Onslaught block which is like 700 cards for around $700 and now I could probably sell it for like $1500 because the Fetchlands have gone up quite a bit in value and some other rares that are being used in Modern/Commander decks.

My goals over the next couple years is to collect full sets of Tempest, Urza’s, Odyssey block(s). All 3 sets have a lot of my favourite cards and I think all the sets in these blocks have really great artwork and even a lot of very playable cards also. I also have been stocking up some sealed boxes, mainly MH2 and lately the newer Kamigawa stuff.