Why is The Masked Royal so expensive?

Market
1

I know The Masked Royal is only released in Japanese (limited to 100) and Korean (limited to 30). But even so, why are the prices 2.5k USD ungraded to up to 6k+ PSA-10 graded? All twelve Art Academy cards are also limited to 100 copies, and they went for 150-500 when they were released in 2015, and now (three years later) for 500-1250. The Masked Royal was only released last year, but the price is already well over 2k USD now…

I know The Masked Royal was advertised way more at his release, especially emphasizing the fact there are only 100 Japanese copies, but still… I would expect the Art Academy cards to be much more popular due to their artworks.

Any idea why the prices of The Masked Royal are so high? If I look back at some previous posts here on the forum, they were about 1-2k right after their release.
Will we continue to see a price-rise? Will this artwork ever be released in English (most likely not)?

The only thing I can imagine it being so expensive for is for SM-P Promo collectors who want the full set including this one, or for Full Art Supporter collectors who want all artworks including this one.

Greetz,
Quuador

2

I think part of it is that the card is able to be played in the TCG. Energy acceleration in game is one of the keys to winning quickly.

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3

I think the initial 150-500 price is undervalued for a card that fits really well into core sets’ FA trainers. 2017 has been a crazy year so I would say the release was very timely as well!

4

Are you quoting ebay listing prices or are these sales prices?

5

I’d say the MR will show long term growth whereas the art cards will fade like most faddish cards do.

6

The Art Academy are sold prices (mostly privately though). The Masked Royal I thought two were sold for 2.4k, but apparently that listing has accepting best offer enabled and they actually sold for 1,750 USD. And a Korean one sold for 3,400 USD.

Couldn’t find any recent eBay sold listings, tbh. And YJ sold listings I don’t know how to find.

Greetz,
Quuador

7

12 x 100 = 1200 art academy cards.
100 Masked Royals

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8

Another thing to consider is how the cards were distributed and how that affects the probability someone will sell. If you’re sitting on 100 copies of the same card, you’re going to be motivated to find someone to sell to.

If you have 100 cards given to 100 different people (who either won it first hand, or paid a significant price for their copy) you have to convince them to sell their only copy.

So even though the print numbers are (sort of) similar, I don’t think you can compare them all due to the different method of distribution alone. One is a total buyers market and the other has the price dictated by the seller.

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9

Japanese (people) collectors and players love full art trainers. If you look for them (especially if promo) you can see that the prices are higher than other cards in the same tier.

Given that, you can not beat a 100 copies only FA Masked Royal. Extremely rare, playable and good looking.

10

Hmm, good point. Hadn’t considered that.

Thanks everyone for the responses! It makes more sense now. :blush:

Greetz,
Quuador

11

They are currently overpriced based on how many are listed. Couple sales will change that though, but sellers may need to drop their price first

12

One thing to add, the bottom floor is defined by Japan. My favorite phrase to quote from Japanese businesses is, “this is just what it costs in japan”.

Therefore I don’t think it’s going to drop much. However I don’t think it’s a super hot collectible either.

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