Need help with non-sport/magic cards..

pandrews

anybody know a good resource to find out which ones are worth anything? i have a 3200ct box of singles, and i dont know anything about them..

any help is appreciated..

Axtell

There used to be (and I am sure it's still around) a magazine called "Scrye" that was pretty much used as the pricing guide....I should probably pick one up, as I have a ton of the magic cards sitting in a closet that I need to unload (and help fund my sports card collection).

pandrews

<< <i>that I need to unload (and help fund my sports card collection). >>



yep! me too.. and i saw a 3200ct box on eBay end at over $200 bucks.. if I can get that much for mine, i'll be stoked!

iamthegreatcornholio

I also remember "Inquest" as a price guide.

I used to play that years ago, and I was a bit suprised to see that the money cards have really appreciated in value unlike most card game.

Brian

helionaut

Unfortunately, unless they are sorted out in some logical way, and/or have great recall, you are in for a long ordeal. Starting around the Urza's Saga set, Wizards started color coding the rare cards in the expansion icon (gold = rare, grey = uncommon, black = common). But before that, there is no way to identify the rares without a checklist, and rares are where the dollars are for the most part. Some uncommons, and even commons, are worth a few bucks, such as alphas/betas, Demonic Tutors, Rukh Eggs, and Clones, but mostly they are almost literally a dime a dozen. So that means you have to go through the set checklists and look up each card to get the value. Most shops I've been in that still carry Magic use Scrye, but some use Inquest. Both mags are generally in the same ballpark. But of course, that's what a shop will sell to you for. You should also check ebay to get "real" pricing.

I still play Magic from time to time. Did you play, or did you just pick up the box as part of a deal? If the former, about when did you play, and with what sets? You could always send them to me and I'll tell you if what you got is any good. I can tell you that anything with "Mox" or "Black Lotus" in the name is completely worthless but I'll toss you a few bucks to take them off your hands.

funlover1974

I also play on occasion. The older cards recently have really taken off in value some of the original "Power 9" as they are referred to are bringing almost 1000 dollars each. Right now you have alot of younger players who used to play Pokemon and as well as some Yu-Gi-Oh players growing up and discovering Magic.

As said before though unless you have them already sorted in some order it may be a very tedious task to research them and find the values especially with all the reprint cards and reprint sets that have been made for the game. If you have any of these in a black border they are junk you can send them to me and I will dispose of them for you. ;-)

Mox Jet
Mox Pearl
Mox Sapphire
Mox Emerald
Mox Ruby
Ancesteral Recall
Black Lotus
Time Walk
Time Twister

khayse

I've been checking Ebay lately to see if I want to sell some of the older cards I have.

I saw some of the nicer ones are graded by PSA but couldn't find anything on psacard.com that specifically mentions Magic.
I'd like to make sure they grade MtG before I plunk down $99 for a gold membership at PSA.

I don't play much anymore but I taught my friend's son last weekend. Ended up giving him around 500 cards to build some decks.
If he stays interested maybe I'll get back to playing more than once a year.

-KHayse
ps Some of those Power9 are going for crazy money these days (which is why I need to get some of my cards graded).

envoy98

Wow, ancestral recall, mox...black lotus. I haven't heard those in about 7 or 8 years! I quit playing right after 4th edition came out. I sold all mine a few years back. Nothing spectacular, but I somehow found names buried in my memory...Royal Assasin, Lord of the Pit, Festival, birds of paradise... That's funny. I can't believe I remember any of them. Such a fun game to play.

Good luck with what you have, I think Scrye is still around, if not, I'm sure any local money pit will be able to give you a hand. Almost all of the card shops around me do yugioh and magic, I think they make a fair amount of $$$ off that so you'll probably get some decent help there. Just don't offer to sell them to them.

Basilone

I used to play as well. As many of us have grown older...many of the guys have graduated to Poker (myself included). I sold my Power 9 to some of the European players back in 1998 for some serious $$$$.

funlover1974

All this talk got me to thinking about the one deal I was offered in 1994 that I turned down. I did a show and the dealer who was next to me had this new card game called Magic. He had done invested several hundred dollars in this stuff. This was apparently his 5 show he had been to and not sold any of it. I had had a very good show and he was just wanting out of it. He offered me 1 box of Alpha, 2 boxes of Beta and a 6 box CASE of Arabian Knights for 400.00 for all of it. I turned it down. Here are some links to this stuff now.

Arabian Knights Pack
There were 40 Packs to a ox so do the math there..

WOTC Magic the Gathering Beta Booster Box - WOW! 14950.00

That was taken right off Dave and Adams price list. So not counting the Alpha box which is probaly close to 20,000.00. THe deal today would be worth about over 50K. Of course I probaly would have sold them years ago when I got into playing and made about half that.

khayse

> many of the guys have graduated to Poker
Magic is much more complicated than poker, though a lot of the same skills are involved in the playing.
(think of all the times you've bluffed that you had the Giant Growth in your hand )

-KHayse

pandrews

<< <i>that you had the Giant Growth in your hand )
>>



im not going to say anything.

pandrews

<< <i>you had the Giant Growth in your hand )
>>



thats what i said to her..

pandrews

<< <i>
im not going to say anything. >>



i couldnt resist..

funlover1974

Ewwwww... A giant growth in your hand.. LOL.. I know what you mean though I was a very dominate blue player for a while and would always bluff the counterspell.

khayse

You guys are bad.

-KHayse

Southsider

I sold off my Magic collection a couple months ago. I played mainly from '94/5-'98.

I bought a Scrye to figure out which cards were worth >$5 for each expansion, then I went on eBay and searched ended auctions to gauge realized prices. Anything that sold for over $5-10 I sold seperately, the rest I grouped in lots by expansion.

It was a ton of work, but I did end up getting some nice $$$ for my efforts. A few observations:

1) I experienced many more NPBs than selling vintage sportscards. I'd guess the buyers tended to be younger and not as responsible.
2) Magic cards sell very well overseas and can increase your prices if you allow International bidding. I sold to the UK, Australia, Germany, Singapore, Sweden, Norway, Spain, France, and Italy.
3) Corollary to 2: You are SOL if someone overseas pays via Paypal and disputes the charge because you cannot easily track shipping and that's all PayPal cares about. I'd recommend allowing international bidders ONLY if they agree to pay via Western Union, money order or cash.
4) My Moxes, Dual Lands, other P9 and cards from Legends, Arabian Nights, Antiquities, Beta, other early editions sold best.

Good luck.

khayse

Southsider,

Did you consider having anything slabbed (mostly the P9 stuff)?

-KHayse

Basilone

<< <i>Magic is much more complicated than poker, though a lot of the same skills are involved in the playing. >>



I agree..as one needs to be an expert in card functions, rules, timing, metagame, etc.

The thing with poker is that there is real money (alot of it) to be made...not just store credit or more magic cards.

The cash payoff in the Magic Pro Tour is nothing compared to poker.

Side Note: 2 players in the final table at this years World Series of Poker were Magic players (including David Williams who won $3.5 mil for 2nd place )

qualitycards

At my card store, the first few times I was asked for Magic cards, I brought out Magic Johnson cards. To me when someone asked for Magic cards, it was no different then asking for Shaq cards. It took me awhile to realize what they were even talking about...jay

Southsider

<< <i>Southsider,

Did you consider having anything slabbed (mostly the P9 stuff)?

-KHayse >>



No, the majority of my cards were played, not in collectible shape.

1420sports

Non Sport Update

I am going to pick up a copy.

willmacowski

i had a few magic cards, you should try selling them single, if they have a gold sign just underneath the picture, that means they are rare. i made 40 bux on 1 card at a local store.

BackwardsMan

I remember magic cards. I collected them when I was younger. But about three years ago I sold them all to a friend of mine for $60. He tried to get me to lower the price more (I started at $100). He told me a couple of days later that he'd sold them all for $300-400 at a local card shop. Needless to say I was not impressed with the cash I got.

funlover1974

I wish I had seen David Williams on the World Series of Poker.. He was one of the best players I ever had the pleasure of getting beat by. That was years ago in a little ole Pro Tour Qualifier for Magic. Don't under estimate the money to be made in Magic.. It still comprises about 50 to 60% of my sales even though I don't have much time to play anymore. The prizes at the Pro Tour Events are up around 100K..

funlover1974

Will- the gold symbol only applies to those printed after Stronghold before they were all printed with the same color expansion symbol

UnAmuzd1

<< <i>Side Note: 2 players in the final table at this years World Series of Poker were Magic players (including David Williams who won $3.5 mil for 2nd place ) >>


Doesn't surprise me too much, to be honest. The first place I ever heard of "Texas Hold 'em" was at Magic tournaments. When the pro players got tired of money-drafting, they'd go play hold 'em instead.

Glad to hear about Dave. He always was a good ambassador of whatever game he was playing.

Morrie
...who now more than ever wants to find a poker game...

Basilone

<< <i>Glad to hear about Dave. He always was a good ambassador of whatever game he was playing. >>



Actually about 3-4 years ago David Williams was banned from the Pro Tour for cheating at Magic. He was banned from any pro tour event for 1 year.

Looks like he cleaned up his act.

UnAmuzd1

<< <i>Actually about 3-4 years ago David Williams was banned from the Pro Tour for cheating at Magic. He was banned from any pro tour event for 1 year. >>


The card-marking thing? Heard about it. Given the DCI's track record, I've got plenty of doubts about whether it was intentional. I give Dave more credit than to be doing something as dumb as marking cards at the world championships.

But then, I've not played a match in 4 years, just read about it occasionally online.

Morrie

funlover1974

Well David used to have alot of of problems with some judges because his play was so fast at times. And many questions were raised about what he was doing. I though the same thing that he gets so fast sometimes he has to be cheating, but watching him and playing against him I learned how intelligent he is.

PhilG

www.abugames.com
www.starcitygames.com

brendanb438

Is this a record for some sort of necro bump? PhilG did you mean to reply with the above info 12 years ago, slipped into a coma and just now came out of that coma and hit enter?

PhilG

Please. I just spent 29 days in a psych hospital. My timing is a bit off.
Phil

bishop

Sure hope pandrews is hitting away somewhere out there