Until very recently, investing in Magic the Gathering collectible cards was profitable for thousands of users. The Magic card game originated in 1993 when Wizards of the Coast company created a card game universe with magic and fantasy. Hasbro bought Magic in 1999 for 325 million dollars and the collectible game got even more famous.
Magic is not only a card game, is an industry itself. It generates millions of dollars every year through expansion packs, exclusive cards and other related material. Because of the scarcity and capacity of certain cards, they can be sold for thousand dollars. But Hasbro is making changes in Magic prints and the business for users may be coming to an end.
Hasbro manufactures more Magic cards and the price is falling
In 2023 Magic launched a special series based on The Lord of the Rings universe. The Tolkien universe in the Magic the Gathering card game includes a unique card of the One Ring from Sauron. There is only one printed card and it was introduced in a Magic envelope that got sold as they usually are. This exclusive card was sold for 2 million dollars on the Internet.
However, the rest of the Magic exclusive cards from Hasbro are not that expensive. Collectors search for old cards and those that are included in the reserved list. This is a list that Wizards of the West Coast promised they would never reprint. The list started in 1996 and received updates in 2002 and 2010. Most of the reserved list cards cost between 100 and 60000 dollars.
More prints, less gains
Although the reserved list still exists, collectors of Magic the Gathering cards say that in the last 3 years the reprinting process is more common. As a result, the price of some cards is dropping significantly. The investment strategy of buy and hold of some fans is starting to crumble. Nowadays the only cards that keep their higher prices are those from very old editions (alpha, beta, first editions). Hasbro is also reprinting some of the reserved list cards with slight differences. Then they are not breaking the Wizards of the East Coast promise as the new cards can’t be used on official tournaments.
At the end of the day, Magic the Gathering is suffering from devaluation, the same as countries with their own coins. In time we will see if the Magic price can still remain high.