Magic: Black Lotus, Ancestral Recall, Starter deck, all Beta

[sirhansirhan]

Mods: If this is in the wrong forum, sorry.

I've been seeing a lot of posts around here for Magic the Gathering cards lately, so I thought I'd point out three Magic auctions I have on eBay, which have right at a day left as I post this. Here's some links:

Beta Black Lotus:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=49189&item=5213098233&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

Beta Ancestral Recall:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=49189&item=5213090239&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

Sealed Starter Deck of Beta cards:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=19111&item=5213106563&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

[Buyatari]

dude turn some light on !!

[GizmoGC]

Awesome cards man! I sold my Lotus many years ago for $800, hopefully you'll get some bites!

Also, do they still make MTG cards? I havn't played in like...6/7 years

[DarkTetsuya]

$1200.00?! @_@ Is that what lotuses are fetching these days? I remember some years ago they were "only" between $3-500 dollars.

And Ancestral Recalls significantly less than that (like $100.00 or so)

EDIT: yes the game's still going, 10 years after its release. (but you should see it now, if you're only familliar with the pre-8th Edition versions you'll be quite shocked to see they've redone the borders. (buy any of the latest sets to see what I mean.)

DT

[GizmoGC]

The last set I remember coming out was...5th edition and...Mirage?

[boatofcar]

MTG cards are big buisness now....although I fear that another crash is coming, much like with comics in the mid-90's. I know some players that buy cards (mostly P9) just as investments.

[imanerd0011]

Magic the Gathering is still alive??? I thought it died out in around 1997. I remember I played alot during the early days and had some decent cards myself. There was a guy that played with us that had a Black Lotus and I also remember him having 5 other extremely expensive cards.

Sivon Dragon Rules !!!!!!!

[Stark]

This brings back many memories. If you think these prices are high these are just Betas. Alphas fetch a lot more.

Good to see that MTG cards are still worth good money.
I made a small fortune selling Unlimited cards years ago. I never had too many Betas though :(

[boatofcar]

This brings back many memories. If you think these prices are high these are just Betas. Alphas fetch a lot more.

Good to see that MTG cards are still worth good money.
I made a small fortune selling Unlimited cards years ago. I never had too many Betas though :(

Actually Alpha cards do not fetch a lot more. Believe it or not, a lot of people use the expensive cards in tournament play. You older players may remember type 1, now which is called Vintage format. Many tournaments will not let you play with Alpha cards, because their edges are slightly more rounded than every other subsequent set. In order of value, beta cards are the most expensive, then alpha, then unlimited.

[Bronty-2]

This brings back many memories. If you think these prices are high these are just Betas. Alphas fetch a lot more.

Good to see that MTG cards are still worth good money.
I made a small fortune selling Unlimited cards years ago. I never had too many Betas though :(

Actually Alpha cards do not fetch a lot more. Believe it or not, a lot of people use the expensive cards in tournament play. You older players may remember type 1, now which is called Vintage format. Many tournaments will not let you play with Alpha cards, because their edges are slightly more rounded than every other subsequent set. In order of value, beta cards are the most expensive, then alpha, then unlimited.

That's the way I remember it as well. Alpha cards are 3x as rare however.

[kevincure]

wow, incredible. I haven't really looked at Magic cards since 98 or so, but I would never have guessed that the prices have gone up since then. Black Lotus Beta sold for 350-400, cheaper on ebay. There were maybe 10 cards that sold for 100+ (moxes, bl, juzan djinn, a couple others). I've got stacks in my closet, nothing too rare, but maybe someone would want them. Crazy.

[GizmoGC]

I thought Alpha cards were not alowed in tournments due to their 'size'. I beleive the edges were sharp, instead of the norm curved? Its been a long as time, lol

[Bronty-2]

nah, it was the collector's edition that had the 'sharp' corners. Alpha were extra rounded.

[Bronty-2]

and count me among those surprised as hell that the prices have actually gone up.

Just on power nine, or generally? I would think that most cards have gone down?

[sirhansirhan]

Yeah, I haven't played in six years or so, and while the prices of the four things I put on eBay went up (the missing fourth is a Mishra's Workshop, which someone Buy It Nowed for $175), pretty much all of my other cards that were worth much plummeted from the $100 range to the $30 range (Mirror Universe, Forcefield, Underworld Dreams (the latter of which they reprinted; didn't see that coming)). I included information about how much I originally paid for them and when and why in my item descriptions, for those who are interested.

[felix]

@#$@%@#!%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had a full set of Legends and Dark, completely mint that I sold shortly after I aquired every card for $1000... I REALLY REALLY REALLY wished I would have saved them now.. in fact, I wish I didnt sell off the rest of my collection. I have no clue about how many cards I had, but I did the collecting the hard way and bought boxes and boxes of cards to get entire sets.. so I had a lot of doubles too. I dont remember how much I sold the rest of the cards for, but it wasnt much compared to some of the prices that a lot of single cards go for nowadays.

[jajaja]

Wow! $900 for a card made of cartboard? Thats madness!

[Stark]

Well Alpha versions fetch more in graded form by CCG and such than Beta's do since they are harder to find. Or at least they did a few years ago. Either way MTG cards are still selling just like beany babies!

[boatofcar]

Wow! $900 for a card made of cartboard? Thats madness!

Almost as crazy as $1200 for a piece of plastic with a circuit board in it ;)

[anagrama]

I remember the days when a Beta Black Lotus was valued at $50.

[jajaja]

Wow! $900 for a card made of cartboard? Thats madness!

Almost as crazy as $1200 for a piece of plastic with a circuit board in it ;)

Hehe ye, but a game takes much longer time to make. But, thats rarity for you :)

[Bronty-2]

time's got nothing to do with it.. a ten minute scratch doodle of michelangelo's would be worth a lot more than a drawing I spent days on.. :)

[sirhansirhan]

For those curious but intolerant of links (this has been a far more popular thread than I was anticipating), here's the final prices:

Mishra's Workshop $175
Beta Black Lotus $900
Beta Ancestral Recall $500
Sealed starter deck of Beta $915.65

I figured I'd get more for the Lotus and the Recall; probably would have if I had the equipment to take clearer pictures. Oh well. Hopefully the winners will be pleasantly surprised with what good shape they're in.

[mb7241]

Hm...yes, I remember back in '98 when I played MTG...a Black Lotus from Beta was about $400 (Alpha was the same, Unlimited was $250), an Ancestral Recall from Beta was $260, and Time Walks from Beta were $280. Sad thing is, about a year and a half ago (before the Lotus topped $2500 in the price guides), I could've had an Alpha Black Lotus (and a bunch of other old cards) for $200...