I love Mirage. It was SUCH A BREATH OF FRESH AIR back in 1995 after Homelands, Ice Age and FE. Even the graphics was awesome, loved Gillespie's Disenchant. So many semi great cards. And phasing with kinda fun at the time. But it also started the art-revolution towards the rendered images rather than the "painting" feel.
uh Allliances came after Ice Age and it absolutely rocked, especially since it was the first block environment. I think Mirage was way too creture focused. Well... compared to how things were back in the day anyway. Visions on the other hand, that was an awesome set.
Andrew Blank hahHah, WUT? You are objectively wrong. Before and after are better, earlier being best....or do you think comic book artists are the greatest graphical artists that have ever lived? What's next, manga over Michelangelo?
Rudy! Great videos. You remind me a lot of myself except I'm in the Pokemon market. Thank you for your expertise. You're one of few that I've heard speak intelligently about the TCG business. It always seems like everyone thinks you're crazy until time let's the investment play through. Keep up the great work!
Great video, thanks for covering this. Funny, I remember thinking Lion's Eye Diamond was no good lol....of course, we thought that about Force of Will back in the day as kids too....
This is so sad to me...back in JAN I got out my childhood MTG collection. Unlimited to Mirage and I've wanted to 'complete' my sets or buy booster boxes so I had more of the old school magic cards I already had. I was able to buy a complete set of Ice Age, but many other sets are just so expensive I can't even afford a booster box, let alone every card. I miss old magic, new is cool and all but we like our childhood things...maybe when I'm making six figures I can buy complete blocks and play by old school rules. Good video!
You're right rudy. My generation (children born in the 90's) are just getting money and we're going to start buying nostalgic things as we age. Magic is a safe investment. A flood of cash is around the corner.
wow...you are right about that. 1991 here and at my age ppl are graduating from uni/college (if they havnt already) and are out there working the jobs of their careers.
This is true. About 5 years ago I started going back and collecting cards that I didn't have money to buy when I was in high school. I have loads of reserve list cards and a good amount of power and I still continue to buy cards that I have wanted.
Rudy, thanks for the heads up on how the Mirage booster boxes are sealed. There are presently 3 on eBay right now that have plain plastic wraps and I almost bought one. I watched this video not an hour before I went looking.
Hello Alpha Investments, I have a simple question with a possibly complicated answer -> Storage. Where and how do store boxes/cards? I'm talking about worrying about conditions such as temperature, humidity, pests, etc. In your case, space of course.
Just started watching your videos, I've been wanting some magic content like this for a while. I'm an accountant and a numbers man and love hearing about the financial side to magic. Keep up the good work your great and have a great personality!
This was a really rational and probably accurate assessment. The only issue is the externality to allowing the market to readjust back to the previous price point is that for a period of time legacy will see no growth and maybe some decline possibly killing the format.
Been following you the last few months. AMAZING CHANNEL. Just getting back into MTG. Now that Iam older and never owned a video game console after the PS2, I have an old nostalgia itch from my past. However brief it was. Antiquities, Unlimited, revised (only when Unlimited cards in NM aren't available) Alliances, and all 3 URZA's blocks are what I've been fondest of. Old cards. I wasn't around at the beginning. I quit MTG in 2000 after only playing in 6th grade bc i was too young to appreciate or really just understand the game. Only had like 2 friends that played it. Just getting back into it at age 29 as of 12/17/18. 3 days till I turn 30 XD. I've bought strictly reserve list singles from Card Kingdom, only in NM condition, and then booster packs of Alliance's and URZA's blocks from only established sellers on ebay. Ive been on ebay for over a decade, so quite attune on how to choose the right sellers. So far, every pack passes the eye test after a good WIGGLE AND TIGGLE. YES , I SAID WIGGLE AND TIGGLE.... Thanks for the term Rudy ; ) If they were repacked all this time when I go to sell them in 20+ years, so be it. I got them lying flat in Ziplock bags and stored in a cool dark place. People want the sealed product. You'll have it all - and ill have a LONG LIVE THE RESERVE LIST!! and S.W.A.G: Silver , Wine, Art, Gold... Not a wine drinker but its about tangible wealthy.... cardboard... and a little thing called: blockchain . IT IS why 5G is being ushered in. Giggity!
Thanks for the explanation and future prediction Rudy. I mostly play casual budget edh, so those expensive card spike won't affect me, not that I will spend money on those either. I am glad I enjoy playing more.
Loving the insight, really appreciated! I'll donate after the 7th, I feel the info well-deserves it. Thanks. Also-- speaking of golden age of old games, AGDQ started earlier today and lasts all week. Tune into Twitch for nice background entertainment while you work.
Oh, seems you've already made the video. You're quickly becoming my favorite mtg youtuber, great advice with an entertaining guy and a ton of sealed product that I can be jealous of.
That's the shit ! Finally someone explaining all the possible outcomes from a buyout. Buyouts are not risk free sometimes the guy will lose his money or at least will baghold unliquid cards for a long time. I hate all those whinners on buyouts when most of them say "Damn it was the last card I needed for that deck" When in fact they were delaying endlessly the purchase of that card because they were simply consciously or uncounsiously making a bear specualtion and when it's going the other way they rage. Also there is way too much focus on the final price spike when it's accounting for only ONE card in a very unliquid market. That's a part of the game to buy the last card at a high price and almost everyone fall for it. So as you said and as usual it's supply and demand only and the price always settles based on this. You'll never heard someone who buyout complaining about losing money on the cards because at least they know the risk they took. MTG was always advertised as a trading and collectible cards game. Furthermore the secondary market is a free market. Free markets are way better than regulated markets. One day Mickey Mantle Rookie card may happens in MTG.
He's touched on it earlier. Only touch Kahn's of Tarkir because of fetches. Everything else is too over printed to ever realistically raise in value in a decent amount of time. Kahn's is cheap right now and just came off the print, you should really buy some.
Funny Rudy I remember you telling Timmy during your Expedition Lands video about going and buying out TCG Players stock on all of one of the "cheaper" cards to try n do exactly what was done to Lions Eye Diamond.
i was just about to leave a comment asking about the seals, i was in the middle of typing when you explained haha. Im pretty new too MTG but nice video man
You should do a video specifically on the reserved list.. and explain what would happen in greater detail if WoTC ever broke their code or continues to promise no reprints. What if they decide to print solely the mana base to oblivion... with the only intent to keep the format alive or help it grow. I've almost wondered if growing an old format that way would increase their player base even more.. therefore forcing the originals to tank.. but climb again over time to a more realistic price through demand
The way I see it, things will only change from Wizards end if standard take a downturn, and a big one. Idk about other places, but at my lgs, I'm seeing a pretty big drop in attendance from standard players (used to be easily 30-40 playing standard, since Shadows it's been about 18-25). Meanwhile, attendance for modern FNM has either stayed the same or gone up. I know a handful of people that are sick of paying for standard and are starting to get into modern (including several high schoolers). If this ends up being a trend and standard tournament attendance takes a big enough dip for a long enough time, then you'll see Wizards making some changes, at which point, a couple different things could happen.Wizards will either have to start reprinting modern staples in standard sets to get players to buy their new sets (and make a standard environment that can accommodate those modern cards), or Wizards will have to start making real reprint sets if they really want to sell product.
Rudy, what's your education background? You come off as very well informed and in the know. I'd be interested to know what your major was in college, finance? I'm inquiring because uh....maybe I'd like to go back to school....maybe.
Not sure if you ever answered this...But, did you trade/broker in the trading pits/open outcry? I used to trade Euro back-months at the Merc, and spooz after CME bought the CBOT and merged trading floors. It's not common to meet brokers and traders, so, I've been curious
Hope you got a good fire insurance :P I started around revised, but for nostalgia I got a lot of these for christmas in 1996. Only time I ever got magic as a gift. So they are special to me, cracking them at my grandmother and father's house. They are both dead now, so cracking that mirage at christmas holds a fond memory for me. Just babble but, yeah, mirage is special to me too. :)
Rudy, thanks for the valuable information on magic as an investment. I know there are a lot of people like me who want to get into magic investing and would lose their shirts without your advice. Can't wait for your next up. Have a great holiday!
The last few minutes of this video should serve as a warning to those participating in the Buy-outs. Make sure you're able to cover your losses if someone decides to flood the market with fresh copies of the card you are buying-out, or at the very least able to hold onto the cards until the market starts to recover. These guys seem very impressed that they are able to plan and implement large-scale buy-outs, but rocking the boat isn't always a good thing, and if they aren't careful there can be repercussions far beyond what they were expecting. PS: Rudy, I am loving your content. You have a really interesting perspective on Magic which is completely different from most of the other Magic content on RUclips.
This is the main problem with the reserved list. You can't do this with a card that is readily available or that can be reprinted at a moment's notice. These kinds of buyouts will continue until all formats which rely on RL cards fade out or people simply counterfeit them.
Making my way through the Rudy archives and he starts out talking about Xenogears. I'm currently 60% through it on my PS1 and glad he didn't spoil anything for me, whew!
Little off topic and probably asked in previous videos, but me being the lazy person that I am, I'm just gonna ask it here and see if you have any input. Do you have any opinions on people trying to map out booster boxes in sets to find out if a box is worth anything? Then to take the packs that are guaranteed value and sell the rest of the packs for regular pack price? I personally went to a LGS that did this and once I found out, I no longer purchase from them. Got any thoughts on this, Rudy?
i'm not rudy, but i will say this: box mapping with the intention of selling the shit packs (while giving the paying customer the impression he/she is purchasing a random pack with a random chance for something good - like it ought to be in any legitimate circumstance) is tantamount to scamming. there isn't really any other way to view it. very reprehensible.
An important thing to remember is that Lion's Eye Diamond is not worth 200$ just because it's a reserved list card. It's a legacy staple first and foremost. Legacy players are old and will all die eventually. And if reserved list cards become so expensive that no one can reasonably get into legacy then those cards will lose a lot of value. Collectors don't drive prices, the players are the ones who make the cards have value in the first place. If everyone stops playing modern for whatever reason, then modern staples will lose their value. No matter how many copies the collectors are hoarding.
No one is going to stop playing Legacy. As people die off as you say, the younger generation who now have good jobs will just buy into it and the cycle will repeat.
I know a lot of younger players already getting into Legacy. There is a16 year old at our lgs. Instead of crying about reserved list spies and wasting his $ on playing Standard, he worked his ass off trading spiked Standard stuff to eventually finish his Legacy deck. If you want to play and you're motivated, you'll find a way to make it work.
I'm a teenage player and I play legacy. I really don't have much money but I trade in the cards I don't need from standard and modern to get into dual lands and other reserved list cards. Legacy won't die from local environments.
Legacy players in my neck of the woods are about 30 years old. If you're waiting for them to die, you've got a good 50 years to go. The kind of people who can afford to play Legacy are the kinds who have jobs that come with health insurance.
You are like 10% right and 90% wrong. A card being a legacy staple does help its price, in that way you are right. But look at Library of Alexandria, $800 card and not legal in Legacy. Hardly anyone plays vintage, yet it's worth several Lion's Eye Diamonds. The collectors do give the cards value even if they are not played. Also, the rarity of the card compared to the number of active players increases its value. As time goes on and more people play magic as a hobby, the number of Lion's Eye Diamonds stays the same or decreases, which will naturally drive up the price.
Hi Rudy. I also started playing magic by the time Mirage was a brand new set. Wish I had the money and enough age by the time to buy a lot of things, like Old Duals and boxes of those sets (for nostalgic and financial motives). Anyways, I think your point is fine and WotC isn't going to change their policy. So... my questions: 1) Do you think there's still time to buy those old editions' boxes so they're still profitable? 2) Do you still invest on the newest Standard's sets (Shadows over Innistrad and whatever else is released after that)? 3) Regarding question 2, do you buy such boxes even with most cards going really undervalued post Standard rotation? Archangel Avacyn is a great card, but I think it'll cost like $10 post rotation. Thanks and keep up the good work!
I wonder if the faster rotation is gonna drive people out of Magic. I think wizards is gonna exhaust the player's income and people will just leave faster than they come in. Once that happens it'll be interesting to see if the market implodes.
Jesus, man. I've never even seen this many boxes in a store, let alone a personal residence. That has to be at least 100 boxes. I can only imagine the overhead for storage.
Magic: The Menagerie it was called back in the day. Got a lot of paperwork and playtesting info on this set from when it started. Turned out to be a fun set! Too bad your odds of pulling a LED in a pack is 1:110. Those are some terrible odds.
nice video rudy! personally i don't really know anything about the market and pricechanging, but it seems really interesting to me. could you recommend any literature about the topic? or how can i get knowledge about it in general? could be a nice video, too. sorry for my english, hope you can understand me. greets from germany and keep up the great work.
It's called allocating your resources to lead to a profit. It's an aggressive method, but in the end anyone else could have done the same. Difference is he was smart enough and brave enough to actually do it
+Jay It's really not very smart. I'm not bashing speculators. It's a CCG not a CDO so who really cares about the reserve list. But it's just not smart. Everyone who knows what the reserve list is can tell instantly it's a good investment.
your a guy who knows his stuff! you talk just like i do and remind me of myself. Just subbed. keep em comin...also..wanna hook a die hard oldschooler MTG fan a price on one of those mirage booster boxes? not the starter boxes. thanks for the great vid! \m/ -Cyle
I want to crack every one of those boxes! I'd bought a couple boxes of mirage(cause that was the new stuff from when I started playing) a few years ago on the cheap. NOT as an investment but to open someday for fun! When I noticed they had DOUBLED in value, I jumped on that.. sold one to cover the cost and cracked the other for the sexiness! No LED, but I didn't care. Pack fresh tutors, those sweet ass basics, the nostalgia!
I agree 100%. Magic is about to be invested in by people who have very deep pockets and may not even play the game. I hear people complain constantly about the price of magic cards, but I also see those same people running $5,000+ modern decks completely FOILED out that include Liliana and Goyf. That seems very hypocritical to me.
Don't agree with the recent buy outs with cards in the reserved list and the list hurts the game overall but this is just one man's opinion. Good information on the buyers side of it
I reckon these spikes, which started to happen with regular and more frequent with announcement of EMA. Yes the long term projection is up but I believe these are a bubble. A year from now when the next MMA set announced legacy/vintage will level out drop. Only folks keep the card cost alive are those trying to make money off it.
Rudy, what are your thoughts on Harmless Offering, the new almost-functional-reprint of Donate? Does a reprint like this put a sort of soft cap on the price of Donate? Do you think was an intentional move on Wizard's part to keep Donate from becoming $30 5 years from now or something, or more likely that they just wanted to print donate?
AMAZING video for 2021. I remember watching this in 2016, I can't believe hearing this right now though!! What a time to be alive :^)
I love Mirage. It was SUCH A BREATH OF FRESH AIR back in 1995 after Homelands, Ice Age and FE. Even the graphics was awesome, loved Gillespie's Disenchant. So many semi great cards. And phasing with kinda fun at the time. But it also started the art-revolution towards the rendered images rather than the "painting" feel.
Mirage came out in 1996 ;-)
uh Allliances came after Ice Age and it absolutely rocked, especially since it was the first block environment. I think Mirage was way too creture focused. Well... compared to how things were back in the day anyway. Visions on the other hand, that was an awesome set.
Mirage has the best art direction of any Magic the Gathering set.
Andrew Blank
hahHah, WUT? You are objectively wrong. Before and after are better, earlier being best....or do you think comic book artists are the greatest graphical artists that have ever lived?
What's next, manga over Michelangelo?
Rudy! Great videos. You remind me a lot of myself except I'm in the Pokemon market. Thank you for your expertise. You're one of few that I've heard speak intelligently about the TCG business. It always seems like everyone thinks you're crazy until time let's the investment play through. Keep up the great work!
That's a gem mint comment!
Great video, thanks for covering this. Funny, I remember thinking Lion's Eye Diamond was no good lol....of course, we thought that about Force of Will back in the day as kids too....
I am Timmy. From day one I worked at Taco Bell. Now I have a dump truck. Oh boy. I'm making it. Thanks for the help Rudy!
Wow revisiting this video in 2021 is just crazy!!!
This is so sad to me...back in JAN I got out my childhood MTG collection. Unlimited to Mirage and I've wanted to 'complete' my sets or buy booster boxes so I had more of the old school magic cards I already had.
I was able to buy a complete set of Ice Age, but many other sets are just so expensive I can't even afford a booster box, let alone every card.
I miss old magic, new is cool and all but we like our childhood things...maybe when I'm making six figures I can buy complete blocks and play by old school rules.
Good video!
This video has aged tremendously well.
"Lion's eye diamond, I think is a 500 dollar card"
Literally 500 on tcgplayer
Yep
Love your videos you speak my language and I love it keep em coming you are my favorite RUclipsr
I've gotten into the habit of liking your videos before I even watch them I love every minute of them
You're right rudy. My generation (children born in the 90's) are just getting money and we're going to start buying nostalgic things as we age. Magic is a safe investment. A flood of cash is around the corner.
wow...you are right about that.
1991 here and at my age ppl are graduating from uni/college (if they havnt already) and are out there working the jobs of their careers.
A stable investment? This has to be a joke.
This is true. About 5 years ago I started going back and collecting cards that I didn't have money to buy when I was in high school. I have loads of reserve list cards and a good amount of power and I still continue to buy cards that I have wanted.
+Jman Games lmao the cards are amplifying its quite safe and fun.
Hi from around the corner.
Rudy, thanks for the heads up on how the Mirage booster boxes are sealed. There are presently 3 on eBay right now that have plain plastic wraps and I almost bought one. I watched this video not an hour before I went looking.
Moral of story, we need to revisit the mirage plane.
Hello Alpha Investments, I have a simple question with a possibly complicated answer -> Storage. Where and how do store boxes/cards? I'm talking about worrying about conditions such as temperature, humidity, pests, etc. In your case, space of course.
Just started watching your videos, I've been wanting some magic content like this for a while. I'm an accountant and a numbers man and love hearing about the financial side to magic. Keep up the good work your great and have a great personality!
This was a really rational and probably accurate assessment. The only issue is the externality to allowing the market to readjust back to the previous price point is that for a period of time legacy will see no growth and maybe some decline possibly killing the format.
Finally man, a video with some very worth while information. Great video, more like this!
i enjoy watching these. thanks for sharing and I am glad I found this channel so early and I can't wait to see what else you are posting.
Great videos. Informative and very entertaining. I'm always rooting for Timmy in your anecdotes.
Been following you the last few months. AMAZING CHANNEL.
Just getting back into MTG. Now that Iam older and never owned a video game console after the PS2, I have an old nostalgia itch from my past. However brief it was.
Antiquities, Unlimited, revised (only when Unlimited cards in NM aren't available) Alliances, and all 3 URZA's blocks are what I've been fondest of. Old cards. I wasn't around at the beginning. I quit MTG in 2000 after only playing in 6th grade bc i was too young to appreciate or really just understand the game. Only had like 2 friends that played it. Just getting back into it at age 29 as of 12/17/18. 3 days till I turn 30 XD.
I've bought strictly reserve list singles from Card Kingdom, only in NM condition, and then booster packs of Alliance's and URZA's blocks from only established sellers on ebay. Ive been on ebay for over a decade, so quite attune on how to choose the right sellers. So far, every pack passes the eye test after a good WIGGLE AND TIGGLE. YES , I SAID WIGGLE AND TIGGLE.... Thanks for the term Rudy ; ) If they were repacked all this time when I go to sell them in 20+ years, so be it. I got them lying flat in Ziplock bags and stored in a cool dark place. People want the sealed product. You'll have it all - and ill have a
LONG LIVE THE RESERVE LIST!! and S.W.A.G:
Silver , Wine, Art, Gold... Not a wine drinker but its about tangible wealthy.... cardboard... and a little thing called: blockchain . IT IS why 5G is being ushered in. Giggity!
Thanks for the explanation and future prediction Rudy. I mostly play casual budget edh, so those expensive card spike won't affect me, not that I will spend money on those either. I am glad I enjoy playing more.
The Bear Stearns shirt is my favorite part of this video
Good work brotha! It's great to hear your opinion given your background. Very on point!
Loving the insight, really appreciated! I'll donate after the 7th, I feel the info well-deserves it. Thanks.
Also-- speaking of golden age of old games, AGDQ started earlier today and lasts all week.
Tune into Twitch for nice background entertainment while you work.
Oh, seems you've already made the video. You're quickly becoming my favorite mtg youtuber, great advice with an entertaining guy and a ton of sealed product that I can be jealous of.
That's the shit ! Finally someone explaining all the possible outcomes from a buyout. Buyouts are not risk free sometimes the guy will lose his money or at least will baghold unliquid cards for a long time.
I hate all those whinners on buyouts when most of them say "Damn it was the last card I needed for that deck" When in fact they were delaying endlessly the purchase of that card because they were simply consciously or uncounsiously making a bear specualtion and when it's going the other way they rage. Also there is way too much focus on the final price spike when it's accounting for only ONE card in a very unliquid market. That's a part of the game to buy the last card at a high price and almost everyone fall for it. So as you said and as usual it's supply and demand only and the price always settles based on this.
You'll never heard someone who buyout complaining about losing money on the cards because at least they know the risk they took.
MTG was always advertised as a trading and collectible cards game. Furthermore the secondary market is a free market. Free markets are way better than regulated markets. One day Mickey Mantle Rookie card may happens in MTG.
I'd like to hear your comments on buying into product from Return to Ravnica and beyond. When to get in, what signs to look for, etc.
He's touched on it earlier.
Only touch Kahn's of Tarkir because of fetches. Everything else is too over printed to ever realistically raise in value in a decent amount of time.
Kahn's is cheap right now and just came off the print, you should really buy some.
Funny Rudy I remember you telling Timmy during your Expedition Lands video about going and buying out TCG Players stock on all of one of the "cheaper" cards to try n do exactly what was done to Lions Eye Diamond.
Even though this is a new channel, the video contents are awesome. Keep up the great work, Rudy!
That's a lot of boxes! I want to see this guys single card collection
i was just about to leave a comment asking about the seals, i was in the middle of typing when you explained haha. Im pretty new too MTG but nice video man
Thanks for another great video! I'm on duty today at NAS so this was nice to fill up some time. Enjoy your holiday dude.
Mirage has always been my favorite set just because of the art.
Glad to see you giving Timmy some work.
Rudy you are my idol in mtg and i love listening to your opinions.
you get more and more awesome every vid man. great games, awesome anecdotes and advice, keep doing what you do
Rudy, you are a maniac
You made "product placement" an form of art ;)
You should do a video specifically on the reserved list.. and explain what would happen in greater detail if WoTC ever broke their code or continues to promise no reprints. What if they decide to print solely the mana base to oblivion... with the only intent to keep the format alive or help it grow. I've almost wondered if growing an old format that way would increase their player base even more.. therefore forcing the originals to tank.. but climb again over time to a more realistic price through demand
Thanks for the videos Alpha Investments, keep up the good work.
The way I see it, things will only change from Wizards end if standard take a downturn, and a big one. Idk about other places, but at my lgs, I'm seeing a pretty big drop in attendance from standard players (used to be easily 30-40 playing standard, since Shadows it's been about 18-25). Meanwhile, attendance for modern FNM has either stayed the same or gone up. I know a handful of people that are sick of paying for standard and are starting to get into modern (including several high schoolers). If this ends up being a trend and standard tournament attendance takes a big enough dip for a long enough time, then you'll see Wizards making some changes, at which point, a couple different things could happen.Wizards will either have to start reprinting modern staples in standard sets to get players to buy their new sets (and make a standard environment that can accommodate those modern cards), or Wizards will have to start making real reprint sets if they really want to sell product.
Price signaling is very important and shares information in a way other methods can´t. It´s vital to our economy and basically our entire life.
Rudy, what's your education background? You come off as very well informed and in the know. I'd be interested to know what your major was in college, finance? I'm inquiring because uh....maybe I'd like to go back to school....maybe.
Not sure if you ever answered this...But, did you trade/broker in the trading pits/open outcry? I used to trade Euro back-months at the Merc, and spooz after CME bought the CBOT and merged trading floors. It's not common to meet brokers and traders, so, I've been curious
Hope you got a good fire insurance :P I started around revised, but for nostalgia I got a lot of these for christmas in 1996. Only time I ever got magic as a gift. So they are special to me, cracking them at my grandmother and father's house. They are both dead now, so cracking that mirage at christmas holds a fond memory for me. Just babble but, yeah, mirage is special to me too. :)
You are just giving free econ classes to magic players...
People just don't realize that and like to complain
Rudy, thanks for the valuable information on magic as an investment. I know there are a lot of people like me who want to get into magic investing and would lose their shirts without your advice. Can't wait for your next up. Have a great holiday!
There is a newly listed Mirage Factory sealed booster box on ebay. I can see the plastic wrap doesn't have the wizards of the coast logo.
The last few minutes of this video should serve as a warning to those participating in the Buy-outs. Make sure you're able to cover your losses if someone decides to flood the market with fresh copies of the card you are buying-out, or at the very least able to hold onto the cards until the market starts to recover.
These guys seem very impressed that they are able to plan and implement large-scale buy-outs, but rocking the boat isn't always a good thing, and if they aren't careful there can be repercussions far beyond what they were expecting.
PS: Rudy, I am loving your content. You have a really interesting perspective on Magic which is completely different from most of the other Magic content on RUclips.
This is the main problem with the reserved list. You can't do this with a card that is readily available or that can be reprinted at a moment's notice. These kinds of buyouts will continue until all formats which rely on RL cards fade out or people simply counterfeit them.
Making my way through the Rudy archives and he starts out talking about Xenogears. I'm currently 60% through it on my PS1 and glad he didn't spoil anything for me, whew!
Not all Mirage booster boxes have the Wizards logo/seal on the plastic.
love ur videos, I could watch you rant on for hours keep them coming
I was wondering if/when you sell the cards, will you crack the packs or sell as sealed boxes? Maybe a dumb question. Love the insight! Keep it up!!
Where did you get your initial capital for investing and how much did you start out with?
Little off topic and probably asked in previous videos, but me being the lazy person that I am, I'm just gonna ask it here and see if you have any input. Do you have any opinions on people trying to map out booster boxes in sets to find out if a box is worth anything? Then to take the packs that are guaranteed value and sell the rest of the packs for regular pack price? I personally went to a LGS that did this and once I found out, I no longer purchase from them. Got any thoughts on this, Rudy?
i'm not rudy, but i will say this: box mapping with the intention of selling the shit packs (while giving the paying customer the impression he/she is purchasing a random pack with a random chance for something good - like it ought to be in any legitimate circumstance) is tantamount to scamming. there isn't really any other way to view it. very reprehensible.
If price wasn't an issue what's the best set to buy right now (besides khans, fallow up video coming)
An important thing to remember is that Lion's Eye Diamond is not worth 200$ just because it's a reserved list card. It's a legacy staple first and foremost. Legacy players are old and will all die eventually. And if reserved list cards become so expensive that no one can reasonably get into legacy then those cards will lose a lot of value. Collectors don't drive prices, the players are the ones who make the cards have value in the first place.
If everyone stops playing modern for whatever reason, then modern staples will lose their value. No matter how many copies the collectors are hoarding.
No one is going to stop playing Legacy. As people die off as you say, the younger generation who now have good jobs will just buy into it and the cycle will repeat.
I know a lot of younger players already getting into Legacy. There is a16 year old at our lgs. Instead of crying about reserved list spies and wasting his $ on playing Standard, he worked his ass off trading spiked Standard stuff to eventually finish his Legacy deck. If you want to play and you're motivated, you'll find a way to make it work.
I'm a teenage player and I play legacy. I really don't have much money but I trade in the cards I don't need from standard and modern to get into dual lands and other reserved list cards. Legacy won't die from local environments.
Legacy players in my neck of the woods are about 30 years old. If you're waiting for them to die, you've got a good 50 years to go. The kind of people who can afford to play Legacy are the kinds who have jobs that come with health insurance.
You are like 10% right and 90% wrong. A card being a legacy staple does help its price, in that way you are right. But look at Library of Alexandria, $800 card and not legal in Legacy. Hardly anyone plays vintage, yet it's worth several Lion's Eye Diamonds. The collectors do give the cards value even if they are not played. Also, the rarity of the card compared to the number of active players increases its value. As time goes on and more people play magic as a hobby, the number of Lion's Eye Diamonds stays the same or decreases, which will naturally drive up the price.
The old PS1 games in the intros are great, Xenogears was one of the best games ever.
Hi Rudy. I also started playing magic by the time Mirage was a brand new set. Wish I had the money and enough age by the time to buy a lot of things, like Old Duals and boxes of those sets (for nostalgic and financial motives).
Anyways, I think your point is fine and WotC isn't going to change their policy. So... my questions: 1) Do you think there's still time to buy those old editions' boxes so they're still profitable? 2) Do you still invest on the newest Standard's sets (Shadows over Innistrad and whatever else is released after that)? 3) Regarding question 2, do you buy such boxes even with most cards going really undervalued post Standard rotation? Archangel Avacyn is a great card, but I think it'll cost like $10 post rotation.
Thanks and keep up the good work!
This is probably your best video man.
YES another vid. Thanks Rudy
Rudy are you actively buying more of these older boxes like Mirage or do you see a greater future ROI from your capital in newer boxes?
I wonder if the faster rotation is gonna drive people out of Magic. I think wizards is gonna exhaust the player's income and people will just leave faster than they come in. Once that happens it'll be interesting to see if the market implodes.
Keep up the good videos sir. I appreciate your insight.
Can you explain why the *Top Box* of the *2nd Column* on the front *Have a round-opened plastic wrap on the side*. Easter egg?
your taste in games it superb
Jesus, man. I've never even seen this many boxes in a store, let alone a personal residence. That has to be at least 100 boxes. I can only imagine the overhead for storage.
Magic: The Menagerie it was called back in the day. Got a lot of paperwork and playtesting info on this set from when it started. Turned out to be a fun set! Too bad your odds of pulling a LED in a pack is 1:110. Those are some terrible odds.
Rudy, when you say parabolic, do you mean exponential? If not would you mind explaining please :) Thanks again. Love your content.
this guy is the fucking man. look at this castle of boxes all the time. rock on man lol i am grinning ear to ear watching you chill with the lions eye
We need to get Timmy in one of these videos.
You make me Jelly.. :-) oh and that Bear Stearns shirt lol
nice video rudy! personally i don't really know anything about the market and pricechanging, but it seems really interesting to me. could you recommend any literature about the topic? or how can i get knowledge about it in general? could be a nice video, too. sorry for my english, hope you can understand me. greets from germany and keep up the great work.
Call it what you want but it's still greed.
Label things how you care to, the world will move right past you.
It's called allocating your resources to lead to a profit. It's an aggressive method, but in the end anyone else could have done the same. Difference is he was smart enough and brave enough to actually do it
+Jay It's really not very smart. I'm not bashing speculators. It's a CCG not a CDO so who really cares about the reserve list. But it's just not smart. Everyone who knows what the reserve list is can tell instantly it's a good investment.
When did trying to make a profit become greed? Ignorant
+Nate Dark That's exactly what it's always been. The vast majority of people recognize that self interest/greed is what drives private investment.
your a guy who knows his stuff! you talk just like i do and remind me of myself.
Just subbed. keep em comin...also..wanna hook a die hard oldschooler MTG fan a price on one of those mirage booster boxes? not the starter boxes.
thanks for the great vid!
\m/ -Cyle
sry 10 minutes in i got the msg about not selling.
thanks tho! great content!
I would love a few hundred boxes of Mirrodin, Darksteel, and Fifth Dawn
I want to crack every one of those boxes! I'd bought a couple boxes of mirage(cause that was the new stuff from when I started playing) a few years ago on the cheap. NOT as an investment but to open someday for fun! When I noticed they had DOUBLED in value, I jumped on that.. sold one to cover the cost and cracked the other for the sexiness! No LED, but I didn't care. Pack fresh tutors, those sweet ass basics, the nostalgia!
If I had my way, nobody would have a hoard of anything... unless it's stupid like power sink.
I feel better about bad news after you explain it, thanks.
I agree 100%. Magic is about to be invested in by people who have very deep pockets and may not even play the game. I hear people complain constantly about the price of magic cards, but I also see those same people running $5,000+ modern decks completely FOILED out that include Liliana and Goyf. That seems very hypocritical to me.
honestly, respect for your work
oh shit...Mirage is about to go through the roof...
ikr. Rudy just dropped a bomb on the general public lol.
Great new series!
I haven't look at a magic card in years and seeing this makes me feel old lol
hey can do you a viedo on how you store stuff, I am starting to get a bigger and bigger group of packs/boxes, where do I put them safely?
Don't agree with the recent buy outs with cards in the reserved list and the list hurts the game overall but this is just one man's opinion. Good information on the buyers side of it
Another A+ video Rudy, nice work
OMFG he reads the comments! Prayers answered!
the days of hammer of Bogardan
Good stuff Rudy. Keep it up! I dont supose you would sign a card if it were sent to you?
Fast forward 5 years and I can’t wait to buy LED at $530 🤔. Crazy how everything changes.
there was a huge foil crop rotation buyout the other day
Solid video. Keep it up my friend.
Another great video. Now for some advice from me to you...sell one of those LED's and pay for haircuts for the rest of the year.
I reckon these spikes, which started to happen with regular and more frequent with announcement of EMA. Yes the long term projection is up but I believe these are a bubble. A year from now when the next MMA set announced legacy/vintage will level out drop. Only folks keep the card cost alive are those trying to make money off it.
i would LOVE to see the damage you would have done in diablo 3 auction house back in the day
Nice vid. Will you be doing a PSA vs. BGS video soon?
i bought a complete set of mirage a few years ago for under $150, i think it was well worth it just for the diamond alone.
Rudy, what are your thoughts on Harmless Offering, the new almost-functional-reprint of Donate? Does a reprint like this put a sort of soft cap on the price of Donate? Do you think was an intentional move on Wizard's part to keep Donate from becoming $30 5 years from now or something, or more likely that they just wanted to print donate?
So brutal, like always. such a great video.