Like you said at the end of the video, I think most people are not saying cards should literally be free. I think they look at "reprint equity" as a poor solution to WotC's need to keep people buying product. Ignoring the Reserved List, there are many cards used as "chase" cards that _are_ game pieces but tend to be a price point that ultimately makes it harder to enter. $40-50 force of will/negation, $10-20 fetches and shocks, more recent commander staples like the Deflecting Swat cycle pushed into premium sets, staples across the time of Magic's formats that COULD be printed to the ground and make the game infinitely more accessible... Instead used as equity fodder. It's frustrating when game pieces, especially generally necessary ones for function, are manipulated to be expensive.
Why did he sell his game to WOTC? He should have continued to design and print game pieces. Ask him how he feels about donating his WOTC/Hasbro shares so that all cards can be $20?
That seemed like a pretty reasonable take. TCG's are unregulated gambling - Absolutely true I argue that Scalpers help make the market. They are market makers 1st by absorbing excess supply and then become takers by providing the commodity whenever they flip short. How much should cards cost? I 100% agree that the playable cards should be accessible with alt art or fancy versions costing much much more. I think they nailed it with Zendikar Masterpieces when people opened all the boxes looking for those things which crashed the prices of regular singles down to bargain bin pricing until rotation.
when you buy it you want it to be cheap, then when you sell it you don't want it to be cheap????? ever heard of having your cake and eating it too?? this new world drives me nuts. "we want it, and all of it's benefits. but we want it for free" this mentality is everything that is wrong with modern day America.
If cards were cheap to get into, it would not be a problem if they were cheap when leaving the game because you would never have spent that much to get into in the first place. Even then you could still undercut the retail price. I did not mind paying the prices I did to finish my collection of power 9 shortly before so many people had. O work from home but those cards are a special case. I cannot justify paying $50-$100 bucks for Sheholdred when they are printed so much more than the power 9 ever got printed and she can easily be reprinted again, and again, and so forth.
If your flgs is not flipping, they either have got food services on premises or they're a front for money laundering 🤷♂️ There's a reason the store won't give us market value for our shiny cardboard.
@@duncankeary6767 its not really about their prices, they allow people a place to play the game. They are not flippers the same way grocery stores are not flippers… I mean unless you buy all your produce from farms.
A LGS literally have to flip. Otherwise they go broke. Ask them how much inventory they have on hand. Also ask them how long do they want to keep any newly released MTG set. Don't just listen to me, test my data. I know this to be true as I work/chat with LGSes all the time.
A lot of people seem to forget that WotC is a business and they're here to make money. I'm sure the people that work for WotC also like being paid, preferably more than less although I'm also sure they're preferences factor into prices a lot less than they should. Supply and demand is the basis of our economy. WotC controls the supply and we all control the demand.
WOTC isn't in the secondary market (allegedly) so the existence of supply and individual card demand for them to make money DOES NOT EXIST. They cater to the primary market hence why WOTC sells on Amazon as well through distribution. So you're wrong and woefully ignorant.
They're able to charge more on the primary side because people have some expectation the cards will hold value on the secondary market. If the expectation were that everything became really cheap once you opened the pack then you probably would put a low limit to how much you would pay for the pack.
@@jcbeck84 WOTC (allegedly) doesn't care about the secondary market and so pricing is completely divorced from YOUR idea of their business plans. Also is the fact all secondary market revenues do not involve WOTC even a tiny bit unless they're printing cards to sell on it. Almost everything in a pack is worthless and the vast majority of the time less than the pack value, what kind of gambler fallacy cope are you on about? WOTC doesn't even set a recommendation for pack prices or MSRP. You don't even understand the boundaries between game stores and WOTC.
There is no easy solution. Of course everybody likes cards cheap when we buy them and expensive when we sell - otherwise we could just give them away anyway. As for Magic, there are a bunch of expensive cards printed in the recent years, mostly either of two things: chase versions (numbered, special art/style like the neon ink) or highly playable cards (Ragavan, Shoeldred, ...) that each command price due to demand be either collectors and/or players. And while it's also true that 90-95% of cards in a set is either bulk or worthless for most sets the company needs to insert a few chase items, why would anybody otherwise buy a box for $120 when all cards inside just have a total value of $20? That just wouldn't work for long.
Wow deleted my comment, actually pathetic. I even linked you medical research on the harm of gambling and you were so thin skinned you hid it, shame on you.
Like you said at the end of the video, I think most people are not saying cards should literally be free. I think they look at "reprint equity" as a poor solution to WotC's need to keep people buying product. Ignoring the Reserved List, there are many cards used as "chase" cards that _are_ game pieces but tend to be a price point that ultimately makes it harder to enter. $40-50 force of will/negation, $10-20 fetches and shocks, more recent commander staples like the Deflecting Swat cycle pushed into premium sets, staples across the time of Magic's formats that COULD be printed to the ground and make the game infinitely more accessible... Instead used as equity fodder. It's frustrating when game pieces, especially generally necessary ones for function, are manipulated to be expensive.
Richard Garfield said no card should be more than $20.
and those $20 from 1993 would now be about $45. Little did he consider the collectors and growing popularity which moved demand through the roofs.
Why did he sell his game to WOTC? He should have continued to design and print game pieces. Ask him how he feels about donating his WOTC/Hasbro shares so that all cards can be $20?
@@SolarGamesllc This. no matter how righteous someone sounds, In the end, it will always be about the money.
That seemed like a pretty reasonable take.
TCG's are unregulated gambling - Absolutely true
I argue that Scalpers help make the market. They are market makers 1st by absorbing excess supply and then become takers by providing the commodity whenever they flip short.
How much should cards cost? I 100% agree that the playable cards should be accessible with alt art or fancy versions costing much much more. I think they nailed it with Zendikar Masterpieces when people opened all the boxes looking for those things which crashed the prices of regular singles down to bargain bin pricing until rotation.
100% this.
There should be versions that are cheap and meant for actual play, and versions that are premium and meant for collecting.
Before I couldn't afford singles. Now I can't afford packs
Supply and demand
Great video that explored all sides, not just one agenda!
Yeah, but you can print cards on demand, so forget about stock and warehouse space
when you buy it you want it to be cheap, then when you sell it you don't want it to be cheap????? ever heard of having your cake and eating it too?? this new world drives me nuts. "we want it, and all of it's benefits. but we want it for free" this mentality is everything that is wrong with modern day America.
If cards were cheap to get into, it would not be a problem if they were cheap when leaving the game because you would never have spent that much to get into in the first place. Even then you could still undercut the retail price. I did not mind paying the prices I did to finish my collection of power 9 shortly before so many people had. O work from home but those cards are a special case. I cannot justify paying $50-$100 bucks for Sheholdred when they are printed so much more than the power 9 ever got printed and she can easily be reprinted again, and again, and so forth.
I'm not great at math so That's an awesome way to look at it great video
What do you think about a non collector game onky for trading and playing.
I have zero interest in MTG having played Grand Archive. Far more money for terrible card quality in MTG. Love your GA content
Very good explanation! Your channel is so underrated! 🙏🏼
Look at the MTG online. It's exactly the same as an online poker skins. Designed by the same people.
GAME PIECES
A LGS is not a flipper, they provide a very important service. You are truly lost.
If your flgs is not flipping, they either have got food services on premises or they're a front for money laundering 🤷♂️
There's a reason the store won't give us market value for our shiny cardboard.
@@duncankeary6767 its not really about their prices, they allow people a place to play the game. They are not flippers the same way grocery stores are not flippers… I mean unless you buy all your produce from farms.
A LGS literally have to flip. Otherwise they go broke. Ask them how much inventory they have on hand. Also ask them how long do they want to keep any newly released MTG set. Don't just listen to me, test my data. I know this to be true as I work/chat with LGSes all the time.
The LGS IS a flipper. They buy boxes in bulk and sell it for more per box than they pay...
A lot of people seem to forget that WotC is a business and they're here to make money. I'm sure the people that work for WotC also like being paid, preferably more than less although I'm also sure they're preferences factor into prices a lot less than they should. Supply and demand is the basis of our economy. WotC controls the supply and we all control the demand.
WOTC isn't in the secondary market (allegedly) so the existence of supply and individual card demand for them to make money DOES NOT EXIST. They cater to the primary market hence why WOTC sells on Amazon as well through distribution. So you're wrong and woefully ignorant.
They're able to charge more on the primary side because people have some expectation the cards will hold value on the secondary market. If the expectation were that everything became really cheap once you opened the pack then you probably would put a low limit to how much you would pay for the pack.
@@jcbeck84 WOTC (allegedly) doesn't care about the secondary market and so pricing is completely divorced from YOUR idea of their business plans. Also is the fact all secondary market revenues do not involve WOTC even a tiny bit unless they're printing cards to sell on it.
Almost everything in a pack is worthless and the vast majority of the time less than the pack value, what kind of gambler fallacy cope are you on about? WOTC doesn't even set a recommendation for pack prices or MSRP. You don't even understand the boundaries between game stores and WOTC.
There is no easy solution. Of course everybody likes cards cheap when we buy them and expensive when we sell - otherwise we could just give them away anyway.
As for Magic, there are a bunch of expensive cards printed in the recent years, mostly either of two things: chase versions (numbered, special art/style like the neon ink) or highly playable cards (Ragavan, Shoeldred, ...) that each command price due to demand be either collectors and/or players. And while it's also true that 90-95% of cards in a set is either bulk or worthless for most sets the company needs to insert a few chase items, why would anybody otherwise buy a box for $120 when all cards inside just have a total value of $20? That just wouldn't work for long.
Wow deleted my comment, actually pathetic. I even linked you medical research on the harm of gambling and you were so thin skinned you hid it, shame on you.