scatteredsun wrote:
pi wrote:
Basically, yes, though the other factors are relevant too

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I write articles for quietspeculation.com and I'm admin on their forum

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Neat, I always see QS articles I want to read but I'm only interested in the speculation side at an intellectual level so I can't justify a subscription.
Do you think the prices on some silly Legends cards will stay inflated? (All Hallow's Eve, Island of Wak-Wak, etc)
You may want to look into their
111% guarantee, which gives you the opportunity to try it out. We also occassionally make insider articles free because of their topic. For example a while ago I wrote about
sharking and we felt those articles could benefit the whole Magic community so we made them free.
I'm sure
Island of Wak-Waks from Legends will remain extremely valuable

. Joking aside, yes. Legends is a very large set. It had a pretty decent
print run, but the number of copies printed per rare is actually very low: 19.500. Of course this doesn't include the Italian print run, but Italian tends to be very unpopular in any case. There simply aren't enough of these cards around to significantly increase supply at any given time. On the other hand Old School demand created additional interest in these cards and collectors like to complete old sets that are actually a bit of a challenge (and at such print run numbers you don't need all that many collectors, not saying collectors is a common thing). Basically, over a long time frame I only see such cards going up as more and more players can afford expensive cards, though there may be some volatility in the short term.
Mr Degradation wrote:
So, I'm sortof ambiguous about this. Modern has certainly driven the prices of EDH staples harder than I would have liked, but the backend of that is that Vintage and Legacy staples have become more accessible as Modern has usurped the other Eternal-formats. On one hand, I'm really happy to pay $20 for powerhouse singles like
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite- and consider the Khans reprinting of the 5 Onslaught fetches a stroke of brilliance on WotC's part.
Are you attributing this to Modern because cards sometimes see play there? It would make much more sense to me that increased EDH play, which happened around the same time, and the increased player base, which happened after Elesh Norn's orginal printing, have a lot more to do with it.
Mr Degradation wrote:
But, on the other- many safe-to-reprint in casual oriented sets and Standard sets simply don't get enough frequent saturation. I should be excited that
Academy Ruins is a card that I picked up for $4, and has had it's trade value spike over the last couple years, but instead I find myself more or less frustrated that it's no longer just a card that I can comfortably give to other members of my playgroups to enhance our gaming experiences. While the secondary market structure fundamentally benefits us as players, Wizards is particularly gunshy about stepping on collector toes, which has ultimately become a continuing force in making accessibility issues.
Other than in the Reserved List context I doubt collectors are on Wizards' mind much when it comes to these questions. Selling product is. Reprints are only good for selling a product if they are flashy / expensive reprints. If Wizards reprints more often it gets in the way of new cards and excitement for reprints dwindles as they become more common. In addition, a card may look safe to reprint, but it may not be a good fit, either themetically (
Academy Ruins being a good example becaude not every setting has a
Tolarian Academy that it's the ruins of) or because of what the set tries to do (few Artifacts). Card availability is always going to be an issue because Wizards just can't find the room to reprint everything that needs it.
Mr Degradation wrote:
This is to say, that $20+ collectible pieces aren't bad for EDH, and certainly aren't bad for Magic on the whole- but accessibility issues to certain types of cards (looking at you
Maelstrom Pulse and
Verdant Catacombs) are a very real problem. Neither of these points of view are mutually exclusive, and while I have faith in Wizards looking to find creative solutions, we do know that sometimes the financiers of the game have to be offered up to the altar, collections have to be devalued, and rightly so, collectors will try to strongarm Wizards if they can, or us, the players if they feel compelled to. But if we all work in our interests, and split the difference- things just work out (like the Khans fetchlands "fiasco")
Believe me, this is not going to hit financiers. Those who know what they are doing have the agility to respond to changes much quicker than players and collectors do. For example, with the spoiling of dragons for C17: did you pick up cool dragon stuff that seems unlikely to be included as reprint (foils), while selling those that seem likely to be reprinted? I can guarantee that financiers are already doing that.
I do believe that Wizards is try to eliviate the problem you are referring to. Masterpieces are part of that. Not those reprints themselves, which barely do anything, but the downward preasure they applied on the rest of the cards from their sets (a boosterbox has an expected value, which for in print sets is always similar, add some expensive cards and that average goes up, more people open because of the better average and prices come down again to the normal average, pushing down these very rare cards a bit, but other cards from the same set much more). Additionally Wizard's reprints a lot between the new Core sets, Master sets,lots of supplemental product, etc. However, the cards that are always going to stand out are those that have not yet had their turn. Even if they reprinted Catacombs and Pulse today you'd just add some other cards to your wishlist tomorrow. Instead Wizards is taking a more structural approach and experiments with long term solutions, such as going back to Core sets, Masterpieces, more precons, Master sets, etc. Short term this never gets you all the cards you want, but long term this gradually alleviates the problem.
Of course they could also just do another Chronicles, but that would be an absolutely terrible idea.