Pokemon & Magic: The Gathering Cards Raise Almost $300,000

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Pokemon & Magic: The Gathering Cards Raise Almost $300,000 At Auction

By Cody Gravelle

Published Mar 7, 2019

A bidding war over important Pokemon and Magic: The Gathering cards blew up in a big way, resulting in a nearly $300,000 final sale price.

A Magic: The Gathering and Pokemon TCG auction exceeded all expectation earlier this week when it raised nearly $300,000 as its final sale price. The auction consisted of several different lots and was hosted by the Heritage Auctions' Comics & Comic Art Function in Dallas, Texas, late last month.

The price of collectibles has been a hot topic in the gaming community over the past few years, and there's no signs of slowing down, either. A recent Magic: The Gathering eBay listing saw the rare Black Lotus card go for over $150,000 thanks to a combination of its scarcity and the pristine condition the card was in. More interestingly, however, that price was nearly double what it cost a different card with the same conditioning just seven months prior.

At the Heritage Auctions' Comics & Comic Art Function, Magic: The Gathering and Pokemon were once again the stars of the collectibles show. According to the organization's official figures, there were a total of 12 Pokemon lots and 25 Magic lots, which sold for a combined $294,858. The rarest item in the show was probably a sealed Pokemon first edition base set, which contained 36 unopened packs of the trading card game's original set first released in 1999. That bid alone finalized at $78,000, becoming the sale's most expensive role-playing game item.

When it came to individual cards, though, Magic: The Gathering was once again the leader. A slightly more common version of Black Lotus sold for $26,400, while eight other cards eclipsed the $9,000 mark. Many of the cards on sale were from Magic's original sets, which are largely protected under something called the Reserve List. The Reserve List ensures collector's that the cards listed on it will never be printed by Wizards of the Coast again, meaning they are from an extremely limited print run. As many of them are staples of Magic's most expensive and oldest formats, their price continues to rise as more people attempt to buy in.

The auction is another showcase of an upwards trend in collectible trading card games at the moment. As more investors begin to view collectibles as a lucrative and worthwhile pursuit, prices for the rarest cards in popular games have begun to skyrocket. While there's definitely going to be a ceiling - and, potentially, a crash, should any games suddenly become less popular - it appears we haven't reached it yet. With Magic Arena continuing to spur growth in the TCG sector, and millions on the line with Magic esports in 2019, it's possible we haven't even scratched the surface of the depth and expense of the collectible TCG market.

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Source: Heritage Auctions