Reserved List?
Economics forum
Posted on Aug. 20, 2017, 6:19 p.m. by Profet93
Is it worth it to buy cards that I will actually use from the reserved list? From what I understand, the cards won't be reprinted so they should retain their value. These are not just cards to keep and hope they increase in price, but also cards that I will be using in EDH decks as well.
The specific cards in question I am looking to purchase are...
Good question. I should have been more specific. Worth it as regards to sell them back after a while for a similar amount.
August 20, 2017 6:31 p.m.
KingMathoro says... #4
Most things on the reserved list are only going to increase in price so I would say go for it. And you will be getting use out of them as well, truly a win win. My only other thought on that is make sure you double sleeve them to preserve the condition.
August 20, 2017 6:47 p.m.
I have been recently told to use "true fit" sleeves and then I place those sleeves in dragon shield sleeves. Is this what you mean by "double sleeving?"
August 20, 2017 6:48 p.m.
Magic is an expensive hobby, but it's intersting how much value the cards can hold for when you want to cash out. The reserve list cards keep going up, even shitty ones. If you want to be more protected from losses I suggest to avoid buying mega expensive cards that seem like they could be printed today. There have been functional reprints of reserve list cards that affected the prices of their reserved component. But otherwise I think they are solid investments. The reserve list has been like the 10 commandments ever since they made it. Its still just a "gentleman's agreement" with the public basically since its not a binding contract its just their "current reprint policy". So if the game takes a serious down swing in popularity I wouldn't put it past WotC to reprint those old cards. They can literally print money, if they get greedy anything's possible. That said I think the sky would have to be literally falling for them to do that. It would completely annihilate their secondary market, which is where their local tournament events happen all over the world, and that's also who sells the most new product of theirs too. So it seems very very unlikely but nobody can be sure you know. If it was 100% for sure Wall Sreet weirdos would be buying Moxes and dual lands.
August 20, 2017 6:55 p.m.
Yeah double sleeved with dragon shields is the best feeling.
August 20, 2017 6:56 p.m.
What cards have they made as "functional reprints" and what were their reserved list counterparts?
If I understand you correctly, then Wotc can disregard the reserved list at any time because it isn't 100% sure, but would most probably only do so if the game's popularity is in severe danger?
August 20, 2017 7:13 p.m.
My thoughts on your topic: Will you get enjoyment out of having these cards? Are you in a good enough financial place to feasibly not be strongly impacted by the loss of these cards due to any sort of disaster? Will you, or can you imagine yourself, regretting your decision to purchase these cards in the future? If you couldn't answer yes, yes, yes! to these questions (excepting of course, the last one, which should be no, no, no!), I would strongly reconsider purchasing them.
Alos, revised list cards cannot have functional reprints; to quote their official policy: "Reserved cards will never be printed again in a functionally identical form. A card is considered functionally identical to another card if it has the same card type, subtypes, abilities, mana cost, power, and toughness."Source: http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/official-reprint-policy-2010-03-10 (Sorry, couldn't get the link to work)
August 20, 2017 8:52 p.m.
I answered yes to most of those except the last one of course. I saw that link which is why I was put off by the "functional reprint" comment. Although I think what he might have been saying is cards that fulfill a similar (although not identical role).
Are there any cards from my list that I mentioned that you recommend I should pick up first? I recently bought a bunch of reserved list cards and I want to know what my next best option should be
August 20, 2017 11:11 p.m.
If you plan on playing with them, get the ones you want to play with first! they are all expensive, but if you are in no rush any particualr one then go with the ones you want most.
Also, Imperial Recruiter is not on the reserved list
August 20, 2017 11:31 p.m.
Alright. If that's the case then the workshop shall be my next bet. Bidding on 2 right now. Hopefully I should get at least one of them. I appreciate everyone's help :)
And oops, my mistake with the imperial recruiter. Still a card to get for sure.
August 20, 2017 11:33 p.m.
Gidgetimer says... #13
Profet93 there haven't been functional reprints of any of them, that is one thing that is expressly forbidden by the reserved list. I personally am not a fan of the reserved list since it prioritizes collectors over players, but wizards is sticking fast to the fact that it is not going away and no cards will ever be removed. So if you have the frankly ludicrous amount of money to spend on cards that are both playable and on the reserved list then you should be able to get equal or greater value out of them when you want to cash out on them.
August 21, 2017 1:05 a.m.
Reserve cards that do not see play but are still bought out will spike, but over time will lower to their original prices unless they begin to see play anywhere like commander.
The cards that do see play, even casually, after a spike will retain a higher value after it lowers when time passes by (less in circulation). So a $5 that spikes to $50 would later balance out at $10-$20 over time if it sees some level of play. Of course once these cards are being used in competitive decks then they spike and hold a higher value (high demand).
Safest bet is to seek out cards you would like to use and pick them up before they spike, or if they have already spike quickly look for them at prices prior to the spiked value.
August 21, 2017 1:36 a.m.
When did they say it won't go away? I wouldn't say ludicrous amounts but a good amount every couple of months. Just bought 2 Chains of Mephistopheles, All Hallow's Eve, Forcefield, The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale, Wheel of Fortune, Word of Command, and Serra's Sanctum. Keep in mind every single card I buy is usually NM-MP, MP for some of the more expensive cards because the pricing difference is huge.
Not including the other ones I bought previously The Abyss, Living Plane, Gaea's Cradle, Yawgmoth's Will, Candelabra of Tawnos, Grim Monolith x3, and a lot of other shit....
I didn't even know the cards I bought previously were on the reserve list, I just thought they were crazy expensive because they were crazy good.
CChaosYou're 100% right. I actually heard some youtuber bought our a narwhal (not sure if I spelled it correctly) and the spike settled similarly to your example.
August 21, 2017 2:11 a.m.
Profet93 what I find fascinating is persons who don't intend on increasing the value of reserved cards can simply do so buy purchasing 1 copy alone. The next day or 2 look at the interest page on mtgstocks.com and you will usually see a slight increase to that card's value. Now if the price increases greatly then perhaps other buyers saw your purchase and assumed buyouts would occur, so they either informed other buyers or simply bought out the others copies online for themselves. I observed this when I was picking up singles for commander.
I believe the youtuber that bought out the narwhals was MTGlion, I think he was testing the market to show how easy it is to spike reserved cards.
August 21, 2017 2:34 a.m.
That's very interesting. Since the reserve list cards are usually more expensive, I find them for a lot cheaper on ebay (MP, bids, best offers, etc...). Would that be reflected in MTGstocks as well? I use that website every other day and I love the information and the way it is presented. I just don't know what it takes into account besides TCGplayer and Cardkingom
August 21, 2017 2:37 a.m.
Profet93 I avoid ebay when it comes to purchasing cards without the new sticker as many good fakes exist. There are fake cards which can only be observed as a fake by ripping, touching, or smelling (new chemicals).
I am not sure how MTGstocks determines the value of cards everyday. I can understand why they would not incorporate ebay into their determination of card value, because of the inclusion of fakes. But that doesn't mean you cannot observe and track the availability of reserved cards on ebay for yourself. All of this is just about taking the best possible guess to understand the direction of the market.
August 21, 2017 2:57 a.m.
Winterblast says... #19
CChaos is there any method that a regular player can certainly determine if a card is real? A while back at our LGS we had that discussion when someone said he believed a card was fake and we couldn't find any official source on what criteria have to be met for a card to be an original. We checked the card text, how it seeto be printed, surface, how much light it lets through and some other aspects. Eventually we found quite a lot of differences even on low value cards, commons and crap rares...some foreign cards, for example spanish or italian would have a shinier surface or slightly different colour, would react differently to light and so on. In the end we agreed that if there's no source from Wotc that clearly shows what criteria a real card has to meet, a normal player, even a shopkeeper, has a hard time finding out about a fake. When buying and selling cards on the internet you can only assume the cards you buy and the cards you own are real, if they don't look obviously weird.
August 21, 2017 5:22 a.m.
Rabid_Wombat says... #20
Winterblast hey man - great question! What I always use before making a major purchase is a 30x Jewelers Loupe (you can score them on Amazon) and check those cards out. The printing pattern is what you want to look at. Real MTG cards have a printing patten made up of a lot of little diamonds and circles. This cannot be replicated by laser printers, which is what most counterfeiters use. As a result I never purchase online - only in person or at conventions.
August 21, 2017 5:43 a.m.
Winterblast for regular players I'm not sure. I think the feel of a card, especially old ones, is important for all players to understand. It would be like a person who handles money on a regular basis, the moment a fake slides across their hand it will feel different to them because the printed material is not the same. Fake cards may also have a strong chemical scent, if they are brand new.
There is likely physical differences in real cards printed across different sets, countries, and languages. I assume each printing facility would create various (unintentional?) physical changes as you saw for yourself. It would seem being able to tell the difference between a real and fake card would come down to inspection of both copies side by side. So when checking for a fake English card, don't compare it to a real Spanish version of the same card, use a real English copy highly believed to be real.
The chances of obtaining a fake card is much greater from online sources which do not sell mass amounts of cards on a regular basis. With the example at the top, it is likely for a fake to be spotted by those who have been handling MTG cards for a long time.
I think the only current way to guarantee your purchase is real is if it has that little sticker at the base of the card (found in the current rares and mythics); I don't think distributors of fake cards have managed to replicate that sticker yet. Otherwise, it is a guessing game especially with higher quality fakes.
August 21, 2017 6:27 a.m.
Honestly, yeah, I'm worried that people may try to make fakes and sell them on Ebay. You can also do so much I suppose. What do you mean by a "new sticker?"
Is this an investment I should consider making, Link for what you described? I lowkey am a little scared some might be fakes, so I'd rather find out sooner (within the time frame window) rather than later. Is this a relative easy process to do, like would the diamonds and circles be obvious just by using the tool you described?
August 21, 2017 12:55 p.m.
I also found this link which describes how to tell if a card is fake. Are these legitimate tests? Puca Link
August 21, 2017 1:01 p.m.
Gidgetimer says... #24
Well their language is "no card will be removed" but since abolishing the list would remove all the cards from it it is kinda implied. I think that employees of wizards have said in a more definitive manner that it won't be abolished but I do not have time to sift through articles to try and find it atm, maybe later this evening i will have time.
August 21, 2017 1:57 p.m.
August 21, 2017 2:17 p.m.
Winterblast says... #26
chaos what I meant is rather that ignorance can be bliss for private sellers, at least we came to that conclusion when considering legal issues with buying and selling cards as players. It probably depends on the law in your country but since there is no official guideline of Wotc on how to spot fakes (maybe they don't even want that to prevent people from knowing how to reproduce the cards exactly?) you can't really be held responsible for not knowing if a card you sell is fake. If your cards get stolen, it's even unlikely that anyone in the legal system believes you how much the value was and investigate the matter accordingly.
August 21, 2017 2:52 p.m.
Thank you! That link was very helpful and descriptive!
If you can't find it, that's fine. I'm just trying to get a consensus.
Well said
Rzepkanut says... #2
By "worth it" do you mean will you get thousands of dollars worth of entertainment out of them or do you mean, will you be able to sell them back after a while for a similar amount?
August 20, 2017 6:24 p.m.