The affects of and investment in Ultimate Masters
Economics forum
Posted on Nov. 13, 2018, 3:23 p.m. by SeekerofSecrets
So I very rarely buy packs but with ultimate masters coming out its going to be very tempting to break that rule. With the very limited spoilers that I've seen I've calculated that the average value of each pack to be around $50. I know that number will drop as we see more of the set, so I'll update my chart as we see more of the set.
I'm more interested in the long term price of the cards and how they will be impacted from reprints.
I would love to hear your thoughts on rather buying boosters will be worth it and the affect of the set!
SeekerofSecrets says... #3
Yeah I think that I read somewhere that they'll be around $13-14 a pack at big box stores
November 13, 2018 3:56 p.m.
rockleemyhero says... #4
They will be sold in 3 packs at big brand stores for $34.99 MSRP.
More related to OP’s post, I feel the same feels and never buy packs as well. Don’t forget that the EV isn’t set until the full spoiler though! I’m sure they will have their fair share of junk rares like in previous masters sets. The real value comes in what value uncommons they continue to print imo.
November 13, 2018 5:10 p.m.
Also be on the lookout for anything that downshifts to common. Might make a 50¢ uncommon into a dollar or so common for pauper. Remember you make money in percentages so buying a .50 and selling a 1.00 is a 100% return. ;)
November 13, 2018 5:31 p.m.
TheRealSpecialK says... #6
I'm really hoping for Cabal Coffers at uncommon, or at least at rare.
November 13, 2018 5:32 p.m.
I'm there with you, but if it was I feel like it would have been a box topper
November 13, 2018 8:05 p.m.
I’m not sure how much of the set I will open, as packs here at my lgs in Canada are going for $21.95 ($16.59 US) and this is before tax of course too. So that means $24.82 ($18.76 US).
November 13, 2018 8:59 p.m.
I wasn't going to buy any packs and just buy some of the reprints I wanted, and then I realized just how many of the reprints I want are actually rares in the set, the value of the set will be based on the box toppers and normal foils, at least early on it'll be really bad to get the wrong box topper or the foil rare to be a bad one and not demo tutor.
November 14, 2018 1:40 a.m.
With just 40 cards in the set so far, which represent only 20 of the rares, and three of them complete duds (2 zendikar man lands and 1 tasigur), there are few redeeming qualities for this set. MSRP is 13 dollars on a pack. Remember when people were complaining that shit Masters packs were 10 bucks for Iconic and Masters 25? Heck, even the chockfull of excellent reprints MM 2017 was 10 dollars a pack and not really worth it...
Honestly, I think that we should vote with our dollar (or regional equivalent) to stop this blatant corporate abuse of the game. The mythic guilds of ravnica and now this ultimate masters BS have "Hasbro made us do it" written all over it and it is not healthy for the game to keep churning out mediocre overpriced product. And especially when all these special products keep shafting the FLGSs that support the whole game on their shoulders.
And finally, if the value of each pack is estimated at 50 bucks even after all the spoilers are in, good luck getting it for anywhere below 1000 bucks. But do you really think that Wizards will shoot themselves in the foot like that by including so much value in a pack? I highly doubt it.
November 14, 2018 3:48 a.m.
"Wizards is smart, despite their recent history. They are sending out high value box toppers to inflate the sets value."
No, they are not. Lets see - the cheapest packs to get are the 3 for 36 deal in big box stores. That means 24 packs are 288, which in turn means at MSRP, the box topper is about 50 bucks. Lets assume a box topper will be 2 times the price of its non-boxtopper version. So, if a boxtopper is worth more than 25 bucks currently, you got it, if it is less, you do not:
Tasigur, stirring wildwoods, lavaclaw reaches, raging ravine, balefire dragon, creeping tar pit, eternal witness, fulminator mage, kitchen finks, life from the loam (barely), lord of extincition, maelstrom pulse, platinum emperion, reanimate (barely), ancient tomb (barely), sigarda, urborg.
That is 17 cards that are currently around or below 25 bucks on TCG. So, under those assumptions you have a 50% to have better value than simply buying packs off the big box stores, which is appalling.
November 14, 2018 5:36 a.m.
now buying packs at msrp is really terrible, but buying them at or a tiny bit above what stores buy them from their distributors it gets closer to being reasonable.
All of the masters sets have been more targeted at people who will buy up a lot of them in one go for the sealed and then hope those people will dismantle the product and provide a bigger supply of desired reprints, the box toppers make this more true as past masters sets average box value was determined by the foils so having something fill 1/5th the cost of the box (small stores can get them from distributors for 250, probably even cheaper for the big stores) is a good start to hopefully lower prices.
Overall if you're only opening a few boxes or less it is definitely a gamble and should only think of doing it if you want copies of many of the rares from the set, otherwise let the stores who are going to open thousands of packs lower the prices of the stuff you want.
November 15, 2018 1:36 a.m.
SCG has preordering at 55 bucks below MSRP
Abu games has them at 10 bucks below MSRP and it will probably be dropping. A few other places that have preorders are lower than MSRP.
And I am not surprised. Honestly, the community has smelled the whiff of BS coming off this product, and is reacting accordingly.
November 15, 2018 3:10 a.m.
kingsongome says... #14
I've been playing Magic since Ice Age, but took a break when Modern Masters 2013 came out. Coming back into the game the Masters sets look appealing to invest in. I've been starting to buy one of each set on eBay, but about half way through I heard that there is a rumor about artificial scarcity with these premium products(Big distributors hoarding product to increase demand) Some of these Masters sets are higher than others. Eternal Masters has almost doubled. What's the real print run on these things?
February 3, 2020 3:53 p.m.
kingsongome says... #15
I've been playing Magic since Ice Age, but took a break when Modern Masters 2013 came out. Coming back into the game the Masters sets look appealing to invest in. I've b een starting to buy one of each set on eBay, but about half way through I heard that there is a rumor about artificial scarcity with these premium products(Big distributors hoarding product to increase demand) Some of these Masters sets are higher than others. Eternal Masters has almost doubled. What's the real print run on these things?
ISSUE SOLVED!!
Flooremoji says... #2
Lol, I feel the same way about packs, but it is really tempting. WoTC said that they would be about $10, but I think the stores will sell them for $15-$20.
According to MTGGoldfish, the non special Through the Breach is already cheaper then the original Kamigawa one. I think that this will be an exception, because of the limited amount of copy's.
November 13, 2018 3:31 p.m.