Rare Magic card sell for $27,000

[Bryce Robinson]

Yes you read that correctly, $27,000.


http://kotaku.com/rare-magic-card-sells-for-27-000-1468597823/@rtgonzalez

[R Newell]

A rare "Alpha Black Lotus" card, from waaaay back in 1993, has gone for $27,302 on eBay, owing both to the fact it's rare (one of only 1100 printed) and also because it was in almost perfect condition.

"Rare" obviously has a different meaning in the world of CCGs.  1,100 copies floating out there yet it sells for $27,000?!  I don't get it.

[Dana_Tillusz]

I'd rather own a Spidey #1

[Bryce Robinson]

Agreed Dana.


Ryan I think a couple factors make it expensive, Yes only 1100 were printed but consider how many cards were printed in total that year it was rare for that set. 2 the condition of the card helps keep it valuable and 3 what it does for the player when playing its pretty powerful. Plus add in collectors willing to pay a premium for it, it all adds up.

[Dana_Tillusz]

People played with them without sleeves in those days! 

[Tempest]

I don't think that's regular buying price for Lotus these days as it is. I could see twenty-seven *HUNDRED* maybe, but I guess if it's in pristine condition like that... must have been some auction nonsense.

[ChadBoudreau]

Action Comics #1 had a print run of 200,000 copies, I believe, and one of those is worth a million or more...

[R Newell]

Yeah, I still don't get it.   

The number of mint or near-mint copies of Action Comics #1 still in existence might be in the single digits.  The supply/demand to make that comic such a huge collectible makes some sense to me.  It's an antique and, with Superman being as globally iconic as Mickey Mouse, it's a cultural artifact.  ($2 million+ is still ridiculous.)

But a Black Lotus card?  Even if there were millions of copies of every other Magic card, I'd think a print-run of 1,100 would still be considered a supply of 1,100 in the minds of collectors (I hope and pray nobody would pay that much just to pad their deck...).  So instead of bidding up one near-mint copy, why not bid less on some other guy's near-mint copy?  (But I'm making a lot of assumptions here and I should admit that I have complete ignorance when it comes to Magic.  Maybe a mint or near-mint Black Lotus card is just as unlikely as a mint or near-mint Action Comics #1.  But I'm making the assumption that, by '93-'94, enough CCG collectors would have learned from sports card collectors to protect their valuable cards, thereby making the proportion of Black Lotus cards still in good enough shape for collectors to be relatively high.)

I always find seemingly innocuous collectibles that fetch huge prices fascinating.  Thanks for the link, Bryce.

[JohnnyDavids13]

It is always Black Lotus... That card is just to crazy.