The first article on Magic the Gathering I wrote gained zero interest but I'm hoping there's some MtG players and Investors on Steemit. I lived in Phoenix, AZ at this time and was introduced to the game by a work colleague.
Legends was the third Magic the Gathering expansion released in June 1994, I know.. I was there and experienced it all.
I pre-ordered a sealed box from The Game Depot in Tempe and that was all I could have. The game store would not let anyone have more than a single box and it cost me the retail price, around $90 I think.
The Game Depot in Tempe, AZ still exists, but has moved to a different location since I bought my box of Legends!
I managed to get some more boosters from nearby game stores but it was a struggle. Every one of them had an embargo once you had bought your quota, around 3-4 packs. Such was the demand and the lack of quantity.
I remember opening my sealed box; Jacques le Vert was my first rare, there was also a Nicol Bolas in there. Funny how you remember some things?
It seemed everyone wanted a full set of Legends, an impossible task as you just couldn’t buy them anywhere after the first week.
Some of the artwork was so cool looking. Just look at All-Hallows-Eve, a card it took me forever to get a copy of.
There was a game shop named Roaming Panther in Chandler and a middle aged guy was sitting there with THREE of these cards, how the heck did he get all those?
In mid June I attended Hex-a-Con 4 in Tempe, this was a game convention that happened every year. I persuaded to attend by the same work colleague who had introduced me to the game.
Peter Adkison (Wizards of the Coast) was there, and was also looking to complete his Legends set. In fact he was so desperate that for every rare you gave him that he did not have, he would give you a sealed Arabian Nights booster pack. Holy Moley, What a guy!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Adkison
I managed to extract FIVE said booster packs, and no they were not scanned! From one I pulled a Juzam Djinn, I can’t remember what was in the others.
On retrospect I was sitting on a fortune.
Arabian Nights booster packs sell on eBay for around $575 each.
Legends sealed booster boxes are almost non-existent in the world now, here's one on Troll and Toad at a cool $7999.
Even the single cards are gaining a lot of traction simply because they are old, there were not many printed and they are being snapped up by speculators and investors. I still have a few, but not many.
Please up vote if you liked this story or learned something and please let others know who are interested in Magic the Gathering. I have a lot of stories from the ‘old days’
I've not heard of this game before. Is it along the same lines as Dungeons and Dragons?
I remember a bunch of school friends spending their lunchtimes playing D&D. Sounded lots of fun and I think some of them still play similar games to this day (some 25 years later).
Not exactly, whereas D&D was more in the mind and imagination of the DM (Dungeon Master), Magic is a physical card game which I can only describe as a mix of poker and chess with a strong fantasy twist mixed in.
It makes you think, makes those brain cells work and can be quite strategic. It's also very addictive and can be a big cash drain if not contained. Better played with friends in physical format, it's now available free on all platforms (PC/IOS/Android) as Duals of the Planeswalkers with a fantastic tutorial. It's a steep learning curve learning to play and the tutorials in this are excellent.
https://magic.wizards.com/en/content/magic-duels
Great article. I received my first packs in unlimited. I didn't play heavy until all the way to fourth edition. Don't stress about packs you bought 20+ years ago being worth a fortune. They are worth a fortune because everyone opened them, because they were great sets. There are plenty of crappy sets out there that are easy to find cheap almost as old. Because those sets sucked! I think once more people post about MTG it will get more popular, keep posting, love your content!
Thanks cc, speaking of unlimited packs I only ever had one and it was so obvious it had been scanned with those crease marks around the top and bottom. I cant even remember where I got it and of course there was nothing good inside.
I was like 7-8 when I got my first cards. Everything good I had I sold to get my first car when I was a teenager.
Hey there, there certainly are some more Magic players in disguise in there and there is place for cool throwback stories about the game.
The art of Magic cards could make thousands posts alone ; always something I like to look at even though I don't play anymore.
Thanks for the story and the pictures. Cheers!
I hope to find more of these MtG people. I rarely play these days too and if I do it's with a group of people who used to play during this time and really for nostalgic purposes. The art in the early days was good but it's a lot better these days. I was fortunate enough to meet Elizabeth Danforth at another convention at Casa Grande too, she was a lovely person and signed a bunch of my cards.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liz_Danforth
This is exactly the kind of encounter that you should share. Took a look at the cards she painted, and I own exactly 1 of these (Lim-Dûl's Hex), I discovered MTG at its 4th edition and only bought one starter pack and a few boosters.
Though I know more of these cards, most notably Merchant Scroll from the great oldie Shandalar PC game. I so hope it could be remastered with current gen graphics...
I wish they would make Shandalar again too, I bought the game and I have fond memories of playing it on the PC.
https://mtg.gamepedia.com/Magic:The_Gathering(MicroProse)
I still play every once in a while when I get a chance. Too busy with work nowadays.
Keep wishing I was around during those days. I played Type 0 (Alpha -
Fallen Empires) for a while with some folks I met at my LGS, but couldn't come anywhere near competitive due to the zero proxy rule and lack of funds for a set of power. Still a ton of fun.
It was a magical time (no pun intended) when everything was new and there was not hundred's of sets like there is now. Fallen Empires almost killed the game due to mass overprinting but was quite fun to play with the Thalid's and Spore's, it had zero value then and has little even today despite being a 24 year old expansion.
Always loved that set even though it was barely worth the paper it was printed on. I still have a soft spot for Seasinger.
I didn't know much about this world, but a friend was explaining it to us recently. Seems crazy what people will pay for a bit of card
There's some serious players in this game, just look at this:
I had one of these once upon a time and a couple of unlimited ones in pristine condition. I remember a bloke catching a train from Stoke to Blackburn just to collect one from me for £140. I try not to think about it too much.
Yes, but it's an artificial scarcity. I guess it's a free market. Just seems odd to me
In the case of the above card the scarcity is actually real. Only 3200 were ever printed in they year 1993 and this card is on the 'reserved list', meaning Wizards of the Coast have vowed never to reprint it. How many are left in the world after 25 years of floods, wars, babies eating them, wear and tear loss etc..?
https://mtg.gamepedia.com/Reserved_List
There's a lot of debate about this list, some love it, some hate it, but it does do one thing for sure, it makes these cards desirable.
The Minneapolis Steemit posse also play Magic. Check @kommienezuspadt and @vermillionfox.
Thanks, Ill check them out :)
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Nice story. Its really great. Thank you so much for sharing Sir. Upvote and Resteem done.