Read the announcement
All-Foil Boosters coming in January 2010!
- Thread starter Spiderman
- Start date
R
rokapoke
Guest
Flooding the market will likely reduce the value of the foil cards that are worth something, anyway.
E
EricBess
Guest
YuGiOh sold "gold" card oversized packs. Each contained 25 cards (from a 45-card set), 3 were "gold rare". Each "booster" (they were actually packaged in a box) was $35 and they sold through like hotcakes. Part of me wonders if WotC is trying the same thing.
There is a difference, though. In the case of the YuGiOh gold series, every card of the 45-card set was hand selected as a "good" card. Yeah, there were some that were better than others and a few that weren't really worthy of inclusion, but for the most part, you got 25 somewhat playable cards and at least 2-3 cards that were considered "bombs" in their respective sets. In addition, many of the cards you couldn't currently get anywhere else.
It will be interesting to see if WotC can sell these all-foil boosters for their $12 price when the sets the cards are taken from are still available in non-foil versions. In fact, speaking stricktly in terms of card value, this is worse because cards are randomly from all 3 sets. If you are looking for specific cards, being able to pick your expansion is a better deal in general.
My guess is that they will sell a few to people who are more curious than anything, but at that price, I don't think anyone is going to be serious about trying to amass a set. Still, I've known some fairly well-funded eccentrics in my day, so who knows.
There is a difference, though. In the case of the YuGiOh gold series, every card of the 45-card set was hand selected as a "good" card. Yeah, there were some that were better than others and a few that weren't really worthy of inclusion, but for the most part, you got 25 somewhat playable cards and at least 2-3 cards that were considered "bombs" in their respective sets. In addition, many of the cards you couldn't currently get anywhere else.
It will be interesting to see if WotC can sell these all-foil boosters for their $12 price when the sets the cards are taken from are still available in non-foil versions. In fact, speaking stricktly in terms of card value, this is worse because cards are randomly from all 3 sets. If you are looking for specific cards, being able to pick your expansion is a better deal in general.
My guess is that they will sell a few to people who are more curious than anything, but at that price, I don't think anyone is going to be serious about trying to amass a set. Still, I've known some fairly well-funded eccentrics in my day, so who knows.
Oversoul: I don't know about "rare", but even if it's 1 out of every 500 players, that's still a lot. Plus, maybe there's people who know others who want the shinies and would buy them for trade bait.
Like EricBess says, it's just another additional source of revenue that doesn't really cost WOTC anything but opens up a niche for some players to buy into.
Like EricBess says, it's just another additional source of revenue that doesn't really cost WOTC anything but opens up a niche for some players to buy into.
E
EricBess
Guest
Spidey, being in the industry, I can say that the cost of foil cards is signicantly higher than the cost of a normal card. WotC is taking a huge risk here and they are going to have to sell a fairly substancial amount of this to break even. It it sells well, then yes, it will be a huge source of revenue. The thing to remember about costs is that everyone gets their share and margins (the profit for the middle-man) are typically discussed as percentages rather than numbers. So WotC's cost on this is probably $0.10to $0.20 per card. A lot depends on quantity and I doubt they are printing as much of this as they do a normal set. I don't know on packaging and other overhead. The distributor and the retailer each add a percentage to that, so what the consumer gets isn't the price increased by the additional production cost, but a price that's has a ratio based on the original production cost.
There are 2 things to consider here, though. First, Magic is selling very well right now and has been for the last few sets, so WotC has a bit of money to take a risk at the moment. If it doesn't pay off, they probably won't do it again. If it does, then they will.
Second, and probably more important...I don't know what kind of a return policy WotC impliments, but in most cases, retailers have to be the ones to take the risk as not even the distributors allow returns. That's why one of the best ways to get a retailer to take your product is to offer a good return policy so they aren't the ones taking the risk.
Another secret ...most retailers don't really understand the industry. Yes, they sell singles and run tournaments, but they don't really understand why some card sets sell and others don't. My guess is that many retailers will remember the success of the YuGiOh gold set and figure that this will be exactly the same.
So...WotC will probably do just fine on this, but some retailers will have far more than they need and will wish there was a return policy.
There are 2 things to consider here, though. First, Magic is selling very well right now and has been for the last few sets, so WotC has a bit of money to take a risk at the moment. If it doesn't pay off, they probably won't do it again. If it does, then they will.
Second, and probably more important...I don't know what kind of a return policy WotC impliments, but in most cases, retailers have to be the ones to take the risk as not even the distributors allow returns. That's why one of the best ways to get a retailer to take your product is to offer a good return policy so they aren't the ones taking the risk.
Another secret ...most retailers don't really understand the industry. Yes, they sell singles and run tournaments, but they don't really understand why some card sets sell and others don't. My guess is that many retailers will remember the success of the YuGiOh gold set and figure that this will be exactly the same.
So...WotC will probably do just fine on this, but some retailers will have far more than they need and will wish there was a return policy.
E
EricBess
Guest
Print runs usually are for exactly the amount of product that is expected. These are current sets and I thought these sets had sold through, so there really wouldn't be anything to repackage. Besides, putting things into a booster like that is much easier when they come directly off a form. Repackaging is usually just a few specific cards or groups of cards being packaged as an incentive to sell something else.
Beyond that, the fact that they are pulling cards from all 3 sets leads me to think that they are a complete redo of the form and not just overprinted forms (which probably wouldn't have been cut).
I suppose it's possible that these are extra cards with a repackage, but if so, someone must have really messed up the numbers for all 3 sets and that seems unlikely to me.
Beyond that, the fact that they are pulling cards from all 3 sets leads me to think that they are a complete redo of the form and not just overprinted forms (which probably wouldn't have been cut).
I suppose it's possible that these are extra cards with a repackage, but if so, someone must have really messed up the numbers for all 3 sets and that seems unlikely to me.
T
theorgg
Guest
Could it be the cards pulled for professional events and such? I know that they remove foils from Grand Prix drafts and such, and stamp 'em.
Could this be the source of these, thus causing a very small printrun of said 'shiny boxes'?
Could this be the source of these, thus causing a very small printrun of said 'shiny boxes'?