Modern Masters 2017

[Oversoul]

And now the Ravnica Signets have been spoiled, which isn't of particular interest, but they're OK. I said it before, but this set is bonkers. Last year, we got Eternal Masters and now there's this. I know the packs are stupidly expensive, but there's something to be said for just having such a concentration of good stuff in a new set. I can only imagine how cool they could make a set like this if they didn't bother to balance it for drafting, but that's never going to happen. Still, this is quite good. It is shaping up to be better than the original 2013 Modern Masters, despite the absence of storm cards.

 

[Oversoul]

Whole set is up now. And yeah, it's really good.

 

[Mooseman]

Is it good enough to buy a box and sit on it for a few years?
I'm not a big investor, but I missed the 2013 set and am now od]officially out of the tournament sphere.

 

[Oversoul]

Is it good enough to buy a box and sit on it for a few years?

I don't really know how to judge that, as I've seen others try it with every set.

 

[Melkor]

There have been a lot of rumors concerning the print run being bigger than normal and you also have to assume that they will do the same thing they did with EMA and have a second print run to spoil any hoarders. I'd say whether it becomes worth it to hold onto a box really depends on two things, how long you're willing to hold onto it, and whether they ever put the off-color fetches in an unlimited print run set. If the Zendikar fetches ever get a Standard legal (or Conspiracy) printing, then the boxes won't hold their value, if not, they very well might. But take all this with a grain of salt, as I'm not only a casual player (.org!), I'm also a casual observer of the secondary market.

 

[Oversoul]

...I'd say whether it becomes worth it to hold onto a box really depends on two things, how long you're willing to hold onto it...

That's the part that I find a bit odd. And maybe it's just that I'm an incompetent, stupid scrub who rips open every booster box he buys right away. But I've seen these people who buy boxes and just store them, not because they want to have them for later, like for drafting or just collecting them or whatever, but because they intend to store them for some period, and then after time has elapsed and the selling price for sealed boosters of that set has gone up, they can sell them for a profit. While this is something that is possible for one to do, and perhaps for these people storage space for the "investment" is trivial, it seems like there are better ways to turn money into more money over time. Like, they make bonds. Bonds are a thing. You can buy them and then get more money from them later. It's a lot like doing that with sealed Magic product, only much more compact and less volatile. Is the volatility the source of the attraction? Is it the notion of gaming a system for a bigger payout? I mean, there are also stocks. And properties. And commodities and precious metals and crap. Are Magic cards really the way to go here? I am not all that knowledgeable on investment, but it just seems outlandish that Magic cards would be the way to go. On the one hand, to each his own. On the other, some of the same people who "invest" in this system are also the ones who complain vocally when WotC changes something, such as with reprints. Seems like it's the nature of the beast and if you try to play Magic like it's a stock market, you lost your right to complain, but somehow every set release that might perturb the secondary market gets one of these investors crying foul.

 

[Mooseman]

I have so many unopened boxes from my days working for PES, that I got tired of opening every box and then trying to find stuff later. I am not very organized with my magic cards.
I just thought it might be a bit profitable.
I have only sold anything to a friend with a store. I have also rarely bought any magic cards over the years, other than the dual lands about $40 total?

 

[Oversoul]

I have so many unopened boxes from my days working for PES, that I got tired of opening every box and then trying to find stuff later. I am not very organized with my magic cards.
I just thought it might be a bit profitable.
I have only sold anything to a friend with a store. I have also rarely bought any magic cards over the years, other than the dual lands about $40 total?

Ah, maybe that's a common part of the whole "individual players sitting on unopened boxes" thing. Just that it's convenient for some people and they hope to perhaps make some money off it. And then the vocal minority that are actually taking it more seriously are just what people like me see more of. Makes sense.

From what I've seen, if you have boxes that have been sitting sealed for several years, they've probably gone up a fair bit. And of course, you might want to sit on them even longer and hope that they go up even more, although at some point they hit diminishing returns. But for specifics, I certainly wouldn't be the person to ask. I don't think we have anyone here these days who is really versed in the whole "MTG Finance" thing.

My booster box purchases have all been pretty much sunk costs. I buy a couple of boxes of new sets as they hit shelves. Preordered two boxes MM17 before the spoilers drove the prices up, so I'm getting a reasonable deal on those. I've been a bit torns with regard to some of the not-quite-old-not-quite-new sets that I own little of right now, whether it makes more sense for me to just buy a box (more expensive, but it can be fun in a way and it provides a nice selection of cards) or to just focus on singles (much cheaper per card, but tedious and the investment to buy complete playsets of stuff can be a bit daunting). I'm not hurting on the more truly recent stuff, but I was pretty much stagnant as far as collecting during my college years, and a lot of that stuff has really gone up in the meantime. I would have loved to have been buying a couple of booster boxes and fat packs and such back when sets like Zendikar were current, but I couldn't afford it back then. I've shored some of the collection deficiencies up. Last year I know I bought boxes of Cold Snap (ran across a good deal and previously owned a total of like 7 actual cards from the set in my entire collection) and Future Sight (it was a good deal at the time for a box of the set, and the price has only gone up, plus I love Future Sight and my pulls from that box were excellent). I think the year before last I picked up booster boxes of all three sets in Innistrad Block. So yeah, from a financial standpoint, I'm more of a sucker when it comes to this stuff.

 

[Mooseman]

Since I am not really a tournament player or even at a store, just kitchen table type, I "sat" on the boxes because I actually got tired of opening them.
I was just wondering about your opinion of MM17.
You seem to know a lot about the cards, environment and stuff.
Thanks for your input and your analysis of the sets.

 

[Oversoul]

I mean, while the set is full of value, one thing that is definitely tempering the reaction for some people is that last year, Eternal Masters got a second "print run" toward the end of the year. It has been argued convincingly that it was printed right after the first "print run" and that WotC hid the second wave of the set initially because the whole "suprise, second print run" thing boosted their holiday sales and punished greedy stores that hoarded most of their stock of boxes with the plan to wait a bit and sell after the price climbed. That being said, even with Eternal Masters, someone who bought boxes for a reasonable price in either wave could presumably sit on them for a few years and still make money off them. But anyway, that whole "second print run" thing did spook some of the finance-minded people.