Mystery Booster Prices

[WizardSpartan]

I am not adept at the financial aspect of Magic, but I'm taking a look at various cards reprinted in the Mystery Boosters set. They all seem a lot cheaper (for example MB1 Mana Crypt is ~$130, while EMA Mana Crypt is ~$200), which is odd. I have a few questions as a result.

1. Mystery Booster cards are still legal in the same formats their original versions are, right? They aren't like the World Championship Decks gold cards, correct?

2. How large of a print run was this set? I originally believed it was a small print run for a few events, but they're available widely online for ~$150 a box. This leads into my next question.

3. Is it likely these prices will hold for a few months? How long will this set be in print?

I'm mainly asking because I've noticed a lot of cards that I personally am interested in like Meren of Clan Nel Toth, Recruiter of the Guard, Liliana, Death's Majesty, etc. have MB1 versions that are significantly cheaper. I'm currently testing a Meren deck and I'm afraid she'll zoom up to the $15+ price tag of all her other versions and make her too expensive for me.

[Red_Wyrm]

Hold up, I could've spent $130 instead of $180 on my mana crypt? Well frickity frak me I guess. Oh my god that sounded so gay.

This is the first I'm hearing of mystery boosters. So im going to go look into what exactly they are.

[Slyvester12]

From what I've heard, the Mystery Booster cards are marked with the planeswalker symbol in the bottom left corner and the card quality is bad. Aside from that, they're tournament legal versions, so it's basically up to print run to see where the prices go. It seems like WotC is trying to give everyone cheaper versions of good cards, but they were worried about backlash and made the quality poor.

[Xaarvaxus]

I've opened a few packs and have noticed that its not just the foils that are curling at the edges.  I have a few non-foils that are curling as well, though not as bad as the foil versions.

However, have had good luck with pulls and have gotten some stuff that I didn't own a copy of, such as Expropriate so won't complain too much. 

[CleanBelwas]

I've drafted the mystery boosters and they're gas. The amount of good, playable stuff is insane.

Packs are fun as hell to draft, but the set is also full of commander staples.

In the few packs I cracked I pulled such hits as Expropriate, Intruder Alarm (foil), Marrow-Gnawer (foil), Sol Ring, Skullclamp, Grave Titan, Caged Sun, Asceticism, Mizzix's Mastery, Ashnod's Altar (<3), Blood Artist (<3) to name but a few.

The prices are significantly lower because people have been drafting the shit out of it. It's been super popular so a lot of packs have been opened. Right now supply is very high.

From what I've read, this is an unlimited print run, so while there is appetite they will continue to print more, and there is a lot of appetite. The term "unlimited print run" is kind of misleading though. It means they will be printing more at some point. Right now what is out in the world is it and we're not sure when more will be printed. As such, once supply dried up the prices are likely to creep up again until more is printed. It won't be that bad, but that tends to be the pattern. The MB1 versions of cards will very likely stay significantly cheaper than their original counterparts, but right now is probably going to be the cheapest time to buy before more reprints.

In terms of card quality, the difference is there, but it's quite marginal in my opinion. They are worse, but not so much that you'd notice in a fully sleeved EDH deck.

If you like draft and can draft it, I'd highly recommend it. I basically only play EDH and draft these days, and this is one of the best draft environments I've ever experienced.

And with the amount of packs being cracked, now is a great time to be stocking up on the EDH staples that this set is bursting with.

Hold up, I could've spent $130 instead of $180 on my mana crypt? Well frickity frak me I guess.

Haha yea dude there's a lot of that going on with this set. I've spent the last year trading into a whole bunch of mono black stuff and a whole bunch of it is less than half price now with these boosters. Dictate of Erebos, Phyrexian Arena, Torment of Hailfire, Exsanguinate, Black Market. All stuff I spent at least double on in the past year. And Athreos. My dear, dear Athreos. Now available for less than a tenner. It's a double edged sword, that's for sure. Also a lot of stuff I can now pick up cheaply that I didn't have before.

[WizardSpartan]

Okay, so card quality. If I double sleeve all my cards in my EDH decks, will there be a problem with non foils from this set? I'm not quite sure by what y'all mean by "card quality". Is it just cheaper cardboard? Or does it warp over time?

[CleanBelwas]

Nah it should be fine. Also, if the sit fairly tight in a deckbox they should keep flat and straight.

In terms of card quality, it just means it's on slightly thinner (and it's not unreasonable to assume, cheaper) card stock and so has more of a tendency to curl at the edges. It's usually more prevalent in foils, but there has been a bit of it on the normal cards too. If stored appropriately, it shouldn't be an issue, but if you just leave it on a side or in a box you might see a bit of curling.

If you're looking to buy singles that will be sleeved and in decks, it'll be fine. If, like me, you have a bunch of draft chaff left over, you might see a bit of curling on some of the cards. And it only really matters for resale value. If you're planning on keeping it, it matters even less.