I have started collecting sealed product in order to save up something for the future. Looking back, I have bought sealed boxes of Scourge, shadowmoor, lorwyn, betrayers of kamigawa, and so many others, all of these cards are gone now. Bulk sold or given away, and now I regret it deeply since I could had more than x5'ed the money I spent back on it today. I just got myself a box of Masters 25 and Aether revolt. I probably plan on doing Kaladesh next. But I got fat packs and all of the planeswalker packs too of all of the sets that are now currently standard. That is Kalendesh to Rivals of Ixalan as well as a box of unstable.
But what to get next besides a box of whatever is currently standard? Should I even buy a box of amonkhet? What sets that are currently out that are not more than 120 a box or whatever that I could get that you guys think will increase dramatically in price as time goes on? I think the Kalendesh set is probably going to be very valuable.
Sets I am looking at are Theros, The Amonkhet block, Ixalan block, and possibly dominaria that is coming out too.
Most new sets are printed to oblivion and will not appreciate like older sets have. Of the new sets, I would buy Unstable. Long term there will be demand for the basic lands.
The real problem is that you never know what the future will bring.
Before last year, I would have said your best investments would be Masters sets but not after Iconic and Masters 25.
In general the normal sets are going to have multiple, very large print runs, so it really is not going to be worth it to stock up on sealed product.
Right now, I would say you should stock up on Unstable. Even though it is getting a third printing, the lands inside will *always* be popular. They will only get more popular and expensive with age. The set too has a unique and fun draft environment, so unopened packs will be highly valued once it goes out of print.
I would say I had more success with fat packs that sealed booster boxes. However, that was pre-KTK. Print runs are too big to make a nice returns on them if you are using this as investment.
For instance, I made insane returns from Zendikar sealed products. I got a case of RoE fatpack for 25ish a pop. I unloaded them when they were 150ish. They are like way more than that, but I got a really nice return anyway. You can't have this kinda jump in short period anymore. I still sitting on KTK fat packs. They are about 60 and I got them around 30. It seems like a good return, but it's not. There is a cost to unload them and it's been so many years already (and they have fetches). I imagine most of the fat packs will grow slower or similar rate (there are exceptions like BFZ fat pack, but it was the exception than the rule). KTK booster boxes fare worse than fat packs, so I will assume all booster boxes are as bad.
In this case, it may have less returns than regular investments right now. However, if your capital is small, it's fine to invest in boxes, but unless the playerbase has another boom similar to Innistrad/RTR era, I don't think there is that much room for growth. The only thing boxes have going for them is you probably won't "lose" money unless MTG suddenly dies. You just weight the probabilities of each of those event. Just try get boxes for around $85 maximum and you should be fine...I think.
Personally I would avoid sets with poor print quality and no staple. Unless people in the future have a fetish for bad printings, I think they aren't good long term. Ixalan block is a big no for this reason. No fetch like cards, no lottery, no nothing. The only set I really like from the today's time is Eldritch Moon. It has lot of potential cards that could explode in price and the print run may not be that large compared to sets of this era. BFZ/Kaladesh block may be OK because of Expedition/Masterpieces. Amonkhet block is kinda iff, it's almost as bad as BFZ block and people aren't exactly in love with Incantations. It may change in the future, but its printing quality sux (printing quality issues probably started in Kaladesh to be fair).
Still just look at boxes from RTR era. They have shocklands and prices didn't move at all or moved at glacial pace. For a long time you could get them for $80 during bargain sales. It's been almost over 5 years already. If you bought them around $75, you probably lost money overall (as shipping and fees would eat profits). I imagine most of the sets post BFZ era would move at similar pace. Yeah masterpiece kinda cards may change the equation, but I probably would bet on not a factor to be safe.
As for Alpha Investments videos. They are insightful. However, you need to watch them with his prospective x yours and it will/may be vastly different. As with any speculation, anyone will be wrong/right about things eventually. As long you try to understand why things happens, his videos can be useful not so much on what you should invest in, but on how he sees the market flow and his actions based on that. He is there to entertain us (and himself) and show his point of view on things and think for yourself.
I don’t remember me saying anything bad about Alpha investment. However if someone is sending people to that channel then it is highly important to also tell about the business model of Alpha investment.
I have sometimes the feeling that people very thoroughly check out dozens of car workshops before choosing which one to repair a flat tyre. Then the same people are very deliberately just embracing every word that a former broker, aka Sales man, like Rudy tells them.
You said that telling someone to check out Alpha Investments was bad advice. So clearly, there is something wrong with the channel if a simple suggestion is considered to be bad. Otherwise, you wouldn't have labeled what I said as being "bad advice".
Presumably, we are all adults here. As an adult, if one treats someone's word as gospel, just because they have a successful YouTube channel that person would be an idiot. Because of this I see no need to give warming about someones channel and the motives that person has in running the channel.
You might be able to flip a box on the short term, but long term I don't see any recent boxes holding much value long term. You can get burned by reprints. So if you want a box that will go up some. Looks for something with a staple card you don't see being reprinted in a while. You also need to a buy a lot of boxes to make it worth it. However, there are probably some things better than boxes to put your money in.
Yeah, if the set has staples, it may seem like a good bet overall. However, you really need to be mindful about print runs. I have some KTK sealed products (just a booster box and half a case of fat pack now) and they were "bad" "investments" overall (well compared to pre-RTR). They have fetches for pete's sake! An acquaintance of mine was worse off with heavy amounts of RTR booster boxes. I can't imagine Kaladesh, BFZ, and AKH being any different from these in 5 years.
Unless you bet in an explosion of playerbase, might as well bet on some of the more expensive products as they would grow much better in that situation plus they will appreciate much better if the playerbase grows slowly and steadily or just stagnate.
Of course, if you find a good offer like very close price to what stores pay, sure, it's not a bad deal, but I have a hunch that they will need to sit in the dark for a really long time before the time to move them comes. Space and tying up your money into these products are real opportunity costs. I kinda regret not stopping hoarding sealed products after RTR. It's not like I "lost" money, but I didn't really gain something back for just sitting on them after 5 years. I will still sit on them more 5 years probably (at these rates) before thinking in moving them. After all in 5 years something crazy could happen. WW3 could start and MTG becomes the worse thing to put your money on or Arena triple the paper playerbase and all of a sudden BFZ boxes are 500 bucks a pop or it's just about the same and print runs are so high that the box just jumps from $80 to $120 in 5 years.
Right now because of the complete death blow wizards just dealt to their own market with masters 25, prices on sealed booster boxes are doing really weird things. Conspiracy and BFZ boxes have gone up in price for some reason, which is funny because I don't think Gate Crash or the like have done that. I think that MTG as people once knew it is basically ending and that we're going into an entropic phase of sorts. If Return to Dominaria were released like two years ago instead of BFZ, I think it would be pre-selling like gang busters and people would be praising it to the heavens. Right now the set is mostly getting praised for the artwork and people are more interested in getting wall scrolls and art prints than the actual cards. At least that is the sense I get on reddit.
This company really screwed up. I'm talking not just in their nick of the woods kind of mess up as much as compared to game producing companies in general. It's going to take years to recover peoples faith in the game, and that is assuming they have multiple good sets, listen to people for once, and actually turn around their next few releases. Seeing what they are doing with the spellbook series that isn't happening.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
I don't think it is wise to use MTG boxes as your primary investment. If this is your first attempt to invest or save in any way, don't. If, however, you have a savings account, a 401K or something similar, some CDs and bonds and don't feel like playing the stock market, then sure go for it.
The only thing I'd consider are sets with masterpieces. The odds of a high-end masterpiece will raise the price of that box as time goes on. I still wouldn't do it, for the record. I'd rather buy into reserved list cards if I had a couple grand lying around and didn't have as big a taste for high end bourbon as I do. But if I somehow got like $1K in store credit or something and could only buy sealed product, I'd consider either sets with masterpieces...or MM1.
But what to get next besides a box of whatever is currently standard? Should I even buy a box of amonkhet? What sets that are currently out that are not more than 120 a box or whatever that I could get that you guys think will increase dramatically in price as time goes on? I think the Kalendesh set is probably going to be very valuable.
Sets I am looking at are Theros, The Amonkhet block, Ixalan block, and possibly dominaria that is coming out too.
Most new sets are printed to oblivion and will not appreciate like older sets have. Of the new sets, I would buy Unstable. Long term there will be demand for the basic lands.
BUWGRChilds PlayGRWUB
BUWGR Highlander GRWUB
UBSquee's Shapeshifting PetBU
BW Multiplayer Control WB
RG Changeling GR
UR Mana FlareRU
UMerfolkU
B MBMC B
BUWGRChilds PlayGRWUB
BUWGR Highlander GRWUB
UBSquee's Shapeshifting PetBU
BW Multiplayer Control WB
RG Changeling GR
UR Mana FlareRU
UMerfolkU
B MBMC B
Before last year, I would have said your best investments would be Masters sets but not after Iconic and Masters 25.
In general the normal sets are going to have multiple, very large print runs, so it really is not going to be worth it to stock up on sealed product.
Right now, I would say you should stock up on Unstable. Even though it is getting a third printing, the lands inside will *always* be popular. They will only get more popular and expensive with age. The set too has a unique and fun draft environment, so unopened packs will be highly valued once it goes out of print.
For instance, I made insane returns from Zendikar sealed products. I got a case of RoE fatpack for 25ish a pop. I unloaded them when they were 150ish. They are like way more than that, but I got a really nice return anyway. You can't have this kinda jump in short period anymore. I still sitting on KTK fat packs. They are about 60 and I got them around 30. It seems like a good return, but it's not. There is a cost to unload them and it's been so many years already (and they have fetches). I imagine most of the fat packs will grow slower or similar rate (there are exceptions like BFZ fat pack, but it was the exception than the rule). KTK booster boxes fare worse than fat packs, so I will assume all booster boxes are as bad.
In this case, it may have less returns than regular investments right now. However, if your capital is small, it's fine to invest in boxes, but unless the playerbase has another boom similar to Innistrad/RTR era, I don't think there is that much room for growth. The only thing boxes have going for them is you probably won't "lose" money unless MTG suddenly dies. You just weight the probabilities of each of those event. Just try get boxes for around $85 maximum and you should be fine...I think.
Personally I would avoid sets with poor print quality and no staple. Unless people in the future have a fetish for bad printings, I think they aren't good long term. Ixalan block is a big no for this reason. No fetch like cards, no lottery, no nothing. The only set I really like from the today's time is Eldritch Moon. It has lot of potential cards that could explode in price and the print run may not be that large compared to sets of this era. BFZ/Kaladesh block may be OK because of Expedition/Masterpieces. Amonkhet block is kinda iff, it's almost as bad as BFZ block and people aren't exactly in love with Incantations. It may change in the future, but its printing quality sux (printing quality issues probably started in Kaladesh to be fair).
Still just look at boxes from RTR era. They have shocklands and prices didn't move at all or moved at glacial pace. For a long time you could get them for $80 during bargain sales. It's been almost over 5 years already. If you bought them around $75, you probably lost money overall (as shipping and fees would eat profits). I imagine most of the sets post BFZ era would move at similar pace. Yeah masterpiece kinda cards may change the equation, but I probably would bet on not a factor to be safe.
As for Alpha Investments videos. They are insightful. However, you need to watch them with his prospective x yours and it will/may be vastly different. As with any speculation, anyone will be wrong/right about things eventually. As long you try to understand why things happens, his videos can be useful not so much on what you should invest in, but on how he sees the market flow and his actions based on that. He is there to entertain us (and himself) and show his point of view on things and think for yourself.
You said that telling someone to check out Alpha Investments was bad advice. So clearly, there is something wrong with the channel if a simple suggestion is considered to be bad. Otherwise, you wouldn't have labeled what I said as being "bad advice".
Presumably, we are all adults here. As an adult, if one treats someone's word as gospel, just because they have a successful YouTube channel that person would be an idiot. Because of this I see no need to give warming about someones channel and the motives that person has in running the channel.
May your taco always remain floppy my friend.
BUWGRChilds PlayGRWUB
BUWGR Highlander GRWUB
UBSquee's Shapeshifting PetBU
BW Multiplayer Control WB
RG Changeling GR
UR Mana FlareRU
UMerfolkU
B MBMC B
C Long Live Eldrazi C
I loathe creatures! Praise Prison and Land Destruction!
My Peasant Cube (looking for feedback)
Unless you bet in an explosion of playerbase, might as well bet on some of the more expensive products as they would grow much better in that situation plus they will appreciate much better if the playerbase grows slowly and steadily or just stagnate.
Of course, if you find a good offer like very close price to what stores pay, sure, it's not a bad deal, but I have a hunch that they will need to sit in the dark for a really long time before the time to move them comes. Space and tying up your money into these products are real opportunity costs. I kinda regret not stopping hoarding sealed products after RTR. It's not like I "lost" money, but I didn't really gain something back for just sitting on them after 5 years. I will still sit on them more 5 years probably (at these rates) before thinking in moving them. After all in 5 years something crazy could happen. WW3 could start and MTG becomes the worse thing to put your money on or Arena triple the paper playerbase and all of a sudden BFZ boxes are 500 bucks a pop or it's just about the same and print runs are so high that the box just jumps from $80 to $120 in 5 years.
This company really screwed up. I'm talking not just in their nick of the woods kind of mess up as much as compared to game producing companies in general. It's going to take years to recover peoples faith in the game, and that is assuming they have multiple good sets, listen to people for once, and actually turn around their next few releases. Seeing what they are doing with the spellbook series that isn't happening.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
I don't think it is wise to use MTG boxes as your primary investment. If this is your first attempt to invest or save in any way, don't. If, however, you have a savings account, a 401K or something similar, some CDs and bonds and don't feel like playing the stock market, then sure go for it.
The only thing I'd consider are sets with masterpieces. The odds of a high-end masterpiece will raise the price of that box as time goes on. I still wouldn't do it, for the record. I'd rather buy into reserved list cards if I had a couple grand lying around and didn't have as big a taste for high end bourbon as I do. But if I somehow got like $1K in store credit or something and could only buy sealed product, I'd consider either sets with masterpieces...or MM1.