Hey guys, So I've been out of Magic now for years, I used to be very involved in the tournament scene and traveled the world playing in various locations. Over a decade ago I came across some cool looking anime Power 9 proxies from a dealer in Singapore, around 2004 or so. Here it is, 2016 and I have scoured The Googles in hopes of learning anything I can about these, but so far I can only find two different sites that just barely mention them. Magic Library and Dies to Removal are the only places that seem to have some pictures and a brief description on these. A few forum posts here and there, MOTL and other places has people asking about these with little to no info as well. I have heard that they are sought after, and some people want them for cube play, etc. All tthese cards have a slight crease in the very top middle from shuffling, since they are not printed on normal Magic card stock. They say they are from MtgChina(dot)net but that site no longer exists.
So what I'm asking for here today, is if anyone has any info on these than just what can be found searching google. Value is helpful, but I'm not positive I will part with these. I would like an idea as to what I should be doing with them. Supply/demand. And why I can't find a single one on Ebay may also help.
Thank you taking the time to look guys, and thanks for any help.
In the MWS world, for many players, winning also makes you a noob.
The same applies to:
-Knowing the rules.
-Netdecking.
-Not netdecking.
-Using old versions of a card (yeah, it has hapenned to me: "Ugh... ugly pic noob")
-Knowing English.
-Using phases.
-Countering spells.
<@MarkRosewater> THis is a secret we've carefully guarded but for this chat I'm going to spill the beans.
<@MarkRosewater> Some cards in Magic are better than others.
<@MarkRosewater> Ssh, don't tell anyone.
I see some trademarked images (time walk for example uses the same background art, and the moxes appear to have been ripped directly from the real versions. So it's hard to discuss value on this message board as that would imply selling copyrighted content. You can however see some very creative proxies on eBay these days, and given these aren't on official card stock, that's probably the ceiling which you'd be looking at in terms of market value. But again, I'd recommend keeping them for your own personal use, given the infringement in parts of the artwork.
I've looked through Ebay several times for anything remotely like this, and came up empty. I didd however notice some artists painting anime characters onto cards like full art basic lands, and selling those. Is that not a copyright infringement since they are using existing Magic art, (the backgrounds) and selling them for a profit?
Please keep in mind I have no intention to simply part with these, Or try and sell them. I was only trying to find info on supply/demand, and possible value. If anything I would like to see these cards behind glass with a frame. Since I'm missing one, It would be awesome to track it down, and obtain it for the full set.
Do these cards ever come up for trade anywhere?
In the MWS world, for many players, winning also makes you a noob.
The same applies to:
-Knowing the rules.
-Netdecking.
-Not netdecking.
-Using old versions of a card (yeah, it has hapenned to me: "Ugh... ugly pic noob")
-Knowing English.
-Using phases.
-Countering spells.
<@MarkRosewater> THis is a secret we've carefully guarded but for this chat I'm going to spill the beans.
<@MarkRosewater> Some cards in Magic are better than others.
<@MarkRosewater> Ssh, don't tell anyone.
I've looked through Ebay several times for anything remotely like this, and came up empty. I didd however notice some artists painting anime characters onto cards like full art basic lands, and selling those. Is that not a copyright infringement since they are using existing Magic art, (the backgrounds) and selling them for a profit?
Those are using original WotC manufactured art and cards, not reproductions, so there is no infringement there. If anything, there would be infringement on the anime. Most of those sellers (ones I looked at anyways) are not attempting to pass the cards off as original unaltered WotC product. This would be no different if I sold a signed card on eBay.
Your cards are using material from at least two sources, MtG and whatever anime is on there. The MtG is straight up lifted so that's stepping on a few toes. I don't reconginze the Anime so I can't tell if it's an artists rendering or lifted from somewhere. The hitch here is that the original art was lifted and reused without any money going to WotC.
It could be argued that the cards fall under derivative works (e.g. Mona Lisa or the dude with the guitar) or as a parody (unlikely in this case unless I don't understand Asian humor). Derivative art law alone is a legal minefield best explored by those with more money than I have in my pocket. The parody stuff is a little easier to understand (for me anyways) but can get ugly at times.
Discussing it is pointless waste of time since everyone on the internet is a lawyer and they know more than real world lawyers. In addition, China isn't exactly known for honoring copyrights, trademarks and patents anyways.
So what I'm asking for here today, is if anyone has any info on these than just what can be found searching google. Value is helpful, but I'm not positive I will part with these. I would like an idea as to what I should be doing with them. Supply/demand. And why I can't find a single one on Ebay may also help.
Thank you taking the time to look guys, and thanks for any help.
Please keep in mind I have no intention to simply part with these, Or try and sell them. I was only trying to find info on supply/demand, and possible value. If anything I would like to see these cards behind glass with a frame. Since I'm missing one, It would be awesome to track it down, and obtain it for the full set.
Do these cards ever come up for trade anywhere?
Those are using original WotC manufactured art and cards, not reproductions, so there is no infringement there. If anything, there would be infringement on the anime. Most of those sellers (ones I looked at anyways) are not attempting to pass the cards off as original unaltered WotC product. This would be no different if I sold a signed card on eBay.
Your cards are using material from at least two sources, MtG and whatever anime is on there. The MtG is straight up lifted so that's stepping on a few toes. I don't reconginze the Anime so I can't tell if it's an artists rendering or lifted from somewhere. The hitch here is that the original art was lifted and reused without any money going to WotC.
It could be argued that the cards fall under derivative works (e.g. Mona Lisa or the dude with the guitar) or as a parody (unlikely in this case unless I don't understand Asian humor). Derivative art law alone is a legal minefield best explored by those with more money than I have in my pocket. The parody stuff is a little easier to understand (for me anyways) but can get ugly at times.
Discussing it is pointless waste of time since everyone on the internet is a lawyer and they know more than real world lawyers. In addition, China isn't exactly known for honoring copyrights, trademarks and patents anyways.