To sell or not to sell

[dahcmai]

That's the question.


I've been playing since Fallen empires was new. (yeah, weird to find someone who started with that set.) Anyway, most people would answer this by saying "play standard", but I really can't stand the overly netdecked scene of standard. In Legacy at least a few of my ideas make winning decks after some tuning.

My collection has gotten to the point where it just screams at me to sell it and do something useful, like buy a house. There's easily over $45,000 worth of cards not counting shit rares, uncommons and commons. Close to four sets of beta, with one complete set, and a set of everything up to Urza's saga. Then there's a playset of every good rare or uncommon after that. Was it used in a dominant deck? Then I probably have 4 and maybe even foils of it. There's tons of rare weird shit also like "I am the Law" and Gotta Archangels. My basic land is even all Arabian, Guru, Apac, beta, or Unhinged Foil. I have 9 Sharazad's for the hell of it if it gives you an idea. I still have a perfect packed Beta Lotus that I think will be the only thing I don't sell since it's virtually irreplacable. If it's a good type 1 deck, I can build it.

I'm not trying to brag or anything, but it's gotten to the point where I may be better off just calling it good. I have a few friends that are wholsalers and they keep trying to convince me to sell (and not because they want to buy it). Most of them are convinced Magic has had it's day and I should step out while I can still get premium prices for it.

I figure I can buy a house in cash at that point and re-buy things having no rent anymore if I do and that's my main drive now. That's really appealing.

So the question is, if you loved the game as I figure most of you do as much as I do, would you go ahead and sell out and try and rebuild again? It's not going to be easy to find some of this stuff again, but damn I'd hate to find one day the prices drop like mad and I lose out on the oppurtunity.

I'm torn...

[Brushwagg]

I would probably keep most of the staples of Legacy. If your torn then it means you still like to play the game, so selling everything sounds like a bad idea. I would sell off the Pimp stuff and the older sets. That sould get you a good chunk of change.

[Kadishack]

I would sell it and try to rebuild. I am too contemplating on whether or not to sell out...

[TeenieBopper]

That's the question.


My collection has gotten to the point where it just screams at me to sell it and do something useful, like buy a house.

This is where I stopped reading and said to myself, "Jesus Christ, this guy's a fucking retard." Shit, if I had enough in cards to sell and put even a down payment on a house, I'd do it in a heartbeat. A house is going to last a lot longer than magic, and there's a whole lot more money to be made in real estate than in magic.

Fucking torn. The fuck ever.

EDIT: Oh yeah. Standard>Legacy.

[cupajoe]

BUY A HOUSE!

Geez, especially if you live in Traverse City, probably one of the few places in Michigan where home values are going to increase significantly over the next few years

Definitely use it for a down payment on a nice house that has good resale value (nothing less than three bedrooms and around 1,500 square feet).....

That way, when you inevitably move out of Michigan, you'll make a nice profit and build equity....

At the very least, sell and dump into safe investments....Except for a few chase cards, prices on Magic sets and singles are only bound to decrease, due to continued flooding of the market as Wizards pumps out numerous sets per year

[xsockmonkeyx]

Sell everything that isnt an icon of the game. Think to yourself, "Would my family take this thing to the Antiques Roadshow in like 35-40 years and get the response from the dude, 'Holy Shit, this thing is valuable!!' ?" . Even if magic dies an iconic card like a gem mint beta lotus or blue hurricane would remain valuable and highly sought after. You dont want to sell the 'Honus Wagner cigar card of the future' right now when you can sell it for much much more later.

If the game comepletely dies things like Foils, Guru lands, APAC lands, etc would lose most of their value because if no one played then there would no longer be any decks to pimp out.

[MasterBlaster]

EDIT: Oh yeah. Standard>Legacy.

LIES!!!!

[mikekelley]

Wasn't magic on a decline after or around Urza's? Sure felt like it.

I'd sell everything but a set of power and/or beta and some of the older stuff.

[kicks_422]

Sell everything except a favorite deck of yours or two... And maybe one set of beta... That way you'd still have a piece of your Magic days with you, and you could go play the game every once in a while when you miss it...

[dahcmai]

Yeah, it just kills me when I think about it. I love this game a lot. I really look forward to going down to the local card store every saturday and playing a few games. I work long hours and travel quite a bit so I really don't have a life sadly enough, mainly just due to the lack of time. Magic has always been my anger management. Kind of like those airline pilots who never get to come home. I have a job similar to that except I usually make it home here and there. It pays ungodly (hence the collection), but it kills your social life pretty bad. I never was a bar person.

I think I mainly made the decision because one of my friends is going into the Navy leaving me by far the oldest player at our local store and that's kind of annoying in a way. (I'm 35 if you wondered) I feel like a friggin fixture there. The crowd got younger and younger and I just felt like I wasn't in that crowd anymore really despite the fact most people ask me for advice on decks and crap.

Yeah, I figured I would get a few responses like those, so expect to see one of the largest Ebay magic auctions ever in a bit. Though I'm going to cringe at the price I get for those Kamigawa block sets. :(

[scrumdogg]

You should definitely sell, especially if you can build back. That said, the caveat would be to keep items that A) should continue to appreciate insanely (your pristine Beta Lotus for ex.) B) stuff that not only will continue to appreciate but are staples in a format you like (cough Legacy cough) that would be just as expensive (if not more) to reacquire (i.e. no benefit from selling them) & by this I refer primarily to at least 1 playset of Beta/FBB duals, a playset of Forces, a playset of fetches (foil if at all possible) and cards like Moat, Chains, etc C) the remainder of at least two decks that you love so you have something to play (and something to switch to when Deck #1 pisses you off/gets boring). That said, since you're now down to only $37,000 or so, buy a smaller house or get a minor house payment, but don't have the 'Regret' later that EVERY person who ever 'quit' Magic has at some point. You never quit, you just leave for a while, don't shank yourself in the process.

EDIT: spelling & perspective, I'm a 38 yr old who has worked in several game stores and heard the 'Regret' from waaaaaay too many sources, in more ways than I thought possible for it to happen. Even those who 'made out' had the regret & half of them would have been better off keeping some cards (guys who sold out for enough back in the day to get a car, but could now afford Maseratis off what they :) Plus the cost they now bear of re-entering the game......

[M.Maddox]

If you make "ungodly" why do you need to sell your collection? Just keep it and don't worry about it. The prices on the expensive cards aren't going to drop anytime soon, unless they're just expensive because they're type 2.

[JZ23]

I'd keep the true staples like duals, fetches, forces, etc. and the rare shit like Alpha/Beta, Arabian/Legends, and good promos/foils. That stuff is actually a good investment; just look at how much Beta stuff went up the past three years!

I'd probably sell everything else though.

[MattH]

I would sell off the vanity items like the complete sets and foils and maybe extra Power. See how that feels, then reassess if you want to sell more.