Trading down time walk for this crazy?

[Moosedog]

I told my friend I would ask this question to ease his mind.

The trade:
4 imperial recruiter (1 mint condition 2 pretty good 1 ok)

for his time walk (mint)

Looking up the prices it makes sense but his concern is that imperial recruiter is risky to obtain? He thinks the price could shoot down at any moment whereas the time walk isn't going anywhere? Are portal three kingdom cards stable?
Thanks for input

[Arne]

from what I know, the recruiter has only risen in value... So it seems safe. It doesn't see a lot of play in legacy, but it's rarity should suffice for it to remain its worth

[andrew77]

Since recruiter is virtually unplayed atm it seems hard to believe it will go down because it wouldn't be impacted by many things. On the other hand strategic planning is also a p3k uncommon, and probably sees more play than recruiter, but is only $60.

Basically the recruiter is less stable, but there is no reason to believe it will go down since when it comes to rarities that are less played people who spend the money to acquire them will rarely sell them for a discount.

[sunshine]

Personally (without looking at recent card prices) I wouldn't make that trade unless I literally had extra Time Walks kicking around. Imperial Recruiter's price tag baffles me, I had hoped he would be reprinted in FTV: Exiled since technically all Portal cards were in exile for a while. I mean, if you want to play vintage you're going to need a Time Walk whereas you need recruiters if you want to play esoteric 2nd tier legacy decks.

[Malchar]

Recruiter is more likely to decrease in price than Time Walk is. Overall, it is a pretty fair deal, but I would not do it unless you are planning to use the Recruiters for something constructive.

[Jak]

The only thing I would worry about is Recruiter being reprinted.

[Nihil Credo]

The only thing I would worry about is Recruiter being reprinted.
Did Juzam Djinn go down in price when it was (sort of) reprinted and eventually obsoleted? (Not a rhetorical question)

[beastman]

Did Juzam Djinn go down in price when it was (sort of) reprinted and eventually obsoleted? (Not a rhetorical question)

No. Jizzem is still at over $100.

[Jak]

Did Juzam Djinn go down in price when it was (sort of) reprinted and eventually obsoleted? (Not a rhetorical question)

No but I just don't see Recruiter as much of a collectors item. Maybe it is though so it wouldn't go down by much.

[Otter]

It's a mildly risky trade -- Recruiter's price really isn't based on anything of note, the card rarely shows up at all. However, it's not like the people who payed a hundred bucks for them are likely to turn around and sell them for thirty bucks next month because they got bored of holding onto them. Old, pricey cards tend to stay pricey.


Did Juzam Djinn go down in price when it was (sort of) reprinted and eventually obsoleted? (Not a rhetorical question)

Nope, I don't think its price has budged in a while. However, I'm not sure that it's a fair comparison since Juzam had already been an awful card for a while when Plague Sliver showed up. Nobody really used it, so the price was already pretty solidly locked in just due to nostalgia and "cool factor." Though the Recruiter is currently nearly unplayed, it's still providing a very unique effect for red, which has a lot more potential than just being a large, dumb, outdated creature. It's pretty realistic to say that the price on Recruiter shot up due to the rare ability it provides, rather than how nostalgic people are about it (seriously, did anyone actually play P3K?). A reprint or a functional reprint probably has more potential to hurt Recruiter's price than Juzam's, since most of its price just comes from rarity.

Of course, since people like rarer versions of things, it could stay just where it is with a reprint too. A/B/U Berserks don't seem to have gone much of anywhere since FTV:E and the new copies of them are going for less than half of the originals. I'm just saying that if a reprint were to knock down price, it seems more likely to happen to Recruiter than Juzam.

[Brad Herbig]

I'd keep the timewalk since it is actually played in multiple decks in a format.

[ParkerLewis]

The only thing I would worry about is Recruiter being reprinted.

This.

Not forgetting the remote possibility of the Reserve List being somewhat "dealt with" one day, I'd say you're far safer on the Time Walk side, investment-wise. Reprinting Recruiter wouldn't break any kind of wizards self-inflicted rules, would it ? It could happen any time.

[MMogg]

Imperial Recruiter is only expensive because it's mildly playable and from Portal Three Kingdoms, which means they could easily print another card with the same function for one less colorless mana and *nerf* their goes Recruiter. Time Walk will never be outdone by a new card.

Hell, if someone wants to trade P9 pieces for random other cards of value, anyone looking for Bazaars? :wink: Truth is, most people wouldn't take card price values on par with power. That being said, it all depends on the players and what they personally value their cards at.