Help with the value of my collection

[Mr. Channel-Fireball]

I've been seriously thinking about calling it quits.  I've had sooo much fun meeting members of the 'drain, chattin with meandeck teammates, and attending events like GenCon and Origins over the years that finally admitting to myself that it's time to call it quits is actually quite hard.  Truthfully, I haven't got the time to drive 3-4 hours to find a place to play.  Tournaments are far and few where I live.  

What I'd like from you is a guess at the value of my collection.  I don't have a specific buyer in mind (I know that if I do sell it won't be to a dealer).  I've played the game since 1994, so Magic has been a part of my life for a long time...all of my cards have a special value to me.

Without access to a list, I can tell you that my entire set of power is beta sans the walk and 2xLotus.  I have virtually every card you'd need to be competitive, with most of them being pretty (foriegn Will, foil wastelands, beta demonic, regrowth, foil stps & fact or fictions) I have 4 x every good dual land with most of those being foriegn black bordered.  My collection also has 4 x bazaar (every card you'd need for dragon).  Included is 4 x Welder, 6 x Sphere of Resistance, smokestacks, 4xsurvivals,   I have 5 or 6 complete sets which include Mirage, Tempest, Alliances, and a few others I can't think of.  I have partial sets of just about everything.  In all, I'd say I could fill the bottom of a closet with my extra cards, boxes upon boxes of commons, uncommons, and trash rares.  I have 4 or 5 Rook boxes filled with Foils.  These include arena foils like empyrial armor and Ice age lands, along with foils like a signed mystic snake, foil solemn simacrulum and 2x worship.  I have chrome moxes, oblivion stones, exalted angels, baloths, gilded lotus, mindslavers, full set of painlands,4x wrath of god and shit ton more for t2 stuff.  

In all, I can build virtually any deck I want that doesn't include 4xWorkshop or 4xMask (but those can be proxied).

I know it's hard without an exact list, but what would you guess this is all worth?  I guess I'm trying to weigh the number value against the sentimental value.  

Thanks
Matt Smith

[Spizzard]

Quitting is really hard, and people often decide to come back at one point or another.  Unless you really need the money, i'd suggest hanging on to a lot of the type 1 stuff.  The value for it just keeps getting higher.

As far as the collection value: here's a rough estimate and may be a little off
2x Unl Lotus - 900
1x Unl Timewalk - 200
5x Beta Moxes ~ 1500-1700
Beta Ancestral ~ 350

~3000 for the power.
~425 or so for bazaars.
The T2 and BB stuff varies.

Hope I helped a little,
           Steve


BTW, if you do decide to sell, hit me an email.

[Soupboy]

It would be silly to make a guess from only what you've listed here, but if that's what you want, sure:  I've purchased two collections that sound about the size of what you have, for $2k and $3.5k, although the first one was before the P9 spike.  Depending on condition of your beta power, I'd say you'd be hard pressed to get too much more than $3,500.  What it comes down to, in part, is few players/collectors have several grand to toss around, and dealers really will screw you if they can.  If you get a rough list together of the big stuff (with general conditions), shoot me an email and I'll make an offer.  

Btw, did you play BBS at Origins two or three years ago?  I played a Matt Smith once, although it is a common name     I was playing TurboNevyn at the time.

The Soup

[Milton]

I'd say what you have is worth about $4000 or $5000 if you sell it as a chunk to a dealer.  I certianly wouldn't take any less than $4000.  If you break it up and sell on e-bay you could get much, much more.  There are some smaller shops opening up around here and they have cash to throw around if you want to sell it all.  Also, I know a guy that has ungodly refs on E-bay that will break it up and sell it if he can keep 10%.  No hassle.

I've been there.  I've wanted to quit too, but I just put my cards down for a few weeks and the itch always comes back.  If you quit, you have to quit clean.  No comming back.  You don't want to be the guy that is at a tournament saying "I used to have a Black Lotus and Beta Moxes".  No one likes that guy.  If I quit I'd be that guy.

Hope you stay in.

[JACO]

Btw, did you play BBS at Origins two or three years ago?  I played a Matt Smith once, although it is a common name     I was playing TurboNevyn at the time.

The Soup

Yes, that is the same Matt Smith. The same Matt Smith who also said people should use AK's instead of Ophidians in mono-blue, and who was subsequently reamed for it by the Internet talking heads. Now everybody uses AK, so it's pretty funny.

[Jhaggs]

Mr. Channel-Fireball,

   Who says that you have to sell off you entire collection?  If you've been playing for ten years, I think that there is a good chance that you'll someday pickup the game again.  Who knows what your future could hold?  People move, jobs change, marriage happens, ect ect.  It's tough to predict where exactly anyone will be in 2 years or so.  Unless you HAVE TO get your hands on some cash, why not just store your cards somewhere and sit on the decision to sell after a couple of years or so.  If you ever did move somewhere to a place in which you could play with more frequency, you'll be glad that you can still reuse your old collection.  Besides, why not just hold on to your collection (which is clearly valuable) and see if it'll increase in value.  All indications point to the fact that your power will increase gradually.

My advice is to put the cards in your closet and take a vacation from the game.  If you're still convinced to sell after your break,  then by all means sell.  At least you can sell then without regrets or doubts.

[Methuselahn]

If you are going to quit and get rid of your commons, sell them apart from the rest.  Many card shops scour ebay for commons only to sell repack boxes.  You can generally get a penny a piece for commons this way.  When you add it up, it's a nice chunk of change, considering.

Don't sell the good stuff yet.  The prices will only go up.

[kuwv]

Just sell a little bit and invest in a car worth driving.  

[Guardian]

I used to have a nice collection too:
9 Beta Power
17 Beta duals, missing only 3 Tropicals in the blue department
4 FBB duals, the rest UNL or revised
Beta Demonic, Rgrowth, StP, Mask (mint)
4 Mana Drain
and a bunch of good cards (FoW, Survival, Will, Foil Bargain and so on)

For all my stuff, I was able to fetch 10000 Canadian dollard, so maybe 7000 USD. The trick is to be patient and look for someone who's very eager to get into magic. The guy was expecting to pay 8500$C, but when we met, I told him I was not going uner 10000$C.
Try hard and you'll get what your cards are worth.

[DEA]

i have this burning question i have to unload
if you sold your collection, why are you still hanging around on magic boards?
that would lead us to the logical conclusion that you never really quit, doesn't it?
sounds like a pretty good endorsement NOT TO, imo

i "quit" in 1994~5 just before 4th ed came out
i came back to the game just last yr
by my estimation i've spent around 7~8k usd on stuff, which on hindsight i think i should have just spent on power
so... just stay with it...
you'll likely come back

[Samite Healer]

Btw, did you play BBS at Origins two or three years ago?  I played a Matt Smith once, although it is a common name     I was playing TurboNevyn at the time.

The Soup

I played a Matt C. Smith at GenCon almost two years ago who was playing Mono Blue.  I was playing the all artifact deck with Snake Baskets, and lost to Pat Chapin in the semi-finals.  Did you attend GenCon that year?

[JACO]

Btw, did you play BBS at Origins two or three years ago?  I played a Matt Smith once, although it is a common name     I was playing TurboNevyn at the time.

The Soup

I played a Matt C. Smith at GenCon almost two years ago who was playing Mono Blue.  I was playing the all artifact deck with Snake Baskets, and lost to Pat Chapin in the semi-finals.  Did you attend GenCon that year?

Jeff, it's the same Matt Smith. He was rocking the rectangle neo-punk glasses, short spiked hair, and a button up shirt. I was there too.

[Spizzard]

Yes, that is the same Matt Smith.  I've played and talked to him on a couple of occasions and he did mention playing BBS against Chapin in the finals.