Why is Black Lotus price separating from the rest of P9?
Posted: Sat May 03, 2014 9:48 pm
Some years ago I remember a Black Lotus costing about 2.5 times a "bad" Mox. Now, it's worth like 4 Moxes. The ratio is even higher in the case of high graded cards.
In Vintage, a format that isn't played much nowadays (without proxies I mean), Black Lotus is played about as often as the rest of Moxes, and a bit more than Time Walk and Ancestral Recall (http://www.mtgtop8.com/topcards?f=VI&meta=71). For those that want a powered cube, they also want the same amount of Black Lotus and Mox Pearl.
What is causing this expanding difference in prices? If Black Lotus is so much more expensive than a Mox Emerald, it's because there's indeed more demand (as supply is the same). But, if demand from players (Vintage and Cube) is the same for both cards, what's going on?
I have seen something similar in sports cards prices, where some cards concentrate the majority of the set value, and where the most priced card is worth much more than the second one, while all of them are as "useless". For example, 1986 Fleer Basketball (Michael Jordan Rookie) or 1952 Topps Baseball (Mickey Mantle).
Black Lotus always had a premium over Moxes, for being the most iconic Magic card. But why has that premium increased? Do you think that "ratio" will increase even more in the future, as "playability" becomes more irrelevant (both because Vintage is played even less and because people are less willing to play with expensive cards)?
In Vintage, a format that isn't played much nowadays (without proxies I mean), Black Lotus is played about as often as the rest of Moxes, and a bit more than Time Walk and Ancestral Recall (http://www.mtgtop8.com/topcards?f=VI&meta=71). For those that want a powered cube, they also want the same amount of Black Lotus and Mox Pearl.
What is causing this expanding difference in prices? If Black Lotus is so much more expensive than a Mox Emerald, it's because there's indeed more demand (as supply is the same). But, if demand from players (Vintage and Cube) is the same for both cards, what's going on?
I have seen something similar in sports cards prices, where some cards concentrate the majority of the set value, and where the most priced card is worth much more than the second one, while all of them are as "useless". For example, 1986 Fleer Basketball (Michael Jordan Rookie) or 1952 Topps Baseball (Mickey Mantle).
Black Lotus always had a premium over Moxes, for being the most iconic Magic card. But why has that premium increased? Do you think that "ratio" will increase even more in the future, as "playability" becomes more irrelevant (both because Vintage is played even less and because people are less willing to play with expensive cards)?