By: Richard Zhao

In early August a fan of Magic: The Gathering sold a single card for $2 million.

Recently the fantasy tabletop card game Magic: The Gathering partnered with the Lord of the Rings franchise to create rare and exclusive cards. The golden ring card, of which only one exists, was acquired by a fan who then sold it to pop star Post Malone for $2 million. This is the first time that a Magic card has ever reached over a million dollars in value.

“It’s kind of like the first time a baseball card ever sold for a million dollars,” said Ken Goldin, a longtime sports memorabilia collector. “To all of the tens of millions of collectors in the world who collect Magic: The Gathering, it basically has solidified their collection and says ‘Hey, this is serious business.’ “

Part of the huge boom in the popularity of trading card games is the renewed interest that occurred during the pandemic. With little to do during lockdown, people found old Pokemon, Yu-gi-oh, and Magic cards, sparking a new interest in collectible card games. With many people wanting to know how much their old cards are worth, a renewed interest in trading card games emerged. Companies took this opportunity to release new, rare cards that sold for huge sums of money.

Last month, the number of collectible card game cards that people had were recorded to be close to surpassing the number of collected sports cards. Card sales are still steadily going up despite recent card prices rocketing. Card price is often affected by visual appeal, because “grading,” the process of giving a score from 1-10 based on aesthetic quality, is a prerequisite for selling cards on websites such as eBay.

Despite the excitement over newly released cards, many people disagree with the direction that Magic: The Gathering is heading. The huge rush of cards often confuses new players who are already struggling with the hobby. “The quantity of new cards, the confusion of a billion different arts for each card, and the complexity creep on cards that do 17 different things have all made it hard for me to keep up with [Magic: The Gathering]” one Reddit user wrote. Despite some players protesting, the new influx of cards generated $100 million in product sales. Given the lucrative business of mass card printing, it is likely that game companies will continue this practice, even at the expense of new card game players.