Foil Japanese Mana Crypt - What should I do?
Economics forum
Posted on July 18, 2018, 7:19 p.m. by TheRealSpecialK
I have a friend who has a foil Japanese Mana Crypt from Eternal Masters in NM condition. He would like to sell it, but has been having a challenging time finding buyers or even a good estimate of what it is worth because of the rarity and uniqueness of the card. I told him I'd post on here for some advice, and we have several questions: 1.) How much is it even worth? He values it at around $200 - is that a fair price for it? 2.) Is there a way other than using TCGplayer or other similar online site to sell it? 3.) Should he even be worrying about selling it now, or should he hold it? Answers to these questions, and any advice outside of them that you would like to share would be appreciated.
Does he not play commander? Because that card is busted. Haha. I recommend keeping as well. It'll be more expensive in the future. The problem will be buying a buyer for the foreign card. I love them, but they are not very popular in my meta.
July 18, 2018 8:12 p.m.
I could see it being reprinted again in a master's set, but maybe not cause it was already reprinted a couple times? Looking at SCG's prices for other printings I'd say $200 is probably a good starting point. There's a foil Japanese mana crypt on sale on ebay right now at $250. Watch that, see if it sells. If it does, there ya go. EBAY LINK
July 18, 2018 8:39 p.m.
The pricing between an English and a Japanese Mana Crypt on Star City Games is identical. So I'm assuming for the foil it would be the same as an English one (SCG has it listed for $160 USD, though they are out of stock).
July 18, 2018 8:40 p.m.
As previously noted, there’s no recognized difference in price between English and Japanese, and eBay has several listed starting at $151, while TCG mid shows $175. You also have the 2011 judge promo foil of the same art, which hurts the foil value a little.
While I’d agree it will likely be quite a while before another reprint happens and value is likely to hold or increase, unless you find someone specifically looking for the Japanese version, $200 seems unlikely for now. Seems like a pretty safe hold if nothing else.
July 18, 2018 8:53 p.m.
MindAblaze says... #7
In my experience while the non-premium versions are essentially equal, that doesn’t often hold true for the foreign language foils compared to the English ones. I would expect to pay 20 - 40% more for an Asian language foil. The European languages tend to have more parity, and Russian fools tend to be valued somewhere in between if not on par with Asian. Japanese and Korean usually go for more than the simplified Chinese ones.
July 19, 2018 10:35 a.m.
TheRealSpecialK says... #8
Thanks guys - all your advice is appreciated.
Scytec He almost exclusively plays Commander, but he doesn't care about foils so much. He would rather sell it and buy a non-foil Mana Crypt, and then he would still have quite a bit left over to pocket.
MindAblaze I've always seen Asian and Russian foils go for higher as well. It has just been hard to gauge it for his Mana Crypt because the range in price across the market is huge, so we haven't really been able to figure out the true market value.
Yeah, that's what we have decided to do maxon. Like I said, he values it at around $200, so he has been thinking about listing it at slightly cheaper price than that to see what happens.
July 19, 2018 6:40 p.m.
...Blasphemy...commander players love to bling out decks! Nah, for real though, standard cards play the same and if you can get a regular version plus extra value from a foil...you probably should. Just make sure you get that value. It's very rare that you want to trade down. Trading a $200 card for one $100 and two $50 is virtually always a terrible idea. Make sure if you're not getting cash, you get appropriate value.
IMMG54 says... #2
I don't know about the value, but definitely keep that. Mana Crypt is just going to keep going up, and honestly, I don't see it seeing a reprint in any set. Especially that edition. I got a Mana Crypt for 60 and now it's like 120. Definitely keep. Who knows, he might actually find a use for it.
July 18, 2018 7:33 p.m.