The world of trading and collectible cards

The world of trading cards has certainly come along quite a ways since 1887. For many years the only trading cards were the baseball cards that would come with a stick of gum. Fans of one particular team or another would amass huge collections of cards, and mothers across the nation would throw them away every spring cleaning. But a few managed to keep their cards, and grew to value other cards that would complete a collection or detail the career path of a favorite player. From this simple beginning grew the sports trading cards industry in earnest.

And then in the 1990’s a new idea came out that really shook up the industry. Collectible tradable cards. The first in this line of ideas was Magic: The Gathering. The game system featured easy play, in depth strategy, and numerous cards with original artwork that could be combined in numerous ways under dozens of strategies. The game was a hit with kids and adults, outselling many other games of skill and chance.

Adding to the playability and trading of the game is the fact that expansions were designed for the game and individual cards were made with different degrees of rarity. As an example cards such as the extremely rare Black Lotus were printed in scant quantities, while land cards were common and in massive quantities. Thus several dozen cards became quite valuable in the secondary markets, and as expansions were made and some cards discontinued trading became very active.

While other cards systems have come and gone since Magic: The Gathering (MTG) – this one system remains the leader in the market. Other game systems with popularity include games based on cartoon programs – Naruto, Pokemon, Digimon, movies and television shows – Highlander, and various sci fi themes – Net Runner, Doom Trooper, Jyhad, Vampire: The Masquerade and so on.

How popular are some of these cards? Well I can say from my own personal experience of selling some of my own MTG cards on eBay that most cards sell for about $1 each. But I do have cards that have been around almost from the beginning (started my collection back when I broke my leg in a motorcycle accident and had nothing else to do). Several of these individual cards are worth between $5 - $130.

So the next time spring cleaning comes around, and you run into a trading card or two, I suggest you check eBay first. [And if you really are interested you can always check out what I am offering under Mvass68 on eBay.]