The Value of a Card

One of the few attractions of a TCG(Trading Card Game) is the collectibility of the cards. People would just buy packets of the cards just so they could keep a few of them in a binder (I'm one of them) . Try seeing it this way, its like collecting stamps, you just have to have that special card for collection sake.

TCG cards are normally seperated into common, uncommon and rare. For example, if you buy a packet of boaster pack of any TCG, say in a pack of 15 cards, 11 are common cards, 3 uncommon and 1 rare.

Most of the TCG currently the market today cater more to collectors than to players. For example Pokeamon TCG rares and Lord of the rings TCG rares ARE expensive if you're able to get the special rare cards that are popular like for Pokeamon TCG, its the famous Pikachu. In Pokeamon TCG, Pikachu is one of the most sought after cards and there are many variations of Pikachu to choose from.


This ANA 2001 PIKACHU & LARVITAR can go as high as USD35 or higher.

For Lord of the rings TCG, its the alternate art version of rare cards or cards depicting famous character that is more sought after, i'm not much of a fan of the game, but it seems most people buy the cards just to get the pretty pictures (BTW the cards uses images from the Lord of The Ring Trilogy films as its art) .


a sample of its gameplay, as you could see all of the card art uses scenes from the movie to attract people to buy the cards.


a nice picture of Gandalf, kinda makes you want one....

Theres a difference in Magic:The Gathering as the collectors actually collects the cards not just based on the arts or how rare it is, but by usability also. Some uncommon cards(supposely lower in rarity from rares) actually caught some high price for itself and sometimes can be more expensive than some rares.


Eternal Witness once went as high as RM15 in some local hobby shops, I even know someone who have paid RM20 just to get the card. And most uncommon cards don't even go higher than RM2. The card mechanic make it a valuable card to have in a green deck. So many players would want their hand on this baby, making it a 'rare' uncommon.


This card is currently priced at RM35 and can go higher depend on the shops you go. It is sought after by Magic players who wants to make their deck stronger. The art isn't that interesting, but it gameplay value is high among gamers.

This is only just a tibits of what makes a card valuable in the TCG world. You always don't know what makes a collector or player ticks, the prices go up and down depending on the wants of players and collectors.

This is just a small peak in the world of TCG, i'll deeper in the next post.
Jya Ne.