Glutted and Gutted

brink of madness card art; how many magic players feel

I mentioned it in this post, and it bears more reflection: Magic releases have gotten out of control, nearly doubling in recent years. Consider the below chart from OnlyTuesdays:

Focusing on the black symbols (products released in booster packs), you see the explosion in recent years. Other products (like preconstructed commander decks) have gone crazy, too. The linked article explains the likely reason: Hasbro, who owns Wizards of the Coast and hence Magic, announced in 2018 that they planned to increase profits by 50%. It appears to be working; Hasbro's recent earnings report shows Magic is now a one billion dollar brand (though the CEO admitted a quarterly decline in profits and pointed to high levels of inventory as one main cause). Magic generated $1.3 billion in revenue in 2021 and, though things took a hit in 2022, Hasbro as a whole (which is Magic + its other properties) still achieved a profit of  almost $200 million in the 3rd quarter this year (here is the official release). And there is no end in sight.

Next year, Magic celebrates 30 years. The main announcement thus far is that they are releasing a 30th anniversary edition product- with reprints from Beta, the second Magic set released. Fun! But wait, there are two catches:

1) From the announcement, we see that "30th Anniversary Edition is a commemorative, collectible, non-tournament-legal product celebrating 30 years of Magic." It has a different card back; the cards cannot be used in anything other than casual play.

2) You can buy these cards in 4-pack sets (15 random cards per pack) for . . .$999. That's right- you too can own a piece of nostalgia that you can't use in sanctioned gameplay for just one thousand dollars.

The market is glutted, and players are gutted. Hasbro seems increasingly 'predatory,' as one of the above links notes. What used to be an enjoyable rhythm of releases, with just enough time between them to satisfactorily explore a given set's possibilities, is now a continuous onslaught with no time to think. "Look at this. Now, over here! But wait- there's more!" [sigh]

I am annoyed, to be sure . . . but I've said it before and it bears repeating: nobody is forced to buy these things. The best way to send a message in a capitalist system is to abstain from the products and companies that are excessive. I recommend we do so.