So what do you think it will end at?
Magic has a 6 year head start on Pokemon so what do you think 1st ed charizards will be selling for in 6 years?
I think 1st edition zard will sell for more in 6 years time (than Lotus is selling for now) for the same category (I.e. BGS 9.5 Lotus vs. BGS 9.5 zard OR PSA 10 Lotus vs. PSA 10 zard).
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For looking at Charizard, there are two main differences between the two. The Alpha Lotus is objectively rarer (was it something like 1100 of each rare produced?), while 1st Edition Charizard is much more desirable for a wider audience. Charizard is an actual character that people can remember… the Lotus is just a playable card. Yes, it has gained a noteworthy status as a collectible but Charizard wins this by a lot in my opinion. I can’t say which will be more important, but I think Charizard could easily be around this price in 6 years.
I’m sure a lot of people here would disagree with me but I do believe the lotus has a much more iconic element to trading cards than the Charizard. Compounded with the fact that it had a much lower print run and a much wider audience I would say would make for a better investment than the Charizard. But at the same time, I do think the Charizard has ballooned at an astonishing rate as well and it could very well reach similar prices in 6 years. But for me, if I had to pick between the 2, always gonna side with the lotus 
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Lotus is like the OG chase card in all of TCG’s history.
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The Alpha Lotus sits in a weird place compared to pokemon releases, rarer than a charizard, but not as rare as a trophy.
I wouldn’t be surprised if this went close to 6 figures.
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Lotus always wins, Alpha lotus 9.5 definitely! I think it will reach 100k+ for sure but we’ll see.Edit: Wow really close to 6 figures @smpratte?! I’ve been out of Magic for to long I guess, still have my BGS 9 Beta Shivan Dragon though 
I really think Pokémon has a larger group that know about the subject compared to Magic giving it a lot of potential.
But as mentioned there is a bigger print run (unknown size) and it is also less based on playability and just on collecting.
Hard to say where it will end up. Lets just hope there are more and more people collection, and not just the 1st Char growing in value, but the entire hobby in a stable way.
Yes of course would want the entire hobby growing, was just comparing it to the charizard as their both the most valuable/popular 1st released set card from each series.
i dont even like mtg and this is still exciting lol 
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I concur. Plus I have no emotional ties to it unlike Pokemon.
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New Magic is slightly declining, but it won’t ever die. It just will never grow at the rate Pokemon will as its now lapped them so many times. Even if MTG is breaking even, it seems like it is declining do so the sheer amount of growth of Pokemon.
Old Magic cannot even be compared to new Magic, its nearly turned collectible just like WOTC Pokemon has.
Towards the topic, IMO Magic will continue to push the price value much more consistently in the 5 digits and upper 4 digits than Pokemon. How many cards are currently pushing that mark all from the same set Alpha? Power nine is incredibly higher than the 1st Ed Holos. This also where I would draw the distinction and not compare the Black Lotus to Trophy cards Alpha was a actual release followed up by Beta/Unlimited that are even higher price points than 1st Ed. This is not my point saying one is better than the other, but that MTG Old has higher ceiling markets to bring other cards up in line with those prices. As they consistently rise this will just keep the bar moving higher.
Id also say the market for High End MTG has higher $ buyers but a lower amount of buyers. Even if a small portion drop out, there is enough to sustain the price points pushing it higher. There just isn’t enough MTG Old School supply that could hit the market to bring down the price point, its going to keep increasing.
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You had me spill some of my coffee. Hilarious, but true… It’s a shame what some companies do to save a penny here and there by lowering quality of their product.
MTG will be around for a long time, but it’s definitely in a downward trend. That being said, that doesn’t really seem to affect the higher end vintage card market.
I´m collecting MTG for over 10 years now and can totally confirm, there is maybe not that many “whales” in the hobby but given the fact that there are actually just a few of them they have incredible buying power, being part of the mtg high end fb group and several more, you can sometimes see collections for 100k+ wiped out in minutes of the post being released.
For the Lotus: it is, at least for me, the OG trading card, there is nothing that can ever come close to that, even though 1st ed charizard has maybe a much wider appeal, the value of the lotus will always be greater just because of the fact that there is such a scarce supply.
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That card is not gem mint. It’s a 9 at best.
Secondly, all the top bidders are 70-100% on that guys listings.
Thirdly, the second highest bidder upbid the leader to exactly 61k…knowing a few bucks more takes the lead.
Lastly, I never like seeing someone retract a 60k bid like someone did on this.
Think carefully and watch closely on this one. Personally, I’d pass.
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It looks clean enough for a 9.5 IMO. It’s definitely not a PSA 10 though. I agree the bidding looks very suspicious
What’s the usual going rate for a 9.5 Alpha?
Second top bidder was my wife, she had been quizzing me on what I would pay for the card earlier in the week because I’d been talking about it and decided to try and win me it as a surprise present. It went over the 60k of what I told her I’d pay but she bid higher anyway … she isn’t very eBay/buying savvy when it comes to making bids.
Anyway it was a legit bid, a shame it looks like it’ll go a lot higher than I expected. The centering isn’t great on it especially the back but apart from that it’s a really nice looking card.
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Then you should stop listening to the people that constantly whine about about a company’s PR moves and look at the bigger picture.
… is this real life?
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When I said a 9 I meant a PSA 9.
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Are you familiar with the seller?