By Brian Cooper |
Updated on January 9, 2024
Because all of us really enjoy investing in and collecting Magic cards and booster boxes, I wanted to highlight a few significant sales in the hobby from just the last week or two. It’s clear from these recent sales that the Vintage MTG Booster Box market is still quite strong!
Investing in MTG Booster Boxes is something a lot of us do. And I’m not so sure I call it ‘investing’ as to me it’s more about ‘collecting.’ I just enjoy having unopened Magic, MetaZoo and other TCG Boosters in my collection as much as I like having single cards. I’m sure a lot of you feel the same way.
But keeping track of MTG Booster Box sales is important to understanding the value of your collection over time. The same can be said for MTG singles and sets.
So let’s take a look at some of the more recent sales in August 2023 and see which Vintage MTG booster boxes are bringing big bucks. From the sales info here you’ll definitely see what I see….the Vintage Magic Booster Box market is still very strong!
Vintage MTG Booster Boxes: Top 20 eBay Sales for August 2023
In no particular order, here are some of the top sales for this month. These prices do not include shipping and tax.
#1: MTG 7th Edition Booster Box
Date: 08/24/2023
Sale Price: $2,130.00
This was a bargain price for the 7th Edition box in my personal opinion. The cheapest price on TCGPlayer is around $3,100 right now so to get a roughly $1K discount is pretty dang good price for a booster box that is 22+ years old.
Just a year ago this box was selling for $4,000 so these current prices are a bargained compared to back then.
#2: MTG Fifth Edition Booster Box
Date: 08/20/2023
Sale Price: $1,250.00
Someone picked this vintage Magic booster box up for a great price. Released back in 1997, the Fifth Edition has a great mix of original cards and the booster boxes have that old vintage feel too without the hefty price tag of the Revised (3rd Edition) Booster boxes.
Tons of great cards in this set including Mana Vault, Necropotence and Sylvan Library. TCGPlayer has about 7-8 current listings right now and the cheapest one is just under $1,800. Great deal here on eBay!
#3: MTG Fourth Edition Booster Box
Date: 08/22/2023
Sale Price: $1,000.00
This is a very similar booster box to the Fifth Edition above but it’s about 2-years older and cheaper for many reasons. One of those reasons is SUPPLY.
There was an estimated 500 million Fourth Edition cards printed back in 1995 which is a LOT and the market is still trying to absorb the quantity 27-years later. My guess is the inventory of unopened Fourth Edition booster boxes is starting to dry up more and more each year.
TCGPlayer currently only has five active listings with the lowest price being around $1,250 so someone on eBay got a great deal. One day this price will look like a bargain.
#4: MTG Guildpact Booster Box
Date: 08/21/2023
Sale Price: $625.00
Not a great set when it comes to the value of the cards inside the box, but it’s still a 17-year old vintage Magic booster box that is worth having in unopened condition. The TCGPlayer market price is just under $800 so a pretty decent bargain for the buyer on eBay who bought it for $625.
#5: MTG Ice Age Booster Box
Date: 08/22/2023
Sale Price: $950.00
The market price on this Ice Age booster box has dropped about 20% in the last year, but this economy in 2022-2023 has been lackluster at best anyways. I view this as a time to buy and someone else had the same idea on eBay.
Finding a 1995 original sealed booster box of Ice Age is getting tougher by the year so if you can find one sub-$1000, it’s a good deal. The printers were certainly humming back in 1995 and although no print run was released, we know it’s a lot.
But there’s just not very many unopened Ice Age boosters in the market these days so pick them up when you can or if you can afford them. Prices will bounce back over time and then some.
#6: MTG Innistrad Booster Box
Date: 08/22/2023
Sale Price: $605.00
If you’re a fan of the gothic horror themed cards in Magic, Innistrad is the booster box for your collection. The Innistrad set (and subsequent sets with the same theme) have all been very successful over the years as players and collectors scramble for the vampire, zombie and werewolf cards.
I like this booster a lot long term. Prices have bounced back very quickly on this set, faster than most others, which means demand is high.
So many great cards in these boxes: Parallel Lives, Liliana of the Veil, Balefire Dragon and Snapcaster Mage are just a few of the more expensive ones you’ll find. For $600+, I think it’s a great box to stash in the vault.
#7: MTG Mercadian Masques Booster Box
Date: 08/24/2023
Sale Price: $1,235.00
The old school look to the Mercadian Masques cards is very appealing and I think this is another set that will see huge returns over time.
The set is stacked with great cards with Rishadan Port, the Land card with some of the best artwork in all of Magic, being the top dog in the set at $35-40.
The price for this booster box on eBay was extremely surprising as boxes are listed for over $3,000 on TCGPlayer right now.
I think the TCGPlayer price is a bit too expensive, but the eBay price was an amazing bargain. If you can get them this cheap, I think it’s tough to go wrong.
#8: MTG Mirage Booster Box
Date: 08/22/2023
Sale Price: $2,499.00
This is a great booster box. Mirage was released back in 1996 and from what we’re told there were 400 million cards printed. That’s quite a bit, but a crap ton of this has already been opened so the number of Mirage booster boxes left in the wild UNOPENED is probably very few.
Why is it so expensive?
I think part of the reason beyond age and rarity is the possibility of finding the LION’S EYE DIAMOND Artifact which is worth a cool $450! Big dollar cards always help boost box prices, but it’s not a necessity as rarity and print run tend to be bigger factors.
This box sold a bit lower than TCGPlayer market price so definitely a good deal. I might even go so far as to say it’s vault worthy!
#9: MTG Morningtide Booster Box
Date: 08/23/2023
Sale Price: $723.91
While Mirage has the luxury of having a monster expensive card helping to drive prices up, Morningtide does not. There are a handful of $20 cards in the set, but the most expensive one is Bitterblossom (a Black Enchantment) that runs only about $25-$30.
The booster box was slowly approaching the $1,000 mark about a year ago and dropped like a rock back in the February 2023 timeframe.
It has rebounded a bit up into the $700’s and chances are it will continue the slow incline back to its former glory (and then some most likely.)
This is purely a rarity play since the set list is not great. But that’s ok…the rarity of an unopened box is all you need anymore.
#10: MTG Nemesis Booster Box
Date: 08/23/2023
Sale Price: $799.99
This is another booster box very much in the same boat at Morningtide. The set list is weak, there are only three cards worth more than $10 and the box price is basically a function of its rarity in the market.
This one on eBay sold right at the median TCGPlayer price so no discount here.
Definitely not a box I’m scrambling to add to my collection. I think there are better booster boxes out there right now for the money. Not a bad box….just not super desirable.
#11: MTG Onslaught Booster Box
Date: 08/24/2023
Sale Price: $1,145.00
This is one of the sales where I think the buyer got a great deal. The TCGPlayer median price is about $2,100 and there are only 8 current listings as of the publishing of this post.
The set list is large and good, the cards have fantastic artwork and there are 10 cards worth more than $20. And 6 of those 10 are over $50 each!
The 5 Fetchlands are the big ones: Windswept Heath ($50), Bloodstained Mire ($71), Wooded Foothills ($72), Flooded Strand ($80) and Polluted Delta ($82.)
It’s always fun opening packs and finding those ‘lottery’ type cards like the Fetchlands so that’s helping drive the price up for sure.
This was a slam dunk of a deal at $1,145 for the booster box.
#12: MTG Prophecy Booster Box
Date: 08/23/2023
Sale Price: $949.99
Prophecy is possibly the weakest set on this list of booster boxes. There is one card (Rhystic Study) that is worth about $35 on the open market and ten other cards worth from $2 to $10. Most of those were $2 though.
It’s not a great set but it just goes to show you that the strength of the singles isn’t everything. The median price on TCGPlayer for a Prophecy Booster box is $932 so this buyer paid about market price for this box.
Not a great deal, but heck it’s still a sealed vintage Magic Booster Box that’s 23-years old!
#13: MTG Urza’s Legacy Booster Box
Date: 08/23/2023
Sale Price: $6,200.00
The biggest sale on eBay in the last few weeks was this Urza’s Legacy Booster Box for $6,200. That’s a gigantic investment in an unopened booster box.
It’s either someone putting the box in their investment vault or a store selling it by the pack. That would be my guess. Either way, it’s a big investment.
There are currently 9 of these booster boxes listed on TCGPlayer and the average price is about $8,000. So this eBay buyer got quite a deal when compared to TCGPlayer asking prices.
The set is awesome, although there are very few big dollar cards. The Grim Monolith is the biggie at $270 and is one of 9-cards currently on the Magic Reserved List. If you can afford the box, this price is not bad at all. Definitely a LONG TERM hold though so you’ll need to tie up the money for quite some time. I’d take it though!
#14: MTG Visions Booster Box
Date: 08/16/2023
Sale Price: $1,440.05
I’d chalk this sale up as another great bargain. There are currently 7 listings on TCGPlayer and the median price is $2,500. So a roughly $1,000 discount off TCGPlayer is a fantastic deal.
Is this vault worthy? Yep, I think so. It’s a late 1990’s set so the print run is probably not ginormous. Plus the set itself is great and has a lot of medium value cards like the Vampiric Tutor ($42) and Anvil of Bogardan ($37) to name a few.
I think at some point we’ll look at this $1400 price tag and wonder why we didn’t buy it ourselves. Great set and even better booster box!
#15: MTG Eventide Booster Box
Date: 08/14/2023
Sale Price: $610.00
Eventide was a solid $750-$800 price for booster boxes for a long time on TCGPlayer and then things dropped a bit into the $600’s recently. I think this economy has people scared about a lot of things and collectibles like this box are taking the brunt of the hit.
Regardless, this buyer got a great deal for a 15-year old booster box that I’m sure is getting more scarce by the day.
#16: MTG Alara Reborn Booster Box
Date: 08/13/2023
Sale Price: $580.00
If you enjoy multicolored cards, the Alara Reborn booster box is for you. If you don’t like multicolored cards, best to buy something else because the ENTIRE SET is multicolored!
This particular booster box sold right at the TCGPlayer median price so no discount here. Usually when it comes to Magic The Gathering sets, there’s something for everyone. But not in the case of Alara Reborn which is why it’s considered a very weak set.
With only 145 cards in the set and all of them multicolored, the following as you would expect is also quite weak. The price of the booster box is definitely due to scarcity so it’s not a bad buy at this price.
But because few collectors are going after this booster box, it might take quite a bit longer to see price increases.
#17: MTG 9th Edition Booster Box
Date: 08/13/2023
Sale Price: $850.00
This MTG 9th Edition Booster Box sold right at TCGPlayer median price and I think it’s a good deal. For a set that is 18+ years old and contains a handful of $10 cards and a load of $2-$7 cards, I think over time we’ll see gradual gains here too.
I like most of these core sets as they have a great variety of cards (359 total cards in the set) and most players and collectors enjoy them.
There are only 5 of these listed for sale on TCGPlayer and about 8 listed currently on eBay so there are few to be had. Definitely a $1K box in the not so distant future.
#18: MTG 10th Edition Booster Box
Date: 08/13/2023
Sale Price: $1,100.00
The MTG 10th Edition Booster Box has a lot going for it and the price says a lot.
First, it was the first CORE set since Alpha and Beta (1993) to have all black borders.
Second, the set itself was huge containing 383 total cards, which to me is always a plus.
Third and finally, there are a lot of really good cards in this set priced accordingly like Grave Pact ($32), Crucible of Worlds ($20), Doubling Cube ($19) and a ton of $2 to $10 cards.
The median TCGPlayer price is about $300 more than what this sold for on eBay so the buyer got a good deal. How long it takes for this box to hit $2K is anyone’s guess though. Great booster box!
#19: MTG Apocalypse Booster Box
Date: 08/28/2023
Sale Price: $1,149.95
MTG Apocalypse was a small set of 143 cards that was issued back in June of 2001. It’s mostly comprised of multicolored cards, much like the Alara Reborn set we talked about above.
Being that it’s a small specialized set, the cards in the set and booster boxes are not great with only about 15 cards being worth more than $2 and the highest priced card being just $10. Not a lot to write home about, but then again the value of the booster box is in its rarity as a sealed box.
The TCGPlayer listed median price is closer to $1,900 but you can still find these for closer to this one which sold on eBay for less than $1,200. Not very desirable but definitely worth it as a sealed booster box.
#20: MTG Legions Booster Box
Date: 08/13/2023
Sale Price: $660.00
The final booster box on our list definitely has one thing going for it….history. The Legions set was the first set in Magic history to feature creatures only. No enchantments, instants, interrupts and no artifacts.
But it did have Slivers which many players and collectors like a lot.
This MTG Legions Booster Box was selling for over $1,000 just a year or so ago and the price has dropped quite a bit for plenty of reasons.
But I believe this buyer got a great bargain as the TCGPlayer median price is currently $884.43.
You can still find these on eBay and other places for somewhere in the $600’s but I doubt that will be the case a year or two from now.
