By Brian Cooper |
Updated on December 19, 2023I would venture to say that all of us could write a list of the best MTG booster boxes to buy in 2022 and every list would be a little bit different. And honestly that is totally fine as my list is not meant to be Magic Gospel by no means. What I’m hoping is that it opens your eyes up to a few Magic boxes that I believe have excellent long term investment potential and that I believe are ripe to buy right now. So read on and let me know what you think.
Magic Card Investor’s (5) Best MTG Booster Boxes to Buy in 2022
#5 – Jumpstart Booster Box
CURRENT VALUE (FEB 2022): $90.00+
Release Date: July 17, 2020
Jumpstart Booster boxes continue to be one of the best value boxes to open in 2022 with an EV (estimated value) still hovering around $130-$140 per box on average. There are few Magic booster boxes out there that can make this claim and that’s part of the reason Jumpstart made this list.
Jumpstart is full of great cards that continue to hold their values. With four cards alone that continue to bring $35-65 a piece, there’s a great chance the box you open will have at least one or more high value cards. The titan of the set continues to be Allosaurus Shepherd that is holding strong at $60-65 followed closely by the Craterhoof Behemoth which is still a solid buy at $40. From there you have at least (14) more single cards that easily bring $10-30 a piece!
The one thing we have to watch is supply. Jumpstart is a PRINT TO DEMAND product which means WOTC can and will continue printing it until they determine they’ll be moving on to other products. WOTC has had nothing but supply related issues since the product came out in mid-2020 and although we’ve seen a few waves hit the shelves, the amount produced for those waves has been pathetic at best.
WOTC has blamed these production issues on COVID-19, which I’m sure all of us would agree is a valid reason, but I don’t believe Jumpstart ever recovered from those delays. And although I still see the boxes are available on eBay and even Amazon lately, I expect you’ll start to see supplies dwindle down and the official announcement that Jumpstart will be out of print soon. I think it’s finally at the end of its print life so for me that means it’s time to buy.
So what does the future hold for Jumpstart? It really depends on the supply and when WOTC plans to shut down the presses. My guess is we’ll hear something about that early in 2022. Once the printers are shut down I would expect an immediate spike on single cards and boxes jumping to the $100-150 range. That’s about how things go when WOTC stops printing a desirable set.
For now you can still buy Magic Jumpstart Boxes on Amazon under $100, which in my eyes is a bargain. I was able to put as much as (30) boxes in my cart on Amazon so they still have a small supply left in stock. If Amazon is not your cup of tea then try your local game store, TCGPlayer.com or eBay.
#4 – Khans of Tarkir Booster Box
CURRENT VALUE (FEB 2022): $200.00-$250.00
Release Date: September 26, 2014
Khans of Tarkir Booster boxes came out in September of 2014 and it was the 9th set that WOTC released that year (out of 10 total sets.) It was also the first of three expansion sets in the Tarkir block which included Khans of Tarkir (Sept 2014), Fate Reforged (Jan 2015) and finally Dragons of Tarkir (Mar 2015.)
Although Khans was fairly popular, because there were so many expansion sets put out by WOTC, like most sets it got lost in the shuffle for quite some time. Box prices hovered right around $100 when they first came out and pretty much stayed stagnant for at least 4-years before steadily rising above the $130-140 mark. Today (Feb 2022) box prices are slowly but steadily approaching the $300 mark and have pretty steady sales online.
So what has driven the box price of Khans up lately? Two words: FETCH LANDS. There are five fetch lands that were reprinted from the set Onslaught (Oct 2002) and were included in Khans. The fetches were Polluted Delta, Bloodstained Mire, Flooded Strand, Wooded Foothills, and Windswept Heath. Those alone are keeping the prices high and I believe they will continue to be the biggest reason why Khans box prices will continue an upward trajectory.
So is Khans of Tarkir worth buying? If you were to look at it based solely on Estimated Value, probably not. Reason being the EV of this box is currently around $150 so buying a box for $300 wouldn’t make sense. If you get 5-6 Fetch Lands or so happen to nail a foil Fetch, you just blew the EV out of the water.
However, investing in Magic unopened boxes is not solely based on EV and you need to consider the value and the scarcity of the unopened box itself. If you factor in that over the last 7-8 years thousands of boxes have been opened you’ll realize that the more that boxes get ripped open, the more valuable the remaining boxes will be.
I think Khans will continue a gradual climb in price, but most likely won’t make huge movements. It took 4 years to see any major price increases and it may take another 4 years from today to see it get closer to $500. However, I think it will eventually hit that level but you’ll need patience. Buy a bunch of boxes and stash them in the closet….for a LONG time.
#3 – Zendikar Rising Collector Booster Box
CURRENT VALUE (FEB 2022): $260.00+
Release Date: September 25, 2020
I know I’m going to take a lot of heat for this one but hear me out. Zendikar Rising Collector Booster boxes are extremely fun to open and more and more are getting ripped everyday. Collector Boxes are also the only place you can find Extended Art cards AND Foil Expedition Lands and that fact alone has and will continue to drive prices up over the next few years.
Expeditions are the hottest thing going and knowing you have multiple ways of getting them in Collector booster boxes will ensure box prices won’t ever drop. If you don’t happen to get one in a box topper (and you get TWO of these box topper packs in every Collector box) then you have a chance to get multiple Expeditions in the Collector packs themselves.
And by the way, you won’t find Expeditions in any of the Zendikar Rising regular packs, only the box toppers in the Draft and Set Booster boxes. So unless you purchase a Collector Box, you’re only shot at an expedition is the box topper in the regular boxes.
Fetch lands are always highly coveted by players and collectors and the Expeditions in Zendikar Rising are no different. There are a total of (30) different Expeditions and each of them have their own special hedron expansion symbol. You’ll know it when you pull it for sure!
The bottom line is that Zendikar Rising Fetch Lands like these will absolutely drive the price of Collector Boxes upwards and I don’t see a time where they’ll drop in price. Again, the more that gets ripped open or stashed away in closets, the more I’m confident that prices will continue to rise. I see a $500 box price in the next few years, no doubt about it.
#2 – Modern Horizons 2 (MH2) Draft/Set/Collector Booster Boxes
[amalinkspro_table id=”455″ new-window=”on” nofollow=”on” addtocart=”off” /]
CURRENT VALUE Draft Boxes (FEB 2022): $220.00
CURRENT VALUE Set Boxes (FEB 2022): $220.00
CURRENT VALUE Collector Boxes (FEB 2022): $400.00
Release Date: June 18, 2021
MH2 is a truly spectacular set with lots of classic cards from Magic’s past mixed in with awesome new cards all made to fit joyfully into the new Modern format. I love the set and ripping packs is SUPER fun.
But here’s the deal, it’s FREAKING EXPENSIVE AS HECK and although I think unopened boxes are a great investment, they will set you back a pretty penny to put even a small position into your Magic investment portfolio. That being said, I think if you want to invest into MH2 you have to first buy the right product and second you have to be in it for the long haul (we’re talking many years.) This is definitely not a get rich quick scheme by no means.
Prices have remained steady since MH2 hit the market last year and, for the most part, box prices have been pretty stable without much fluctuation up or down. The good news is that availability is still widespread and there is no shortage of product online or on Amazon (see it here.) Remember it’s a Print-to-Demand product so WOTC is in control of how much will be made and when to turn off the lights on this set. Only time will tell when that will be.
Modern Horizons 2 Draft Booster boxes are great for getting regular and traditional foil cards and for getting 36-packs worth, but besides that there’s not much to speak of. If you want to play the game I would absolutely recommend Draft boxes. But for an investor, keep reading below as you’ll want Set and Collector Boosters in your portfolio instead.
Modern Horizons 2 Set Booster boxes are a bit different from the Draft boxes. You’ll get 30-packs and each Set Booster pack includes an art card, a new-to-modern reprint, a traditional foil card, a New-to-Modern reprint and a guaranteed rare or mythic rare. So with Set Boosters you’ll have less packs but more opportunities for the good stuff. I’m not a big fan of less packs, but you make up for it by getting packs that are loaded with better stuff than you’ll find in Draft Boosters. That being said, I would opt for Set Booster Boxes long term over Draft boxes.
So what about Modern Horizons 2 Collector boxes, is it worth it to buy those? Well, I can tell you one thing and that is Collector boxes are EXTRA loaded! Etched cards, extended art, foil extended art, rares and mythics out the wazoo, fetch lands, etched fetches….just an amazing box that will age extremely well. I don’t know what more good things I could say about MH2 Collector boxes. They are AMAZING (albeit expensive) and what you get out of them is absolutely ridiculous. Watch any box opening on YouTube and tell me you don’t want to pay whatever it costs to get one.
As mentioned above, the Set Boosters are better than the Draft Booster so if I’m investing in these boxes I’m buying the Set versions. But, I still think it will take a few years before these boxes start to head north price-wise, mainly because MH2 is a Print-to-Demand product. We’ll never know how much is out there and scarcity will have to be determined by watching the online market to see how many sells are available and how many buys are happening (easily figured out just by monitoring eBay.) Don’t expect these to be $500 overnight! You must have patience, young grasshopper………Rome wasn’t built in an hour. Wait….a day. YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN!!
Here’s where the BIG money will be made long term. If you can afford one or more MH2 Collector Booster boxes, buy them now and totally forget you even have them for a few years. Seriously…..just watch a few YouTube box openings like this one. How freakin’ amazing are these boxes!? Don’t hesitate….buy them now, lock them up so you’re not tempted to open them. Buy a safe, fill it with MH2 Collector Boxes and forget the combination. Or better yet, lock them in a fallout shelter so you can’t see them and won’t be tempted to open them (unless God forbid a world war or hurricane hits…..in which I would just go ahead and rip them open ‘cus it doesn’t look good.) You’ll thank me later.
#1 – Commander Legends Collector Booster Box
CURRENT VALUE (FEB 2022): $500.00+
Release Date: November 20, 2020
Commander Legends is simply a great set and reminds me of the 1994 classic from the Golden Era, LEGENDS. Much like that older set, Commander Legends is a huge set with tons of great cards that are driving the value up every month on singles as well as unopened boxes.
The most obvious of the big cards is the Jeweled Lotus which continues to maintain it’s high price. The regular version (Mythic – Card #319) has been hovering right around $100 and continues to have strong daily sales on eBay. But it’s not just the Jeweled Lotus that is driving the prices higher on the Collectors booster boxes, it’s the limited print run coupled with handfuls of many other highly sought after cards that comprise this set.
So let’s first talk about the limited print run. Commander Legends Collector Boosters were printed in very low quantities and that’s based on information from many distributors. Back in October 2020 (prior to release), we were told Collector boxes were “super under printed” and that we were looking at a print run of about 40% of the Zendikar Rising Collector Boosters printed earlier that year. That was peanuts compared to the demand and people scrambled to get whatever they could before prices spiked. Most only were allocated 1-2 boxes from their local game stores and soon enough, prices started rising because of the low supply and word from Hasbro that there would be no second printing.
So the print run alone is probably enough to drive prices towards the moon over the next few years but there’s also a handful of other great cards besides the Lotus. Take for instance Mana Drain, Vampiric Tutor, Etched Sakashima of a Thousand Faces, Etched Yuriko, the Tiger’s Shadow and the load of other Extended Art cards only found in Collector Boosters! These boxes are absolutely LOADED.
My best guess is these will slowly creep up in price over time and, the more boxes that get put away or are ripped open, the less we’ll see on the open market. It wouldn’t surprise me to see $750-$1,000 box prices once this US economy gets back on track. It could take a year or two but we’ll see.
CONCLUSION
So there you have it, my thoughts on the best MTG Booster Box to buy in 2022 . I think I’ll revisit this list later this year and maybe chart the prices to see how things have changed. Look for that later in the year.
I’ve had this idea in my head of a Magic Stock Market of sorts where we can track things over time and see how a mock purchase does over 1-3-5-10 years. Yeah, maybe I’ll work on that…..good idea Brian!
Take care everybody. Have fun playing Magic…….and INVESTING in Magic too!
