A Deeper Quest For Magic: The Gathering (MTG) Value When Listing Your Cards
# A Deeper Quest For Magic: The Gathering (MTG) Value When Listing Your Cards
Learn how to determine the prices of your Magic: The Gathering cards in this detailed guide to MTG value.
* !
  ## Chuck Moore
  Read  by this author.
#### 
24 Mar 2020
• 7 min read
!
Created by Richard Garfield,  is a trading card game that was first published in 1993 and leaned heavily on traditional fantasy elements. You can just feel the Dungeons & Dragons influence here, which Garfield does credit (Wizards of the Coast would later acquire the brand). In the game, typically using a deck of 60 or more trading cards, players take on the role of combat wizards and square off against each other using the spells, artifacts, and creatures featured on those cards to combat opponents. Still in production and actively played today, it is estimated that there are  and  to collect as of 2015 with an annual revenue of  being generated by the game.
I was a collector in the early days and recently sold my cards for a wonderful windfall of cash. When I sat down to pen this article, researching Magic: The Gathering cards in more detail, my goal was to put together a list of the most expensive cards from the game organized 20 to 1. What I found as I dug into the market was a niche of card collecting that had a number of ways in which you could build a traditional "top 20" styled list and there was a lot to consider in refining a list. I quickly found the nuances of collecting and value here to be as interesting as any list I could build. In the end, I chose to build a step-by-step guide into the world of Magic: The Gathering (aka MTG) card valuation, and give you, the reader, the tools to look at your collection and build your own list.
### **Step 1. Consider the Power 9**
First up in any valuation and list building for MTG, you're going to have to make a call on how you handle the "Power 9". This is a set of nine cards that originated in the very earliest days of the game within the Alpha, Beta, and Unlimited sets. In most cases, these blow the other cards out of the top nine spots in terms of value and they are the rarest of the rare. These include the much talked about Black Lotus (the most valuable card) plus Ancestral Recall, Time Walk, Timetwister, and the five Mox cards (Mox Pearl, Mox Sapphire, Mox Jet, Mox Ruby, and Mox Emerald).
Most people exclude these from their value lists as they are so well known that they form the core nine of any standard top ten list. Serving this list up is simply referred to in the community as "sharing another Power 9 List", and it's honestly seen as not all that creative. Unlike the list of  I shared, there is more stability to what everyone refers to as the most valuable when it comes to MTG (with some exceptions, which I’ll detail below).
If you are a tournament player, knowing your Power 9 is also important because these cards are restricted in Vintage tournaments and banned in Legacy and Commander (the single exception being Timetwister in Commander format). That said, very little can beat opening a pack and finding these in the early days as the lore of their power had spread quickly among players. More recently, nothing beat  who found the rare Black Lotus unexpectedly and, even better, the moment was  (at roughly the 8-minute mark). Well worth a watch.
Just for the sake of being complete here,  (also found in that video above) rounds out most top 10 lists but is not considered part of the Power 9.
### **Step 2. Choose Which Languages To Cover**
Want to add a fun wrinkle to this MTG valuation mix? Consider that Magic: The Gathering currently has cards out there published in English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, French, German, Italian, Korean, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. When you are looking at the value of Magic cards, there is a difference when it comes to the language on the card.
If you consider English the baseline language and home of Magic, the rest of the world divides into fairly dependable tiers of value. Tier one would be European languages like French, Italian, or Spanish, which hold a value very close to the English version with German cards being just a touch higher. The price climbs a bit when you move into non-Roman alphabet languages like Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Russian. In ascending order you would walk through Japanese, then Chinese, then Korean and Russian in terms of scarcity and value for US collectors. For a very solid and highly detailed look at this aspect of MTG collecting, I recommend  by Guo Heng Chin.
### **Step 3. Do you include Alpha/Beta/Unlimited sets?**
These sets take collectors back to the earliest years of MTG. Premiering at Origins '93, the first generation of cards went public on August 5th and are referred to as the "Alpha" set, which contained 295 different cards. This set had a print run of 2.6 million cards. After some corrections, the more heavily distributed "Beta" set featured 302 different cards with a 7.3 million card print run. Both the Alpha and Beta sets had black borders which distinguish them from later printings. Combined, these initial 10 million cards sold out very quickly. By December of 1993 the Unlimited Edition was released, which reprinted the 302 Beta cards, only this time with a white border.
When building a list of the most expensive, you have to refine your discussion to either include or exclude these three sets, as you would never make it to a consideration of the expansions or later traded cards without excluding these. The Alphas clearly dominate any list that includes them.
### **Step 4. Do you open the door to misprints and oddities?**
We're all human and we all make mistakes, especially when it comes to printing. The lore and rumors surrounding the topic are a rabbit hole you can climb down and dig as deep as you like. Most lists I see tend to exclude these cards and determining a final value really comes down to what other collectors are willing to pay for the difference represented.
MTG oddities often result from mistakes, miscuts, misprints, and test prints. Highly sought after in the market, most of these variants occur due to editorial or event mechanical failure during design or printing. Often almost un-noticeable without close inspection, these mistakes often push up the value in this market. If you are at all intrigued by the world of misprint and odd MTG cards, I invite you to check out  where a long time misprint collector took all questions posed to him for a time. It’s loaded with interesting anecdotes regarding this aspect of MTG cards.
### **Step 5. Where do graded cards fit into all of this?**
Grading collectibles is an interesting topic that actually deserves its own article. The idea of protecting something originally meant to be used and enjoyed (be it reading a comic book or, here, playing a game with a trading card) can lead to different opinions when it comes to fan reactions to the concept of grading. It’s fine to encase a trading card in plastic and get a standardized look at the condition under the watchful eye of an expert, but at that point, you are taking the item off the table as a playable card. It's simply a collectible at that point.
Grading, as with any form of collectible culture, does increase the value of the card. A good rule of thumb across card collecting markets would be to expect roughly 30 to 40% increased value for identical cards. That said, remember that grading services take a fee which cuts into that profit margin. If you are a collector, graded cards certainly are a point of consideration when it comes to increasing the punch of your personal collection. Were I looking at it from building a top 20 list, I would exclude this from consideration as the grading increase holds pretty level across the harder to find cards. They're always going to be worth a bit more when graded, but it wouldn't substantively alter the order of your value list.
### **Step 6. Know where to find your values!**
In the end, whether you're looking to sell some cards or just enjoying Magic: The Gathering as a collector, you will ultimately find yourself with a stack of cards sitting in front of you wondering what they are worth. It can be daunting to determine values in a changing market, so it quickly becomes time to call in the professionals.
In the early days ** (1995 to 2007), ** (1993 to 1999), and ** (1994 to 2009) were the magazines of choice, but prices have certainly evolved since the last of those saw print. If you are willing to pay for the service,  has been an industry standard for trading card valuation (well beyond just MTG) for generations.
For me, I would probably look at the current sales prices across a mix of websites and comparison shop to get the most accurate value of my Magic: The Gathering cards. Here's a list of seven sites that are fairly respected and can get you started. Check out , , , , , , and  to begin your quest.
Happy deck building (or selling)!
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Meet History: The Original American Girl Dolls
# Meet History: The Original American Girl Dolls
  ## Caitlyn Walz
20 Mar 2020
• 6 min read
If you grew up a girl in the 1990s as I did, you probably know a thing or two about . If you were like me, you likely knew which character you were (Kirsten), which character you wanted to be (Samantha), and more about American history than it was cool to admit. We learned about everything from a proper colonial tea party to embroidery to planting a victory garden. Included in these lessons, we also got learn about the struggles of being a girl, in any and every time period. For me,  was a refreshing step away from the more superficial world of , and for that I will be forever grateful. If you weren't fortunate enough to grow up in that era, allow me to introduce you to some of the girls and give you a little backstory on the brand and what its evolved to today.
 came from humble beginnings when former educator and text book writer Pleasant Rowland came up with the idea after a trip to Colonial Williamsburg. She had noticed that there was a significant void in the toy market for younger aged dolls and wondered why there weren’t many that were the same age as the girls playing with them. She saw an opportunity to provide an alternative to baby and adult dolls and teach some history at the same time by including books and corresponding accessories about each girl and her era in history. In 1986, she founded the Pleasant Company and started manufacturing the dolls, books, and accessories. Despite poor initial reactions to her idea, Pleasant Company was immediately successful, and  to  for $700 million.
Before we get too far into the current state of the beloved American Girl brand, let's introduce you to the first few girls – or say hello to a few old friends, if you've previously met!
### **Kirsten Larson**
Kirsten was one of the original three dolls produced, along with Molly McIntire and Samantha Parkington. She was a Swedish immigrant in the 1850s, finding her way as a pioneer in the wild Minnesota Territory. It was a hard new life and she was initially unsure of the change, but she eventually learns to embrace both her heritage and her new country. She is described as crafty, responsible, and hardworking, if a little shy at first. Each doll was sold either alone or bundled with accessories now known as "meet accessories", a nod to the titles of each first book in the series (*Meet Kirsten*, *Meet Samantha,* etc.). Kirsten came with her dress, pantalettes, apron, stockings, boots, and two hair ribbons to accent her signature looped braids. Her meet accessories included a bonnet, pocket for her apron, a wooden spoon, a heart shaped amber necklace, and a handkerchief.
If you're looking to reunited with an original Kirsten, you can likely find her on eBay at the link provided below. However, be prepared to pay quite a bit, as she  there.
### **Samantha Parkington**
Samantha was the cool doll and everyone knew it. She was an orphan and adopted by her wealthy Grandmary, and we all wanted her long dark hair and fancy victorian clothes. (Side note: Although originally marketed as victorian and often labeled as such, she is actually from the era of social change right after the victorian era, starting around 1904.) She was a curious and imaginative girl and often challenged society’s notion of what a young lady should be and do. She was bold and sometimes defiant in this way, but also a kind and generous girl. Her doll came with a checked dress, bloomers, stockings, shoes, and large hair bow. Her meet accessories consisted of a hat, locket, purse, handkerchief, and Indian head penny. Today, you can find the original Samantha Parkington doll for sale on eBay.
### **Molly McIntire**
Molly McIntire had the misfortune of being "the one with glasses." She was not the most attractive doll, and in her books she had a tendency to fight with her siblings and be a little bossy. I don't think I knew anyone exactly clamoring for a Molly doll. That said, she was also confident in her abilities, was very patriotic, and taught us to love our imperfections. She represents the 1940s and World War II era and comes to learn about empathy when a shy English girl, Emily Bennett, comes to stay with Molly and her family while the war rages through London. Emily eventually got a doll treatment as well and is in the photo above. The Molly doll came with a sweater, skirt, and blouse outfit, socks, shoes, and glasses. Her meet accessories were a beret, a purse, a handkerchief, a wartime steel penny, and a locket with a picture of her father to put in it.
### **Felicity Merriman**
The original three dolls and their accessories were all that were produced until 1991 with the introduction of the young patriot . Spunky, cheerful, and fiercely independent, Felicity represented the era directly leading up to the Revolutionary War. Not a fan of domestic housework or ladylike activities, Felicity's collection included accessories like her beloved horse Penny and a stable playset. Her doll included a rose embroidered gown, colonial undergarments, stockings, shoes, and a hair ribbon. Her meet accessories were a coral beaded necklace, cap, handkerchief, drawstring purse, bit (the most common coin in colonial Virginia), and garters.
If you have an original Felicity Merriman in your collection, consider yourself lucky. As recently as August 2020, she  on eBay!
### **Addy Walker**
American Girl Addy Walker Doll
 is the first non-white American Girl doll, and the mostly hotly debated given her back story includes escaping from slavery. Despite having such a tragic past, Addy remained optimistic, loving, and thoughtful and does her best to help anyone in need. A  passionate proponent for equality and fairness and a gifted student, Addy taught us to be resilient and to fight for what's right. Addy came with her dress, stockings, boots, bloomers, and hair ribbon. Her meet accessories included a straw bonnet, kerchief, gourd, half-dime, and shell necklace.
The Historical dolls went on to include a total of 18 different characters, and even included one from the home of CompleteSet: Kit Kittredge from Cincinnati!
In more recent years, since the sale of the company, the focus of the brand has changed quite a bit. Entire collections of the historical dolls we grew up with and loved are out of production, a few being rebooted under the name BeForever. The focus is now on a line called  (renamed a few times since its inception in 1995), in which the buyer can choose from a wide variety of skin tones, face molds, hair cuts and colors, and accessories.
While I applaud their dedication to being truly diverse and allowing any girl to have a doll just like herself, I can't help but be sad to see the historical girls and all their adventures go by the wayside.
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## A Deeper Quest For Magic: The Gathering (MTG) Value When Listing Your Cards
* Chuck Moore
24 Mar 2020 • 7 min read
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