Early Magic The Gathering art up for auction
This one is for Bronty.
Any predictions?
While I enjoy seeing art for Magic the Gathering I have not played in many years. Most of the artwork offered is from the newest sets which I do not recognize. So finally here is one that I do recognize. It got off to a quick start so I'm curious what it will end up at.
Auction for painting
http://www.ebay.com/itm/MTG-Alpha-original-art-by-Anson-Maddocks-Guardian-Angel-/132181902892?hash=item1ec6a7c62c:g:-R4AAOSwkShY~iqn
Any predictions?
While I enjoy seeing art for Magic the Gathering I have not played in many years. Most of the artwork offered is from the newest sets which I do not recognize. So finally here is one that I do recognize. It got off to a quick start so I'm curious what it will end up at.
Auction for painting
http://www.ebay.com/itm/MTG-Alpha-original-art-by-Anson-Maddocks-Guardian-Angel-/132181902892?hash=item1ec6a7c62c:g:-R4AAOSwkShY~iqn
Comments
I collected these for a little while but it was tough to get past how tiny mtg art is in real life so I sold what I had to concentrate further on video game pieces. Ie for 10-15k I can get a decent game piece that I will enjoy much more and will look much larger and better in real life.. Easy decision for me.
Still played but not seriously.
If they were Nintendo paintings, would you rather have mega man, or airwolf? Airwolf is the better painting, technically.
Image quality has an important role but other considerations come first.
http://www.gatheringmagic.com/mikelinnemann-073014-original-art-explosion/
I personally think MtG art is far higher quality today than it was during its infancy. I also think most early pieces are way overpriced, but that's just my opinion.
You might be right on prices as I don't follow closely. However, I personally have no desire to pick up modern Magic artwork. I haven't played the game in many years and there is no connection with the new material.
Classic pieces from the Alpha and Beta series are just that classic !
Everyone who knows anything about Magic knows those historic images. All things being equal wouldn't you rather have a NES cover painting over that of a PS4 game painting?
Most modern games have digital covers these days so it is perhaps a moot point but you get the idea.
The older games have a nostalgia with me that the new ones don't have.
Same thing with comics,wacky packs and any other hobby that I can think of.
Originally posted by: Bronty
IMO they aren't overpriced relative to newer art because they are the cards people remember. The quality of the art is secondary. These aren't old masters paintings. They are paintings that would be essentially worthless if they weren't associated with the game. So the stronger the association the more the value. Nobody gives a shit what the best image is ; that's subjective anyways. They want the art to best card to have a special collectible; they want the black lotus art, even though it's not a great painting by (as much as I like and remember Rush) an objectively very average at best, artist.
If they were Nintendo paintings, would you rather have mega man, or airwolf? Airwolf is the better painting, technically.
Image quality has an important role but other considerations come first.
Exactly. Though, I'd rather have the artwork of the Chaos Orb on my wall over a Black Lotus, but either would be bad ass. Or even a Juzam Djinn. So many historic artworks with some of these cards.
IMO they aren't overpriced relative to newer art because they are the cards people remember. The quality of the art is secondary. These aren't old masters paintings. They are paintings that would be essentially worthless if they weren't associated with the game. So the stronger the association the more the value. Nobody gives a shit what the best image is ; that's subjective anyways. They want the art to best card to have a special collectible; they want the black lotus art, even though it's not a great painting by (as much as I like and remember Rush) an objectively very average at best, artist.
If they were Nintendo paintings, would you rather have mega man, or airwolf? Airwolf is the better painting, technically.
Image quality has an important role but other considerations come first.
Exactly. Though, I'd rather have the artwork of the Chaos Orb on my wall over a Black Lotus, but either would be bad ass. Or even a Juzam Djinn. So many historic artworks with some of these cards.
Yeah I wouldn't be picky either. I'll take any one of those 3.
Wonder what those pieces would sell for these days?
Modern day paintings are worth less than most vintage art, but that is due to rarity. The vintage paintings do not change hands very often. Most are in private collections or locked away forever.
But modern paintings can also be quite valuable.
We owned the chris rahn sword of fire and ice up until about 8 months ago. Absolutely a gorgeous piece. The art on the card is great, but it looked even more detailed and intricate in person.
We are down to 3 pieces left, nothing as special as the sword of fire and ice. We sold that for very very close to 5 digits.
As the article mentions, chris rahn is one of two AAA artists in mtg currently. The other being terese nielsen.
She has been around for a very long time (most famous for the original force of will and the guru lands).
Daniel chang (aka vintage magic) kind of controls a lot of the mtg paintings market.
I would be surprised if he does not bid on this piece.
If something like juzam or force of will was sold, i would assume you are looking at 100k or more. Those two could even beat black lotus as the two most expensive art pieces in all of mtg.
Underground sea would be a special one as well. Maybe lightning bolt.
Supposedly, daniel chang sold plateau alpha art for $92500. That one is weird though because of the back story behind it. I believe i remember hearing he sold lotus for 200k as well. Armageddon or wrath of god (forget which) and rishadan port supposedly sold for close to 6 digits as well, but i heard conflicting information about those sales.
All the big sales are generally private so tough to confirm.
Mtg paintings are definitely a weird thing to try to value or collect.
Modern day paintings are worth less than most vintage art, but that is due to rarity. The vintage paintings do not change hands very often. Most are in private collections or locked away forever.
But modern paintings can also be quite valuable.
We owned the chris rahn sword of fire and ice up until about 8 months ago. Absolutely a gorgeous piece. The art on the card is great, but it looked even more detailed and intricate in person.
We are down to 3 pieces left, nothing as special as the sword of fire and ice. We sold that for very very close to 5 digits.
As the article mentions, chris rahn is one of two AAA artists in mtg currently. The other being terese nielsen.
She has been around for a very long time (most famous for the original force of will and the guru lands).
Daniel chang (aka vintage magic) kind of controls a lot of the mtg paintings market.
I would be surprised if he does not bid on this piece.
If something like juzam or force of will was sold, i would assume you are looking at 100k or more. Those two could even beat black lotus as the two most expensive art pieces in all of mtg.
Underground sea would be a special one as well. Maybe lightning bolt.
Supposedly, daniel chang sold plateau alpha art for $92500. That one is weird though because of the back story behind it. I believe i remember hearing he sold lotus for 200k as well. Armageddon or wrath of god (forget which) and rishadan port supposedly sold for close to 6 digits as well, but i heard conflicting information about those sales.
All the big sales are generally private so tough to confirm.
You aren't by chance associated with capital games are you? They had a fire and ice up on the wall for a while. It was cool up close.
Mtg paintings are definitely a weird thing to try to value or collect.
Modern day paintings are worth less than most vintage art, but that is due to rarity. The vintage paintings do not change hands very often. Most are in private collections or locked away forever.
But modern paintings can also be quite valuable.
Yeah, I don't watch that closely, but in the last year or so there have regularly been paintings for brand new cards sell for five figures if they are good cards and nice images.
the painting for Nissa, steward of the elements (which has been out like all of a week and isn't even the best card in the set) went for 17000 and lots of the paintings for the better 'masterpiece' premium insert cards went for five figures also.
Seems like if its a high quality new card with a good image the painting is five figures and if its literally anything from alpha its also five figures. I suppose the difference is that that 10-15k is the ceiling for brand new pieces, and the floor for alpha.
windows 7 screen shot
certificity.com
Sigiled Paladin by Greg Staples
and
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Ring of Thune by Erica Yang
(none of them are mine)
https://news.artnet.com/market/art-market-bubble-report-409136
but, who knows. My guess is, some of the people that own a lot of the original art, which they purchased for a few hundred dollars on average, by the way, will be on the market in the next few years. For all those that are rich
I can understand nostalgia being a HUGE factor! However, for me it's not the driving factor. I really just enjoy the art. Other factors include the game itself and what it means to you. However, I do think that for many early pieces the motivating factor seems to be $$$. OK, that's probably the motivating factor for most pieces! People either collect for enjoyment or to sell. Yeah, sometimes perhaps often a bit of both, but I do personally know "big" MtG collectors that purchase pieces only to quickly (or not so quickly) flip them. Well anyway, all that said, I still say more current MtG art by and large is truly
Hullo white and green lion card. I think he has vigilance but I can't remember. I think I mostly liked this card because he was a cat.
Originally posted by: Bronty
I prefer the classics!
(none of them are mine)
I would be okay putting any of these on my wall! I really love the artwork for Chaos Orb the most, but the other 2 are great as well.
Originally posted by: avatar!
I can understand nostalgia being a HUGE factor! However, for me it's not the driving factor. I really just enjoy the art. Other factors include the game itself and what it means to you. However, I do think that for many early pieces the motivating factor seems to be $$$. OK, that's probably the motivating factor for most pieces! People either collect for enjoyment or to sell. Yeah, sometimes perhaps often a bit of both, but I do personally know "big" MtG collectors that purchase pieces only to quickly (or not so quickly) flip them. Well anyway, all that said, I still say more current MtG art by and large is truly amazing.
windows 7 screen shot
certificity.com
Sigiled Paladin by Greg Staples and
image hosting no register
certificity.com
Ring of Thune by Erica Yang
These look too computer generated compared to the older stuff for my liking.
In terms of the newer art... opinions may differ, but I think the chunky "GW Space Marine" style armor on that paladin looks ridiculous.
And in terms of how little early owners paid, I distinctly remember a Ren-Faire in the late-90's with a considerable amount of MTG art for sale.
Lots of Mark Poole stuff in the $300-$400 range, as I recall.
but I'm not sure that any of that should surprise us. A sealed flintstones 2 sold on eBay for $33 in 1997. We've seen run ups on quality material as well.
The cards have become quite valuable for the old sets so old time collectors have lots of value they can 'trade in' for a piece if they desire too and I'm sure that's helped art prices along. Someone with some spare power nine cards, or heck, even a few extra moats, can make a purchase a lot more affordable. The rise in sealed game prices gave me more to work with when I was building my own art collection.
Originally posted by: Bronty
Even as recently as five or six years ago I paid all of 2k for Maze of Ith and 1400(?) for The Abyss and sold them a couple years later for maybe 2.5x(?) what I paid? The last 3-4 years have seen a lot of new collectors . That same Maze if Ith was listed for 20k iirc a while back and compared to other prices it really doesn't seem outrageous. Either way those low four figure pieces five years ago are five figures each I would think, now.
but I'm not sure that any of that should surprise us. A sealed flintstones 2 sold on eBay for $33 in 1997. We've seen run ups on quality material as well.
The cards have become quite valuable for the old sets so old time collectors have lots of value they can 'trade in' for a piece if they desire too and I'm sure that's helped art prices along. Someone with some spare power nine cards, or heck, even a few extra moats, can make a purchase a lot more affordable. The rise in sealed game prices gave me more to work with when I was building my own art collection.
I remember when the Beta Black Lotus was $300ish. I traded hundreds more in card value for that when I was 15 just to get it. (I'm talking 4 of each dual land, my unlimited Birds of Paradise, and my Sharazaad, plus a bunch of other low end rares like Sol Ring, a few Royal Assassins, etc).
If I could ever find my old box of magic cards, it'd still be in there. I suspect it was sold at a yard sale when I moved to Virginia, as a lot of the things I left at home ended up being sold, but if not, that box probably has about $30,000 in card value. My white weenie deck had all cards that were reprinted at the time from their original sets or beta as I've never had any alpha cards (Revised came out when I started playing), but I was able to trade a lot of people in the area that had lots of cards from beta onward. Also in the box, aside from the Lotus, is about a dozen Forks, 20+ Force of Wills (Alliance was my all time favorite set), an Unlimited Icy Manipulator (and a dozen worthless Ice Age ones, as well as a few pair of Jester's Cap and Mask), Chain Lightnings, a Library of Alexandria.
Wherever those cards are now, someone, or multiple someones, are a very happy camper.
Even as recently as five or six years ago I paid all of 2k for Maze of Ith and 1400(?) for The Abyss and sold them a couple years later for maybe 2.5x(?) what I paid? The last 3-4 years have seen a lot of new collectors . That same Maze if Ith was listed for 20k iirc a while back and compared to other prices it really doesn't seem outrageous. Either way those low four figure pieces five years ago are five figures each I would think, now.
but I'm not sure that any of that should surprise us. A sealed flintstones 2 sold on eBay for $33 in 1997. We've seen run ups on quality material as well.
The cards have become quite valuable for the old sets so old time collectors have lots of value they can 'trade in' for a piece if they desire too and I'm sure that's helped art prices along. Someone with some spare power nine cards, or heck, even a few extra moats, can make a purchase a lot more affordable. The rise in sealed game prices gave me more to work with when I was building my own art collection.
I remember when the Beta Black Lotus was $300ish. I traded hundreds more in card value for that when I was 15 just to get it. (I'm talking 4 of each dual land, my unlimited Birds of Paradise, and my Sharazaad, plus a bunch of other low end rares like Sol Ring, a few Royal Assassins, etc).
If I could ever find my old box of magic cards, it'd still be in there. I suspect it was sold at a yard sale when I moved to Virginia, as a lot of the things I left at home ended up being sold, but if not, that box probably has about $30,000 in card value. My white weenie deck had all cards that were reprinted at the time from their original sets or beta as I've never had any alpha cards (Revised came out when I started playing), but I was able to trade a lot of people in the area that had lots of cards from beta onward. Also in the box, aside from the Lotus, is about a dozen Forks, 20+ Force of Wills (Alliance was my all time favorite set), an Unlimited Icy Manipulator (and a dozen worthless Ice Age ones, as well as a few pair of Jester's Cap and Mask), Chain Lightnings, a Library of Alexandria.
Wherever those cards are now, someone, or multiple someones, are a very happy camper.
Isn't there some guy going around trying to buy up all the Black Lotus cards?
Not sure if he buys the art as well.
I prefer the classics!
(none of them are mine)
+1
It takes a lot for me to pause for anything these days but seeing pictures like this STOP me right in my tracks.
The original card art might not be as detailed or as large as the newer artwork but these are super iconic images. When I see images I know exactly what they are. If I owned any one of these I'd have to think long about selling no matter what was offered. I'm not even a MTG card player but I'd love to own any one of these.
The new material is awesome but in a different way. It is from a different era. Not that it doesn't look good because it does but I don't fall over my own two feet when I see one.
Even as recently as five or six years ago I paid all of 2k for Maze of Ith and 1400(?) for The Abyss and sold them a couple years later for maybe 2.5x(?) what I paid? The last 3-4 years have seen a lot of new collectors . That same Maze if Ith was listed for 20k iirc a while back and compared to other prices it really doesn't seem outrageous. Either way those low four figure pieces five years ago are five figures each I would think, now.
but I'm not sure that any of that should surprise us. A sealed flintstones 2 sold on eBay for $33 in 1997. We've seen run ups on quality material as well.
The cards have become quite valuable for the old sets so old time collectors have lots of value they can 'trade in' for a piece if they desire too and I'm sure that's helped art prices along. Someone with some spare power nine cards, or heck, even a few extra moats, can make a purchase a lot more affordable. The rise in sealed game prices gave me more to work with when I was building my own art collection.
I remember when the Beta Black Lotus was $300ish. I traded hundreds more in card value for that when I was 15 just to get it. (I'm talking 4 of each dual land, my unlimited Birds of Paradise, and my Sharazaad, plus a bunch of other low end rares like Sol Ring, a few Royal Assassins, etc).
If I could ever find my old box of magic cards, it'd still be in there. I suspect it was sold at a yard sale when I moved to Virginia, as a lot of the things I left at home ended up being sold, but if not, that box probably has about $30,000 in card value. My white weenie deck had all cards that were reprinted at the time from their original sets or beta as I've never had any alpha cards (Revised came out when I started playing), but I was able to trade a lot of people in the area that had lots of cards from beta onward. Also in the box, aside from the Lotus, is about a dozen Forks, 20+ Force of Wills (Alliance was my all time favorite set), an Unlimited Icy Manipulator (and a dozen worthless Ice Age ones, as well as a few pair of Jester's Cap and Mask), Chain Lightnings, a Library of Alexandria.
Wherever those cards are now, someone, or multiple someones, are a very happy camper.
Sorry man that sucks hard. Hopefully you find it one day
I remember when the Beta Black Lotus was $300ish. I traded hundreds more in card value for that when I was 15 just to get it. (I'm talking 4 of each dual land, my unlimited Birds of Paradise, and my Sharazaad, plus a bunch of other low end rares like Sol Ring, a few Royal Assassins, etc).
This is bringing back sad memories of having been a naive 6th grader who started the MTG hobby with a starter, and a couple of boosters, from Unlimited.
Some young adult talked me out of a couple of dual lands (had Plateua and Savannah, at that time), on some sort of shitty trade.
I mean lesson learned, and all, but thinking back it just makes me sad for how unethical some of the adults in the hobby were, at that time.
I remember when the Beta Black Lotus was $300ish. I traded hundreds more in card value for that when I was 15 just to get it. (I'm talking 4 of each dual land, my unlimited Birds of Paradise, and my Sharazaad, plus a bunch of other low end rares like Sol Ring, a few Royal Assassins, etc).
This is bringing back sad memories of having been a naive 6th grader who started the MTG hobby with a starter, and a couple of boosters, from Unlimited.
Some young adult talked me out of a couple of dual lands (had Plateua and Savannah, at that time), on some sort of shitty trade.
I mean lesson learned, and all, but thinking back it just makes me sad for how unethical some of the adults in the hobby were, at that time.
As I recall the dual lands were nowhere near as big a deal during unlimited time as they are today at least for the group[s] that I ran with, they came up pretty frequently in unlimited and revised and they were considered the same as any other rare card as far as we were concerned at the time.
As I recall the dual lands were nowhere near as big a deal during unlimited time as they are today at least for the group[s] that I ran with, they came up pretty frequently in unlimited and revised and they were considered the same as any other rare card as far as we were concerned at the time.
I fully realize that at that time they weren't at the level they are regarded, today.
But as I recall, they were still fairly desireable.
And this was just an instance that happened to me of some unethical adult executing a trade with a kid. (which really shouldn't happen in the first place)