As fans inch closer to the inevitable release of the latest Magic: The Gathering Universes Beyond Spider-Man set in a couple of months, some eagle-eyed fans have noticed that highly sought-after collector booster packs have already hit the market for a price far beyond MSRP.
Eight days ago, a thread was posted to r/mtgfinance titled, “So Spiderman CBB’s just hit $1k…” with listings of the yet-to-release set. The crucial detail here is the screenshot of the listing shows actual purchases of the set, not just what people are listing the products for. Another crucial detail in the purchase history is that it appears one buyer swept up a whopping 52 Collector Booster Boxes at the price point of close to $1K.
This mad rush to vacuum up all the product before launch has made a lot of the loyal fanbase upset about new sets, as this new pricing is nearly four times the price that WOTC communicated officially to fans when they announced all the set details back in June. Then, WOTC claimed a single collector’s booster pack of Universes Beyond Spider-Man would cost $37.99, and at 12 packs per box, fans end up shouldering an obscene markup to obtain a single pack.
Magic: The Gathering Universes Beyond Spider-Man Scalping Is Worse Than Imagined
An MTG fan took to Twitter this weekend to show others just how bad scalping with Universes Beyond has gotten. In the Twitter post, user WildStwawberry states, “I need Universes Beyond to go away forever,” before showing a screenshot of a collector’s booster pack listed on an online Canadian marketplace for $139.99. What’s even more surprising is that the listing includes set play booster packs being sold individually for $11.99, after WOTC posted that play boosters would run $6.99 (after Canadian currency exchange rates, this is still a significant markup).
A quick eBay search for Magic: The Gathering Universes Beyond Spider-Man reveals major price increases as well. One of the top options on the site lists individual collector’s booster packs for $89.99, which is more than double what MSRP suggests, but still a “bargain” when compared with pricing in Canada.
While fans sound off on the astronomical pricing on forums like Reddit, other fans have resigned themselves to the fact that they won’t be able to purchase any of the set on release due to the rampant scalping. All of that being said, it remains to be seen what pricing looks like when the set actually releases, as it’s not due out until September 26.
- Franchise
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Magic: The Gathering
- Original Release Date
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August 5, 1993
- Player Count
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2+
- Age Recommendation
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13+
- Length per Game
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Variable