Ah, hobbies – the double-edged sword that brings us joy and leaves us financially in debt minutes after receiving our salary. Each person has a niche that makes them tick; it can be shoes, figurines, knives, or even cars. Hobbies are essentially the weakness of every wannabe Marie Kondo, as each piece of their collection sparks joy, making them virtually impossible to let go.
However, one of the more expensive toy-based hobbies is none other than trading cards. From baseball stars to Pokemon, these coloured cardboard rectangles have commanded the market with their rarity and become an alternative source of income when times are tough. As the name suggests, these cards have been traded and bought for nothing more than spare change, to up to millions of dollars. However, there is one card that seeks to become the one to rule over all other cards and will be the prized possession of any lucky collector or a simple hobbyist’s biggest break.
Like anything of value, trading card prices rise and fall with the times, skyrocketing in times of demand and plummeting when no one wants them. And when something is overproduced and deemed a common item, it remains in a purgatory-like state where it will never rise to ludicrous amounts, but will remain by the wayside.
Knowing this, some manufacturers limit the number of items they will ever make so that said item will maintain its expensive price point, announcing it to the world so that everyone will know how rare and valuable it is. This is what we call “serialisation,” where these goods are marked so that people will know how many there are left and what number they have.
🚨$1 MILLION BOUNTY 🚨
We are officially announcing our
$1 million bounty on the 1/1 The One Ring Card 💰💰Bounty expires July 17th 2023…
Good luck 🙌 pic.twitter.com/6OmhxCjdsG
— Dave & Adam's (@dacardworld) June 7, 2023
Because of this incredible value, there’s an unspoken rule that a company should never make a one-of-one serialised item. But alas, here we are, as Magic: The Gathering created that one-of-a-kind item that the community is now chasing after. With their recent crossover with J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings series, Magic: The Gathering announced that there will be a special, serialised version of the One Ring, dubbing it the “One of One Ring.”
Almost immediately after this announcement was made, a bounty was released for the card by a collectors company called Dave and Adam’s for US$1 million! You read that right – and with that one post, in a bid to attain that ONE card, people have begun preordering ALL versions of the cards by the boxload, in hopes of landing it.
This bounty caused the entire value of the set to explode, but someone from Spain decided to up the ante. A Spanish gaming store, Gremio de Dragones, says it’s offering €2 million for the card, which translates to about US$2.1 million. Additionally, the shop is even offering to fly whoever finds the card to Valencia, the town where the store resides, and pay for their accommodations – something the last bounty didn’t offer. Some are even trying to get in contact with Post Malone, a longtime and famous MTG player, to see if he’s interested in purchasing the card.
Of course, with all these prices, many voiced their scepticism, and rightly so, as it seemed a little too good to be true. Many people pointed out that Dave and Adam’s bounty has a set timeframe before it expires, which is Monday, 17th July, and a link to their website where you can buy a box set of the cards. Though Gremio de Dragones didn’t give a deadline, people are still not quick to trust, nor is the Spanish hobby store, as there are multiple counterfeits that have already started to pop up.
That's so odd that the ring was already found because just last night I got an email with an exactly 1 second long video "proof" that someone else had cracked the 1/1 ring and they would very much like me to help them get in touch with Post Malone. 🙄 https://t.co/6zaOlivo3o pic.twitter.com/8oH829T1lu
— Tolarian Community College (@TolarianCollege) June 17, 2023
Tolarian Community College, a recognisable face in the entire MTG community, has been receiving multiple entries stating that they have the One of One Ring. However, a sweeping majority of people claim this to be a fake or imitation, as the official release date for the special card will be on Friday, 23rd June. But, even then, no one knows how to validate the card as there is no other card to compare it to, making the hunt a little more difficult and perhaps expensive for those who wish to pursue it, but the search for the card continues.
As a reminder, cards are like money – a piece of paper that only has value because we agree that it does. They are not food, nor can they provide shelter or other things in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, and they shouldn’t be treated as such. If you deem it valuable, you are welcome to pursue it, but like a gambler, you should know if you should continue or if it is high time to stop and call it quits.
Sources: Wikimedia Commons, Gremio de Dragones
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