Trading Cards: Not All Cardboard Is Created Equal
December 03, 2018
We can’t wait to dig into all that holiday packaging, and some of the best gifts are even MADE of packaging! Trading card games are basically collectible cardboard, and they’ve been popular stocking stuffers for kids and teens all over the globe for over a century. As we look toward the holidays, we’re looking back at three iconic trading cards that would make one heck of a pricey holiday gift.
We can’t wait to dig into all that holiday packaging, and some of the best gifts are even MADE of packaging! Trading card games are basically collectible cardboard, and they’ve been popular stocking stuffers for kids and teens all over the globe for over a century.
MAGIC: THE GATHERING CARDS
Trading cards are just two sheets of cardboard glued together and coated with ink, but auction history paints a different picture entirely. A copy of Magic: The Gathering’s legendary Black Lotus card in pristine condition sold for $100,000 last year, and for this holiday season eBay is offering another for the same price tag.
So what makes this stocking stuffer so incredibly valuable? Equal parts rarity and functionality. The original Black Lotus was printed in extremely limited quantities — only 4,400 in total. We’re no strangers to rare cardboard fetching a pretty penny at auction, like Andy Warhol’s Brillo boxes, but this particular card’s value comes from its functionality, as well.
Magic was the first game that made collectible cards usable in battle, and the Black Lotus is particularly powerful to this day. Using cards to fight with friends was a novel concept back in 1993, and soon became a trend imitated by competitors including…
POKÉMON CARDS
Pokémon has been a household name since the video game series launched in 1996 in Japan, and its trading card game has been no less successful. As of 2018, they’ve sold over 25.7 billion cards worldwide, but anyone who wants to catch ‘em all better have a lot of luck and a lot of money.
The most coveted card of them all is called Pokémon Illustrator. Back in 1998 a Japanese magazine ran an art contest featuring everyone’s favorite collectible monsters and awarded a handful of winners with an exclusive trading card. Only 39 of this particular card were ever printed, leading to auction sales up to $55,000.
BASEBALL CARDS
Who doesn’t have a box filled with their dad’s old baseball cards? These collectibles were true trailblazers in the world of trading cards, and they’re full of cherished memories from childhood. One card in particular, the T206 Honus Wagner, is cherished to the tune of $3.12 million!
The story goes that the card was included in boxes of cigarettes from 1909 to 1911, but Honus Wagner made the company pull his card from the market. It’s estimated that only a couple hundred of the cards were ever released, and fewer than 60 have survived to this day.
Does that card belong in an old shoe box?
Yeah, we’re inclined to agree!
At Ernest we know the value or cardboard better than most, and we know the power of play just as well. Our Cardboard Chaos series is how we push the limits of the material we use every day, and have a blast while doing it. Gear up and hit the slopes for the holidays with our Cardboard Chaos snowboard!
