GUEST: I brought in
Magic cards. My husband
played Magic in the '90s.

APPRAISER: Okay.

GUEST: And at the time, he
made a concerted effort to get
whole sets. He played with his

friends, and played
in tournaments.

APPRAISER: Okay.

GUEST: But then I think he
wanted to have a complete set.

APPRAISER: Yep.

GUEST: And so he would
buy individual packs
at the, at the store.

APPRAISER: Mm-hmm.

GUEST: Until he was able to
put together a complete set. He
traded for some of the cards,

as well.

APPRAISER: Magic: The Gathering
was created in 1993 by Richard
Garfield in collaboration

with Wizards of the Coast. And
it was actually considered the
first trading-card game that

started the craze. So,
like, Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh,
all those card games
came afterwards, after

the influence Magic had on
the collecting community. Now,
when Magic came out, it was

first alpha limited set. Now,
the alpha set consisted of
295 cards, and then there was

a second reissue called the
beta limited set, and which you
have here, all cards for the

beta set, which, it was limited
to 302 cards. Now, you've
never played Magic or anything

like that?

GUEST: I haven't played--
my husband played.

APPRAISER: Okay, so to give
you the image, just pretend
you're two dueling wizards, and

you're going to be summoning
some spells, you're going
to be put, bringing out some

creatures. And the whole point
is each player starts with
20 life points, and the whole

goal is me, as a competing
wizard, I want to say, "Oh, I
want to drain your life points."

So the first person to bring
the other opponent to zero wins.
Do you know why we have the

binder open to this page with
these nine particular cards?

GUEST: No, I don't.

APPRAISER: Okay. (imitates
explosion): That's like mind...

GUEST: (laughs)

APPRAISER: This is referred to
as "the power nine," and the
reason why we call it the power

nine is, these are
literally the most powerful
cards in existence in
the Magic world. Now,

today, the power nine are
not allowed to be played in
decks or anything like that.

GUEST: Really?

APPRAISER: Unless it's a vintage
tournament. So all of these
cards were printed in 1993

as part of the beta set. And
after that, they went into an
unlimited printing. They just

printed and printed and printed.

GUEST: Oh.

APPRAISER: So, by seeing the
black border, the rounded
corners, and the little white

dots in the printing on
each edge of the image?

GUEST: Yeah.

APPRAISER: That's how we're
able to tell these are printed
in 1993, part of the original

set. If you had to guess,
what do you think the
value on nine cards is?

GUEST: Couple of
hundred dollars. Couple
of hundred dollars.

APPRAISER: Now, because
they're ungraded-- now,
the grade and condition
of a card significantly

affects the value. That's why
we left it right in the binder,
because I don't even want to

breathe on them, let alone
touch it, because the slightest
nick, the slightest crease all

affects the value. Looking at
both sides of the cards, judging
the wear, I would say they

all probably range around an
eight out of ten condition.
You might have a 7.5 in there.

But they've all been well taken
care of. For the power nine
right here, as they sit, without

professional grading, at
auction, you'd be looking
at $50,000 to $75,000.

GUEST: (chuckles): Oh, my gosh.

APPRAISER: (laughs): Yeah,
right? So out of that $50,000
to $75,000, the black Lotus,

which is, like, the crème de
la crème-- that's the card
everybody wants-- is $15,000

to $20,000 in its
current condition.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: The second card
right here, the Mox Emerald,
which is one of the five jewel

cards that you can see here,
is the rarest of them all. In
its current shape, you'd be

looking at about $8,000 to
$12,000. Now, that's just
this page of nine cards.

GUEST: (laughs)

APPRAISER: When it
comes to the other cards
that you have here...

GUEST: Yeah.

APPRAISER: If you look here,
this card right there, Volcanic
Island, now, that is what

we refer to as a dual land
or a dual mana card. The cool
part about that card is, it

was not included
in the alpha set.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: It was only issued
in the beta set. So, that's
its first issue. That card

alone, at auction in its
current shape, would be
between $5,000 and $10,000.

GUEST: Huh.

APPRAISER: And the remainder of
the binder, for all the pages
there-- 'cause they're all

beta cards, they're all early
1993 beta cards. You're looking
at an additional $10,000 to

$15,000.

APPRAISER: (chuckles)

APPRAISER: So cumulatively,
you're looking, at auction, at
between $65,000 and $100,000

in trading cards here.

GUEST: Oh, my gosh.

APPRAISER: So, see? Aren't
you happy you didn't lose
them in your backpack?

GUEST: I am happy.
(both laughing)

APPRAISER: Would you
have ever expected your
husband's trading cards...

GUEST: No, because they're
just, like, they're cards to me.

APPRAISER: Yeah, now, this is,
like, "Let's send the kids to
college" kind of money right

here.

GUEST: That's exactly, the
college savings right here.

APPRAISER: Yeah, it's
literally the best culmination
of Magic cards I've ever
seen in one setting.

Like, it's absolutely
ridiculous.

GUEST: Oh, wow.

APPRAISER: That's why when
you came up to the stall, I
was, like... (imitates heart

racing): Looking at the...
Looking at the binder,
I was, like, "Whew!"
In the marketplace,

this is hotter than fire.
The demand for these
cards is uncontrollable.
And you would absolutely

sell them individually. Because
if I'm at home, and I have
five out of the nine cards,

I don't need to buy all nine--
that's a ton of money. I just
need that one or two extra

card.

GUEST: Right.

APPRAISER: Power nine, baby--
unbelievable. For me, this is
like looking at a painting.

Like, you go to the museum,
it's, like, "Oh, a Renoir."

GUEST: (laughs)