Final Fantasy is an absolute monster of a Magic: The Gathering set. The set is still almost a month away from being released, but it’s already breaking records. Once this set is officially available, there’s little question it’ll be the most successful MTG set of all time.
This, obviously, is great news for Wizards of the Coast, and the set looks fantastic for players too. Now that the hatred of Universes Beyond has calmed down, it seems this set could go down in history for all the right reasons. That said, there is still one lingering doubt that could threaten to ruin this release.
Right now, preorder prices for the Final Fantasy MTG set are astronomically high. Given the problems that have long plagued the Pokémon TCG, this had a lot of alarm bells ringing. While these concerns haven’t gone away entirely, thankfully, MTG’s Head Designer does have some good news to help calm nerves.
A Concerning Pattern
When preorders for the Final Fantasy MTG set first went live, many would-be players were immediately worried. Almost instantly, all the set’s products sold out everywhere, which is practically unheard of for MTG. Typically, we only ever see products selling out when they’re Secret Lair drops, which have been purposefully limited-run since 2024 began.
While the problems with Secret Lair drops selling out have since been remedied, it was briefly a scalpers’ paradise. This was the exact problem that the Pokémon TCG faced, as The Pokémon Company wasn’t producing enough product. Without protections in place, scalpers had no problem hoarding products, essentially giving them control of the market.
Thankfully, The Pokémon Company has addressed this issue through several measures, including vending machines that randomly release new products. Unfortunately, Magic: The Gathering has none of these protections since it’s never been an issue before. This meant scalpers could buy up product en masse to replicate the Pokémon problem.
Worryingly, it wasn’t just the first batch of pre-orders that sold out instantly. More recent batches of pre-orders have similarly sold out in less than an hour. While this is good news for Hasbro, it seemed that players might struggle to get their hands on the set. That said, there’s no guarantee that this is entirely the doing of scalpers.
For better or worse, the Final Fantasy MTG set appears to be insanely popular with both MTG players and Final Fantasy fans. Even without scalpers joining the party, these groups could easily put heavy strain on the available supply of the Final Fantasy set. Regardless of where this demand was coming from, the problematic result was still the same.
“Very Motivated to Meet Demand”
Thankfully, while the supply looked especially bleak to start with, the Final Fantasy MTG set isn’t sold out everywhere. TCGplayer, for instance, still has tons of sealed product available for presale. Currently, listings for pre-sale Final Fantasy Play Booster Boxes are even under the product’s MSRP.
While this is good news for some, it’s unclear how widespread supply issues are at local game stores and other retailers. Thankfully, even if local supply is problematically low right now, Wizards of the Coast is on the case. MTG’s Head Designer, Mark Rosewater, recently confirmed this when answering a question about how Wizards is trying to meet demand.
“Seitosa: I know this isn’t really your department, Mark, and I know you guys are trying to meet historically high demand, but can you give us any insight on anything you guys are doing to try to alleviate the supply concerns for FIN? It seems like it’s sold out everywhere and I worry that you guys are gonna be too busy printing future products to catch up with demand.
Mark Rosewater: This is an area way outside my purview, but I can promise you we are very motivated to meet demand the best we can. Trust me, we want to sell you the Magic product you want to buy.”
Via: Blogatog
This answer from Mark Rosewater is equal parts comical and unsurprising, but it’s nonetheless nice to hear. Obviously, Wizards of the Coast is a business, so it’s no wonder they want to sell us products. Not printing enough is just leaving money on the table, which isn’t the best business strategy, to say the least.
Thankfully, Wizards already know this, as we’ve seen with Secret Lair drops. While the first limited-run drops all sold out in a matter of hours, times have since changed. Currently, nothing from the Ultimate Pencil Superdrop has sold out, and that launched four days ago. While this could be due to everyone paying attention to Final Fantasy instead, increased print runs also seem likely.
Ultimately, so long as there’s demand, Wizards of the Coast is going to keep printing Final Fantasy products. At worst, this means that any lack of supply should be short-lived, as it’ll only be a matter of time before a new wave of product is printed and released. That said, not everything Final Fantasy related is going to be automatically reprinted.
Actually Limited Products
While Play Boosters, Commander Decks, and the Starter Kit can all be repritned as required, Collector Boosters are a different story. Official information about this topic is scarce, but it’s believed that Collector Boosters aren’t reprinted by Wizards. This makes sense given the product’s collectible focus, as well as the existence of Serialized cards.
In Final Fantasy, 77 serialized copies of Traveling Chocobo can be found in Collector Boosters. This effectively guarantees that Final Fantasy Collector Boosters cannot be reprinted. If Wizards did, there would either be more Traveling Chocobo’s than intended, or the next wave of Collector Boosters would be fundamentally worse.
With this in mind, it may well be worth watching the price of Final Fantasy Collector Boosters. Already, on TCGplayer, the price of a Collector Booster display has climbed to $734, while individual packs are $67. This is well over the per-pack MSRP of $37.99, and the price may not even stop there.
As we’ve seen with The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth, Universes Beyond Collector Boosters can get seriously expensive. At the time of writing, normal LOTR Collector Booster Boxes start at $984, while Special Edition Boxes are $1695. Potentially, depending on supply, Final Fantasy could reach this price point post-release, but that’s hardly guaranteed.
In any case, between overwhelming demand and Collector Booster scarcity, the Final Fantasy MTG set has the potential to be seriously expensive. We can only hope that Wizards of the Coast will reprint what they can as promptly as possible. Judging by Mark Rosewater’s comments, that should be exactly what’ll happen. So, ideally, there should be no cause for concern.