Magic: The Gathering is a collectible card game played by really cool, hip people. Wizards of the Coast, the producer of Magic: The Gathering, announced that it will increase prices this September.
From ICv2:
Wizards of the Coast will raise prices on select Magic: The Gathering products starting in September.
WotC attributes this latest price increase to the cost of producing, manufacturing, and shipping Magic cards having risen significantly in the past year. The new price increases, of about 11% with regional variation, will be on a limited product scope.
This feels like WotC sees other companies jacking up their prices, and they want a piece of the action too. The cost of production fluctuates. Higher costs associated with staffing and shipping products are because of the COVID-19 pandemic. When the pandemic ends, manufacturing and shipping costs will certainly go down. When that happens, will WoTC drop their prices? I wouldn’t count on it.
Inflation is a vicious, terrible thing. The consumer ends up feeling all the fiscal pain. That’s because everyone in the chain passes the higher prices down the line, increasing the cost at every stop. The consumer has no one to pass higher prices to. The consumer is the end of the line.
WotC is taking a risk. Nobody needs to buy new Magic cards. People who play can just play with the cards they already own. That, or they can just move on to a different hobby or game. I think Monopoly is still popular. Although I’ve played it many times, I’ve never finished a game. After about three hours, everyone got too bored, too drunk, or a combination of the two to continue. This was back when I was in the Air Force and stationed in the Philippines. Until I got into scuba diving, getting drunk was usually involved in every off-duty activity.
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