Hasbro’s share price has fallen nearly 10% today after analysts said the company was mismanaging. Trading card game Magic: The Gathering business.
Based on CNBCBank of America conducted extensive research into Hasbro’s handling of Magic: The Gathering, leading analysts to suggest that Hasbro printed too many cards and destroyed Magic’s long-term value.
As of this writing, Hasbro’s stock price is at $57.52, down from $63.41 late Friday. According to a note from Bank of America analysts (via Financial Times), analysts found when speaking to players, collectors, distributors and local game stores that “the main concern was that Hasbro was over-producing Magic Cards, which has aided supporting Hasbro’s recent results but is destroying the long-term value of the brand.”
According to analysts, Magic saw tremendous growth during the peak of the pandemic, sending secondary prices skyrocketing. Hasbro chose to maintain momentum with more frequent issuances, which has now led to a collapse in secondary market prices. The more recent Magic: The Gathering sets are dropping in value, and Hasbro’s continued reprint of these sets is driving prices down even further.
A famous example is the powerful Black Lotus card. This rare card sold for over $500,000 at an auction in 2021. Now, Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro have reprinted the card for the first time in more than 25 years, leaving bewildered collectors worried their rare cards will lose value due to copying.
However, you cannot run out to the store and buy a Black Lotus. Rare cards are part of Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro’s Last 30th Anniversary Edition Set, priced at $999. The set launches on November 28th and costs $999 for four booster packs with random cards.
While it is possible for a player to get lucky and draw a Black Lotus, it is very possible to spend close to a thousand dollars getting nothing in return. Wizards of the Coast has previously promised to never republish the Black Lotus and appears to be trying to justify the reversal by saying the 30th anniversary cards are not legal in the league.
The situation around the 30th Anniversary Edition is more frustrating for players.
Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN on video games and entertainment news. He has over six years of experience in the games industry with sub-lines at IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine and Lifewire. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.
