Council of Elrond

Stumbled across an old posting (2018) and wondered what the current list would look like in today's marketplace?

Just curious.

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The 'Top Ten' Rarest MECCG cards
Post by Lake Town Geezer » Tue Jan 16, 2018 9:09 am

As a bit of fun, I thought it would be good at the start of 2018 to start a up-dated thread on the rarest MECCG cards for collectors (like me). Many years ago the rarest card was discussed (Jap Fury), but what are these cards worth now...

Here are my thoughts on my top 10 (based on the web sites selling cards - especially the awesome Mathom Cards - and the my perceived 'desirability') in reverse order:

#10: The Itlil Stone - English - AtS - Eu 20 (close also are several rare French Promos)

#9: Farmer Maggot - English - AtS - Eu 45

#8: Longbottom Leaf - English - The Balrog - Eu 50

#7: Test of Form (with) - Dutch - Promo - Eu 60

#6: Assassin - Japanese - The Wizards (limited) - Eu 75

#5: Test of Form (without) - Dutch - Promo - Eu 80 (I personally think of this as a miss-print, so maybe not a bonafide card)

#4: The One Ring - Japanese - The Wizards (limited) - Eu 200 (this is where the prices get silly!)

#3: Black Arrow - Japanese - Promo - Eu 250 (!)

#2: Fatty Bolger- Dutch - Promo - Eu 300 (!!)

#1: Fury of the Iron Crown - Japanese - Eu 600+ (!!!!!!!, yes it is maybe still the rarest altough I suspect Dutch Fatty is about the ame in terms of numbers out there).

What do others think?

I am mad enough to pay these prices - what about other people?

The top 4 are impossible to find now I think. I am lucky enough to have 7 of these 10, but may never get the others.

FWIW, I read somewhere that there were only ~15 existing copies of the japanese Fury of the Iron Crown. Just impossible to check...

Well, i can confirm japanese Fury is the most expensive card from MECCG. I know about copy sold for 1500€ last year.

Also mentioned prices are really outdated, all of them went up (remember you qouted post from 2018).

Yes, I think I wrote the original post here. Prices are a lot more expensive now. A copy of Japanese Black Arrow sold I know for somewhere >>>£500 recently. You will never get Farmer Maggot in your deck for less than 100eu now either I think.

For me, Dutch Fatty is an interesting card. My anecdotal research suggests it is as rare as Jap Fury. I guess Dutch collectors will know more than me, but I have only ever seen 1 copy! I know one well known dealer who has confirmed in his entire career buying/selling MECCG cards he saw more copies of Jap Fury than he ever did of Dutch Fatty. There is a legend though that a well known Dutch collector from the 90s is hoarding most of the copies - which may explain their scarcity. If this is true, there is a danger that one day a load could just flood the market (as happened with the Spanish starters back in the late 90s) - so it is maybe dangerous to pay too much for a Dutch Fatty. So Fatty-lovers should beware!

p.s. the biggest surprise for me is how the Challenge Decks have gone up in value in the last 2-3 years. Fairly recently you could get a complete set of challenge decks for less than Eu100. Those days are long gone.

What about japanese limited Galadriel? What would be a fair price?

Albareth wrote: ↑Thu May 11, 2023 8:24 pm What about japanese limited Galadriel? What would be a fair price?

Yes - seems to me almost as rare as a Jap Ltd One Ring. I chatted with a Japanese collector once via this forum: he told me he had only ever seen one copy of this card. I never saw one.