Selling off my collection: The Balrog box set 1 and 2

Everything related to buying, selling or trading your MECCG.
Markie7235
Posts: 13
Joined: Mon Apr 29, 2019 4:07 am

I played years ago, and then got to a point I kept buying to collect but had no one to play the game with. I've started going through a lot of my old card games and have begun selling off pieces.

I have listed a few items on eBay so far, such as the below:
The Balrog box set 1 and 2: https://www.ebay.com/itm/192902496650
The One Ring Lidless Eye: https://www.ebay.com/itm/192902496035
The Lidless Eye: https://www.ebay.com/itm/192902495658
2 copies of We Have Come to Kill: https://www.ebay.com/itm/192902495934

I still have hundreds of rares I haven't had a chance to list, but would be willing to sell the forum members instead of on ebay.

Thanks for any interest and if anyone is interested in other rares I have, I do have them listed out in an excel file, but that's as far as I got. Please e-mail me at markie7235@hotmail.com with interest as I'm really bad about checking PMs on all the various sites I'm a member of.

Thanks-

Mark
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the JabberwocK
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Good luck with your sales Mark! I always hate to see someone sell out of this amazing game. =(

I have to ask... where are you getting your prices from? They are exceptionally high. I hope you aren’t using Aneythang on eBay as a guide. She is outta this world with a lot of her list prices.


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Markie7235
Posts: 13
Joined: Mon Apr 29, 2019 4:07 am

I was looking at past Ebay sales. Honestly, I have no idea on pricing outside of Ebay. I was trying to stick to market price, so if high then I feel bad. Is there a good place to reference pricing? I just want to get fair pricing, not necessarily too dollar.

As for getting out, I always loved the art and Tolkiens work. Sadly I never really got to play the game much, though I always enjoyed the strategic aspects of it.

Mark
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CDavis7M
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the Jabberwock wrote:Good luck with your sales Mark! I always hate to see someone sell out of this amazing game. =(

I have to ask... where are you getting your prices from? They are exceptionally high. I hope you aren’t using Aneythang on eBay as a guide. She is outta this world with a lot of her list prices.


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Funny, just earlier I was wondering what the proportion of collectors to players is.

...Who am I kidding... No one actually plays. We just all collect and complain about the rules.
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the JabberwocK
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I'm calling BS on that eBay sale, and any other "sold" items by Aneythang55. To be clear, I am not accusing anyone of anything specifically, but until someone comes forward and tells me they actually purchased The One Ring for $100, I won't believe it. I was also told that she sold a copy of Kill All But Not the Halflings for $50. Again, BS. One of 3 things is happening:

1) Someone completely ignorant and new to the game with lots of money has decided to buy up some of her singles for insane prices without making any attempt to find out how much they are actually worth. (seems far-fetched to me)

2) Aneythang is orchestrating purchases of her own singles for very high prices in order to create perceived value that isn't real. (again I'm not accusing her of this)

3) eBay's software is erroneously showing a SOLD item at a certain price, when it actually sold for less. (I know for a fact in limited cases this has happened, such as times when a seller accepts an offer below list price... I have seen it show sold for the full list price, and other instances where it indicates it was sold for less than full list price. I do not know if this is a fluke, or if there is some logic as to when and why it shows what).
Markie7235 wrote: Tue Apr 30, 2019 1:01 am Is there a good place to reference pricing? I just want to get fair pricing, not necessarily too dollar.
Unfortunately there is no great way to get accurate pricing on singles, other than to ask an experienced player who regularly trades or makes purchases. Even many of the stores who do sell singles don't regularly update their prices.
Markie7235 wrote: Tue Apr 30, 2019 1:01 am As for getting out, I always loved the art and Tolkiens work. Sadly I never really got to play the game much, though I always enjoyed the strategic aspects of it.

Mark
You could always play online at Cardnum! https://cardnum.net
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CDavis7M
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I find it hard to believe as well and agree with your guesses. But here we are with this "sale" setting initial listing prices.

Though, I think this ebay seller has reasonable prices on The Wizards/Dragons etc. But some of these LE, ATS, Balrog's cards are hard to find and so I would guess the MELE One Ring situation to be a combination of scenarios 1, 2, and 3 combined.

For reference, a different seller sold one at ~$30 recently.which is more in line with what I've been told. But Im only paying attention to this card (since I have an extra) and can't speak to prices in general.

Maybe it would make more sense if we didn't use USD and just settled on the Dark Tryst trading ratio.

10 Dark Trysts : One One Ring
50 Dark Trysts : A Box of Balrogs
Markie7235
Posts: 13
Joined: Mon Apr 29, 2019 4:07 am

The one ring I saw two different sold copies from different people, though that's not a lot of examples. But given I saw no current listings either it lead me to believe it was just that rare and sought after. Both were $100 and only one was from anythang55.

Same thing with We Have Come to Kill, but looking at the seller i see what you all mean as both of these are anythang55

What is typically the going rate for both of these cards?

The Balrog combined boxes i felt pricing was inline with other sold listings....not the buy it now, I know that's high, seems copies have gone $500 to $660. Now I know those are sealed and mine are not, but I'm guessing no one was buying to keep them sealed. From what I can see on Ebay of sales for the Balrog cards, seems like there are numerous individual cards out of the 104 that can be sold off individually that makes the two boxes worth the asking price. Guess I'll find out, but I remember when this set came out it didnt sell great and was already the end of the game. If I recall correctly it was a direct to consumer set, which when that has happened in other card games, those sets end up being quite rare.

I dont know....just trying to sell the stuff and get fair pricing. My experience with other old card games is once you decide to sell, everyone comes out of the woodwork telling you fair prices so they can buy the stuff on the cheap. A different game some guy told me the average price was $1/rare and found out later the ones he wanted actually were actively selling for $20 a piece. So I sold him $400 of cards for $20 :(
Not saying anyone here is, so please dont take it that way. Just trying to figure out what to do with the other 400+ rares now so I dont get taken advantage of or take advantage of anyone else

I hate relying on Ebay but in a buyer/seller market, it's hard to know where to get this info from that's reliable. I haven't been active in the game in 15 yrs, so I have no reference for price
tyhjaarpa
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Markie7235 wrote: Tue Apr 30, 2019 8:56 am The one ring I saw two different sold copies from different people, though that's not a lot of examples. But given I saw no current listings either it lead me to believe it was just that rare and sought after. Both were $100 and only one was from anythang55.

Same thing with We Have Come to Kill, but looking at the seller i see what you all mean as both of these are anythang55

What is typically the going rate for both of these cards?

The Balrog combined boxes i felt pricing was inline with other sold listings....not the buy it now, I know that's high, seems copies have gone $500 to $660. Now I know those are sealed and mine are not, but I'm guessing no one was buying to keep them sealed. From what I can see on Ebay of sales for the Balrog cards, seems like there are numerous individual cards out of the 104 that can be sold off individually that makes the two boxes worth the asking price. Guess I'll find out, but I remember when this set came out it didnt sell great and was already the end of the game. If I recall correctly it was a direct to consumer set, which when that has happened in other card games, those sets end up being quite rare.

I dont know....just trying to sell the stuff and get fair pricing. My experience with other old card games is once you decide to sell, everyone comes out of the woodwork telling you fair prices so they can buy the stuff on the cheap. A different game some guy told me the average price was $1/rare and found out later the ones he wanted actually were actively selling for $20 a piece. So I sold him $400 of cards for $20 :(
Not saying anyone here is, so please dont take it that way. Just trying to figure out what to do with the other 400+ rares now so I dont get taken advantage of or take advantage of anyone else

I hate relying on Ebay but in a buyer/seller market, it's hard to know where to get this info from that's reliable. I haven't been active in the game in 15 yrs, so I have no reference for price
There are some collectors who want sealed boxes for their collection. I personally would like to have sealed balrog boxes as well but with these prices I think I can live without. I think open boxes go for 400-500$. Most valuable rares sell for 40-50$ unless you have some really rare promos, they can be more. MECCG rares can vary from 1-50$ depending on the card. What I have seen from anythang55's selling list he seems to have 2x the usual price on pretty much everything.

edit:
He must out of hes mind, he seems to have some cards 4x the usual price as well.. Wow! Actually some of hes cards are at "normal" price as well, no idea what is going on this guys mind.
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Markie7235
Posts: 13
Joined: Mon Apr 29, 2019 4:07 am

Sigh now I dont know what to do. For now I just lowered the offer price on the buy it now stuff and will see what happens with the Balrog boxes auction. I still think those are fairly priced considering how hard they can be to find
Kjeld
Posts: 307
Joined: Thu Mar 22, 2012 5:40 pm

For what it's worth (and I pay a fair amount of attention to Ebay MECCG prices over time), I'd put the Ebay values for what you're listing somewhere around:

Balrog Boxes: $500-$600
The One Ring (MELE): $40-$50
The Lidless Eye (MELE): $45-$55
We Have Come to Kill: $40

It is possible to get all of these for less for buyers who are very patient or purchase off of Ebay, but these are prices at which I think you'll find buyers in a reasonable amount of time.
Markie7235
Posts: 13
Joined: Mon Apr 29, 2019 4:07 am

Thanks, that's very helpful. Are there other specific rares I should be aware of that have value? Basically trying to pull out anything that sells for $10 or more to list. I'll probably have to bulk the rest I'm guessing in auctions
Kjeld
Posts: 307
Joined: Thu Mar 22, 2012 5:40 pm

Well, many MELE rares (and to a lesser extent AtS rares) may sell in the $8-$12 range. Not all, though, and the list is too long to quickly reproduce it here. Some notable higher-value MELE ones are Chill Them with Fear, Elf-lord Revealed in Wrath, Heedless Revelry, Hoarmurath Unleashed, and Uruk-lieutenant. From AtS, obviously any of the R1s, but also R2s like Tower Raided.

From The Wizards (Limited is more): The One Ring (obviously), Assassin, The Mouth of Sauron (maybe), possibly a couple others but they're usually under $10

White Hand: Rolled Down to the Sea (maybe)
Markie7235
Posts: 13
Joined: Mon Apr 29, 2019 4:07 am

Kjeld, I hate to ask but if I sent you my excel file, you think you could mark which ones have value $10 or more and what they go for? Everything is alphabetized to make it easier. Sorry to impose, but I tried looking every card on here up on Ebay and many returned no results, and others I dont trust any longer that did pop up
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CDavis7M
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Maybe there's a place with many knowledgeable people where you could just post the list to get several perspectives? Like Facebook or something.
Kjeld
Posts: 307
Joined: Thu Mar 22, 2012 5:40 pm

I'd go with CDavis7M's idea and make it a shareable google doc, that way anyone interested here on the forums could take a look and weigh in. It might be more valuable to the community that way, as well.
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