Lord of the Rings Card Prices are SKYROCKETING Due to Dwindling Supply

Last updated on December 13, 2024

Arwen, Mortal Queen | Illustration by Miranda Meeks

With supply drying up, the price of the Special Edition Collector Boosters from The Lord of the Rings has gone up sharply according to TCGPlayer, climbing from about $30 to $100 between March and November this year – then jumping by 50% to nearly $150 last week.

Source: TCGPlayer – LTR Special Edition Collector Boosters

One reason is very likely a lack of inventory, with those Special Edition Collector Boosters being unavailable at Amazon at the time or writing.

Source: LTR Special Edition Collector Boosters on Amazon

Another factor seems to be the desirability among collectors for the Showcase Scroll treatment. All Lord of the Rings cards, both from the main MTG set and the Commander precons, can be found with the Showcase Scroll treatment in the Special Edition Collector Boosters – but, according to the official Collecting The Lord of the Rings article, only in those specific boosters.

The price of LOTR singles with this alternate card frame has increased sharply according to MTGStocks – a trend that's seen across the board for cards below $1 to well over $50.

Source: MTGStocks

Regular LTR Collector Boosters show a similar trend on TCGPLayer, though, more than doubling their prices during this year – even when they don't contain Showcase Scroll cards, it's clear that LTR is very well-regarded among players and collectors.

Source: TCGPlayer – LTR Regular Collector Booster

Incoming Reprints?

Aragorn, the Uniter – Illustration by Javier Charro

Buyers interested in acquiring some of these cards may want to wait a bit, though. With the usual caveat that this is not investment advice (always do your own research!), it's pretty much confirmed that we'll soon see a reprint of at least some Lord of the Rings cards.

As we reported last Wednesday, Bloomburrow Commander precons will be reprinted in January – and as different redditors have informed, that will also be true for The Lord of the Rings and The Lost Caverns of Ixalan.

“Confirmed reprints of Lord of the rings pre-cons from my distributor as of about 3 days ago,” noted u/Minimum_Place in a thread discussing LOTR reprints.

Magic: The Gathering The Lord of The Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth Commander Deck Bundle – Includes All 4 Decks

• 4 THE LORD OF THE RINGS-THEMED COMMANDER DECKS—Get all 4 The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth Commander Decks, with 1 Riders of Rohan, 1 Food and Fellowship, 1 Elven Council, and 1 The Hosts of Mordor; each 100-card deck contains 2 Foil Legendary Creature cards and 98 nonfoil cards
• MAGIC MEETS THE LORD OF THE RINGS—Experience the beloved story of The Lord of the Rings with the strategic gameplay of Magic: The Gathering, facing off against opponents in thrilling magical battles
• EPIC MULTIPLAYER BATTLES—Commander is a multiplayer way to play Magic, an epic, free-for-all battle full of strategic plays and social intrigue
• INTRODUCING 80 COMMANDER CARDS—Each deck introduces 20 never-before-seen Commander cards to Magic: The Gathering
• COLLECT SPECIAL TREATMENT CARDS—Each deck comes with a 2-card Collector Booster Sample Pack containing 2 special treatment cards from The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth set, including 1 Rare or Mythic Rare and at least 1 Traditional Foil

$249.95

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In a later comment u/Minimum_Place clarified that they had been told it was a new print run for all three sets; other redditors provided additional confirmation that these are reprints (as opposed to leftover stock from the first print run).

While Commander precons and Special Edition Collector Boosters are very different products, it's clear that neither WotC nor the Tolkien estate are against reprinting what's the best-selling Magic set in history.

Incidentally, a reprint of The Lost Caverns of Ixalan precons should be good news for players willing to purchase the No products found.: it's currently above $110, so a reprint should bring it down closer to the $60-$80 range.

No products found.

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