Spider-Man Universes Beyond Confirms Fears with 50% Price Hike

Last updated on March 3, 2025

Spider-Man Promotional Art | Illustration by Javier Charro

WotC announced last Saturday their Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price (MSPR) for the upcoming Magic: The Gathering | Marvel's Spider-Man Universes Beyond crossover, with sharp increases – from around 25% to more than 50%, depending on the specific product – when compared to in-universe MTG sets.

According to the official Marvel's Spider-Man: A First Look article, Spider-Man‘s MSPR (which is the price a manufacturer recommends that a dealer sell a product for, sometimes also known as the list price) will be around 27% higher for Play Boosters, and a whopping 52% higher for Collector Boosters, when compared to in-universe Standard sets this year like Aetherdrift and the upcoming Tarkir: Dragonstorm.

WotC's official announcement followed a post from Magic's Head Designer Mark Rosewater in his personal blog.

“No,” Rosewater posted last Thursday when asked if Final Fantasy Play Boosters would have the same price as Aethedrift. “Universes Beyond boosters normally have a higher MSRP.”

Standard Premium

Y'shtola, Night's Blessed | Illustration by Magali Villeneuve

The first thing that becomes obvious when comparing Spider-Man MSPRs against Final Fantasy MSPRs – themselves announced two weeks ago in WotC's A First Look at FINAL FANTASY article – is that they are exactly the same for similar products.

In other words, although WotC has not officially said so, this looks like the new normal for UB sets.

The other painfully clear fact that jumps out at you is that UB set prices are much higher by a lot. Here are the numbers side by side:

*Spider-Man won't have Commander Decks

Aetherdrift products cost the same as Tarkir: Dragonstorm products, in line with what WotC announced in October last year for their Magic-IP products, when they announced MSRPs returning to Magic with Foundations. 

But as noted above, Final Fantasy products cost the same as Spider-Man products – and come with a “UB tax” that goes from 27% to more than 50% compared with the same in-universe products.

Why Are Universes Beyond Sets Much More Expensive?

Without knowing WotC's internal price structure – which it goes without saying, they will never officially reveal – it's impossible to say why Universes Beyond sets have such a hefty UB tax.

One assumption is that they are translating to consumers the licensing costs. Square Enix and Walt Disney Studios don't just let you use their IPs without paying a pretty penny, so it's possible that WotC is covering that licensing fee by charging higher prices (rather than absorbing the cost via increased sales).

http://twitter.com/PleasantKenobi/status/1895769893922013572

Another, more cynical (although not mutually exclusive…) reason is: “Because they can.”

In Hasbro's Earning Report two weeks ago, Hasbro's CEO Chris Cocks said they expected Final Fantasy to be their best-selling set ever, even dwarfing the previous record-holder Lord of the Rings (also a UB set).

“I'll give you a very recent example,” Cocks said during the presentation. “Just the other day, we launched preorders for gift bundles for Final Fantasy, Commander gifts and gift bundles. For Lord of the Rings, that took a week to sell out. For Final Fantasy, it took an hour to sell out. So we think Final Fantasy will do pretty well.”

Community Reaction

“Price increases will continue until morale improves,” wrote u/FreeChemicalAids in response to Mark Rosewater's announcement that UB prices would be higher.

“Bullshit to have higher MSRP on a standard legal set,” posted u/clearly_not_an_alt, which summarizes well Redditors' position on this topic: While obviously nobody likes seeing higher prices, the community seems to particularly loathe them increasing for a Standard product.

Notice that the impact to your bottom line, if you want to follow the Standard format, is even higher than what the MSRP suggests.

During the last few years and until 2024, the norm was to have just four to five Standard sets per year. Starting in 2025, though, the number will go up to six Standard sets per year, and then you have to consider the “UB tax” on top of that.

“I'm pretty worried about how these price increases will impact Standard,” wrote MTG content creator Saffron Olive. “It's hard for me to imagine a world where Standard doesn't end up meaningfully more expensive, which is a shame and threatens to undo the work Wizards has put in revitalizing paper Standard over the past year or so.”

“They're treating it like a Masters/Horizon product,” wrote u/SuperAzn727 two weeks ago, when the Final Fantasy prices were announced. “Def sucks considering it's a standard legal set.”

Money Talks

Smothering Tithe | Illustration by Mark Behm

Despite the community's backlash, Cocks' expectations seem to be on-point thus far, at least as far as Amazon Best Selling list goes:

Source: Amazon's Best Sellers – Collectible Card Games

Amazon's Best Sellers is very dynamic, and in particular quite prone to spikes in demand (and scalpers are a thing, too).

But even without taking into consideration other games in the list, and just comparing MTG products, it seems pretty clear that buyers have jumped onto Final Fantasy and Spider-Man. For comparison, the top Tarkir: Dragonstorm product you'll find are the Commander precons, sitting at around #33. And Aetherdrift barely makes top #50 with its Finish Line bundle.

For better or worse, this looks like the new normal for Standard Magic going forward.