Do you want to know how to get the best deals just in time? Do you want to know what will be the trends in the next few months? Or you just want to know more about how the market for this game works?
Well, while obviously one post is more than not enough to tell you everything about it, I'm doing my best to make an introductionary post about this whole thing for you.
So, get your notes, and let's get started!
Cardfight!! Vanguard is a game that's running since 2012, so you could say that the game is relatively fresh. Still, there are cards that are either really hard to get, and even if it is easy to obtain, its price is really, really high nowadays, even though it used to be really cheap, or its rarity is simply common and you don't understand why its price is so high.
Well, the basic rule of any market is about the demand-supply model. A card's rarity is only just an indicator, a mark that makes you note if a card is easy to obtain by buying a single booster box, or there is only a chance to get it from that specific display. Keep it in mind that it only applies to an ideal case, and that case only happens when:
1. The booster is actually available to buy from your local/shop (so it is not out of stock)
2. Short print is applied
The latter means that even if it "only" has a low rarity, it IS the rarest of that kind of rarity. These kind of cards are especially hard to find when they have the highest rarity. However, keep it in mind that even a set can be short printed, not just a single card. It actually happened with Vanguard when they released BT07, as it is one of the rarest sets in the game, and the cards from it are incredibly hard to find (that's why Luquier is so "overpriced", because it IS indeed actually rare).
However, when the set is out of print (either because it is out of print OR simply because the set is simply old enough that you can't get it so easily anymore), the prices are more varied. Cards that actually has a value either for collectors or competitors will have a higher price, and cards that no one wants (this is important: a card doesn't necessarily have to be bad, it's just about the demand of people if they want to buy it or not) will have a lower price. This will always vary, depending on what kind of cards does Bushiroad print in the upcoming sets, what kind of decks dominate the actual metagame, who won a bigger event, etc.
Second-hand market, while artifically manipulating the prices in such a way, are not dumb. They actually "test" if a card sells for that value, and if it isn't, they will immediately relist that card with a lowered price. Also, several single-selling sites are actually selling with a lower price if they actually follow the real metagame and know the actual value of the card, since by that, they know if the card actually has the value to sell that on that specific price. The only dangerous "retailer" is one specific site that I may mention in my later posts, who's only able to sell cards on high value because it actually buys it from as much reseller as possible to have a monopoly on the price of a specific card (or cards).
Watching the anime is also a great trick to have acknowledge of the market. Vanguard is a lore-based game, which means that the most support will be applied to the main characters, and as soon as a secondary character appears and has an on-screen fight, you can bet it's for the promotion of the new set featuring that aforementioned card. Because of that, you can not only know what kind of cards will be released later, but by knowing the main characters' clans, you know which cards are a "safe bet" and which cards aren't.
Last, but not least, the reprint controversy that is actually a topic in several forums nowadays. Because Bushiroad denies to reprint as much as other card games to reward old and recurring players, they don't retrain cards, but rather include supports for them. Because of this, and the lack of reprint for the specific reason, the price of those cards becomes incredibly high after the revelation/release of that card, and it will be really hard to get it after. Because of the random nature of which gets that support, it's really hard to know what is a safe "invest" that way - however, being loyalty to one clan and only selling old cards that you're sure you won't use again will make it a bit easier to play with the decks you really want to. In other words, don't give away your own decks, because the legacy support is real, and sometimes even better than new, fresh concepts. In fact, I actually encourage you to build your "dream" (budget) deck, because you can be sure that if you're patient enough, it will actually be a decent deck with a new support (Pleasereleaseanewgalahadthx). Not only that, but if you want to build a new concept, you should buy those cards after the release, but not immediately after the release, since that's the time when all the cards has the lowest value, EVEN for competitive cards. That's the time when you still can buy boxes/singles, and those who needed the cards in hurry already picked up their copies, so retailers are decreasing their prices, because they know it IS the "calm before the storm", which either means the next wave of a new support, or simply the set becoming out of stock. As soon as it happens, they CAN and WILL increase their prices again.
Since this was just an intro post, I won't go into details about which cards should be bought, neither in general, nor specifically. That's for the next part of this mini-series.
Kind regards,
Sheo
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