Magic: The profit-earning
His retirement portfolio isn’t stocks and bonds it’s a valuable collection of fantasy gaming cards
NORTH BAY - Tony Cameron’s retirement portfolio doesn’t include RRSPs, stocks or GICs.
He’s taken an unusual approach to save for his future and so far the payoff has been more than any bank could offer.
Cameron has a deck of Magic: The Gathering playing cards worth $20,000. Some of his cards have increased more than 100 times in value.
The co-owner of Face to Face Games from Toronto sells cards from around $45 to a few hundred dollars that were worth pennies 10 years ago.
And he is predicting the value is only going to go one way – up.
Cameron was in North Bay Saturday hosting Face To Face Games Tournament Series.
More than 60 teens and adults from North Bay, Timmins, Sudbury, New Liskeard and Quebec gathered at West Ferris Arena to compete for the $500 grand prize.
Equipped with their decks of cards, dice, specialized mats and cash to purchase more cards, they battled the day away.
The collectible card game has exploded in popularity recently. It was launched in the early 1990s and has attracted more than 20 million players.
“It’s like a chess tournament for a new generation,” said Rick Miles, head judge of the Face To Face Games Tournament.
The game is simple but strategic. Magic: The Gathering requires you to play with a deck of 60 cards. Each player starts with 20 life points. It’s your job to use your creature cards to knock your opponent’s life tao zero. When you do, you win.
Games become a race to see who can cause the most damage in the quickest amount of time.
Mark Matthews of New Liskeard has travelled across Canada and into the United States to compete in Magic tournaments.
He has participated in a Magic tournament in Las Vegas along with 10,000 other competitors.
“It’s a huge game of strategy,” he said. “And it’s a game with lots of math.”
Matthews said he’s met some of his best friends playing the game and building his deck, worth about $15,000.
And he has no plans of stopping there.
Matthews spent some of his Saturday trading cards for more powerful and expensive ones.
At one point he had a credit of more than a few hundred dollars.
It wasn’t just the tournament that drew players to the upstairs hall at the West Ferris arena.
It was the opportunity to acquire rare and valuable cards.
Clear plastic cases filled with Magic cards were up for sale. But at a cost. Prices ranged from $11 to several thousand.
One Black Lotus Magic card was priced at $9,000.
“It’s the Wayne Gretzky rookie card of Magic,” Cameron said. “It was a card in the starter set back in 1993.”
Cameron said the Internet has helped attract new Magic players to the fantasy world.
“The Internet has made this game blow up. You can play and practice online whenever you want. I try to play at least three times a week.”