The Rising Cost of Tuition

Seems like some Sorcerer's in training are willing to pay a steep price to acquire the most coveted and rare spells in the Kingdom. Just a few weeks ago, finding a Sorcerer's of the Magic Kingdom card on eBay was far and few between, but recently there has been an explosion of activity. These cards that are handed out free to guests at MK, are now fetching a decent profit online. Of course, with anything from Disney, this was to be expected, and your everyday cards (#1-60) are reasonably valued.

The average selling price for a single common card is $4-$5. Only when the face card is of a more popular character like Rapunzel, Mickey or Wall-E, does the value jump a bit toward the $10 range.

Now here's the kicker. If a sorcerer would like to obtain one of the rare spells in the #61-80 range, the price goes up considerably.

This Jasmine #65 sold for an astounding $80! And so did her fellow rare characters such as Dumbo and Hercules. 9 cards in all so far sold for around the $80 mark and more are now listed at that asking price. That seems incredible to me, but then again I live by the park and can go get them for free. I understand that, but we do not even know the extent to which these will be available yet in the parks and people are willing to part with $80 for them already. There are still conflicting reports out there as to how these rare 10 will be obtained. Including this post just a few days ago on our Sorcerer's of the MK Card Checklist page:

According to cast members today at Magic Kingdom, cards 61-70 are still being handed out. It is like one in every 100-150 packs handed out. I watched someone actually get one today in their pack. Was really cool and exciting all at the same time. - Tabbie

I've also talked to Laura Inglis, a writer for Non-Sport Update Magazine, about the collectibility and future value of these cards. She said:

I think everything Disney is collectible. In terms of comparing these to other cards as far as value and collectibility, I think they can be compared to the Transportation Cards (which I think are still being given out) and the Signature Series cards from 2001.

We invited Laura to be on next week's DV Podcast where she will discuss her thoughts on where these cards are headed and also a little about the history of Disney trading cards for those of us who may want to branch out a bit. As always, your thoughts are welcome. Where do you think these cards are headed in terms of collectibility? If you do not live near WDW, are you willing to shell out some cash to complete a set? If you do live near WDW, might you stock up and cash in on these cards?