Scalpers Haven't Been Deterred By Hatsune Miku MTG Deck Availability
Hatsune Miku MTG Deck Selling For Over Double MSRP To Impatient Players
Impatience is the biggest enemy of so many Magic: The Gathering players. A brand new product drops in the form of a Hatsune Miku Commander deck, and even though Wizards of the Coast made the decision to release it as print-to-demand, those who managed to get into the first wave with immediate shipping are successfully selling their deck for a profit to those who didn't.
Rather than wait until May/June 2027, some players are paying over double the $149.99 MSRP just to have the deck right now, and I can't figure out why. The deck is okay, not hugely powerful on paper but a solid Selesnya offering, so are players purely paying to say they have a Hatsune Miku deck before everyone else, or is the Miku fandom just that strong?
Scalpers Still Making Profit From Print-To-Demand Secret Lair Deck
It didn't take long for the Hatsune Miku Secret Lair Commander Deck to end up on sites like eBay at more than double the $149.99 MSRP. This wasn't a great surprise, but what did surprise me was the volume of players happily paying this price just to get their deck in the first wave.
Players have reported the first wave lasting up to 40 minutes in North America and up to 90 minutes in the UK.
There have been over 400 listings so far, including 70 sales, and that's just on eBay. Over on TCGPlayer, the market value of the deck is $422.16, with six confirmed sales ranging from $379.99 to $499.00. Despite the best efforts of Wizards to make sure everyone who wanted a deck could buy one, nothing can be done about the impatience of some players, and it's their money to spend, so who am I to judge?
Did Strong Availability Result In Altered Demand?
The decision to make the Hatsune Miku Secret Lair deck a print-to-demand offering was a very popular one, and the fact that it was a direct response to what happened to Goblin Storm meant that Wizards of the Coast was aware of player dissatisfaction and acted accordingly.
What Wizards can't control, however, is the buying habits in response to this change. It felt as though the hype was still very much in place, and people were keen to get their hands on the Hatsune Miku deck; however, players reported that the first wave, which was available for immediate shipping, lasted longer than expected.
This means there were either more decks readied for the initial wave, or that more players sat back, content with getting a deck at any time over the 24-hour window, even if it meant a shipping delay of up to 10 months.
What remains to be seen now is whether other hugely popular Secret Lair products like Goblin Storm or DanDan are republished with print-to-demand in mind or whether the policy may only change moving forward.
We still have some big Secret Lair drops to come in the next few weeks, including a Marvel Superdrop, The Hobbit superdrop, and Lofi Girl. I wouldn't be surprised to see the rules changed ahead of these releases, too, but given that the Stardew Valley drop is still available in some capacity weeks later, it may be that only future deck drops are considered for print-to-demand.