As someone who has worked in game retail for a long time, this is insane. The old old old cards ARE valuable for a number of reasons, largely because they are 20+ years old by now. New cards are printed in MUCH larger volumes, and protective sleeves are more commonplace now than they were in the late 90s. This sort of frenzy mindset is what killed sports cards in the 90s- eventually there won't be a printing shortage, and there will be a ton of new cards on the market that people may or may not want. The old cards will be fine because you can't actually MAKE any more old cards.
The difference between PKMN and MTG vs traditional sports cards of course is utility. Baseball cards are just to look at or sell, but game cards can be used to play either for fun or competition. Magic has a more robust competitive scene, so that helps reign in some of this mentality (outside of very old cards, and the prices on those can literally be anything and it doesn't matter).
As someone who has worked in game retail for a long time, this is insane. The old old old cards ARE valuable for a number of reasons, largely because they are 20+ years old by now. New cards are printed in MUCH larger volumes, and protective sleeves are more commonplace now than they were in the late 90s. This sort of frenzy mindset is what killed sports cards in the 90s- eventually there won't be a printing shortage, and there will be a ton of new cards on the market that people may or may not want. The old cards will be fine because you can't actually MAKE any more old cards.
The difference between PKMN and MTG vs traditional sports cards of course is utility. Baseball cards are just to look at or sell, but game cards can be used to play either for fun or competition. Magic has a more robust competitive scene, so that helps reign in some of this mentality (outside of very old cards, and the prices on those can literally be anything and it doesn't matter).