#Start #Collecting #YuGiOh #Cards #WorthPoint
The 1990s was the era of trading card games. With beloved series like Magic: The Gathering and Pokémon sweeping the world, the public’s appetite for trading cards was insatiable.
Yu-Gi-Oh! began as a manga series in 1996. The series revolves around the protagonist, a young boy named Yugi, who is cursed with a spirit that engages in “Shadow Games,” i.e., dangerous battles that incur dark punishments for the loser.
The manga initially attained only middling popularity, but fan reaction to one particular Shadow Game—a card game called Magic & Wizards (or Duel Monsters in the English version)—was overwhelmingly positive. Gaming giant Konami was quick to capitalize on this response by purchasing the rights to produce this card game for real. It also reimagined the franchise, removing some of the darker tones and making it more child-friendly (complete with a popular anime series aimed at children), hoping to create a card game that could compete with the almighty Pokémon.
Early Yu-Gi-Oh! Cards
In 1999, Konami released the first set of Yu-Gi-Oh! cards in Japan. Named Volume 1, this set is known for having a noticeably different card design than the classic layout that has become so familiar to fans. Cards from this set bear larger card artwork than the subsequent designs and, for monster cards, feature two boxes in which the monster’s stats can be read. Rare cards from this Japanese language set in mint condition may be worth several hundred dollars.
Protagonist Yugi Muto’s favorite card, Dark Magician, is a powerful and sought-after addition to any deck. Naturally, a card in mint condition from an older set will be worth considerable money—a PSA 10 copy of Dark Magician from the Legend of Blue-Eyes White Dragon set sold for an incredible $85,000 in 2021.
It is also worth keeping an eye out for cards from the “Duel Terminal” scheme. Effectively a card vending machine, these Duel Terminals, found at certain events, dispensed special copies of certain cards. A Dark Magician from the 2008 Comic Con Duel Terminal with the print number DTP1-EN002 can fetch over $13,000 at auction.
Another of the most famous and collectible cards is Blue-Eyes White Dragon (which shares its name with the set in which it was introduced). Released in North America in 2002, early copies of this rare card in good condition, with the print number LOB-001, have been known to sell for over $80,000. In 2021, Chinese courts suspended the auctioning of a convicted criminal’s possessions when bidding for a special limited-edition copy of this card reached an astonishing $13.4 million.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Special Releases
The rarest Yu-Gi-Oh! card of all time is Tyler the Great Warrior. This card, printed in 2005, was created by young fan Tyler Gressle, who was battling liver cancer at the age of fourteen. Through the Make-a-Wish foundation, he was given the chance to make a card of his own, of which only one was ever printed.
Happily, Gressle went on to make a full recovery. He sold the card in 2023 for $311,211, solidifying its status as both the rarest and most valuable card in the game’s history (not counting unique editions of regular cards, such as the special edition of Blue-Eyes White Dragon signed by series creator Kazuki Takahashi, which was given to the winner of the 2001 Asia Championship).
Another card of note is the 2020 Duel at Home release of United We Stand. During the global coronavirus lockdowns, Konami ran a promotional sweepstakes to raise fans’ spirits. Three hundred fans received a Secret Rare copy of the card United We Stand as part of this promo. These cards, bearing the serial number SBPR-EN001, are already worth several thousand dollars.
Collectors should be on the lookout for fake Yu-Gi-Oh! cards, which unfortunately flood the market. Some fakes are easy to spot—they may have obvious spelling mistakes, poor-quality print, or some seriously weird card art. Others are more professional. The card is not legitimate if the Eye Of Anubis symbol is missing. Many fakes—even the good ones—have an off-yellow color on the back of the card that can immediately betray them.
Playing or Collecting?
Yu-Gi-Oh!’s incredible popularity cemented it as one of its era’s primary trading card games, and its fanbase remains strong to this day.
If you are interested only in building up an expensive collection, then focusing on purchasing first-edition cards wherever possible will be the quickest way to acquire an impressive and valuable deck. However, if you are new to Yu-Gi-Oh! and want to get into the game quickly, consider buying official starter decks for a fast entrance into dueling.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Speed Duel and Yu-Gi-Oh! Rush Duel are faster, simpler versions of the game, with much-reduced play sequences, and are more accessible to those with limited cards. They represent a superb way for casual and new players to begin exploring the possibilities of this great game.
Matthew Doherty is a writer, editor, and teacher specializing in all things history-related. His work has been published in the UK Defence Journal, the Small Wars Journal, and The Collector. He holds an MSc from the University of Edinburgh and a BA from the University of Leeds. In his spare time, he also writes science fiction stories.
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