PSA Set Registry
1994 Magic: The Gathering Fallen Empires
Building a Small Vintage Magic 'Empire' on a Budget
It's still possible to build a small 1994 Magic: The Gathering (MTG) trading card "empire" on a budget.
That might be hard to believe if you've been following the four- to six-digit prices that some of the early MTG booster boxes have been garnering, but thanks to its massive production run, the 1994 Fallen Empires set can still be pieced together affordably.
Between 350 and 375 million Fallen Empires cards were manufactured by Wizards of the Coast (WOTC), which is close to six times more than was produced of its predecessor, The Dark. Veteran MTG collector and dealer Nick Susan says so many of the Fallen Empires cards were produced that WOTC had trouble selling all of its inventory.
Longtime MTG collector Bob Kreider, who owns the No. 1 Current Finest Fallen Empires set on the PSA Set Registry, has heard similar reports, adding that unlike earlier MTG expansion sets there's still a strong supply of unopened Fallen Empires booster boxes for sale today.
With that said, Fallen Empires boxes have increased in value in recent months. In November 2020, one booster box sold for $650 on eBay.
"The booster boxes were $100 three years ago, so this is the first time they have really made a move up," noted Kreider.
Daniel Chang, president and CEO of VintageMagic.com, says it's a sense of nostalgia that's driving up the price of the Fallen Empires boxes.
"It's really more about the nostalgia of owning the box or the packs," said Chang. "The nostalgia for the Old School Magic format has really driven the uptick for a lot of the prices."
Kreider can attest to this set's nostalgic appeal. That's one of the reasons he's putting his registry set together.
"There are many things working against this series as a collectible," said Kreider, "and yet, it was a set that was active when my kids and I started playing."
Released on November 15, 1994, Fallen Empires was MTG's fifth expansion series. Expansion sets, a staple of MTG's product line, offer new cards that expand on the base issues. Each has their own theme and setting and can be played on their own or with the base cards.
There were 102 functionally unique cards in the Fallen Empires issue, but some common cards can be found with three or four variations which offer different artwork. This brings the total number of cards for a master set to 187.
The Fallen Empires set consists of 35 commons, 31 uncommons and 36 rares. The cards were printed on 121-card sheets. The common sheet had 15 cards that were printed on it in four different versions (with different artworks), 20 that appeared in three different versions and one card, Delif's Cone, that was on the sheet only once (which makes it an uncommon in rarity level). The uncommon sheet had 25 cards that were on it three times, five cards that were double-printed and 36 that made single appearances. The latter 36 are considered rare cards.
The set's story is a continuation from the Antiquities series which shared the tale of an epic war between brothers Mishra and Urza to control both halves of a powerful stone that split in two after they discovered it on the continent of Terisiare.
The Fallen Empires story picks up on the southern continent of Sarpadia, which has been ravaged by the Brothers' War and the weather is getting colder. Alliances have started to fall apart, and conflicts are erupting as different groups battle for dwindling resources in an effort to survive.
The original MTG game was the brainchild of Richard Garfield, who began creating it when he was a mathematics student at the University of Pennsylvania in the 1980s. Garfield was reportedly trying to sell a game called RoboRally in 1993 when he met Peter Adkison of Wizards of the Coast. Shortly thereafter, Garfield pitched Magic: The Gathering to him. Neither Garfield nor Adkison could have dreamed how popular MTG would become. It was the first trading card game of its kind and it has spawned countless imitators.
The unnumbered Fallen Empires cards have the card title and game information at the top followed by the artwork. The expansion symbol is a crown that's located to the bottom right of the artwork.
The card type and more game-related text can be found under the artwork on the card front. The artists' names are indicated at the bottom above the copyright information, while the backs flaunt MTG branding.
The Fallen Empires cards were sold in eight-card booster packs, 60 packs to a box. Of the eight cards in a pack, six were commons and two were uncommons. (The uncommons could also be rare cards as defined above.)
As noted earlier, unopened booster boxes remain readily available and affordable compared to previous MTG offerings from this era which command at least four-digit prices, but their price has increased in recent months.
"Over the years, a lot of Fallen Empires boxes were just in storage or thrown away because nobody wanted them," explained Chang. "But there's been an uptick recently."
In January 2020, unopened Fallen Empires booster boxes sold on eBay for between $239 and $315 whereas in November sales have been between $380 and $650.
When collectors open these packs, they will notice that some of the commons have more than one version that feature artwork from different artists. But while some hobbyists loved the variety of artwork, others found the variations confusing, especially when they wanted to identify a card for game play.
"I can see how people would be confused with the different artwork," said Susan. "Some people unfamiliar with the set may not know that there are the different variants and that may have caused some delays in the game."
Susan, himself, likes the added artwork and the variety of legendary artists that are highlighted in the set.
"I think most of the artwork is pretty good," he said. "A lot of the cards in the set were very vibrantly colored."
Though this set lacks any high-value cards, it does boast some desirable singles. One of them is the Hymn to Tourach.
"The capability of what the Hymn to Tourach does in the game, along with having four different variants, makes it interesting and fun," said Susan.
One version of the Hymn to Tourach showcases the artwork of the late Quinton Hoover. This has made it more desirable. This card is identified as the "Cloak" version on the PSA Population Report. A PSA GEM-MT 10 sold for $37 on eBay in March 2019.
Another sought-after single is the High Tide. Like the Hymn to Tourach, this is also a common. It has three different variations and has evolved into an important card in tournament decks. Of the 11 in total of the three versions submitted, there have been five PSA 10s.
Like the High Tide, Goblin Grenade is another common with three variations. This is one of the more powerful cards in the set. All three versions have been sent into PSA in similar quantities. A PSA MINT 9 of the variation that features an armed, menacing looking Goblin drawn by Ron Spencer fetched $30 on eBay in May 2019.
According to Susan, two of the most desirable rare singles in this set are the Hand of Justice and Rainbow Vale cards. PSA 10 examples would likely fetch $30 to $40 each.
There was also a small run of the Fallen Empire cards that was misprinted with Wyvern backs. Wyvern was another trading card game that was produced at the same factory. These cards are extremely rare and valuable. For example, an ungraded High Tide single with a Wyvern back sold for $627 on eBay in January 2020.
But the prices for single cards from the regular Fallen Empires series remain relatively low because so many of them were manufactured. For now, at least, this set represents an excellent option for someone looking to begin a 1994 MTG set on a budget.
"It's a nice entry level set," said Chang. "It's the first set that people can collect of the older sets because it's more affordable."
Susan offers a similar assessment. He says the recent spike in interest in Fallen Empires booster boxes is driven, in part, by their affordability.
"I would definitely say that money has something to do with it because boxes of pretty much any other [MTG] set from 1993 or 1994 are virtually untouchable," said Susan. "If you're simply looking to break a box from that era, Fallen Empires is a very reasonable set to do that with," he added. "And with 60 booster packs, you end up with a nice array of cards."
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With its large production run and affordable prices, the 1994 Magic: The Gathering – Fallen Empires TCG issue is a great choice for new MTG collectors looking to build a complete set on the PSA Set Registry. To learn more about this expansion series and other MTG sets, please visit PSA _Card_Facts.