PSA Set Registry
Collecting the 1994 Magic: The Gathering Legends Set
Still Legendary After 25 Years
By Kevin Glew
It's a legendary set in name, size and hobby status.
"It's a 310-card set. It's a monster of a set, so for anyone who collects a PSA-graded set of any kind, it's a momentous journey," said Daniel Chang, president and CEO of Vintage Magic.com. "And it's very difficult to get some of these cards in high grade."
Nick Susan can attest to that. He and his collecting partner, Victor LaFay Jr., have been assembling the No. 1 Current Finest, 1994 Magic: The Gathering's Legends set on the PSA Set Registry. Their goal is to track down every card in the set in PSA GEM-MT 10 grade.
"The vast majority of the uncommons were printed and cut off-center, which has led to the never-ending challenge of getting those in high grade," said Susan.
When Wizards of the Coast (WOTC) unveiled this set in June 1994, veteran hobbyist Bob Kreider says it was widely anticipated by collectors. Legends was the third WOTC expansion set, following the highly coveted Arabian Nights and Antiquities issues.
Expansion sets have become a staple of MTG's product line. They offer new cards that elaborate on the base set's offerings. Each has their own theme and setting and can be played on their own or with base cards.
The Legends set is much larger than its expansion predecessors. Of its 310 cards, there are 75 commons, 114 uncommons and 121 rares. The cards were printed on 121-card sheets. The common sheet had 46 cards that were printed on it twice and 29 cards that were on it once, while the uncommon sheet had seven cards that were double-printed and 107 that made single appearances. All of the rare cards are printed once on a sheet.
The masterminds behind the Legends set were Steve Conard and Robin Herbert. With this offering, one of their goals was to introduce a deeper, stronger and more heroic breed of creature. This inspired the creation of the powerful legendary creatures that debut in this issue.
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 WOTC. Shortly thereafter, Garfield pitched Magic: The Gathering to him. Neither Garfield nor Adkison could have dreamed of how popular MTG would become. It was the first trading card game of its kind and it has spawned countless imitators.
"What really makes Legends different is that it has a superheroes feel to it," said Chang. "The reason I say that is because there are these elder dragons in it."
The Legends set boasts five elder dragons cards in total: Arcades Sabboth, Chromium, Nicol Bolas, Vaevictis Asmadi and Palladia-Mors. Each of these are multi-colored (gold) cards. Multi-colored cards were introduced in the Legends series and are powerful in game play. Also adding to the value of the dragons cards is that they are classified as "rare" cards.
The Nicol Bolas is the most sought-after elder dragon card.
"One of the dragons, Nicol Bolas, is used in the story of Magic today," said Chang. "Part of the appeal of Magic is the lore. And Nicol Bolas is the main focus point of a lot of the stories now."
The Nicol Bolas single is also the most difficult of the elder dragons cards to land in high grade.
"It's a hard card to find centered, and when you do find one that's centered, it's hard to find one that's anywhere near the condition of a PSA [GEM-MT] 10," said Susan.
There have been just two PSA 10s. One PSA MINT 9 fetched $193 on eBay in October 2018.
The unnumbered Legends cards have the card title and game information at the top followed by the artwork. The expansion symbol is a Doric column capital.
"The Legends artwork is probably some of the most iconic and special in all of the hobby," said Chang. "It has the most flavor. It has the most range. It has angelic cards. It has dark cards. It has the red fiery cards. There are just so many iconic cards."
Veteran hobbyist Jeremy Jones offers a similar assessment.
"There's a lot of really cool artwork in the Legends set," he said. "It has kind of a renaissance feel to it."
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, while the backs flaunt MTG branding.
The Legends series was officially launched on June 10, 1994, and the cards were sold exclusively in 15-card booster packs. This was the first expansion series to offer 15-card packs. Susan says that of the 15 cards, 11 were commons, three were uncommons and one was a rare. There were 36 packs in a box and WOTC indicated that 35 million of these cards were produced.
Similar to the Antiquities set, the collation of the cards was subpar. Legends includes what have come to be known as "A" and "B" boxes. "Box A" contains a certain group of uncommons, while "Box B" has its own separate group of commons. The collation was so poor, and collectors complained so vehemently, that WOTC implemented the Legends Exchange Program, which permitted collectors to trade in up to 100 uncommons from one group for the same quantity in the other group.
Unopened booster boxes have become increasingly difficult to find and their price has increased dramatically in recent years. In March 2019, Jones saw one being offered on a Facebook group for $16,500.
"I've actually sold a PSA 10 Legends pack for over $1,000," said Chang. "The average price for a pack is about $200 to $300, and if you get a mint ungraded pack, it can be in the $400 to $500 range."
Kreider and Chang point out that one of the major appeals of this set is that there are so many reserved list cards in it. Reserved list cards are ones that WOTC has vowed they would never print again.
"There are probably more reserved list cards in Legends than anywhere else," said Kreider.
The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale is the most valuable reserved list card in the set. This card is also a rare single with considerable power in the game and there has been a renewed demand for it in new formats of Magic.
"It's used in the Legacy format or the Commander format," said Chang. "The card has tremendous play. It's a very, very powerful card."
Of the 88 submitted, there have been 17 PSA 10s. One PSA NM-MT 8 example sold for $1,678 on eBay in December 2018.
Another coveted reserved list and rare card is the Moat single. Jones says this is an important card in the game because it "prevented non-flying creatures from attacking." Of the 109 evaluated, there have been 26 PSA 10s. One PSA 10 fetched $1,400 on eBay in August 2018.
The Nether Void is also a sought-after rare and reserved list single. This card flaunts memorable artwork and could be used to stall the game.
"That card is a favorite of mine and I like the artwork," said Kreider.
Of the 64 submitted, there have been 16 PSA 10s, one of which commanded $1,025 on eBay in August 2018.
Jones says Mirror Universe is another desirable card. This is yet another rare and reserved list card that could have a great impact on the game.
"Mirror Universe is kind of cool because it would let you trade your life totals with your opponent," said Jones.
There are 13 PSA 10s and one garnered $797 on eBay in September 2018.
The Abyss is also a popular single. This is a rare and reserved list card that possesses formidable anti-creature powers and is an effective card in multiple game formats. It also showcases the spookiest artwork in the series.
"It's a dark eerie picture, but it has a very cool effect in the game," said Chang.
Of the 72 submitted, there have been 15 PSA 10s. One PSA 10 sold for $558 on eBay in November 2017.
As noted earlier by Susan, some of the uncommons are the most challenging cards to obtain in high grade. For example, Susan, after a lot of digging, submitted what is the only PSA 10 Radjan Spirit card.
"That was a highlight for me," he said. "I hadn't submitted many of them because they were just so hard to find even in a PSA 9."
On top of the Radjan Spirit single, Susan says another elusive uncommon card in pristine form is Unholy Citadel.
"The issue with the Unholy Citadel is that it's off-center and the majority of the ones that you can find that are 60/40 or better - as far as the centering left-to-right and top-to-bottom goes - they very commonly have a print dot on the face of the card on the border," said Susan, who owns the sole PSA 10.
As with the previous expansion sets, if you look closely you will spot errors and misprints in this offering. Most of them are minor misspellings, but on the Psionic Entity card, the artwork is credited to Susan Van Camp when it should have been attributed to Justin Hampton.
Hobbyists say poor centering is the most common condition flaw on these cards.
"If one card in a pack was off-center, then all of the cards in the pack would be off-center," noted Jones.
This is one of the reasons the market for high-grade Legends cards remains strong.
Chang believes the number of reserved list cards, the fact that the cards can be played in multiple formats and the sheer challenge of assembling this set are likely to ensure that it will continue to be "legendary" in the future.
"Just like with all Magic: The Gathering collectibles, I feel like the market is strong," said Chang. "Magic fits in that nostalgic mode of collecting, so I'm very bullish on Legends."
For more information on the 1994 Magic: The Gathering Legends gaming card set, please visit PSA _Card_Facts.