The Hobbit MTG Collector Booster Boxes On Pace To Be Worth More Than Final Fantasy

Published Aug 5, 2026, 3:13 PM EDT Niall (pronounced Ny-ul) is a UK-based writer who has been writing about Magic: The Gathering throughout his entire career, with everything from new set breakdowns and individual deck guides to offering his opinions on the state of formats and the general direction of the iconic TCG. Niall also has a rich history covering triple-A releases, sports games, and PC hardware. The Magic: The Gathering market is in pretty rough shape right now. Whether you're after singles or sealed product, the chances are you're going to have to pay over the odds to get the cards you want. Recently, the Final Fantasy Collector Booster boxes have risen from a market value of around $1,200 to as high as $1,867.63 in just two months. Worse still, sales well above this value are taking place. For The Hobbit, with the launch still officially a week away, Collector Booster prices are spiking hard, and the market value is already up to $869.87 and rising. If this trend continues, which it is likely to do at least until launch, then we could see this Universes Beyond product become one of the most expensive that money can buy. Hobbit Collector Booster Boxes To Top $1,000 Soon The biggest boom period for new Magic: The Gathering products, at least in terms of price, tends to come in the lead-up to their official release, after the preview window is over. Then there's a rapid decline once people realize they're overpaying based on hype. In some cases, these prices can fight back and grow rapidly again, as has happened with Final Fantasy, and The Hobbit is on a similar trajectory so far. The MSRP for Hobbit Collector Booster boxes is $455.88, but the current market value on TCGPlayer is nearly double that. When the set releases, this price is extremely likely to drop, but its ability to climb back up will depend on two factors: availability and set value. Wizards of the Coast never reveals an exact number of Collector Booster boxes it has in circulation, but we do know that they are not currently reprinted, meaning whatever allocation is available at the time of the launch will never go up, only down as players open the product. This naturally drives growth over time, but not every set has ridiculously expensive Collector Booster boxes, which is why the second factor is so important. If The Hobbit ends up being a hugely popular set across Standard, Commander, and other popular formats, then the prices of the set will rise in response to this. If it performs poorly, prices will grow very little, or, in rare cases, may regress. Early signs suggest The Hobbit is a hit across multiple formats. On top of this, the buzz around the extremely limited Smaug the Magnificent headliner card is creating enough intrigue for players to be chasing down boxes even late into the pre-order window. As such, I fully expect Collector Booster boxes of The Hobbit to hit the $1,000 mark either before the full release date or in the window shortly after. Can The Hobbit Overtake Final Fantasy? Whether we're talking about the Collector Booster boxes or just general revenue, The Hobbit has every chance of overtaking Final Fantasy as the best-selling Magic set of all time as things stand. However, I feel like this is unlikely on both fronts right now. Nothing has been reported in the pre-order window regarding sales being close to a record, and it's unlikely that a wave of interest big enough to see Hobbit overtake Final Fantasy will just magically show up on August 14. I believe it would be unwise to suggest that The Hobbit won't be a hit. It's an ideal Universes Beyond property, given the previous success of Tales of Middle-earth, and all the Lord of the Rings adjacent content seems to get a pass even from the sternest of Universes Beyond haters. Had we seen another wave of Commander precon decks released alongside the set, it would be a much closer race, but right now I don't think that Final Fantasy's record is under threat. Specifically, on the Collector Booster boxes, I also don't see The Hobbit hitting prices of almost $2,000 unless copies of Smaug the Magnificent headliner card are still known to be in sealed products in a years' time and its resale price sits north of $30,000 like the Golden Chocobo's in Final Fantasy. Confirmed sales of Final Fantasy Collector Booster boxes on TCGPlayer sit at a high of $1,994.99 Franchise Magic: The Gathering Original Release Date August 5, 1993 Publisher Wizards of the Coast Designer(s) Richard Garfield