Troll and Toad Shifts Focus Away from ‘Magic: The Gathering’ After Nearly 30 Years
Long-standing Magic: The Gathering retail powerhouse, Troll and Toad, will be withdrawing from Magic: The Gathering singles and sealed products starting January 1, 2024, marking the end of a nearly 30-year association with the game.
This move signifies the conclusion of an era. Troll and Toad, in operation since 1994, stood as one of the initial large-scale buyers and sellers of Magic: The Gathering cards. In October 2023, the decision was reached to cease the acquisition of Magic singles. Today, the owner, Ben Burns, informed PK that they will only accept deliveries for the next two rounds of Magic: The Gathering sealed products. Additionally, they are considering holding a sale in the near future to liquidate their existing stock of Magic singles and sealed products from their warehouse. As of now, this action temporarily suspends their nearly 30-year association with Wizards of the Coast’s flagship product.
Burns explained that several factors contributed to the decision to discontinue the purchase of Magic: The Gathering singles and sealed products. The primary factor was that selling Magic was no longer as profitable for the company as it once was, with other TCG products like Pokemon TCG, Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG, and One Piece CG performing better. Another significant reason cited by Burns was the frequent reprinting of valuable cards and the proliferation of card variants, which complicated buylist pricing and occasionally led to losses when new reprints were announced.
Furthermore, Troll and Toad’s management was unsettled by the reprinting of non-tournament-legal reserved-list cards in Magic: The Gathering – 30th Anniversary Edition. As a result, they decided to avoid the risk of a similar situation in the future by discontinuing the sale of reserved list singles.
“Magic is not currently profitable enough for our company to sustain,” Burns conveyed to ProxyKing. “At times, it felt like I was only stocking Magic products because of my passion for the game.”
Troll and Toad will continue to purchase and sell Pokemon TCG, Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG, One Piece CG, Digimon CG, and various WizKids miniatures, as they have done in the past.
The Magic: The Gathering (MTG) community finds itself in a challenging spot, with Wizards of the Coast increasingly adopting a nickel-and-dime approach toward its customer base. As the game’s popularity continues to surge, some players and retailers have been left grappling with issues like rising product costs and unpredictable card reprints. In this climate, the appeal of experiencing MTG through custom proxy cards becomes more evident. Custom proxies offer players an affordable alternative to expensive cards while maintaining the essence of the game. For those dissatisfied with the state of the MTG market right now, this grassroots solution appeals because it not only promotes creativity and diversity in gameplay but also provides accessibility.
