Magic the Product List
Author: Stephen D'Angelo
Last Update: February 1994
Magic: The Gathering Limited Edition:
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Sold in "Starter Decks" of 60 cards and 1 rulebook for $7.95 and
in "Booster Packs" of 15 cards for $2.45
Decks contain: (754.72 total cards per $100)
2 Rare cards ( 25.16 rares per $100)
13 Uncommon cards (163.52 uncommon per $100)
45 Common cards (566.04 commons per $100)
Boosters contain: (612.24 total cards per $100)
1 Rare card ( 40.82 rares per $100)
3 Uncommon cards (122.46 uncommons per $100)
11 Common cards (448.98 commons per $100)
There are: 117 unique rare cards (116 in Alpha printing)
95 unique uncommon cards
75 unique common cards (74 in Alpha printing)
15 unique land cards (10 in Alpha printing)
Due to the printing process, it is possible to get a Land card in place of
a rare, uncommon or common card. The chance is approximately 3.31% for rares,
21.5% for uncommons and 38.02% for commons.
Cards have black borders on the face of the card. Appproximately 10.4 million
limited edition cards were printed.
ALPHA PRINTING:
The first portion of the Limited Edition printing was approximately
2.5 million cards in size. There were 295 unique cards in this printing.
Alpha cards are distinguishable because the card corners have approximately
a 2 mm radius to them (all later printings have approximately 1 mm radius).
Released in August/September 1993.
BETA PRINTING:
The second portion of the Limited Edition printing was approximately
7.9 million cards in size. There were 302 unique cards in this printing.
The new cards added were:
Swamp with a new picture
Island with a new picture
Forest with a new picture
Mountain with a new picture
Plains with a new picture
Volcanic Island
Circle of Protection: Black
Several cards were corrected for the Beta printing. They are:
Tropical Island = Artist name corrected
Cyclopean Tomb = Casting cost added
Basalt Monolith = Card text changed
Icy Manipulator = Card text changed
Demonic Hordes = 'B's changed to black mana symbols
Drain Life = 'B' changed to black mana symbol
Mana Short = Card text changed
Phantasmal Forces = 'U' changed to blue mana symbol
Twiddle = Card text changed
Unsummon = Card text changed
Birds of Paradise = Card text changed
Elvish Archers = Combat values changed
Force of Nature = 'G's changed to green mana symbols
Rock Hydra = Card text changed
Sedge Troll = Artist name corrected
Orcish Artillery = Casting cost changed
Orcish Oriflamme = Casting cost changed
Island Sanctuary = Card text changed
Karma = Card text changed
Circle of Prot.: Red = Artist name corrected
Death Ward = Artist name corrected
Released in October 1993.
Magic: The Gathering Collector's Set
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Sold in a collector's box with 363 cards. This includes one of each of the
302 cards from the Limited Edition Beta printing plus an additional 61 land
cards. This number is related to the printing process.
Cards have square corners that make them not very playable. Faces are
identical to the Beta printing, but the backs differ (this is the only
release so far with a different back!). Card backs have gold printing saying
"Collector's Edition" and have gold borders around the edges.
10000 were printed for the united states, and another 5000 were printed for
international release.
Released in Demcember 1993.
Magic: The Gathering Unlimited Edition
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Sold in "Starter Decks" of 60 cards and 1 rulebook for $7.95 and
in "Booster Packs" of 15 cards for $2.45
Deck and Booster contents identical to Limited Edition Beta Printing, but
cards now have a white border on thier face. Print run has been estimated
at 30-50 million cards.
Booster Packs released in December 1993 with Starter Decks released in
January 1994.
Arabian Nights Expansion Set
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Sold in "Booster Packs" of 8 cards for $1.45
Boosters contains: (551.72 total cards per $100)
2 Uncommon cards (137.93 cards per $100)
6 Common cards (413.79 cards per $100)
There are: 52 unique uncommon cards
25 unique common cards (although 14 have two variants)
1 unique Land card (the Desert)
Cards have black borders on the face of the card. Cards are distinguished
by the small "Scimitar" symbol on the front of the card.
Print run was approximately 5 million cards.
The theme of the expansion is creatures and items from the 1001 Arabian Nights
tales.
Due to the way the cards were printed with several identical versions of each
card on each sheet, 9 of the common cards occur 1.25 times as likely as the
others and 32 of the uncommon cards occur 0.66 times as likely as the others.
Also, 14 of the common cards came in two variants. They are:
Erg Raiders = Light/Dark number
Hasran Ogress = Light/Dark number
Oubliette = Light/Dark number
Stone-Throwing Devils = Gray/Orangish black mana casting symbol
Fishliver Oil = Light/Dark number
Giant Tortoise = Light/Dark number
Naf's Asp = Light/Dark number
Wyluli Wolf = Light/Dark number
Bird Maiden = Light/Dark number
Rukh Egg = Light/Dark number
Army of Allah = Light/Dark number
Moorish Cavalry = Light/Dark number
Piety = Light/Dark number
War Elephant = Light/Dark number
Also, there is a single Mountain in the set which will appear as a Common but
which has the same frequency as an Uncommon. Deserts appear in Common slots.
Released in late December 1993.
Antiquities Expansion Set
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Sold in "Booster Packs" of 8 cards for $1.45
Number of cards and rarity distibution is not known yet. There are said to
be 84 cards in the set. Cards will be distinguished by a small "Anvil"
symbol on them.
The theme of the expansion is artifacts.
It will be a limited print run of about 15 million cards.
To be released in late February 1994. (Estimated Feb 20 & Mar 8 ship dates)
Magic: The Gathering Revised Edition
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The rules for the Limited and Unlimited Editions had a number of faults and
the cards were often difficult to interpret. This release is an attempt to
clean up the rules and the cards.
Will be sold in the same way as the Unlimited Edition. Print run will not be
limited.
Approximately 30-40 cards from the Unlimited Edition will be replaced with
cards from Arabian Nights and Antiquities expansions.
Cards were to have a gray border on the face of the cards, but printing
problems indicate that the cards will continue to sport a white border. This
will make them difficult to tell from the Unlimited Edition cards.
To be released in March 1994. (Estimate March 20 and April 4 ship dates)
Magic: The Gathering Pocket Player's Guide
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This is a book written by the game's designer, Richard Garfield. It will
discuss deck building strategies, the cards themselves, and alternate rules.
It will also introduce the Revised Edition Rules and describe what changes
were made.
To be released in March 1994.
Legends Expansion Set
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Sold in "Booster Packs" of 15 cards for $2.45
Number of cards an rarity distribution is not known yet but it is said to be
similar to the standard Magic: The Gathering set. There are said to be around
300 new cards with no new land types but with a new type of card called a
Legend. A Legend card is such that only one of them can be in play at a time.
The theme of the expansion will be legendary figures. A 4 page rules extention
will be included.
It will be a limited print run.
To be released in late April 1994.
The Dark Expansion Set
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Sold in "Booster Packs" of 8 cards for $1.45
There will be over 100 cards in the set. No information on rarity distribution.
The theme will be about dark and forboding images.
It will be a limited print run.
To be released in June 1994.
Vampire: Jyhad
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No information on sale format, size or rarity distribution.
This will be a new game built on the Deckmaster ruleset but not compatible
with Magic: The Gathering. It is being made as a companion to the Vampire
game by White Wolf.
To be released in June 1994. (To coincide with the movie "Interview with
a Vampire")
Middle Earth
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No information on sale format, size or rarity distribution.
This will be a new game built on the Deckmaster ruleset but not compatible
with Magic: The Gathering. It is being made from the Middle Earth works
by JRR Tolkein.
To be released around year-end 1994.
Ice Age
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Another new game using Deckmaster rules. This game was supposed to ship
early in 1994 but when the popularity of Magic took off, it was shelved
indefinitely. Look for it in 1995.