MAGIC
Collectible trading card games are sweeping the nation (actually, the world) and
Magic: The Gathering is the game that started it all.
History
Magic: The Gathering (or "MtG" or just "Magic") is a collectible trading card game
that was created by Richard Garfield and is distributed by Wizards of the Coast (WotC).
The card production (printing, sorting, packing, etc.) is done in Belgium at Carta Mundi.
Magic was first introduced in the Fall of 1993 and has exploded ever since.
Here is Magic's printing history:
- Alpha print run
- 300+ original cards in set
- black border
- sold in 60 card starter decks or 15 card booster packs
- Beta print run
- no original cards in 300+ card set
- reprints all cards from Alpha with some minor changes
- black border
- sold in 60 card starter decks or 15 card booster packs
- Factory set print run
- no original cards in 300+ card set
- black border
- square corners
- sold in complete set
- Arabian Nights expansion print run (AN)
- 80+ original cards
- black border
- Arabian Nights symbol -- scimitar
- sold in 8 card booster packs
- Unlimited print run (UL)
- no original cards in 300+ card set
- reprints all cards from Beta
- white border
- "printed bevel" along right side of card (inside of border)
- sold in 60 card starter decks or 15 card booster packs
- Antiquities expansion print run (AQ)
- 100+ original cards
- black border
- Antiquities symbol -- anvil
- sold in 8 card booster packs
- Revised print run (RV)
- no original cards in 300+ card set
- reprints most cards from UL plus some from AN and AQ
- white border
- no symbol
- sold in 60 card starter decks or 15 card boosters
- Legends expansion print run (LE)
- 300+ original cards in set
- black border
- Legends symbol -- chiseled column
- sold in 15 card booster packs
- The Dark expansion print run (DK)
- 100+ original cards in set
- black border
- Dark symbol -- crescent moon
- sold in 8 card booster packs
- DragonCon card
- 1 original card
- black border
- DragonCon symbol -- winged dragon (black and white)
- not sold -- given away to attendees of 1994 DragonCon
- Duelist Card
- 1 card reprinting DragonCon card
- black border
- modified DragonCon symbol -- winged dragon (all black)
- sold with copies of Duelist #3, a trading card magazine
- Arena cards
- 2 original cards
- black border
- symbol -- ? (I haven't seen one)
- mail-in offer in back of _Arena_, a Magic novel (book receipt required)
- Fallen Empires expansion print run (FE)
- 100+ original cards in set
- black border
- Fallen Empires symbol -- jeweled crown
- sold in 8 card booster packs
My Collection
- Antiquities
- Arabian Nights
- Artifacts
- Black
- Blue
- Dark
- Fallen Empires
- Green
- Land
- Legends
- Red
- White
Vernon H Harmon, vernon@cs.cmu.edu