Editor’s introduction: Chapter II of our very special Magic Oddica by Keith Adams, aka TheMisprintGuy. This time Keith is covering another common type of rarity: Crimped cards. After Chapter II, Keith will start covering some of the most amazing rarities ever seen, but in order to understand some of this type of misprints, we need to start from the basics.
TheMisprintGuy Magic Oddica – Chapter II: Crimps.
One of Magic: the Gathering‘s most likely errors is that of crimped cards. “Crimps” refers to a mistake that happens during the packaging process. Sometimes one or more cards will not be placed into a pack properly, and when a pack is sealed a misplaced card will be crimped along the top or bottom of the card.
Although finding a crimped card is somewhat common, it is completely random. Also, the severity varies quite a bit. When first placed into an unsealed pack, the position of a card will determine the severity. At its most extreme, a card can stick out of the pack or be cut during the packaging process. No set has escaped these issues. Many popular cards from years past including the infamous “power nine” have been crimped. Plus, these problems are not limited to booster packs cards such as Friday Night Magic rewards cards have been crimped as well.
Four card examples from different editions that were crimped during the seal process of their respective booster packs.
Click on the image to Zoom in for more detail
Due to the fact that this mistake can make a card inherently thicker, many judges will not allow these cards to be played in official tournaments. Even with opaque sleeves, these cards run the potential to stand out from other “normal” cards in a deck. Therefore, the likelihood of being denied the ability to play them is great… be sure to check with a judge before using such cards.
Value on crimped cards varies widely, but most players and collectors only want cards that are popular. This type of misprint is mainly a curiosity when it happens to unpopular cards, but as always the true value always rests in the eyes of the beholder.
Lastly, here is a video that further explains crimped cards, and shows you what you can expect to find when opening packs:
Warning!
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