JMatthew’s Guide to Trading Duel Masters:
December Price Guide Appendix and Review
December 8th, 2005
By JMatthew 

                  The great comeback of Base is the newest craze. As players scramble to scour the past to find the latest and greatest tech long forgotten many are finding a great deal of success. This revisiting of the past is having an interesting impact on the secondary market. Rumors of future use of Aqua Sniper have been strong enough to better than double its value and boost demand in trades from its previously abysmal Poor rating. Gatling Skyterror tripled in value thanks to the cards new found use in control decks while King Ripped Hide is showing a mild increase in value, but has shockingly jumped in tradability thanks to this minor fatty’s ability to guarantee card advantage. Even Deathliger, Lion of Chaos has inexplicably shown an increase in value – why is something I won’t even begin to guess, though. With the Invitational season far behind us and less Base booster packs being opened Terror Pit has shown a slight increase in value while the foil Invitational version has dropped slightly making the two cards nearly worth the same. This is a rather interesting phenomenon and points to the extreme scarcity of Terror Pits.  

The temporary scramble for Bolshack Dragon caused by the release of Epic Dragon of Hyperchaos appears to have tapered off as the card drops an entire $10.00 in value, however maintains at a strong and respectable $20.00. Insightful observers may attribute this to the unanticipated alteration of Epic Dragons of Hyperchaos’ Uberdragon Bajula to allow any dragon to be used as evobait rather than just Armored Dragons.  

The triple evo-greats of Evocrushinators of Doom continue their bouncy ride as Armored Blaster Valdios increases in value, however Crystal Paladin and Fighter Dual Fang somehow come up lacking. From the dragon corner Bolzard Dragon and Galklife Dragon continue their steady climb upward and Bolmeteus Steel Dragon dips a slight bit in value, yet still maintains its lofty heights of tradability. Valiant Warrior Exorius has also slightly gained in value as some players choose to tech it into their decks as opposed to Gatling Skyterror. Still, the most amazing leap has come from Rikabu’s Screwdriver – a card which has shown little of it’s initially anticipated success in tournaments, yet has currently been raised to the level of one of the most valuable rares to be found.  

Many of the super rare cards from Thundercharge of Ultimate Destruction have interestingly increased in value, despite their lack of use and their initially poor value on the introductory secondary market. In addition, the initial values of Epic Dragons of Hyperchaos has been less than many anticipated, yet still relatively strong. The super rare dragons vary from $12.50 to Uberdragon Bajula’s $22.50. Magmadragon Jagalzor was easily available for merely $5.00 immediately after the release of this set, however most sellers quickly began to notice the potential impact of this card making it so you are hard pressed to purchase it for less than $12. Cranium Clamp is one of the few rares demanding any noticeable dollar amount at $3, though I predict we will see $5 or more in this cards future.  

Next month we move into an entirely new year. Already players are awaiting the newest set, which could very well have an affect on the secondary market for next month. In the meantime keep an eye out! You might be the one speculator to spot a true gem!  

‘til then,

JMatthew