Kaladesh Boxes 2x In Price After WOTC Retire "Racist" Name

The changing or retiring of certain terms and names in MTG for political correctness is something we've seen quite a few times now, and WOTC is at it again - This time with Kaladesh, which will now be "Avishkar." And they've really stirred up the secondary market for the set with sealed (English) boxes now at over $700 each. This is a wild ride, so buckle up, and let's get into what happened, why it happened, and what it means for sealed Kaladesh. 

Kaladesh Spikes After "Racist" Name Is Retired

Over the last few years, MTG has had several changes to language that WOTC deems possibly offensive. For example, several abilities (Totem Armor), card types, and subtypes (Naga, Druid, Shaman) have been replaced with new names. And the term "tribal" was changed to Kindred.

More on those changes here:

• WOTC Replaces Several MTG Abilities, Card Types, And Subtypes With New Names
• WOTC Is Considering Not Using Druid Or Shaman Creatures Anymore

Now we have issues coming up with the original naming of the fan-favorite plane Kaladesh. With Aetherdrift on the horizon, which is set partially in Kaladesh, WOTC says they consulted with an outside group to help remove any perceived negative connotations that come with "kala-" which they say the consultants said, " the term "kala" (kālā, KAH-lah) can also be associated with the meaning "black," and often carries derogatory colorist and racist connotations when applied to a person." 

So, Kaladesh is out, and moving forward, the plane will be called "Avishkar." WOTC also mentioned that they:

"...have not changed historical terminology in past products or cards. The name of the set Kaladesh remains Kaladesh, Kaladesh Remastered will still be searchable as Kaladesh Remastered, and past cards like Invasion of Kaladesh or Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh will keep those names. We will not use the term "Kaladesh" anymore going forward except to refer to past products or the time in the storyline when Avishkar bore its previous name."

This also means that any cards in the set that reference the plane in flavor text, like Paradox Engine, will never be printed with the original text moving forward. All of this buzz around the name change has caused quite a stir on the market for sealed Kaladesh boosters. The set is already sparse in terms of supply (because so many boxes got cracked looking for "inventions" cards), and over the last few days, boxes have gone from around $300 to close to $1000 and now settled around $700+.

TCGplayer Prices

eBay Sold Listings

And the supply is dwindling, too. As I write this, there are less than 60 individual boxes available on eBay and TCGplayer in total. What's even more interesting than the spike on Kaladesh boxes is the ripple effect happening with similar sets from the same timeframe. For example, Aether Revolt is now $300 to $500 a box, and there are four on TCGplayer.

Supply Of Other Boxes Drying Up

Rudy, over on the Alpha Investments YouTube channel (video here), pointed out another interesting piece of data since this news dropped - Boxes from the Kaladesh era are disappearing... Without sold listings.

Apparently, a lot of boxes between Return to Ravnica and original Dominaria are disappearing from online marketplaces without sold listings, which is weird. According to Rudy, he reached out to several stores, and they told him someone had come directly to them and bought large amounts of their inventory for certain sets on that RTR to DOM timeframe directly from them.

If this is true, one could guess that someone, somewhere with a lot of resources, expects the needle to move on several other boxes because of this, especially because these sets have traditionally had very little interest. If you don't believe Rudy or the people he's talked to (or to play devil's advocate), maybe stores are taking the stock down because they are uncertain what will happen with the prices.

Either way, the boxes are certainly getting attention, with people uncertain about what will happen to the prices of sealed boxes from that time frame, which is interesting, to say the least.

Conclusion

So, there you have it, my friends. WOTC retires the name Kaladesh and forever cements the already popular product in a very unique way. Given the buying frenzy and the price spike, it's clear that changes like these have massive implications for the secondary market. Perhaps even beyond Kaladesh.

I find the idea that someone is buying up other sealed boxes from the same era very interesting. Comment below and let me know what you think of that. And the name change, in general. I don't think anyone has ever been offended by the word Kaladesh, and I find the change as ridiculous (maybe even more) as many of the others. Also, the fact that WOTC hired someone to find and correct this "issue" for them is hilarious. But I want to hear from you; where do you land on these things?