The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth
Open one box and you'll get $209.40 of cards, on average. A box costs $468 right now, so that means you're $258.30 short.
Cards inside
$209.40
Everything in the box, at today's prices
Box costs now
$468
TCGplayer market · from $300
Difference
-$258.30
Against you
Packs in the box
30
Each holds one rare or mythic
Box price from TCGplayer, checked September 2, 2026 · Card prices from Scryfall (TCGplayer market data) · last updated December 2, 2025
This is an average. A few very expensive cards pull it upward, so most individual boxes land below it. Opening one box is closer to a lottery ticket than an investment — the number below tells you whether the lottery is priced fairly.
$209.40 is what the cards are worth to a buyer. It is not what you would be paid for them.
Worth to a buyer
$209.40
Every card at market price
What you'd keep
$105.00
About 50% of it, sold card by card
Stuck as bulk
27%
Cards worth more by the thousand than listed
Two things separate the two figures. Fees take 10.75% commission plus 2.5% and $0.30 on every order, and postage on a single card runs about $1.10 — a bite a cheap card cannot absorb. And 27% of the box's value sits in cards below roughly $1.66, the point where a card is worth more thrown into a bulk lot at $0.04 a rare than listed, packed and posted. Selling the whole box to a buylist in one go pays less again.
Assumes one card per order, which is the cautious reading — a buyer taking several cards at once splits the fixed costs between them. Fees are TCGplayer Marketplace rates as of February 2026; bulk rates are current cash buylist.
We start from what a box costs right now. Put in the price you're actually being asked to pay and the answer updates.
-$258.30
per box, against you
You would do better buying the singles
At $468 a box you'd come up about $258.30 short on average. Buying the individual cards you want will usually cost less.
Break-even price
$209.40
Pay less than this and you're ahead on average.
Every pack has a few fixed positions — a guaranteed rare, a wildcard, a foil. Here's what each one is worth across the whole box.
Rare or mythic
The one guaranteed rare or mythic in every pack. This is where most of a box’s value sits.
Per pack
$3.15
Whole box
$94.50
$59.70 kept
Share
45%
Wildcard
An extra card of any rarity. Most of the time it is a common or uncommon, but it can be a second rare.
Per pack
$0.97
Whole box
$29.10
$14.70 kept
Share
14%
Uncommons
Three per pack. Occasionally one is worth real money.
Per pack
$0.84
Whole box
$25.20
$10.50 kept
Share
12%
Foil incl. showcase
A foil version of this slot.
Per pack
$0.83
Whole box
$24.90
$11.70 kept
Share
12%
The List
A reprint pulled from a rotating list of older cards. It replaces a common in a small share of packs.
Per pack
$0.41
Whole box
$12.30
$6.60 kept
Share
6%
Commons
The bulk of the pack. Individually worth very little.
Per pack
$0.34
Whole box
$10.20
$1.20 kept
Share
5%
Basic land
The basic land. Worth essentially nothing unless it is a full-art foil.
Per pack
$0.20
Whole box
$6.00
$0.00 kept
Share
3%
Common uncommon showcase
A special treatment — alternate frames and art that appear at a lower rate.
Per pack
$0.17
Whole box
$5.10
$0.00 kept
Share
2%
Foil basic land
A foil version of this slot.
Per pack
$0.08
Whole box
$2.40
$0.00 kept
Share
1%
The ten most valuable cards a Play Booster can produce, and roughly how often one shows up.
#1 most valuable
The One Ring
$97.62
You'll open one about 1 every 4 boxes
#2 most valuable
Sword of Feast and Famine
$39.29
You'll open one about 1 every 33 boxes
#3 most valuable
Orcish Bowmasters
$39.23
You'll open one about 1 every 17 boxes
Blightsteel Colossus
$32.52
Orcish Bowmasters
$30.79
Dolmen Gate
$25.30
Last March of the Ents
$20.56
Mithril Coat
$19.48
Nazgûl
$19.24
Sauron, the Dark Lord
$18.81
317 cards. “Copies per box” is how many of that exact card you'd expect from one box on average — under 1 means you usually won't see it at all.
| The One Ring | mythic | $83.73 | 0.27 |
| Sword of Feast and Famine | mythic | $39.29 | 0.03 |
| Orcish Bowmasters | rare | $33.17 | 0.06 |
| Blightsteel Colossus | mythic | $32.52 | 0.03 |
| Orcish Bowmasters | rare | $29.84 | 0.55 |
| Dolmen Gate | rare | $25.30 | 0.03 |
| Mithril Coat | rare | $19.48 | 0.55 |
| Last March of the Ents | mythic | $18.08 | 0.27 |
| Ketria Triome | rare | $17.68 | 0.03 |
| Last March of the Ents | mythic | $17.42 | 0.03 |
| Sea of Clouds | rare | $17.07 | 0.03 |
| Delighted Halfling | rare | $15.06 | 0.55 |
| Palantír of Orthanc | mythic | $14.96 | 0.27 |
| Elvish Champion | rare | $13.56 | 0.03 |
| Witch-king of Angmar | mythic | $10.84 | 0.01 |
| Collective Restraint | rare | $10.72 | 0.03 |
| Gandalf the White | mythic | $10.51 | 0.01 |
| Aragorn, the Uniter | mythic | $10.49 | 0.01 |
| Helm of the Host | rare | $9.99 | 0.03 |
| Sauron, the Dark Lord | mythic | $9.21 | 0.27 |
Sets released around the same time, so you can see how this one stacks up.
