What's Going On With Secret Lairs?

Secret Cash Stash

MagicCon: Atlanta has brought a metric ton of Magic-related news. While some of it’s good, more of it is questionable, at best. Still, it introduces plenty of new cards and ideas for next year. 

Before venturing too deeply into 2026 and Universes Beyond sets, let’s talk about the other news out of Atlanta: the Secret Lair drops.

Read It, Boy

We've already seen several characters introduced as Magic cards. Lara Croft, most of the Sonic cast, a bunch of the Avengers, the list goes on. Price-wise, there have been a few surprises. From singular releases, Lara Croft, Tomb Raider went down in overall price but still holds a rather expensive pickup point. The cast of Sonic has fallen in value but will likely rebound in 1-2 years as people stop hunting down the Chaos Emeralds. As for the Avengers, their performance has been mixed, as several cards have fallen in value, but they’re beginning to slowly bounce back.

With all of that in mind, we’re getting more additions from PlayStation-owned franchises. Between God of War, The Last of Us, Uncharted, Horizon: Into the Forbidden West, and Ghost of Tsushima, we’ll see at least one new mechanically unique legend, as well as a reprint, renamed or otherwise. There are winners and losers among them, but I’m sure that the popularity of the IPs will reflect their prices. 

As it stands, I get a feeling that the rebooted Kratos, Stoic Father, and Joel, Resolute Survivor, will take the mantle of being the most expensive in the long run.

Evil Seems To Live Forever

On a different note, and with a twist I didn’t expect, the next Secret Lair we’ll discuss is a collaboration with Iron Maiden. This is a really cool concept for cards, outside of the fact that it’s been done already as proxies. Which, in this case, is where the price association correlates. These aren’t worth anything other than the novelty of someone who may appreciate them. 

This does flip into a rather lucrative deal with Iron Maiden: Eddie Unchained. Eddie the Judge and Eddie, Lord of Light are both highlights from the entire Secret Scare Superdrop. Both cards have a pronounced track record of price points and releases. Bruvac the Grandiloquent hasn’t had a Secret Lair treatment yet, but given its already high price, I would expect it to be in a 10-15% range above the current market rate. As for the Nekusar, the Mindrazer with a previous, more unique treatment, this new variant will land in the worst-case scenario at around $25. 

Either way, the entire Iron Maiden: Eddie Unchained drop is a rather packed deal with a decent chance of increasing value further down the line.

Contact NSA if It Talks Back

1998 was a much simpler time for Magic. It was the year of Exodus, Stronghold, and Unglued. It was also the year that a new Labub... I mean, Furby hit the market. Why is this important? It’s not. But 27 years later, Magic is taking a stab at representing more toys made by Hasbro. With the Secret Scare Superdrop, we have not one, but three of them. All of the products have a different approach on their connection to Magic via new art, but thankfully, no new cards. All of the Furby cards are reprints of previously seen spells and creatures. 

Let me tell you right away that I don’t believe that any of these cards will break the bank or leave a lasting impact. All of the chosen cards for this crossover are rather low in price to begin with and will keep decreasing in value over time. I’d guess that picking up individual cards rather than the entire drops will be a more lucrative process for anybody interested. Sol Ring, as well as Umbris, Fear Manifest, are likely to be the standouts from the 15 cards. However, even these won’t be breaking the $15 mark within weeks of release.

Trick or Treat

The above drops are certainly unique, but ultimately uninspiring. They won’t be a great financial option in the long term, but will fade in and out of interest over time. At this point, I’d recommend just picking up individual cards if needed or wanted, and avoiding the entire drops. There will be more drops further down the line with the same flavor but different IP, of course. If it’s not going to be Furby and God of War, it’ll be some other Hasbro toy or other Video Game. 

New Secret Lair releases come and go without much notice. Often, I struggle to find anything interesting or mechanically unique to buy into. What feels like a lifetime ago, Secret Lairs used to be motivated by creating unique art to reprint cards for the collectors among us. There was no pressure to acquire, queue, and struggle against shaky website infrastructures. However, once unique cards started being printed, suddenly the idea behind the product shifted.

More and more legendary characters from other IPs are being printed as unique cards, which has me turning my head and asking, “Do I need or even want this for any deck?” The answer is becoming a more resounding no, with more and more releases driving me away from following any drop, Secret Lair or otherwise.

In the end, adjust your personal filter for this kind of product, get ready for more crossovers, and hold on tight. 

Join me again next time as we bend over backward for Nickelodeon.

Read More:

Takeaways From the Spider-Man Crash