Yesterday afternoon, a copy of the Spectral Tiger card from the WoW TCG sold on eBay for the astonishing price of $2000 (the starting bid was $100). Why so much? Well, for one thing, it's a loot card -- it gives you access, via a scratch-off code, to an in-game mount that you can't get any other way, called (surprise) the Spectral Tiger. It's available in both normal (60%) and epic (100%) speed, and it looks pretty sweet. Furthermore, the TCG set of which it is a part, Fires of Outland, has not been released yet; it debuts on August 22nd. This card was apparently obtained at pre-release event. Still, two grand is a lot of money; that would buy you over 11 years of game time, or (in my preferred money visualization scheme) 150 pounds of really good coffee.
We gave away this very same mount not long ago (don't say WoW Insider never gave you anything) -- a $2000 value, apparently! But if you're not our lucky winner, and you simply must have a translucent cat to ride on, there are still a few more going on eBay.
[thanks, Jacckk of Perenolde]

















Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
8-18-2007 @ 9:58AM
Zuty said...
It doesn't surprise me that this went for that much.
I sold my Turtle Mount card for $450 at release and that mount goes 0% faster, So I was expecting more then double of the Turtle for the Tiger.
I will be buying a couple of boxes since I actually play, but if I get a Tiger I am using it.
~Zuty
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8-18-2007 @ 10:00AM
TonyMotorola said...
Insane, IMO.
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8-18-2007 @ 10:17AM
bendak said...
Haha, what an idiot. Once the TCG has been out for a couple mounts these will be relatively common on ebay and you'll likely be able to pick it up for $100. Sort of like how I've seen the turtle mount go for as low as $60 these days, yet people were dropping 500 bones on them when they came out.
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8-18-2007 @ 10:20AM
CVJ said...
Congrats to the lucky guy who sold it and to the lucky winner I hope they interview you on CNN so America can mock you :)
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8-18-2007 @ 10:40AM
Jack Kelly said...
They simply HAD to have it before everyone else. Heck, the regular release will be in just THREE days.
I expected it to go for 500+ but I guess what's money for that which has no life?
Buyers remorse will set in once the initial thrill of having the other addicted on his/her realm oooooh and ahhhh is over (most likely in a day or so).
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8-18-2007 @ 11:05AM
Dandy said...
If he's got money fallin out of his butt he should spend it howeva makes him happy. Life short, everyone ends up dead anyway, might as well be happy.
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8-18-2007 @ 12:03PM
SK said...
Proof positive that people have more money than brains.
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8-18-2007 @ 12:42PM
TotalBiscuit said...
Some fantastic jealousy going down in these comments :P If you had $2000 just knocking around that you could waste on a TCG card then I doubt you'd care what people thought of you :P
TB.
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8-18-2007 @ 1:51PM
Paw said...
I can't believe how much money someone would be willing to spend on such a ridiculous thing. That is actually worse than spending 4 times the price of a video game console during the first holiday season it has been released. I make in excess of $200k per year, and I am mulling over replacing my perfectly functioning, albeit 6 years old, 19" CRT with a $600 28" widescreen LCD. People with moderate wealth don't throw money away on useless garbage, and rich people likely aren't shopping eBay.
And for those who say if he has that kind of money and wants to blow it on that to make himself happy, I say you may have no idea what you are talking about. Not everyone who would drop this kind of money on a vanity piece is wealthy or otherwise well off. My brother, love him as I do, is dirt poor, yet he would be the first person to see this article as a win/win. He would, and has in the past, taken out cash advances on his credit cards, at 22.5% APR to make such foolish purchases. My brother is an idiot, and so may this happy buyer be. The only person who won was the guy who made $2k off the deal.
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8-18-2007 @ 2:07PM
st0rmy1 said...
It's called status and like it or not, status comes at a price, a price some are willing to pay for.
It's certainly funny how easily such topics can provoke the WoW community into a jealous frenzy, passing judgement left and right, even though they know at the heart of the matter it has no impact on them at all. Sad, sad indeed, not very surprising however.
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8-18-2007 @ 3:49PM
Kunal said...
So yeah, i've never owned a set before, but is this card similar to way loot works in game? Which is, every fires of Outland set is not guaranteed to have this card?
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8-18-2007 @ 4:11PM
CVJ said...
To all the people who think we posted out of jealousy you are wrong well in regards to my comments. 2K is a small hit to my savings but that is my savings. Odds are this fool did it with a credit cash advance because he lost his grip on reality.
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8-18-2007 @ 10:41PM
Birthmark said...
If the money went to a charity then cool. Since he spent that much money on a WoW trading card for a mount... I have to say his priorities are messed up.
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8-18-2007 @ 11:13PM
Nails said...
here's someone who's riding one
http://armory.worldofwarcraft.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Illidan&n=Valsing
i've seen others on the armory who have them also.
right when they were announced, they were selling for around $350 Buy It Now on eBay
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8-19-2007 @ 11:34AM
Dass said...
What happened after:
Dad: what the hell son why did you use my credit card on eBay?
Kid: Oh #$%%^....
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8-19-2007 @ 4:41PM
bill gates said...
maybe they should just buy a gun too and just go ahead and get it over with
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8-19-2007 @ 10:16PM
Ugkul said...
Funny I can't see the auction anymore. A search on completed auctions seems that most of the tigers are going for about US$450. Still hefty, but not $2k.
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8-20-2007 @ 5:18AM
eclipsaa said...
Now this is just stupid, for one even half that ammount count have bought enough boxs that your deffently going to get more then one of those tigers. Makes me wonder if the seller just didnt buy it with another account to get price up or to make it seem "high priced" for the foolish to think that paying 500 dollers is "cheap"
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8-20-2007 @ 5:31AM
Barret said...
Hi Eliah,
I am one of the EBay sellers who has selled this card for 1200$.
My bid was stollen by a hacker who has hacked the EBay account of an innocent citizen. He bids over 1000$ because the account (and also the money with Paypal) wasn't him.
This is in course of investigation by EBay.
More important, it seems that all other bids over 500$ for the same article have been made by pirates after hacking some EBay accounts.
In fact, regarding it is stollen money (virtualy) we can say that this card was not sold for this price.
Believe me, I have loose my card and my money. Of course I'm not the one who sold it for 2000$ (as in your article) but maybe the second or third price on the earth : 1200$
And my card and some other on EBay were stollen by this hacker. So I'm sure the card you are talking about in your article was also stollen one.
Eliah, may it be able you contact me.
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8-27-2007 @ 1:38AM
Dave said...
It seems my auction had a lot of buzz surrounding it and I had no clue. OK so here is the thing - the dude who bid on the item claimed his credit card was stolen - after I receive and email from him asking for the code on the card and since the money had cleared with paypal I foolishly sent him the code. Then I noticed Paypal reverses the transaction Ok, here is where I am hoping someone can help me. I know the mount code has been used and is on the Warsong server I do not know any account info on that person though. Who can I talk to find out this info or someone who might better assist me.
thanks.
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