Magic is returning to the Middle-Earth with The Hobbit set. There’s going to be a ton of great products released alongside it, but perhaps the most popular one will be The Hobbit Bundle.
In fact, there are a couple of different versions of it: a regular and a special one, so-called Gift Bundle. If you want to learn more about their contents, what makes them so popular, and which one is the better option, you’ve come to the right place.
Below, you’ll find just about everything there is to know about The Hobbit Bundles, so let’s get right to it and start exploring their contents.
The Hobbit Regular Bundle — Contents
In each regular version of The Hobbit Bundle, you’ll find the following items:
- 9 The Hobbit Play Boosters
- 1 promo card
- 34 basic lands
- 1 spindown life counter
- a sturdy box
If you’re a newer player, unfamiliar with some of those terms, don’t worry. We’ll cover all of them in the next sections. (Feel free to skip ahead, if you’re an enfranchised player.)
Play Boosters
These are the most common, regular Magic boosters. Each one contains 14 cards, with 1.34 rares on average.
Magic players enjoy these, as they do provide a cheap way to open some neat cards, plus they allow you to play Draft or Sealed.
A great way to get some extra value of of them is by playing a 2-player draft. You only need six Play boosters for some fun and casual games of Magic.
The nine included Play boosters make for the most of Bundle’s value.
Promo Card
Promo card is an alternate-art foil version of a card from The Hobbit set.
The card wasn’t revealed yet. Typically, it’s at least a playable Commander card, but occasionally it’s a chase rare from the set, which adds some extra value to the bundle.
Basic Lands
Basic lands are always a neat inclusion, as you can use them in any format. You get a wide variety of them, so there’s bound to be something you’ll enjoy.
Here’s the breakdown of the included 34 basics:
- 4 foil full-art Seasonal Hobbit lands (all foil)
- 10 full-art Middle-earth Journey lands (5 foil, 5 non-foil)
- 20 regular basic lands (10 foil, 10 non-foil)
All of these, even the regular ones, will be set in Middle-Earth, depicting locations and events from the Tolkien’s story.
The Box Itself
Finally, there’s the box itself which might not seem like much, if you’ve never bought a Magic Bundle before.
However, it’s a sturdy box that features amazing artwork. This one features the scene where Dwarves, Bilbo, and Gandalf fight against the Great Goblin and his army.
So, not only it’s a great storage for your cards, it also looks great on a shelf.
The Hobbit Gift Bundle — Contents
Each The Hobbit Gift Bundle contains:
- 1 The Hobbit Collector Booster
- 9 The Hobbit Play Boosters
- 1 promo card
- 34 basic lands (same distribution as regular Bundle)
- 1 spindown life counter
- a sturdy box
As you can see, it’s pretty similar to the previous Bundle, with a major upgrade, as it also contains a single Collector booster.
Collector Booster
This is Magic’s most expensive booster, which contains 5 guaranteed rares and all 14 included cards are foil and/or use alternate art. Furthermore, some specific alternate artworks can only be opened in Collector boosters.
Thus, it shouldn’t come as a big surprise, that this is also the product that’s very sought-after and unfortunately often scalped. After all, it’s really exciting to open one of these and pull an awesome alt art card.
Its addition is certainly a major draw towards The Hobbit Gift Bundle.
Other Differences
Is that the only thing that differs from the regular bundle? Almost, but not quite.
The promo card is different and so is the artwork on the storage box, which also features a special foil treatment. You’ll enjoy the scene depicting the Dwarves, Bilbo, and Gandalf feasting at Beorn’s place.
Other than that, everything is pretty much the same, including the breakdown of the basic lands. With that in mind, it’s time to answer the question:
Which The Hobbit Bundle is Better? Gift or Regular?
In short, if you care about the Collector booster, you should go for the Gift Bundle. On the other hand, if you’d prefer to save some money, and you aren’t enthusiastic about the Collector pack, the Regular Bundle will do just fine.
Value-Based Answer
Now if you want an answer purely from the value standpoint, we need to check some MSRPs:
- Play booster: $6.99
- Collector booster: $37.99
- Regular Bundle: $69.99
- Gift Bundle: $89.99
So, the Play boosters are worth around $63. That means that you’re only paying an extra $7 for all the extra stuff you get with the Play Bundle. (Basics, box, promo card.) A great deal, and a large reason why Bundles are one of the most popular Magic products.
The price difference between the two Bundles is twenty bucks, but you get an additional Collector booster for that, which would usually cost $38. This is a relevant discount, especially if you’re interested in most stuff included in the bundle.
Thus, The Hobbit Gift Bundle is a better buy.
Just note that actual prices can vary from the MSRP, so you might need to do some calculations on your own.
Explore the Middle-Earth Further!
So, that’s it for The Hobbit Bundles, at least for now. We’ll update the article when we know more about the promo cards. Make sure to check back a few weeks before the set’s release.
That’s August 14th for the main set, including the regular Bundle. However, the Gift version is released a bit later on September 5th.
Now, if you’re excited about our return to the Middle-Earth and want to know more about this set, check out the following articles:
- The Hobbit Spoilers (all currently revealed cards and more details)
- The Hobbit Box Toppers (iconic reprints included with every box)
Until next time, enjoy playing Magic and travelling there and back again.