I think its a pity that the game gets such a lot of hate from some gamers. At its core, it really is a good game despite the fact that it can cost a lot if you go down the collectors road, but that applies for many other game systems as well.
I look at a lot of the, in some cases, very expensive board games out there, especially 'none wargame' ones (no names, no pack drill), the cost of which would by you more than enough cards for hours of play. Some of the deck builders pack actually represent good value, its only when you look at older editions that you see the price escalate, some time by quite an amount, and obviously targeted at collectors.
We have around 1000 cards, none of which are later than maybe the 8th edition, and going back to 'Portal' and early stuff. One of the great things about MtG is that the core rules have, as far as I'm aware, stayed pretty stable over the years, and all the cards we have in our modest collection are compatible, regardless of the edition to which they belong.
“O Lord God, let me not be disgraced in my old days.”
'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers'