Where is the Hatsune Miku Winter Secret Lair Drop?
On April 29th, 2024, Wizards of the Coast delighted (and for some, stunned) Magic players by announcing Secret Lair x Hatsune Miku, their latest ongoing drop series.
This drop series caused a few different takes on the Secret Lair and Universes Beyond formulas to manifest. Some people disliked that Hatsune Miku was coming to Magic: The Gathering. Others reveled in the idea.
In their article introducing Miku to the Magic world, Wizards of the Coast promised four drops featuring the prominent Vocaloid artist. Namely, they announced that these four drops would occur throughout 2024.
So far, we've gotten three. That means there is one last Miku drop left on the horizon. Based on past precedent, Wizards of the Coast is going on break for the last two weeks of December. Therefore, one big question remains:
Where In The World Is Hatsune Miku?
(Author's Note: For the lyrics of the above video, please substitute "Hatsune Miku" for "Carmen Sandiego". Please also imagine Miku singing this song.)
This article aims to focus on the whereabouts of the Hatsune Miku Secret Lair drop. Wizards of the Coast, for the most part, seems to keep promises to their consumers. Whenever they announce a product, they tend to follow through on making that product a purchasable reality.
In the announcement, we were indeed promised four Hatsune Miku drops this year, and yet, only three have seen the public eye. We were to receive one Miku drop with each seasonal superdrop event. As wintertime is now in its infancy this year, we could still get an announcement from Wizards of the Coast, but they tend to take the last two weeks off annually. This means we may not get that announcement in 2024.
Granted, the super-rare bonus copy of Snapcaster Mage from the previous drops seemed to be from the Winter drop. This still remains to be seen, though the set number crunch may confirm it, in theory.
Is This Enough To Resolve The Secret Lair Mystery?
In a word, no. This still doesn't answer the question of why we still haven't gotten word of the Winter Miku drop. However, with some precedent Wizards of the Coast has not always made their exact release dates.
We've seen multiple regions get their palettes of Collector Booster displays delayed due to processing issues before, for example. Therefore, it stands to reason that the best course of action for consumers is to simply wait for an announcement, right?
The Secret Lair Waiting Game
Wizards of the Coast has had a slightly rough history of delays in shipping Secret Lair products. This was seen most notably in the borderline-absurd processing time for the Heads I Win, Tails You Lose Commander deck. However, in Wizards' attempts to rectify the issues with shipping to demand, they nixed that system altogether in favor of a limited print run model.
It wasn't their proudest moment and it made a lot of players unhappy. Many Magic consumers are still fretting over whether the next cool Secret Lair will be claimed by scalpers who then will sell them at relatively obscene markups. It's very likely a reasonable complaint. It was also fairly justified, especially in the wake of the Magic x Marvel drop in early November.
What This May Mean For Hatsune Miku
This concern also theoretically applies to any Hatsune Miku drops to come. Magic x Hatsune Miku: Electric Entourage is still available on the Secret Lair webstore in both foil and nonfoil. However, stock for both is listed as low, and the cards in the drop aren't as sought-after or ubiquitous as the others, being Miku-themed reskins of established Magic planeswalker cards.
Still, we can't help but wonder about the next Magic x Miku drop. If Snapcaster Mage is indeed in the next drop, it's a safe bet that it will be, fittingly, "snapped up" by consumers and scalpers alike. When will Wizards of the Coast nip scalpers in the bud? It's hard to say, but wishful thinking states that they possibly could.
Miku, Lost But Singing
The whereabouts of Hatsune Miku's final Secret Lair drop collaboration are a metric that this article cannot succinctly solve. However, when and if it does arrive, Miku fans wishing to grab it should be prepared to do so as fast as they can.
Even Snapcaster Mage is seeing a reprint in Innistrad Remastered. That'll make some players less inclined to make the sojourn on the Secret Lair queue, for sure.
Even so, if you're a die-hard Hatsune Miku fan or a general Vocaloid stan, by all means, feel free to try and make the effort. At the very least, it sends a message to Wizards of the Coast telling them that this drop series was wanted.
But let's now hear from you, dear readers. Did you purchase any of the Magic x Hatsune Miku Secret Lair drops? Are you eagerly awaiting the next one, whenever it gets here? Or, are you disillusioned with the waiting game? Sound off below!
