I think that has always been a thought for many of those people that only collected sports cards (or any single theme collector). It was easy to understand why folks would fork out big bucks for Mantle, Ruth, Wagner, etc, but how would anyone pay so much for Star Wars, Garbage Pail, Wacky Packages, etc?
All collectibles have their own white whale type items and typically only those who collect truly understand.
One of my favorite scenes from a movie called Brewster's Millions is when Brewster purchases a rare stamp and uses it to mail a postcard. I guess that is what it might be like for someone to use a Black Lotus card in a game (without protecting it, of course).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRWyQELLODg