Oh, man. I thought this thread was dead a long time ago.
Okay, Pros and Cons time:
Pros:
A) Newbies don't have them and for the most part can't get them. Reprints would offer a chance to get some prestige.
B) Reprints are entirely viable if WOTC really wanted to do it.
C) Not all reprints have to be Power 9. There are many cards that are on the Reprint Policy just because but would be balanced AND interesting even in the current environment.
D) Seeing a print of a card with the current wording style, correct symbols, and new flavor text is just so cool.
E) What does WotC have to lose with the casual player? We play anything pretty much, right? There's no serious balance issues because for the most part, we follow the rules in the books alone and we can turn down playing someone if we want to for any reason at all.
Cons:
A) I am a partial collector, I keep one of everything I can get my hands on and don't play with it. From that perspective, it would totally suck to pay 250 for a Black Lotus and watch some 13 or 14 year-old pull one out of pack any time afterward.
B) This is a CCG-- Collectible Card Game. How many people out there have complete sets of any other card games out there? Why are rares so much fun to pull? Because they are RARE! (It only sucks when the rare sucks. I pulled 3 Parallax Inhibitors out of one box of Nemesis. You know how many Fading cards I use on a regular basis? 2- Tangle Wire and Skyshroud Ridgeback.)
C) Do we really want to have any amount people suddenly running around with decks made of Moxes and Lotuses and Time Walks and Timetwisters and playing one-sided deck masturbation because they can? Does the casual player really want to have to deal with Mr./Mrs. Money-bags running around and saying, "Hey, I got my Type 1 Bargain/Donate/Stroke/Replenish deck! Wanna use your Thallid/Goblin/Avatar against it?" It's bad enough in the stores where I used to play as it is.
D) Are people wanting the Power 9 for fun? Or is it just prestige? Is it the name? Let me ask this: How broken is Time Spiral? Diminishing Returns? Mox Diamond? Jeweled Amulet? Time Warp?
Time Spiral- Yes. Even though it's one shot use, it's free and High Tide along with MoM just ruined it totally. Some prestige value.
Diminishing Returns- Not broken, bad name. Would have been hugely more popular with a Time name and I think people would have realized THIS IS NOT A BAD CARD!
Mox Diamond- Nope, it's got the Mox label but it's balanced. Great if the deck is designed to use it's aid. And it's got a high value. Lots of prestige value too. People really want to get ahold of these.
Jeweled Amulet- This is a Mox in disguise with the words: "Every other turn tap a land you control.
T: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool. Jeweled Amulet does not untap during your next untap step." Now change the name to Mox Prism. This card would have been more popular, still not the best, but more popular.
Time Warp- Still good. Has the Time word in it. I haven't seen one of these not sell on eBay yet (trust me, I'm trying to get one!).
These are all rehashed ideas, some are balanced, some aren't, but all with a name connection.
But it's the prestige I think that people truly seek out the Power 9 and such. Does a deck of Moxes and Lotuses really add to the game's fun factor when it could potentially cut the speed of the game to a fraction of what it could be? Is the game fun when combo players use these to fuel insane mixes which are more like playing solitaire?
Reprinting the P9 is all about prestige and power to the lucky few who get them, IMO. Can you honestly say that if you had one, you would not be tempted to try to use them to your advantage in a way to throw out fast creatures or insane combos? That's all they're used for anyway. To speed up the game.
The Power 9 should not be reprinted, but that doesn't mean that all the old rares should suffer the same fate. What is so wrong about Raging River? It's pretty fun actually.
If anything, the P9 should be rehashed in a new and interesting way similar to the original, but with the same cool and flavorful names.