Hey guys, anyone else been purchasing a lot of Japanese singles. I really feel like they are super undervalued and will soon see a real spike. The disparities between English and Japanese just seem to high to continue on this trend. I know English always going for a premium but the price gap seems insane. I know ultra modern Japanese has skyrocketed for singles but vintage has been very low prices and I’m just predicting a spike soon. Cards right now NM for less than $10 usd will soon hit way higher. I don’t expect crazy Covid numbers or English prices but I could see them being triple the price. What you guys think?
Any market trends for vintage Japanese should have already been on the move during the Covid era of collecting. Now that we are past that era, I don’t see much movement for cards that have been out for 25 years already.
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Just because something is cheap, doesn’t mean that it will spike in value. There are reasons why vintage Japanese holos are cheap, and ignorance of the collector base is not really it.
There are many factors at play, but especially: Supply & Demand
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Yeah I’ve been buying Japanese DP holos for a while. If they’re under $10 or even $5 I’m comfortable with the price. Also, I don’t see people buzzing about it, unlike modern.
I am sure they’ll go up one day. But I am setting my expectations low.
I have been buying vintage Japanese because I think it’s great value. You can get a lot of vintage holos in PSA 9 condition for ~$50. I agree with the sentiment that they are cheap for what they are and I also agree that the price gap between English and Japanese doesn’t make sense (at least from my point of view). However, that doesn’t necessarily mean any massive growth is imminent. You and I see value there, but the overall market may not. Outside of Base Set (which is the true puzzler here imo), JP vintage sets had 1 holo per pack. Boxes were 60 packs, so that’s 60 holos from every booster box. There’s a lot of vintage JP cards, which are likely in overall better condition than the average WotC card (this is conjecture). I could go on to list a million possibilities as to why things are the way they are, but the short answer is that there is lots of vintage JP singles, the greater market is English, and there’s more interest in English vintage (at least relative to the supply).
Granted, I think it’s likely that JP vintage cards will increase in price over the years. I can’t really say when, or by how much, but in my opinion, I don’t think they will ever be more expensive than English 1st Edition. However, I would take a Japanese holo over an unlimited English holo any day.
That’s just me, though. I think people are sleeping on JP vintage, but I’m not holding my breath for any crazy price spikes. I just think they’re great cards for good prices.
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You’re making a huge, sweeping statement here… that’s mostly wrong. What eras are you talking about? What sets inside those eras?
There’s definitely cards still overlooked that may see good growth for being 10/15 years old but that chance of “hidden potential” gets slimmer every day
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gotta be more specific on which cards/eras/sets/etc. Yes, a lot of Japanese cards are cheap, but they may not be undervalued. There are price differences for the “same” cards between English and Japanese, but that doesnt mean one is under/overvalued relative to the other.
I’m always buying Japanese singles because I live in Japan and it’s my primary collection focus… but I would be amazed if there is a huge price spike any time soon (unless there’s a market wide spike due to some unforeseen event such as happened in 2020 and Japanese singles get dragged with the rising market prices)
When it comes to graded cards, grading in Japan is in its infancy - there are a LOT of raw cards waiting to be graded. If anything I can see prices coming down for many graded set holos over the next few years as the supply grows and grows.
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I started with JP cards, so for me, vintage holos are a nice buy ATM. BUT, they won’t draw what WotC will… So…
I buy a lot of jp singles but they don’t usually command the same price as English. They have better value IMO and are more visually pleasing to my eye. However, I’m not buying them with the expectation of a spike, I’m just enjoying the ride.
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I don’t see collecting as an investment, so it’s just good for me as I can get the cards I want for my collection cheaper.
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Not for me. For vintage cards like ex and gold stars, Japanese versions are worth only 30% of their English versions. Value aside, I prefer my cards’ text to be in English too.
I’ve collected a few here and there the past while. I tend to collect ones that are only in Japanese or only in a certain style compared to English. For example, some holos are only available in Japanese compared to English for some old set cards. In addition, I like Japanese exclusive sets/cards, and so I like collecting those as well.
As far as value goes, they feel like a good value, but the market seems to still discount them quite heavily still for the most part. So I think if you’re more interested in the artwork and things, most Japanese cards are a collectors dream compared to many English cards now.
Japanese holos did see a decent spike during the COVID boom and then proceeded to settle just like everything else.
We could then apply that same logic to English WOTC, and I don’t think you would find many people who would agree that English WOTC isn’t going to move anymore just because it has been out for two-and-a-half decades.
I am absolutely not saying that vintage Japanese holos are going to be in for some huge spike soon, but this logic is pretty faulty.
What I will say is that the value you get for vintage Japanese holos is pretty insane right now, especially compared to what it was during the late 2020/early 2021 boom.
Japanese vintage holos are significantly more common than English. They are easier to grade. And quite frankly, they are not as popular. BUT, I actually think they look nicer, they are older (if you are into that sort of thing) and I think there is absolutely value and opportunity there. Does that mean they are going to stonk? No, but I think writing off Japanese vintage holos altogether is pretty myopic.
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Ive never been into them because i cant read them and didnt collect them as a kid. However, all the japanese sets that did not have english counterparts are very cool to me. Like the vs latios and latias are epic. But people have already sorta realized that and theyre priced that way
See, those are more niche (and I love them). I’m talking more about the old back Japanese holos.
And for what it’s worth, I actually still think the VS sets have room to grow. A lot of those cards in PSA 10 are very low right now, in my opinion.
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Also do not forget the Japanese old back Promos. Most of them are so severely underrated due to lack of awareness and they sit at a great price point. Be the GB promos, Natta Wake, ANA promos, CoroCoro magazine stuff, everything has a great release history but just get brushed under the carpet because the other set holos are so accessible and cheap.
Japanese old back promos make for some very fulfilling collection goals and can also be challenging, if you are factoring condition.
Cheers!
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Yes, I’ve been buying a lot of e-series holos from expedition, skyridge, aquapolis because the art is amazing and JPN versions are a quarter of the price in PSA 10
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They look really cool and are way more affordable to a budget collector like me. So I regularly buy japanese, and I hope they’ll never stonk lol.
However my heart still thinks that wotc english/italian/french/whatever is the real deal, and if I really care about one card I save money and buy english/italian.
Nostalgy is a key element here, and being able to read the card is important to many.
TLDR: Brain says japanese, but heart says English
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Me too. Preferred English text on my cards. To be able to read the text on the cards is a big deal to me. I know no Japanese. This is why I skipped most of the Japanese modern cards, including Moonbreon!!! My brain is now urging me to try and pull it now. 
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