Yep
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Last couple of drops have been much better, hopefully it continues.
I have stopped checking stores, Pokemon Vending Machines, and online big box stores.
Costco was pretty good when they had Blooming Waters but still had to have some type of restock notification and be able to step away from work or for those luckily enough to WFH.
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Worrying about a product that is filled 99.9% junk that takes up space in my recycling ? No thanks
This is actually what Ive been doing. Luckily Im a species collector that just likes to open packs for fun, but I envision everyone that opens packs for the chase of the set, or the personal chase theyre looking for, and it has to be exhausting. Lately though I havent even been buying packs at all, and it really makes me wonder how long it will take everyone to come to terms with the current situation overall. I think its affecting more and more people daily. The FOMO got to me for little while, but it became obvious when it wasnt fun anymore.
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I haven’t bought a newly released sealed product in decades
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Absolutely not worth the valuable time and effort to me, so I do not bother. The exception: if I happen to stumble upon product in passing while running errands for other reasons like grocery shopping.
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Sitting in a queue for hours just for the product to be sold out is beyond frustrating. I don’t even look at new sets because i know my chances of opening product is slim. Modern community feels like a cancer that keeps growing.
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It’s not worth it. Life is easier when you don’t have to worry about modern product.
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I’m in a similar type of work situation as you ( I do 3 at home 2 in office) and do the same thing when I’m shopping at Walmart and Target.
I’ve had incredible luck with the PC ETBs. Anything else I want that is non-exclusive can wait until things settle.
My curse has been Prismatic. I miss most Prismatic drops on the PC website and when I do catch them I can’t get to or complete checkout. My goal is to rip until I pull any SIR, then singles. I will not pay above MSRP either. Never have I ever wanted a playmat until I saw the one releasing in the PE UPC.
Haiku:
The thing I want most
I cannot have though, I try
life goes on, cope, laugh
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Probably should be posting this in the recent purchase thread but here doesn’t hurt. I’m not entirely sure if I’m overpaying or paying market, but I like to buy the big clunky Japanese boxes that come with the storage boxes. Also I like random decks. The xnereas deck even comes with an XY base pack 
I might open up the magmortar deck, I should see what bulk comes in that deck, but anyway, I just don’t let the craziness of “investing” “scalping” “reselling” ect ect bug me. The last few times I’ve gone into random LGS where I’m not familiar with the owners though it’s been gross, either they have nothing and complain about scalpers or whatever else they deem the devil, or they have stuff but I don’t want to pay 3x more than what similar styles of release were back a few years ago ($15 CAD for a booster pack vs $5 CAD). As far as buying from English pokemon center, for some reason my IP address is banned. I can hardly upload a photo to e4, so the hell am I considered a bot? I refreshed the page twice in 10 seconds cause my internet is bad I guess. Oh well. Every now and then a sweet collector friend will hit me up with a good deal on boxes though, like JP 151 last time the reprint was, I think I was able to scoop up 5 boxes for whatever felt like a good price. I guess the moral of my giant story, I cherish the good people I’ve met along the way in my sealed journey, and I also cherish the niches that can be found along the way.
I primarily buy singles so if the shelves were full I’d still not bother.
There are promo cards that pop-up time-to-time that I want and I would prefer to go down to the grocery store and pick it up, but hasn’t been like that for a long time. So I will pay the “finders” fee on eBay.
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I buy singles 3-6 months after release unless it’s Flareon. I do hate how “on” you have to be with certain segments of the market. Fighting with bots really takes the enjoyment out of modern on release
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I just tried going to GameStop for the prismatic etb 3 hours before open and they told me it capped at around 1 AM 
and the first person in line got there at 9 pm the day before
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I used to buy an ETB or booster box here and there to open for fun, but not with all the current nonsense. The small amount of modern collecting I do lags a year or two behind what’s being released. When I’m ready to collect art rares I give it a year or two then buy a PSA 10 copy on eBay for 20 bucks 
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I share the same feelings. I have completely ignored all modern retail releases since the current boom started.
I only buy modern sealed during the down periods, and honestly even then I don’t buy much.
Even without all the drama and supply issues, I still find modern to be too overwhelming, too much to keep up with. So many new cards, chase after chase every few months.
At least with vintage my collection goals are finite: 1999-2003. It’s static and unchanging, and still enough of a collection challenge for a lifetime. Whereas with modern it feels like a treadmill that never stops.
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When I work from home I will try to get online drops but these days I will not wait in line in person. It is not worth it and people are crazy.
I bought Pokémon center etb’s this week. It was the first time I’ve interacted with retail English trading cards since I was in college in 2017.
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PE was the first set where i almost didn’t care enough to open even one booster but i’ve opened all sets and have empty wrappers since xy base ane didn’t want to break the streak. Was the first set since the start of S&M era where i skipped getting an art set of boosters tho and i’m very okay with that
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Yea I sat in the pokemon center queue for hours trying to get a box once, struck out, and can safely say ill never do that again. They also seemingly patched proxy buying from pc japan so there goes that.
Tbh i havent been engaged with pokemon at all in the last ~4 months since the market started booming. Just kinda exhausted with all of it.
Been feeling the collecting bug coming back over the last few days. Just bought a bunch of vintage for my binder. Im honestly considering dropping modern all together. The sets and art are great but i have so many incomplete binders because i simply cannot rationalize buying the newest stonk card for $400 to fill in a binder space when i otherwise wouldnt spend that money on that card. Especially when you can buy so many other things with that kinda money. Just doesnt make sense and i cant really see that changing any time soon bc the prices arent going down and other options are still way better value
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