So what are your opinions on the DDS promo card prices, just curious?
I can tell that you are knowledgeable from some of the points you stated, but I still would ultimately disagree with your assessment of graded YGO cards as a whole.
Main thing I want to reemphasize is that you greatly underestimate the difficulty of obtaining truly mint old school cards, which for this I will define as 1st Edition LOB-AST/TP Promos/Video Game Promos. PSA grading aside, to even find any particular common in mint condition from back in the day is difficult. If full sets were easily obtainable, I’d definitely pursue them, but their rather limited availability should tell you something.
A few factual footnotes/corrections:
It is true that the first few sets were reprinted by Konami after they took the rights back from Upper Deck. Despite this however, there are ways to tell the difference between a reprint unlimited card and an original Upper Deck era unlimited card; the difference lies mainly in the card stock and ink used to print which results in a very different looking card in person. As this is hard to describe (and ultimately distinguish from pictures on the internet), I would actually agree with your assessment that unlimited cards, especially PSA graded ones (as they will not be able to make the distinction), are a rather questionable buy in terms of value.
As an extension the “XXX-EN” reprints, commonly referred to as the Worldwide Editions, cannot be said to be rarer than the originals just because they only come from select promo collections, and regardless of the rarity factor are much less valuable than their “XXX-” North American counterparts.
As for Foreign Cards other than Japanese, much like Pokemon, I would agree that it is a niche market not worth getting into from a financial standpoint. I personally don’t know for sure whether or not PSA grades foreign YGO cards other than Japanese, but seeing as they don’t even grade non-English/Japanese Pokemon cards after Base Set, I’d be surprised if they offered the service for YGO.
Also the Sinister Serpent and Harpie’s Feather Duster you listed as examples of unique foreign cards are not really unique; the North American English equivalent cards are the SDD (Stairway to the Destined Duel) promos. Foreign Game Promos just tended to lag behind the English ones by a few titles, and this is an example of that. Another example would be the DDS (Dark Duel Stories) Blue Eyes/Dark Magician/ Exodia set, which instead comes from DOR (Duelist of the Roses) in Spanish.
I feel like I can go on forever about this, but the takeaway of this should not be that YGO cards aren’t worth collecting, but that people do need to do their research to determine which cards and prints are “collectable”. The cards collectors look for and the cards that players look for do not always intersect, and even when they do, to say that price increases/decreases are due solely to playability or collectability would be extremely shortsighted. A great place to start for people who want to look into YGO cards would be the YGO wikia page (http://yugioh.wikia.com), which is basically like Bulbapedia for the Pokemon collectors out there. I consider myself very knowledgeable about the subject, even more so than for Pokemon probably so if anyone has any specific questions, feel free to PM me.
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The Exodia is undervalued imo, nm copies are hard to find so it might not be for that much longer. The prices you see online for the Dark Magician and Blue-Eyes are high but appropriate.
I’ve addressed everything you reiterated in the OP but you’re wrong or have missed the point about the Spanish TFK promos.
The Spanish TFK promos may have lagged behind the English release but they are a different rarity, much harder to find and extremely sought after cards sold in a country where the game isn’t that popular relative to English speaking countries. Damaged copies sell for at least $200 because they’re just that hard to find, I don’t know how you’re gauging “uniqueness” but that’s subjective.
The LOB-EN release IS the hardest print run to find of LOB, I know this because I’ve been searching for them. They were released in Master Collection 1, that’s it. Now, you basically have 12 packs of this LOB print run per case with no set ratios. To get the same amount of boosters as 1 $60 booster box with no guarantee of what you could pull you needed to go through $720 rrp (2 cases, 12 binders per case, the master collections retailed at $30 USD back in the day) worth of product and the Master collection box set didn’t have a widespread release like LOB did which means it had a smaller print run than normal LOB did.
It’s a little piece of trivia, nothing special.
$130 on Ebay. Alittle over $100 in pocket after shipping/fees.
Most of the sought after cards are from the pre-GX era (I assume mostly due to nostalgia). There are a few-GX era cards and booster boxes that are valuable, as well as 5D, but Arc V and Zexal seem to be mostly valued based on playability.
For what it’s worth, any new Blue-Eyes, Red-Eyes or Dark Magician cards seem to do well in PSA 10. It’s not just the ones from LOB/MRD or the early starter decks.
This is the type of card that I’m saying people shouldn’t buy, it’s a $1 bulk holo that came out 3 years ago. Finding raw copies is pretty easy and they’d have a very good chance of being graded a 10.
It was a Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon Secret Rare. And it’s not as easy to get PSA-10’s on Yugioh cards as people think. The cards that I sent in I looked over very carefully. Any scratches and you automatically get a NM-8 as did one of my Exodia Limbs from PGL2.
Still, the card isn’t worth that much. Maybe if it was the original print of REDMD that price is justified but this was the 4th time the card was reprinted.
Gold rares are very easy to damage compared to normal cards, I’m not suprised.
I thought this would be interesting to post.
If you read the comments you can see the reaction of the average person in the Yu-Gi-Oh! playerbase when it comes to graded cards.
It’s just not widely accepted or known in the hobby. I wouldn’t be suprised if this one YouTuber is able to inject interest for cards being graded and a demand for them into the playerbase. I think this backlash illustrates the points I made earlier.
Maybe you guys would like to buy something but that’s not the reason it’s here, this isn’t my channel. I feel that some stuff is reasonably priced, (maybe see if you can negotiate on the Red-Eyes Metal Dragon because that’s genuinely something that’s hard to find in good condition) but some things just aren’t. E.g.: Asking $300 for an Unl LOB Blue-Eyes, even though it’s graded PSA 10, is insanity when it’s a $10 or less card nm/m raw (don’t rush to buy them out, they’re not selling at PSA 10s online) with nothing to indicate what print run it’s actually from and all print runs without a different set code being considered equally worthless.
Just curious, is there a particular reason why you’re so opposed to PSA Yugioh cards? I don’t see what the problem is…
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I’m not opposed to them, I’m just more shocked that people are paying so much for something that has very little value to the active community. Not necessarily even competitive players but to collectors, casuals and normies.
If I had the time, money and access to this niche market I have a huge list of cards I’d have graded myself… Part of me sees how easy it would be to completely rip off collectors that come from Pokemon, MtG or Sports Cards and I just want to say that you should be careful with what you’re buying.
Compared to Pokemon these cards are selling at ridiculously high prices compared to raw copies and the game just doesn’t have mass appeal like Pokemon. After looking at Pokemon’s market for the last 2 years and comparing it to one I’ve been entrenched in for 5 what’s painfully clear is that Yu-Gi-Oh! graded cards are a minuscule, starved niche of a seller’s market.
If I lived in the US I’d be flooding eBay with PSA 9 or 10 grades of $1-$5 cards.
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Fair enough. Some do go for crazy amounts, but if that’s what someone is willing to pay for the card, then there’s not much you can do to change that. Also, like you said, there isn’t really a big market for PSA graded Yugioh cards (although that has been increasing in recent years) so maybe that also plays into the $1-$5 cards selling for much more in PSA 10. It’s hard to gauge a price for some of the cards because not many are being graded and sold, so there isn’t always a price point to use when listing. This reminds me, I had a PSA 10 Yugioh card for sale a year ago, I think it cost me $20 raw, and I listed it for $150 OBO. Someone messaged me and called me an idiot for listing it at that price (lol), and they went on a huge rant about why PSA graded Yugioh cards were dumb. I find it interesting how some of these Yugioh players act regarding the whole PSA grading thing lmao.
Basically, in Yu-Gi-Oh! everyone is a wannabe vendor. People get vicious when someone overprices something.
Before i got back in to pokemon i played yugioh (+/- 10 years) and i must say that the number of collectors (talking here in BE) is almost nihil… some cards are 50/60 EUR or higher, then hit the banlist, prices drop and nobody gives a crap anymore.
i bet 99% here where i used to play never heard of PSA grading before, so the market is much much smaller imo
The issue I have with yu-gi-oh is they mass produce the crap out of their cards and have since day 1.
You’re wrong here.
Yes. YGO has a quiet big unlimited print run, but that’s all due to YGO being a players game. Cards never go out of rotation, rarely cards get banned and promo’s are often reprinted in regular sets to make them available for everybody.
I don’t wanna go type all I did already but: www.elitefourum.com/t/ebay-garbage/10286/3826
I have nothing against grading YGO cards. Some cards are worth it, some cards are not. If you wanna grade your totally beaten up Pikachu from Base Set which you kept in your wallet that’s fine. If you wanna grade the Blue Eyes White Dragon you loved playing years ago and keep it as a memory well protected in a PSA case, well that’s fine too. But due to YGO cards, no matter how old, are still legal in play there is no reason to really go crazy and invest into graded YGO.
What about the Retro Pack 1 series only distributed in Europe? Is it considered mass produced? I personally have been searching for Cyber Harpie Lady since I ever heard of the set (2 years ago) and would pay a lot for it today, graded or ungraded. Additionally, I’ve seen prices for most of the secret rares and some of the ultra rares of that set skyrocket.
Ah… So much reading…
I will try read all later, but I didn’t like the initial point about it being useless and pointless to grade.
Just because you don’t appreciate the authenticity and fact one buys into graded cards doesn’t mean you have to get upset over it.
I personally don’t really care for graded cards much myself… But its what collectors are beginning to want more I’m 2017. Yugioh is almost 20 years old now!! it’s not easy to get older popular pieces these days. 20 years is a long time.
Grading also helps stop alot of condition arguments when selling cards as the condition is static…some people like the look as well, the safety and security of this.
Your entitled to your opinion, if you don’t want to buy into graded you can chose to do so. But don’t call everyone else out because the market is changing.
Having lived in Hong Kong, Japan and travelled Taiwan. I’ve seen first hand how fucking terrible Japanese yugioh cards are handled / played / distributed in Asia. I’m not an expert on yugioh but I have travelled and met alot of card dealers over 10+ years.
It is not easy to just buy a $5 card and turn it into a 10, the far majority of yugioh cards seem to be utterly played usually, so if older key pieces get 10s, I think there should be a premium on the scarcity / damage profound throughout Asia.
The graded market is fairly newish for yugiph, the prices are a little all over the place, I think it needs a little time to settle. The sellers overpricing won’t last… So don’t worry about them.
I agree maybe don’t buy so much low end pieces, which are more common or printed heavily. I only recently started grading yugioh, and not much, but I focus on just what I’ve tracked to be popular, and difficult to find in mint condition. Key rarer pieces / popular characters or foreign exclusive promos only.
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I feel like you haven’t read the OP.
Also… OCG Yu-Gi-Oh! Has almost no real value for Western collectors. Unless they’re old Tournament promos nobody wants the new stuff because almost everything except a handful of cards gets reprinted in the English game. There’s no exclusivity for owning them. People might pay for the Volume sets but anything newer than that and you’re not really going to get much.
There’s only a few cards like ultimate BLS, secret Korean BLS, secret Korean Chaos Sorcerer that people actively look for but they want raw copies so they can play with them in Goat (essentially Legacy) format.