Ok guys, I’m pretty much priced out on so many cards now… A lot of the ones that used to be under $1K or around $300-$500 are now over $3K. I’ll stop buying for a while.
Just wanted to share this strong feeling and I’m sure I’m not the only one feeling it 
who cares about graded cards?
Pokemon isn’t for e4. We’re too casual
Yeah I stopped buying a couple months ago (but for different reasons), and with current market conditions don’t plan on continuing just yet. The good news though is that the TCG market, like most others, is cyclical. Attention and money circulating in the Hahbee ebbs and flows, over months and years. A quieter time will come, just need to be patient, make yourself a pina colada, lie back and ride the wave for a bit.
If you’re going after just PSA 10s, there’s a lot of underrated cards with beautiful art that have little to no pop that would be fun to chase instead 
Ie. I absolutely adore this art paired with the reverse holo and would like a copy to display on my desk
Literally just said something identical to someone, then loaded e4 and see this thread
I was okay with my end-goal chase being £2.5-3k, but then an auction ended a few months ago at 5.5k. And with all the mad growth these last few months, is that card now going to be over 10? 15? It’s a scary number and starting to just feel like I can’t even save/grind my way there
Truly cyclical; modern product has been a scalping disaster for a year+ now, so people turned their eyes back to vintage. Now the modern hype is dying off and scalpers are offloading, but vintage is seeing a massive rise. Most of us here are all too familiar with the boom the 25th anniversary brought, and it’s my belief that many (myself included) are buying now, beating the rush, before the big 30.
I imagine things will slow down again after the 30th Anni. We’ll probably have a new floor on a large number of items, but they’ll probably be “realistic” again.
Have you considered options that aren’t PSA 10?
I’d rather buy when there is a couple months of price stability, rather than buy into this rising market where it can fall just as quickly as it rose.
I have. The only non PSA 10 slabs I usually get are when the cards are very limited. But for set cards, I prefer collecting them as gem mint.. I start looking at BGS 9.5 since they are also gem mint, and also at CGC 10 but since the prototype scandal I prefer avoiding cgc slabs.. BGS 9.5 will probably do the job for few very expensive cards..
Yeah im pretty sure I made a thread on it a while ago somewhere. Currently plenty of people can still afford it, but as time moves forward just how long until they cant is the question. Ive been holding off until cards get back to where they should be. Whether it be months or years, or even decades. I can be patient.
The 2020/early 2021 market aligning with the 25th anniversary was really more of a coincidence. By the time the actual 25th anniversary came around and celebrations released, the covid boom was already fading and pretty much over. By the end of 2021, we had fusion strike which no one wanted at the time and massive reprints of all the sword and shield sets. By the fall of 2021 you could easily buy evolving skies, shining fates, chilling reign etc for less than msrp. Into 2022 and new sets like brilliant stars you could easily buy packs for $3 or less. I would argue none of the covid boom had anything to do with the pokemon IP turning 25 years old.
Say it louder for the people in the back
You mean you don’t want to pay 7k for a non-holo Gengar? There’s people out there spending more money than you. You aren’t going to let them win, are you?
Jokes aside, it’s probably a good wake up call to move away from PSA 10s in this environment. Something that shoots up to 10k could just as easily retrace down the line. We’ve seen it before with certain “low pop” cards like Emerald Milotic ex.
It’s ok to be priced out of 10s. It’s also ok to be priced back in after there’s no profit left to be made
Just buy what you can both realistically afford, and will enjoy looking at.
Think of the richest person you know. Then know that there is someone in the world that probably makes their net worth in a day. There is always a bigger fish ready to blow 7k on a holo gengar with fun money.
I’d say half of E4 forum users have an individual card “worth more” than my entire collection. Kudos to them, but it doesn’t affect my enjoyment when leafing through my binders.
I’ve seen 10s that look like 8s, and vice versa.
OP, Buy the card and grade you’ll like to look at, that will allow you to sleep soundly at night!
Being priced out of 10’s is normal. If anything Pokemon was spoiled with mint supply at reasonable prices. When you compare to vintage sports, 10’s barely exist, let alone at a reasonable price.
Honestly there is a major silver lining of 10’s being “too expensive”, as it will further establish the full condition range of a card.
BGS 9.5 has entered the chat, especially on auctions.
Can go for pretty affordable numbers.
I am both happy/sad about this.
The BGS 9.5 is an interesting grade as there are technically 4 different versions.
The
9.0
9.5
9.5
9.5
This one is a PSA 9 every day. And might slip to a PSA 8 on a bad day
Then the quad 9.5. That’s usually a solid PsA 9 with chance at PSA10
Then you have the
9.5
9.5
9.5
10
That is a solid psa10 usually
And
9.5
9.5
10
10
This is an easy PSA 10 at a discount especially when one of the 9.5 is Centering as BGS only gives a 10 on PERFECT centering which is why Pristine 10s are so rare.
But like anything grading related the above can also be completely off and a top level BGS may get a PsA 8 and a PSA 10 may get a BGS 8-9. So in the end it’s a crap shoot. lol. I guess that’s why you all recommend buy the card not the grade.
Mike
It took 19 replys
For everyone counting at home
