Can anyone relate with this all or nothing mental issue?

Collecting
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With the market approaching absurd numbers, it’s becoming more and more tempting to liquidate some 6 figure cards.

I am a mew species collector and until now I managed to hold on because i simply love these cards. What I did initially was part simply from non mew cards which was a nice liquidity boost, then i decided to part from every mew I have twice. All of this brought in maybe 70k$ which is alot of money but the core mew collection approached 7 figures and i don’t know what to do.

In my mind, if i part from a single mew, it’s like i parted from all of them. If i sell one, it’s like, what stops me from selling the rest? Having sold none so far is what keeps the inhibition intact.

My child is now 2 years old. My initial plan was to hold on until somewhere between 18-25 years old and let them decide what they want to do with it, keep, sell, whatever. My feeling is that in such timeframe it’s going to be binary. They will be worth significantly more or significantly less than today and part of me feels irresponsible to roll the dice.

But on the other hand i feel like if I sell, i am robbing something away which was supossed to be for my kid. That’s how i started this mew collection to begin with, it was supossed to be passed down in my mind so hence conflicted.

Can anyone relate/advise?

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Keep the best one and sell the rest

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I can’t relate to the kid part of the equation, but I can absolutely relate to being at a crossroads in this market. I’ve also been mulling over the possibility of selling out, because at current valuations I could liquidate and use the money to get seriously ahead in life.

It’s hard to pull the trigger though, because it was never, ever about money to me in the first place. I just really wanted the cards, ever since I was a kid. Additionally, I believed in their long-term growth as well. But in this market, long-term growth may already be baked in.

It’s a lot to consider, so I understand your plight.

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my dad worked in finance and he had this lovely shirt that said: “to speculate is human, but to hedge is divine”

meaning, if i were you I would hedge partly. sell some and keep some. what, how much, and when exactly are specifics only you can research, but the main idea here is to reduce some of the risk and exposure

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My steak too juicy lobster too buttery

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100% same position with my Raichus. Some have gone up 30x or more what I paid even a couple years ago.

Like you selling one will likely mean sell the lot but I was considering just downgrading to 7/8’s and cashing in on the valuable ones.

But I set myself a no sale in 2026 rule. I will look again in 2027. I keep saying the market can’t keep doing this but it keeps doing it.

I’d end up with just sentimental ones. I have a 4 year old, it doesn’t massively factor in because I don’t expect him to love Raichu or pokemon. But selling would give him a better life because it’s cash for things.

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Tomorrow is not promised and your kid does not care, you do. Give yourself a shake and do what is best overall for your family and no harm in keeping 1 or 2 you truly have an attachment to.

Sorry to seem blunt but this whole thing I hear “my kid my kids” is an excuse and cover for your own anxiety, the kids dont give a d*** my friend, you do.

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Cannot relate/advise, but, my only visceral response to this is, tomorrow is not promised today. We’re all different, BUT, if I had that much money in plastic, childhood memories or not, I’m absolutely selling. Selling before more, who are no doubt sitting on this exact thought, sell, and sell, and sell.

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I feel like the more practical question is would selling significantly change your life. If you are already wealthy, have more than enough saved and have still been buying cards, what would you use the money for?

if it’s for a cash reserve I understand but if you are the type to enjoy working and don’t want to retire early, what actual benefit is there? I think I’d rather keep or downgrade my grades in my collection than to sell it all just cuz it’s worth more unless I will have a significantly different peace of mind.

but I also don’t have a kid so I feel like I have more time to decide how things look later.

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I wish my plastic was 7 figures. If you sell now, you will always be grateful to Pokémon for changing your life. Might not be the case if you wait.

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I think you have 2 things to analyze here, the collection and the money.

Is your collection currently at any kind of objective level of completion? If yes, you have every single Mew ever released in PSA 10 then I definitely agree that selling one will lead to you selling them all.

If not, and you just have say 13 of your favourite Mew’s that you’ve managed to accumulate over time, then you have to ask yourself if it would really feel any different to cut down to your top 3 for example.

The other aspect of a partial collection, is if you’re considering the non-selling route, then think about how realistic it is at this point that you could ever get your collection to your desired level of completion - are you content for it to remain ‘unfinished’?

As to the money, I would recommend to not only consider it in dollar amount, but also what the amount would do for your life.

If this was someone who for selling their collection would open up otherwise unattainable doors like buying a house, or going back to school for a career change I would fully recommend it.

Forgive me if I’m wrong, but I think I’ve seen other posts of yours where you mentioned your watch collection etc, and I assume you’re already rich af. If this is the case, and selling the collection would just be numbers in the bank rather than a significant life upgrade, then I would recommend to hold on.

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If my father had a million dollars worth of cards when I was growing up and decided to not sell them and make my family’s life better, I would have been inconsolably angry. In my opinion, that shows extreme selfishness if your family’s life could be meaningfully improved by your sacrifice. I think that reflects my childhood, though. If you’re already well-off, then the pressure should be substantially less because the added money won’t change their day-to-day life dramatically.

If you’re not wealthy or well-off → Sell at least some of your cards; you are being greedy and selfish.

If you’re already wealthy or reasonably well-off → Do what you want. More money won’t necessarily improve your family’s life at this moment.

Given your other posts about crypto, buying watches, etc., I’m going to assume that you have plenty of money to take care of your family. So in that case, do what you want to do with your collection.

Regarding the all or nothing issue, it’s easier to sell everything when you’re no longer “complete” if you’re a completionist. There are a lot of e4 members who sold it all and never came back. Personally, I will never sell it all. There are many cards that I would like to keep for sentimental reasons.

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I’ll just speak to the kid piece. Or try anyway. I was lucky enough to be able to collect with my son from age about 5-12ish when we could go to Target and pick up product, buy him and my nieces booster boxes to break during family get togethers, and open current product. He would trade, sometimes getting ripped off by older kids, and we worked through some life lessons and there were many Christmas’ I helped rectify his bad trades, give him advent calendar packs to open, help him with supplies like top loaders and binders, etc. Building core memories around the cards, which he loved for a good 7 years. Some of his friends shared his collecting journey with him. I participated but let him guide what we collected together.

Shortly after he completed a masterful few binders of cards he loved, including cards before his time I added for him that he liked, he basically lost interest. I took his binders and cards and stored them away. I stashed extra booster boxes from what he opened with his cousins and have not touched them. I gave him slabs from my grading forays and he kept them in a carry case. Also stored away.

Recently he picked out some slabs he was ok selling and bought his first car with that money. Everything else is being held for him. He knows I’ve continued collecting, but he’s not interested except to say it was because of him that I started and he’s right. I’d have just stuck to the video games which of course he and I played. I also reminded him I only have one S/M Love Birds card because he said he didn’t like the card so I only bought and graded one for myself!

He got to show his own interest, build his own collection, and I got to be Santa to him and my nieces. I have no idea where the cards I own stand in his memories. But I did pick out slabs that are already very expensive to give to him and my nieces that I think they’ll like and won’t be able to afford for at least a while. They are now 1/1 in my collection, no doubles—Crystal Lugia, Karen’s Umbreon, Love Birds, etc. Expensive, iconic, mostly vintage. They are getting those cards, also all the sealed product to hopefully open together again someday. Or not, up to them. Not sure when to transfer the cards to them, but I’m not changing my mind or selling any of them no matter how high they go. I have some semi grails I fully expect to sell for life enrichment. I also have about 150 cards that are special to me that I won’t sell. Some very expensive, some not as much. My wife or son can decide what to do with them when the time comes. All the rest of the cards?? Man you got me. Do my best to sell when the time is right I guess. The beauty is slabs take up very little space. The bad part is the monetary value can’t be just ignored anymore. They are a liability and an albatross to me in many ways.

My advice would be to hold a few big guns back as inheritance since even many PSA 9s will probably be crazy expensive in the future. If your kid ends up collecting, he will help guide your purchases for his collection. Decide what to sell for quality of life now, and try and sell the highest ceiling cards last. Decide which cards to never sell as “Dads cards” your kid will always associate with you. If you sell a big card for say $100-$500k now that goes parabolic later, make sure it went to a good cause and don’t look back. The others will make up for it.

I agree we have a responsibility to try and make smart decisions since these cards have value NOW that the future doesn’t guarantee will hold. We also know you have cards you might feel sick selling too early now. Cover as many bases as you can and know you will take some Ls with the Ws. It sounds to me like you need to diversify from within your collection and yes, that means you have to let that grip go or you are too at risk of all or nothing. Shoot for 75% win. In my mind the only unacceptable outcome is to crap out when RIGHT NOW you are in the black at the table everyone wants a seat at. Don’t be a hero, Billy.

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The intelligent play is to liquidate everything you don’t need, and then go to a financial advisor and put those funds in a traditional trust that is managed by a professional institution. Pokemania isn’t far off from Tulipmania. Look into Isaac Newton and the South Sea Company. History loves to repeat itself. You rewind 7 years ago, before COVID, everything was 99% cheaper. When panic sets in people will flood vintage and learn liquidity is low. People are mainly buying slabs with credit.

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nah “financial advisors” are almost as big of a rip off as gambling ur money away all u need is vti or voo pay $3 per year for every $10k u have and u beat 99% of them :rofl:

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It’s been an incredibly, incredibly hard decision, but I have decided to sell most of my collection and keep just one of my favorite cards/ the cards I’ve received as gifts. I find more joy in the cards I receive from other fans/ the E4 signature exchange, and more peace in knowing that I can start saving money to set up my future family. It’s definitely bittersweet, but I don’t think of myself as any less of a fan or collector.

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In the end, we’re not guaranteed even one more second. Having high hopes for something’s future value isn’t really a business plan. I had a decent shoe collection, and some of those shoes are now with basketball players and celebrities because we were chasing the same stuff. At one point their value skyrocketed, but I didn’t sell because I genuinely liked them. I only sold things I could actually bear to part with.

Fast forward to 2026 and most of my look-see samples and rarer stuff would barely bring in much, while other collectibles I put money into have gone in completely unpredictable directions. I catalogued what I paid for everything, when I bought it, and even left notes for my partner about checking prices and contacting auction houses if I’m gone. But I’ve also had to accept that it’s okay to sell something at a high point. Maybe it goes 5,000 times higher later, or maybe it eventually becomes worthless. You just don’t know.

Some of my collection was even misplaced during a move. I still miss those cards because that binder was sentimental, but life goes on. I’m still the same person whether I keep my favourites, sell them, or they disappear for some other reason.

With your kid, I think there’s also something to be said for the fact that you’re knowledgeable about the market now. You can potentially avoid some of the headaches they might otherwise have to deal with later by selling some things while you can make informed decisions about them. But ultimately, it’s your call. What feels like the right decision now might look completely different later. I just know that, personally, I’d rather have sold some of my cards than lost them, and I definitely would have sold my shoes if I’d known they were eventually going to drop 100x in value.

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Family first above everything else

Holding onto some Pokémon cards and forsaking some potentially wonderful experiences and physical luxuries you can provide your kid(s) in the formative and best years of their life isn’t in their best interests, even if the cards 5x in 20 years’ time. Also, it’s easy for me to say since I don’t have kids yet, but the moment I were to bring a child into this world and start a family would be the moment my personal desires of Pokémon card collecting and other such material pursuits become irrelevant to my financial actions.

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So, the feeling of “all or nothing” is human. When faced with a complex issue, our emotional brain is saying, “Screw it! Just keep it simple.” While we are capable of being very smart, we are not logical by nature. Our 200,000 yo brains were designed to solve problems involving eating and being eaten. We have to resist the urge to be emotional, illogical. The urge to say “All of nothing”, “I’ll just simply to do ___”, etc.

That said, like others have said, deciding how to apply moderation is your choice. Similarly, I’ve been mulling this. For now, I’m selling my low-end stuff, like you, but Here’s something that might help keep your focus, and in general, what I’m seeing from others too. It’s relative to money, family, community:

What else would you do with that money?

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I’m keeping this one!

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