you’re right there are some items which grow in value at a faster rate than money in the bank or paying off bills/loans sooner, however it’s not always easy to guess what these will be.
You can’t reap the rewards of your investment unless you sell it on (generally), if you’re buying cards as an investment I think it’s definitely important to factor in costs of making that happen. Unless you have high level contacts or a strong network, ebay is the next best thing usually.
Has anyone here actually been collecting from start until now, obviously little breaks here and there but mostly non stop? I ask because it seems through the ex series not as many people collected whereas now there is a little more popularity that has been gained back. Is this the case?
definitely. Pokemon dropped off massively during that time.
I’ve been doing this non stop, at least part time, since 1993 which covers all the Pokemon years.
The slow period for me was from 2004-2007, kinda like the period from most fans 16-20 years of age.
It was my job, as well as a few others like Ed B and Steve G, to keep the fires kindling. In 2002/3 if you searched PSA Pokemon you’d find 20 listings on ebay and most were cd promos. Today you may find 10,000.
It’s safe to say that PSA played a big part in the increased interest. Pokemon finally became a legitimized collectible.
It didn’t just happen like the phenomenon of the late 90s did. It took work and sacrifice by a few of us.
Sooo…the next time you purchase something where it may cost you an extra 10.00 from ebirdman compared to another seller…buy his. He earned it;)
The craziest thing is that some collectors on the forum were born in 1993 or later!
The original EX series was the lowest point for pokemon. That was the only era/time I personally did not collect cards. When the 4th gen dropped, around 2007-08, that is when things started to pick back up.
I have been collecting Pokemon since before Pokemon came to America. I had Japanese goods before most people in the US had heard of it. I learned about it early because I was into anime and video games. Once the cards came to the USA,I started collecting and never stopped. Slow period has been the last year (behind in 4-5 sets now) since money has been tight…