Hello fellow collectors,
This thread was just to get a feel for what you guys value in terms of collecting, and what the general consensus was on the best cards to buy/trade for in today’s market. Ive collected mainly PSA 10 1st ed Base set holo’s for quite a while, and am looking to branch out to gold stars, maybe some EX Japanese, or Play promos. I find it hard to judge however, the demand for such cards, and the population that exist. Is it true that there are hoards of gold stars out there waiting to be released? Personally thought about building a set, but was weary to the fact that only so many have been graded, seems abit odd, I guess due to the fact that they were released at a low demand wise time for Pokemon. Really find some of the holo Japanese cards quite fascinating design wise, but would rather weigh the market, see what you guys like to build as sets, as I know you all have expansive knowledge about vast sets. Anyways, thank you all greatly for the advice 
Have an awesome day!
-mtlballer100
Don’t be fooled by the “hoards of gold stars” argument. There is a confirmed hoard of EX Unseen Forces Gold Stars out there, but really nothing else. There was a large gold star bubble, where people paid lots more than the cards were actually worth, but that seems to have cooled down now. I think gold stars are a good investment and a fun thing to collect. As with anything though, don’t only collect gold stars. Nothing is immune to price fluctuation.
Personally, I find the EX Series really fun to collect. It’s just that perfect amount of difficult to find yet not too pricey, and not many people collect it. PLAY Promo Japanese cards are also really cool, but beware the PLAY gold stars, Umbreon and Espeon in particular, they’re incredibly rare. I also collect new cards as they are readily available and look very cool. Beware of new English card quality though, it is truly crap.
Complete Play promo set should be fun thing to complete.
Another thing you might want to consider are Neo series holos/shinings. These are becoming really wanted again, just look at the gargantuan price boost sealed booster boxes have gained in last years.
Collect gold stars for fun but not as an investment.
The longer you wait to go after them the less you will pay. Fourstar mentioned one hoard but don’t think that it’s an isolated situation;) It’s kinda like the iceberg analogy.
Your original base cards were a great investment but only because there was relatively little collectors interest in 1999. WOTC pumped them out quickly and withheld little. By gold star time, the cards had known collectible value which insiders knew hence…improprieties occurred.
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I’d say collect your favorite Pokemon! I’m having a great time collecting Rayquaza and Charizard and adding a few other here and there. I started out with a complete PSA 9 gold star set and when I went to sell them I took a huge loss. Just food for thought.
Thank you greatly for the reply guys! I will definitely have much to consider when starting a new set I will keep all of your advice in mind haha, Ive been debating a few sets for a while and tried to reason it out via PSA Population Reports to go with the rarer sets, but I believe that is not the way to go, as when demand will rise so will population. Even with the base set holos in 10 1st ed, I find the lesser pop cards such as Hitmonchan and Chansey that are rather hard to come by dont sell as high as I think they should (some lower than psa 6,7 charizards). Regardless, tho I will attempt a gold star set more than likely, will keep price fluctuation in mind tho. Trophy cards seem awesome too, but are a rather big investment when it comes to getting them off Ebay I find. Will likely save for one I really enjoy with regards to those (University Magikarp perhaps haha)