This was a great video overall and outlined a lot of reasons as to why Ive let cards take a backseat to the rest of my collecting ventures within Pokemon.
Most already know im big into merch but that wasnt always the case. I started here like everyone else back in late 2019 where I wanted to just pick up some cards like the good ol days from when I was a kid. But that journey slowly became utterly chaotic as 2020 hit and when time went on. I got sick and tired of the same old discussions of prices. I got fed up with every time a big sale would happen, dozens of people would all be ready at the instant to throw their “expert” opinion into the air just to hear themselves talk. It became more about ones own personal gain and less and less about being a part of something greater than ones self, so with that i moved into an area that I also loved which wasnt being bombarded by the noise from the card market. Its bittersweet, as I still do love cards and want to be in that area fully but now I just feel like i dont fit in anywhere in that sphere. The Saitou signing event was a big eye opener for me in that sense. What I thought would be fun and fulfilling ended up leaving me feeling defeated, grimey, and wrong even when I was able to get a bunch of things signed like I wanted to. Since then ive been contemplating where I even see myself in collecting as a whole, and still im met with a lot of rough thoughts that make me feel (for lack of a better word) lost.
Theres a lot I can say on this but in the end its hard to handle. Im grateful for getting into this here when I did and even more grateful for all the true friends Ive made along the way, but my hope is that one day again I feel like theres a place where I and everyone all fit in comfortably in collecting what we love.
This exactly. It feels like I have to be tuned in daily to the stock ticker so I don’t miss the next latest thing, like I can’t just take a few weeks off for vacation.
I’m glad I found this forum / community, it feels very chill and like people actually care about what they’re collecting. There’s so much childishness in other card spaces. Can’t make a post without people asking if they can buy your collection, calling you a scalper just for having product, acting jealous or fighting over something stupid.
I have found that much of the FOMO or bad feelings surrounding one’s collection or the rate at which one collects is tied to the “Keeping up with the Joneses” phenomenon. For those of you who are unfamiliar or are from collectivistic societies, this phenomenon reflects an insatiable urge to engage in consumerism to improve the appearance of one’s social class within their community (e.g., purchasing a new car because your neighbor purchased a new car) even if your actual social class has not changed.
In certain circles, collecting is no longer about one’s own achievements and interests, but rather where one’s collection falls when compared to others. I find this type of “engagement” in the hobby to be incredibly off-putting, and I worry that younger collectors or those with limited incomes will be discouraged from collecting because of it.
I wanted to point out that e4 is wonderful because this type of behavior is largely discouraged. We celebrate each other’s accomplishments and look out for each other. This type of community is hard to come by in the Pokemon collectible world nowadays.
The video has many so points that hit close to home to just about every kind of collector. I could buy Japanese product for years with no issues. It was all just sitting out in the open and no one went crazy over it. But after spending a year not being able to get a single box of Eevee Heroes for a fair price in Japan, seeing international sellers hoarding entire cases on social media really drove the point home that I can’t compete and don’t want to compete with that. I’ll just take what I can get at this point.
It’s also a shame that when the time does comes to sell some of the stuff I do have, it’s less likely to go to someone who actually wants it for what it is and more likely to just go to someone with a gambling problem or social media flexer.
I am glad this video was well received! I was nervous about uploading it as I thought it might just be a me thing.
@pfm Summarized it well, that thread was a different time. Collectibles have changed so much since then; Ebay couldn’t care less pre 2020, now they have an entire Authenticity department!
I also wanted to comment about E4. It has been tough pushing back against sizeable offers. Especially since I paid for all the expenses. There will be banner ad’s eventually, as there were on the old site. But, the goal is to keep it a free to use platforum, pun intended!
I will be honest, and publicly vulnerable, right now is the hardest its ever been for me in Pokemon. I started with nothing but curiosity and the desire to learn and collect. Majority of my experiences and connections were joyful. Today, I have to second guess why someone is messaging me. Will “I Love your content” inevitably be followed with a free financial advice question? Is the person who just wants to collab doing it to get traction?
This is ultimately the cost of growth, and in my case, exposure. I see the immense value of anonymity through collecting video games, as I can just enjoy everything quietly from a safe distance. I think that is the key moving forward regardless of your position. Whether you live quietly in a grandma house, or shout out from it once a week “Hey everyone this is ass & pratte”, keeping a healthy safe distance/balance is the way. It just requires more effort today than 10 years ago.
sadly, the only solution is to migrate to an even more exclusive collector’s only site where wotc is replaced by steam siege, and a wooloo is kicked any time the word investment is mentioned.
@smpratte Why did you even think about “what anybody may think about your content”.
Your strenght was/is in how you view the collectors invironment.
If people don’t like/share your view, well that happens but it’s your channel and your view on things.
At the moment you become concerned about: amount of views/subscribers and find yourself not speaking out your real thoughts. That’s were you have to look at your goals.
If your goal is to inform collectors about anything you see happening in the hobby, you are (from my point of view) doing what your channel was intended for.
Perhaps that road is not bringing to most money (like in sales/trades) but it gives you peace of mind.
For me the whole current situation feels like most people are collecting money iso cards.
Last few years the standard question in my store is (when a child opens a booster) How much is this card worth?
They don’t look even at the other 8-9 cards in the booster. Sad.
I keep on telling them those other cards are sometimes even better, they are used in the game they are printed for. Still that message doesn’t land
I can’t get them to look at the very nice artwork on those cards.
Are these our future collectors?
That’s of all times. Big difference it wasn’t so visible in the past.
But there is also something else going on. Perhaps because of my age I have a “problem”.
People aren’t polite.
Polite in the way how they approach others.
Your issue is people are not interested in your collection but use it as a starter to ask for "free advice/favors. It looks as an polite approach but in fact it isn’t.
My issue is people who right out tell you to give discount on items xx simply because (real story) I sell items for over 10k so they deserve a discount on a $150 item.
Or the very worst which makes my grumble almost every day.
When I get approached on ebay/cardmarket about any of my items, 99% of the time the message starts not with a polite: hello, goodmorning/evening sir/madam. No it starts with:
He Bro, He Mate, He Dude or wording of that kind.
I can’t tell you how much I hate that approach.
My sons both laugh when I grumble about it and tell me he MOM that’s the time were living.
And I keep on explaining them it hurts, and I most times put those message in the trash bin even it’s about a 10K item. Call me stupid but I refuse to deal with people who are not even considering a female can also be into the hobby and act accordingly.
Most likely this is a “me thing” but it annoys me a lot.
In all those 22 years I’m selling/trading, this is something of the last 2-3 years.
So is collecting hard these days, sure because we have more people who want to expand their collection. Prices will rise for items not being made anymore. That’s kind of “normal”.
But do we need to talk money only?
I’m afraid we will go that path more and more.
I fully agree on the lack politeness and that bothers me a lot too. People who still are polite have an advantage (to me as a seller and buyer at least), so I hope there will be a correction and increase in maturity allong the way.
It sadly seems to be a result of an influx of a large, mainly young, audience. I’m sure with time this will get better.
I don’t know if I can say it any better than you lot, but you all hit major points. That video is what everyone has been thinking, and @smpratte just put it into words. It was incredible. You buy now or cya later. And while it is stressful, the camaraderie between this specific community makes it worth it. I’ll never forget the Baltimore trip. A lot of us, whom maybe we had differences with, broke bread together and found out “Hey, that person actually wasn’t so bad after all” Most of the time you get people together in person, and they’re totally opposite of whom they are online.
And it just isn’t Baltimore, it’s the endless hours of being on voice talking shop, or the long banter on General.
And that’s what makes this community running; genuine people that truly want to get to know one another, celebrating achievements, and continuing to be there when we need it most. I hope this place is always here. Even if the hobby is a bit different and now there’s a lot more fog you have to get through since my arrival in late 2019
Always have your guard up, but also always be willing to lend a hand and be a friend.
There’s definitely been a major shift in the financial attitude in the Pokemon space over the past few years. When I was a kid, things like MTG already had a relatively serious finance/collector base with several ‘whales’ buying the cards… but now Pokemon has made that turn and is fast approaching a similar type of attitude towards collecting.
I think this has both pros and cons. The good side to me is that people are now placing serious value on Pokemon that I think it rightfully deserves. It’s such a pervasive brand that appeals to such a wide audience. Many of these cards should be more respected, valued, and treasured by collectors. So as much as I’d like to see everyone have a piece of Pokemon history, without the increased value, people just won’t take it as serious long-term and I feel it deserves this value as a brand.
The other good news though is I still think the entry point is pretty fair, especially compared to many vintage MTG or Sports cards where the barriers and price points are increasingly becoming steep. Sure, many people are priced out of the rare promo cards and certain high grade slabs in Pokemon, but you can still build a very nice vintage collection on a limited income for the most part with many iconic cards that we all loved as children (and now as adults). Modern of course has next to no barriers at this time, just a lot more speculation going on as we’ve discussed to death.
As far as community goes, I definitely hope to see a place like E4 stay modest. I don’t know how to describe it, but this place is one of the last places I can think of that I visit that doesn’t feel like everything else. It reminds me a lot more of my web browsing of the early 2000s. We have respectable opinions and conversations that are firm and concise, but never rude or overbearing like so many have become on other social media. I do hope that E4 stays the course, and I hope that the love for collecting stays above the love of money in this hobby.
I was talking to an off-site friend and they brought up that it becomes increasingly difficult to enjoy a hobby as if there’s no stakes when the stakes are constantly increasing. I think she is correct about this.
This really illustrates how I feel tbh. I feel like I gotta keep sprinting just to keep up; I feel like I have to hustle, if I don’t want to get left behind. I don’t even really want to sell, but I feel like I’d literally be ejected from the hobby, if I didn’t have that extra boost of buying power.
All of this light-speed movement leads to what @Dyl said. You end up spending 95% of your time stressing over what you don’t have because by tomorrow, everything you planned on buying could just yeet into the stratosphere. So, it feels like you can’t look away; it feels like even if you do put in maximum effort, it won’t even matter. I have a very small budget, so this is very discouraging because no matter what I do, I cannot buy everything right now. So, you gotta dip your hand into the sandbox and pull out a few grains, knowing that the rest may be gone by tomorrow; so it kind of puts pressure on those few items you do get to outshine everything else you missed to get them.
@smpratte maybe u guys should add a lil donate button, so users can throw a few dollars to help with keeping the site up and running. Its the least we could do, when you guys work so hard to preserve and cultivate a positive space for collectors.
I’m a guy and don’t sell things online, but I find these casual “hey bro” greetings irksome too. Aside from the obvious problem of assuming someone’s gender, it’s also odd that a complete stranger is trying to act all chummy. What, is the expected response for “hey bro” supposed to be “50% discount and a free Moonbreon with your purchase?”
Maybe it’d be fun to reply to these people with “hey girl” and see how they respond.
