Do you prefer to keep your collectibles sealed, or opened? Why or why not?
Personally, I like a mix of both. I enjoy sealed products for the sake of it (that shrink-wrap is just so elusive on rare items from old Japanese eras). I could never open a 1st ED Base Box – Not that I wouldn’t want to, I just feel that the sealed product is much more meaningful. On the other hand, I do enjoy opening sealed products from time to time (depending on my wallet) and I often have a profound appreciation for the contents. Something about pulling a pack-fresh, mint card that was printed a decade ago feels fantastic. Even sifting through the crisp commons and uncommons can be incredibly satisfying! Experiences like this really bring back the nostalgia. That all said, I think the best part about sealed and opened cards is that either way: you have mint cards (well, usually).
I wouldnt buy a sealed item with the intention of opening it, with the exception of brand new sets. I struggled with this with the movie vs decks i snatched up (one from you i think LOL). I purchased the decks intending to open them because i really liked some of the exclusive cards, particularly with the jirachi half deck. but as soon as I got them in the mail, I couldnt bring myself to do it… and i really wanted those exclusives!!! it didnt help that with the Deoxys lenticular half deck the seller included a message in the package saying “P.s NEVER open it!”
The pressure to crack em open got so bad i ultimately decided to sell both LOL
Now, the only sealed item I have in my collection is my sealed base starter deck case, which I will NEVER EVER open, just because it looks amazing in all its cubed glory
I’m in same boat with @soulwind : really like both but in the end sealed item sounds much better.
There’s just something wrong opening a really old box so that you can pull one specific card for the sake of nostalgia. Just buy the damn card as single, especially wotc/ex-series sealed items are rapidly depleting resource. Probably the main reason I switched my main focus from gold stars to boxes.
I’ve opened a Kids WB Creator Pack, the half decks for movies six through nine, various little folder releases like Neo 1-3 Premium Files, PokePark Forest, 10th and 11th Movie Commemoration Sets, the Intro Pack and Intro Pack Neo, etc. When I first got back into the card game I opened three packs of Aquapolis from eBay and got Crystal Kingdra AND Crystal Lugia from them. And I’ve opened 15+ boxes of (all newer) sets, various English promo packages, etc. Regrets? None.
Pretty much the only thing I’ve kept sealed is the JR Rally P promo set, and only because all six cards are individually wrapped and in clear plastic that’s easy to bend over and display in binder pages.
Opened products will never have the degree of exclusivity, value retention, or desirability that sealed products hold. And for good reason.
With a sealed product, there is mystery, but also originality. You have the product in its original form. The sealed product has faced the destructive potential of hundreds of greedy hands and maintained its production integrity. It is history: far more unique than its unsealed counterpart.
Sealed products are more than just a novelty. They are an opportunity. They tell a story. They contain within them a challenge to their owner to preserve and protect this genuine prize for future generations.
There is a place for opened products, sure. But most of every product is opened. And there is but a rare exception to my general opinion that those who open aged, sealed products are doing a disservice to the history of the franchise itself.
I’m pretty on the fence about keeping stuff sealed. I think there is a happy medium that needs to be found to be satisfied with having a sealed booster/box collection. I have a small sealed collection that’s slowly growing, and I find that sometimes you need to buy some packs or a box with the intention to just open something. It can really suppress the urge to open the older boxes that really shouldn’t be opened.
There definitely is a sense of mystery that comes with sealed product that that I really do enjoy. Dat feel when holding a sealed wotc box is just woaaaah.
One of each, haha! I will open any item to put the cards inside in a binder, or make them accessible in some way, so long as it’s relatively possible to get another sealed version of the item. Then I will pick up a sealed one for my collection usually after I have opened the first (I’m not too patient, as you can see). I also buy sealed items to open them and grade the card within it (again only if it’s relatively easy to get a sealed copy of said item). The yield of mint cards is so much better when you buy sealed versus buying opened, or buying a “mint copy”.
That said, there are certain items that should never be opened, like sealed Trainer Deck A’s, etc. These I would buy a sealed copy (if available) and a pre-opened copy so I can have the cards inside for viewing convenience.
sigh… already opened 1st edition neo boxes… and afterwards… I was like… why… why…
what the hell…
ok… yeah, it was nostalgic, and soooo much fun. I honestly thought 4 years ago that I could use this as my gem - mint opened collection, then be able to purchase some more boxes relatively cheap again online… but nope… the price sort of jumped 3 times higher in just over 4 years… They just keep skyrocketing the more they are being opened… and as the newer generations grow up, more and more want to collect. I think Pokémon has covered a way large age barrier than per se genres like Star Wars for gen x. Pokémon will have people crazy for both gen y, z and perhaps beyond.
I don’t really have much sealed product. I have a box of eevee figurines I never opened but apart from that only a few inexpensive sample packs from BW era. Helps I have all the cards from those sets but a few times I have thought to myself “I wonder what’s in it? Open it, you don’t collect sealed stuff anyway…”
Lol. it was a little afterwards… when I started to see the prices climb so heavily, and absolutely no way to get those boxes as cheap as I did 4+ years ago.
