Do you ever get that feeling when you aren’t totally happy with all the things you’ve obtained for your collection?
During last winter I didn’t pay too much attention to current collection, just kept an eye on ebay etc. if last card for PSA 10 1st ed. Neo Genesis holo set might appear. Lately I’ve found myself mostly going through PSA collection and being a bit grumpy because I still don’t have all 1st ed. Gym Challenge holos as PSA 10’s ( which is after all one of the favourite sets from WOTC era ). This same thing applies to few other things but in total they wouldn’t be as big change like completing Gym Challenge. Making extra room for them is another issue because I still have hard time letting go from bunch of items, especially if the seller has been another member of E4 and so on.
Funny enough simultaneously I’m looking at some graded promos and saying to myself " damn this PSA 10 1st ed. Articuno ex would look so much nicer inside japanese TRR Silver Deck kit ". Not exactly looking to downgrade anything from collection but somehow I appreciate certain sealed product over everything else nowadays.
I’d just like to hear some feedback is everything above total nonsense or should I simply go with the flow. Exactly year ago I said buying PSA cards is over, everything is nearly done etc. but here we go again! Maybe it’s true collecting is lifetime journey you can’t abandon.
I’m not sure I can relate to this sentiment, mostly because i have casual goals (no goal to complete sets), where I only seek 2-3 cards at a time with whatever artwork catches my eye.
I wouldn’t sweat it too much, Gym cards will likely be available for some time, still lots of product being broken. For all sets really. Just focus on the most expensive/in-demand items first.
I totally know how you feel. I am a super value oriented collector who really does not like overpaying for cards but I sometimes go too far and this has come biting me back hard. I mainly collect trophy cards where their supply is already very small, and where good “value” does not come often for these types of card. Therefore, there are absolutely some cards I am kicking myself now for not obtaining earlier because…well now they either don’t exist on the market at all or they cost way too much for me to afford them. I started seriously collecting 2 years back in regards to trophy collecting, and using my value strategy I did get some really good prices on some trophy cards. However, because of my reluctance of buying so much in such a short amount of time and the illusion of the prices always being around the same when it was basically only the same copy of a single card being relisted multiple times, I missed out on some cards that I believe I would never come across again for my collection.
I would think of things like “well this trophy card is faded and costs x amount whereas I got this similar trophy card at a deal so this is clearly not going to be worth my money and would steadily drop in price later on”…then the trophy gets sold and the next one sells for even more, and even more, and so forth…
…Also I realized recently that despite all my trophy cards, I legitimately have 0 1st place trophy cards, with a bunch of 2nd and 3rd place trophies so now I feel kind of lame because of that.
It’s disappointing that I know that I would almost never reach my collecting goals but the best way I think about this is that I still got a great deal on what I currently have. While I may not have the best collection out there, I still have a great collection with cards that I know not many people have.
It’s also normal to have doubts sometimes in your collection! I still battle with myself sometimes whether to get a PSA 10 of a card or get it in its original condition (sealed, acrylic, etc.), but that’s also something you’re going to confront unless you’re willing to get both! (I’m not though!)
“Super value”
“don’t like overpaying”
“good value”
“value strategy”
“really good prices”
“prices always being around the same“
“at a deal”
“not worth my money”
“drop in price”
“got a great deal”
Dang man. It seems like you’re a money collector, not Pokemon lol.
None of those things are even in my vocabulary when it comes to the collectibles I love.
All that matters to me, buying, selling, or trading, is market value. I love it when somebody I deal with makes money;) Just want to be ‘fair value” to both sides.
You might want to relax, take a breather and accept your collection. Sometimes you can’t have everything (unless you’re Gary or Pratte). I am happy with my collection and I think the main reason why is because I chose most cards carefully. I also pulled a lot of key cards out of packs, which makes my collection even more aesthetically pleasing. Collecting Pokémon cards has been really fun to be honest, another reason why I am satisfied.
Another thing I want to add is that you should try not stressing out about “grades”.
It is all about pacing yourself and re-assessing goals.
I mentioned this in my latest video about “are pokemon cards too expensive”? Even the wealthiest people in the world still cannot have it all. Everyone has to re-assess, that is a natural part of life.
Basically there is nothing wrong with the lower grades, binders, or even not owning something. Hell I look at my binders more than anything.
Ultimately just do what you want. But don’t get overly entitled or attached to cards you don’t own. That is usually the core of frustration.
Haha, it sure seems that way Gary, but trust me, I’m definitely a Pokemon collector!
At the moment, I made 0$ off my cards because I legitimately sold 0 of my cards. Every single card I have purchased, I kept it in my collection. I truly love the hobby and the history the cards represent!
I also strongly believe in “fair value” of both sides, as while it may seem that I am some sort of insane haggler when purchasing my cards, I can assure you I am a very fair buyer What I meant about good value is in the sense that for some reasons, once every full moon there would be times where the demand of certain cards (especially trophy cards) suddenly tremendous drop, with 0 interested buyers in the market. At that opportune moment, I’m just scratching my head and getting really excited of getting cards that I would love to have in my collection at a cheaper price, while the seller would be just happy selling the card since no one was buying them. A good example of this is the card Mysterious Pearl, where roughly 9 months ago no one seemed to even care about this card and I got my PSA 10 copy at reduced price for no reason whatsoever.
However, like I mentioned before, this comes with a terrible trade off in which sometimes, I don’t get the card I want because I always hunt for good deals and I truly regretted it. That does not mean 100% of my collection comes from those great deals though, I am just highlighting the parts that I regret, because more than 80% of my collection I would say I basically bought it at the historic market price.
Other times, I just pay much higher than the market price because my strategy does not pay off. For example, I paid roughly 300% above the market price for Tropical Wind 1999 when I bought my copy, worrying that I would never come across that card again. I’m sure glad I got it now!
I guess in summary (or TLDR), this thread focused on when I am not happy about my collection, and the pinpointed part of my collection that I hated was how I was trying to hunt for the “lows” during trophy collecting in which it bit me back hard when I missed out on some cards that I really wanted in my collection. That definitely does not mean that’s 100% of all I do for my collection!
I would try to focus more on the cards you already have and enjoying them as individual cards, as apposed to worrying about finishing the set. Getting first edition PSA 10 WOTC sets are definitely a big task that is going to take a long time, so best bet is probably just to make it a long term goal. Personally, for one set it took me over 4 years to complete it, but now that it is complete I can really appreciate all the time and effort it told to get the set.
Ditto, I also think it’s a learning curve that everyone has when they come back into the hobby. You maybe make some mistakes but hopefully you can take something from them and use that to your benefit when focusing on goals in the future.
For example, sure I wish I hadn’t opened my sealed base set booster box which is one of the first items I purchased when I came back into the hobby in 2015. I could have brought a mint binder set at the time for way less and left the box sealed. Another example is I brought quite alot of newer era charizards for my collection when I maybe should have saved and focused on buying older,rarer and more expensive charizard cards first. However I also made some good buys and choices with my collecting like picking up my psa 9 1st edition charizard just before the price boom. At the time I was a little nervous paying just shy of £1000 for one card but it was a card that was top of my wants list and now it’s worth around 3.5 times as much which I couldn’t afford to pay now.
What I’m saying is that try not to beat yourself up over your collection choices,I’m sure almost everyone has at least one deal they wished they had picked up when they had the chance previously. And think of all the great cards you’ve managed to obtain
To be honest, my reply to this thread was more of an open letter to newer collectors and collectors who share a value mindset similarly to me before. Perhaps they do not think as black and white as me, but I know for a fact there are collectors old and especially new who either goes for solely deals or is dead set on cards with specific prices, in denial of new market prices for those cards. These posts pop up a lot in which either the member asks if getting _____ card at X$ price was a good deal, or they would typically use historic prices to point to the value of a card that they want, when the market has already shifted.
My post is to not just vent my frustrations, but to also show how you would most likely feel if you go for a value oriented strategy; you will miss out on cards you wanted and was afraid you overpaid for, and sometimes you would get nothing in return for waiting. A great example of this happened to a fellow member (Festa), and you can see his frustrations right here.Things get especially worse for trophy cards because back two years ago, the prices were wildly fluctuating. Even 9 months ago, with Mysterious Pearl as an example, I’ve seen the card go from 100$ to 500$ on the market, all in the same month. You’re going to be pretty bummed out if you bought yours at 500$ and then see the same thing listed for 100$ on Yahoo Japan!
I share sympathy with all those collectors because I know ultimately they want to collect, and don’t care about the money* (Of course if the card value goes up that’s great, but that’s not the true purpose of collecting in this hobby!). However, depending where you are in life, sometimes budget is tight and you can only afford certain cards at certain prices. Sometimes I must go for a good deal simply because otherwise the card is out of the question.
However, if you can afford the card and you definitely want it in your collection, my point was that it’s probably better to buy it now than later
*Unless you’re using pokemon as solely investment purposes, and if that’s the case, you should go into something more liquid like stocks.
I think you shouldnt stress your collecting nor always worry about what you dont have. Just appreciate whats already in your collection and take your time.
Those are some great advices. Actually I’ve had couple small breaks starting from 2016, there were other expenses that kept me away from Pokemon but they should be history. During those days I had lots of time to think about and figured out it might be better to focus only on few certain graded sets that truly matter.
Can’t say totally same about myself, most of the stuff are ( and will be ) in collection for reason but somehow I regret buying items like graded BW/XY cards, that’s lot of time and money taken away from original goals I had in mind when re-entering the hobby. @smpratte
I totally agree with that statement, at one point I considered myself being just the booster box/PSA 10 guy but through the years I’ve started enjoying more of binder collections and various lesser items. Someone might call it even reverse evolution when I’m ready to replace graded stuff with sealed stuff where the card originates.
Thanks for the other replies as well, before this I wasn’t really sure how to deal with this problem but right now I feel like I’m ready for another adventure. Lots of planning ahead what to get and what to give away but final result should be eventually satisfying.
That’s why I don’t understand boxes of psa cards. I figure someone else will always have a better price I’m selling my card or try to haggle me down. So from the beginning I hoped my Eevee collection will have a resale value as a bundle… Until then I’ll buy what I love. Not what fits in a collection set. If I were to grade all of them & they got psa 6 to 9s. I hate to just stack them in a box.
I think being dissatisfied is healthy to some extent! It’s what strives you / us to collect more. We are lucky that there is so much variety to collecting in Pokemon.
What I meant about good value is in the sense that for some reasons, once every full moon there would be times where the demand of certain cards (especially trophy cards) suddenly tremendous drop, with 0 interested buyers in the market. At that opportune moment, I’m just scratching my head and getting really excited of getting cards that I would love to have in my collection at a cheaper price, while the seller would be just happy selling the card since no one was buying them. A good example of this is the card Mysterious Pearl, where roughly 9 months ago no one seemed to even care about this card and I got my PSA 10 copy at reduced price for no reason whatsoever.