I see numerous hot and furious debates about Collector VS Investor all the time everywhere. My simple take on it is: If your hobby can bring you joy and cash when you need it, why not?
Who set the rules we should not make money from our hobbies? Who set the rules Pokemon cards should only be played by children? Nobody cares!
*My 2 cents opinion as a collector, though haven’t sold any big ticket cards > $1,000 yet. Merely let go cheap cards <$200 to streamline collection.
I have the same opinion on it as well. I used to play when I was a kid when the original 151 came out and I would watch the show religiously on Kids WB. Now that I’m older, I still have love for Pokémon but I just can’t spare the free time I have to play the game and attend tournaments and etc. Pokémon is a trading card game and it’s the most successful trading card game to ever exist and naturally that’ll bring collectors, investors, flippers, etc.
From what I understand, you don’t need to spend hundreds of dollars to play the game competitively or in general. I just think it’s funny when people get emotional and complain about high prices on cards that are more collectible than playable. This LITERALLY happens to anything that’s a hobby that has a ton of interest. Simple supply and demand. Yes, there are people who make calculated plays to buy out certain cards, but it takes a lot of effort and money to accomplish that.
I can’t say I’ve attended these types of shows recently, but I can add that when I visited a couple of LGSs the past year or so that I noticed people trying to buy singles would almost do a pre-grading examination of the cards. Looking at the centering, angling the card to see the surface, etc. Basically, they weren’t just collecting because they enjoyed it, but in hopes of possibly grading the card for a profit compared to raw NM condition. I honestly found this silly because they were all just modern cards, most of which would be under $50 in NM grade.
Anyway, I enjoy the finance/market discussions from time to time, but it really can be annoying if it’s all that is talked about. I mean a lot of these cards and collections are worth a fortune and should just be appreciated for what they are more often, and not just the price tag they have. I feel like at times a lot of people forget why some of these cards are so sought after to begin with. I also think that if one is just in this hobby just for the money they are in it for the wrong reasons, one should have a real appreciation for these cards no matter what the price is.
With most hobbies, people lose money. Things get used, aged, and then they depreciate. With TCGs both can happen. In MTG a lot of non reserved list cards depreciate due to reprints or rotating out of formats. The same goes for Pokemon cards used in competitive modern play. It can be brutal to spend thousands of dollars on a hobby to then lose 50% of it’s value after a few years. Cards with an intrinsic “playability value” are at risk of these things making it tough for players to sustain the hobby. This is why for me personally, I found playing vintage Pokemon formats to be the best solution for anyone who actually wants to play the game. It’s the best of both worlds. I’ve seen many cards increase in value just over the past year thanks to Ruby Retro’s youtube series.
It all depends on how philosophical you want to get about it. Technically anything that isn’t needed for basic survival is overpriced. But thats obviously a silly way to look at it since we live in the real world.
For the most part I would say no. The majority of things have come down to reasonable prices since the boom. Newer booster boxes can be bought at fair prices, most singles (except for the mega stonks) are priced well considering how hard some are to pull, a lot of vintage Japanese promos seem exceptionally cheap, and I believe a lot of vintage WOTC is charting towards the underpriced territory. The only stuff I think is wholesale overpriced is waifus and some modernish Japanese promos.
And the reality is that most of them probably lose money.
If you’re buying into Twitch and YouTuber breaks or opening product, you’ll lose money.
But the ‘swindle’ has been going on in plain sight for years and they still don’t seem to get it. These are probably the same people who don’t understand pull rate graphics or even pull rates in general and yet are happy to burn money.
They should use their time and effort to engage in politics and force more accountability and standards if they really want to improve their quality of life. And this obviously goes for every TCG, all cards, hobbies etc. All the people chasing crypto, NFTs, influencers/contrepreneurs etc.
Thanks for the article.
It’s mentioned in it, but it comes down to gambling in the end. Physical loot boxes.
People who have a vested interest (like the breaker in the article) will of course defend against it because it’s how they are making a living and I wouldn’t expect any progress on the issue in America.
You say that as if 99% of modern cards are not already bulk.
And not even just ‘modern’ cards. Most cards ever produced are still bulk.
They aren’t printing 9b of modern chase cards. More than 99% of that number is already bulk and it’s already reflected in the price.
As brutal as it can be, but I’ve never heard of anyone bankrupting or jumping off building from investments in Pokemon TCG. Only from investments in shares/stock markets.
I love vintage too (gold stars, ex, shining), except for Wotc base.
I don’t think nearly as many people rely on pokemon cards as their income as compared to the stock market.
Honestly, it’s so surprising to me how the psychology of these things work. With stock market, if you’re buying stocks you genuinely have an understanding of and enjoy owning, then you really shouldn’t worry about it. Same with Pokemon cards, I buy what I love/enjoy. If either of these go to “zero”, what can you do? Nothing! Everything has some element of risk. You never know what will happen, you can only reduce risk by so many means possible. Best to sit back and enjoy your cards and look to the upside in all things.