@thurco delivered a bittersweet Houndoom master set update: one new Pop 2 Japanese acquisition, but the wants list has ballooned to over $300K — prompting warm encouragement from @Will, @Quuador, and others to adjust rather than abandon the goal.
The E4 Art Contest 2026 officially opened its two-week submission window, with @niece submitting a Ken Sugimori Tangela recreation and @pikachutcg sharing charming entries from two young daughters.
@pikachutcg received the E4 Chain Letter, which arrived alongside custom hand-painted cards from @banks, including a Snap Mew, extended-art Raichu, and a Dark Raichu — prompting excitement across the thread.
Date: October 8–9, 2026 | New topics: 8 | New posts: 168
Top contributor of the day: @Rattlesnake (23 likes across 4 posts)
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Vintage e-series card prices are going completely off the rails, with Expedition Gengar and Dragonite now eclipsing Skyridge counterparts in price — leaving collectors equal parts thrilled and bewildered.
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A convicted crypto thief’s hobby spending spree made waves in News & Links, with @johto noting that Pokémon cards are “beyond easy to wash funds with” — prompting spirited disagreement from @RoyalOak about just how impractical graded cards actually are as a laundering vehicle.
@Rattlesnakeopened up about converting a childhood friend to the hobby, complete with handmade watercolor booster pack art as a care package — the thread drew warm responses and a thoughtful counterpoint from @Dyl about the psychology of externally-motivated collecting.
The E4 Art Contest 2026 voting is live and tight — @brendantheclayboy reports both Original and Recreation categories have 4–5 viable contenders for first place, calling it “probably the widest range we’ve ever seen.”
A newly posted Flying Pikachu authenticity query attracted expert input from @Quuador and @expedition, who used a GIF overlay comparison to flag likely fake indicators including mismatched fonts and a smudged kanji — @mrcorocoro is awaiting the card’s arrival for physical testing.
Date: October 9–10, 2026 | New topics: 6 | New posts: 169
Top contributor: @Slade (36 likes), followed by @niece (29 likes) and @Quuador (23 likes)
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AI-altered listing photos are causing real purchasing disputes, with @mrcorocoro resolving a sold-but-not-as-described Flying Pikachu case after the seller admitted using AI to retouch the background — unintentionally altering the card’s appearance in the process.
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Over €112,000 in cards and slabs was stolen from a French TCG store — the third theft targeting the same owner. @Errog_MH posted a public lookout list of stolen cert numbers.
@Sladeclapped back beautifully in the discussion Crazy Market thread after a seller requested a feedback revision — and received an updated, more detailed one in return.
The E4 Art Contest 2026 wrap-up continued warmly, with @niece posting thoughtful feedback across two posts covering nearly every submission.
@ZukwiZopened a thread seeking community help cataloguing non-TCG Eevee cards (Amada, Bandai, Topsun, etc.) and shared an extensive working list.
The Giant English Market Thread erupted over coordinated vintage buyouts and pumps, with @ddk posting evidence of orchestrated price manipulation — and a sideshow debate between @tidaldreams and @RoyalOak over a reported $200K Legendary Collection reverse Potion sale that never really resolved itself.
@smpratte is actively pulling high-end eBay listings, citing held payouts and a lost card routed through the new NJ Authenticity Guarantee center as reasons eBay currently offers “0 value proposition” for high-end sellers.
Standout thread: The Giant English Market Thread crossed post 1,300 — fueled almost entirely by a single $200K sale
Community milestone: E4 Chain Letter card #3 cleared and routed to @wooperfan; @martin reached the final two WotC holos in a long-running personal countdown
The $200K Potion and the Argument It Couldn’t Settle
I’m here on da scene, and dis week da forum’s biggest fight wasn’t about who got da best pull — it was about whether a $200,000 Legendary Collection reverse Potion was real, laundered, or just a sign of the times. The Giant English Market Thread erupted midweek when @ddk posted a screenshot of what appeared to be a coordinated pump operation, calling out “buyouts and pumps orchestrated by ring leaders” happening daily. That lit the fuse between @tidaldreams and @RoyalOak — a sprawling back-and-forth about shill bidding, money laundering mechanics, and who exactly is buying a graded Potion for six figures. @c0ll3ct0r captured the absurdity perfectly:
2026: Someone spent 200K on a LC reverse Potion. 2022: AhahahahahahahahHAHAHAhahahHAHAHAHAHAHA
Neither side landed a decisive blow. @zubat called it “an unstoppable force meets an immovable object.” The Lugia bids getting nuked again added another surreal data point. What the thread actually surfaced — across 30+ posts — is that the forum has no consensus on where organic demand ends and coordination begins. That question isn’t going away.
To Hodl or Not to Hodl
The market energy spilled directly into a new thread from @Chovi asking a deceptively simple question: anyone tempted to cash out? The responses traced every position on the spectrum. @pikachutcg and @Will both settled on the same personal barometer — it can’t buy a house, so what’s the point of selling. @c0ll3ct0r described the logistics of a major liquidation as genuinely daunting: lawyers, accountants, international travel, a “shitpile of money” just to move the assets. @Slade offered the most practical counter-play: own multiples, sell one into the rally, keep the rest. @pokepackcollector brought the sobering note — offloading Japanese LV X promos and e-series PSA 10s for surgery money last year, now watching those same cards worth five times more.
“If the money will change your life, sell at least something into this market.” — @eeveeteam
The thread didn’t reach a verdict, but that’s the point. This is a forum-wide gut check happening in real time, accelerated by PSA closing bulk submissions and vintage prices moving weekly, not yearly.
The Card That Wasn’t (And the Argument About That Too)
A seemingly routine authenticity question in the Ivy Pikachu variant thread turned into one of the week’s sharpest exchanges. @mrcorocoro brought in a thick-fonted Pikachu card with unusual printing, genuinely uncertain whether it was a fake or an undiscovered variant. @brendantheclayboy called it fake immediately — and offered to bet $1,000. @mrcorocoro pushed back, pulling font comparisons from legitimate Japanese printings and questioning whether certainty was warranted before examination. @Quuador sided with @brendantheclayboy but acknowledged the fake was “pretty well-made.” What made the exchange notable wasn’t who was right — it was the underlying tension the hobby now carries: with so many legitimate variants being uncovered and card values surging, the incentive to look harder at every anomaly is real, and so is the incentive to produce convincing fakes. @bbobrob put it drily: “Everyone’s finding undiscovered test prints. They’re everywhere, man. Just open your eyes, and your wallet.”
Quiet Wins, Slow Builds
Three collections moved meaningfully forward this week without making noise about it. @kyro’s base set Charizard artwork collection hit one card from completion — the Thai 30th Anniversary — with a note that a Latin American Spanish variant also exists and may have been overlooked. @Maractus placed a 68-card CardTrader Zero order that will push the Maractus collection to 92/224 on arrival, while also fielding a new species collecting database thread where @Quuador and @D3F14NC3 laid out the actual methodology for tracking every language variant of a given Pokémon. @doobdoesscyther’s daily Scyther collection documentation project entered its final non-standard week — oversized flats, international merch, the works — with readers noting it’s become a genuine reference resource. These aren’t flashy, but they’re what the forum actually runs on.
Dat’s all from dis Meowth — stay scheming, stay sleeved, and don’t sell da Potion.
The cash-out debate is dominating market conversation, with collectors weighing life-changing profits against the pain of parting with cards they love.
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@coffeewin’s single post showing a stacked Charizard portfolio pulled 26 likes — the day’s highest — without a single word beyond “I just like the card.”
If you vote for BGS 9 I guarantee you’ve seen less than 3 BGS 9s in person
@Silphnaut documented a Pokémon Worlds 2026 ghost item — a Mewtwo sticker handed out at the Goita tutorial booth that appears to exist nowhere online except this E4 thread.
Efour Digest — September 21–22, 2026
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