High-rollers: Do you have a card you'd never let go of?

[davie]

@c0ll3ct0r

@davie

Dang okay

I don’t think I’m alone. I’m sure many people do have sentimental cards of all kinds, no doubt about that, but I’m equally sure many people just think it is somehow obligatory to feel a certain way about certain cards because they are “supposed” to, and then they conform to that concept.

Sneak into my house and swap the oh so precious light played Jungle Venomoth in my basement for a similar copy, I won’t shed a tear.

Nah, you’re totally right. I think I’m similar; I have very few cards from my childhood

[Frosty.Puppy]

@davie

@pokemonpuppy , god damn. I’ll trade you 3.5 raw Bidoofs for your design contest slab collection?

What’s the story behind the Japanese cards? Would you consider getting them slabbed (maybe with custom labels), or are they forever binder cards?

Sounds a fair offer, let me think on it.

The six Japanese cards I first got were from my older cousin. I lived out in the sticks whereas he lived in the city and went to a school where Japanese students also went to board. My cousin traded with them and then traded them with me for some football stickers. This same cousin actually gave me my first ever Pokemon card which was a Base set English Bulbasaur.

I have contemplated getting them slabbed however, I came to the conclusion that I obtained, played and enjoyed them raw so I don’t want to take that element away. I have my graded cards so I’ll reserve that for my ‘proper’ collection.

[squirtle1000]

@pfm

@davie

Mm, yeah I agree for the most part. I think there’d be items that have enough sentimental value that one would never sell it – regardless of the offer. Imagine, for example, if you pulled your favorite Pokemon with late immediate family member or significant other

I don’t buy into that. If someone slaps down 1million dollars cash for a sentimental card I’d cave in seconds. Frankly, it would almost be insulting to the person who you share this sentimental experience with to not take that level of money. Surely your significant other would appreciate a higher quality of life and certainly the dead family member would have been happy for you in this situation (and if not maybe you should reassess why you thought so highly of them).
Talk is cheap and it’s easy to say you’ll never sell a certain card because this situation is not realistic to begin with. But if actually faced with this opportunity I’m skeptical that anyone wouldn’t take the money unless they were already really well off.

Agreed with this. Almost everyone has a price. I know even I do for the cards I obtained from my late partner. It wouldn’t need to be anywhere near a million dollars either. Speaking purely objectively, there’s probably a “sentimental multiplier” (perhaps 3x) that I would assign to those cards. Any offer beyond that point starts getting into the territory where I know he would have wanted me to sell them and just buy back similar copies from someone else for 3x cheaper.

However, at least for me that sentimental multiplier would stay constant even as the cards grow in value. So, if the cards grow 10x, the offer I’d need to get would have to grow 10x too (so 30x above current market price).

Because of that, realistically no one would ever give me an offer I would take. So practically speaking I’ll never sell the cards.

[0ean]

If anything, it’s probably my sealed box collection I would be more reluctant to let go of.

[squirtle1000]

@davie

Okay, I feel like putting ‘high-roller’ in the title was a mistake – a lot of you guys have amazing collections but are too humble to accept the title.

@squirtle1000 , my condolences for your loss. Not at all a dark tone; it’s good that you’ll have the memories that you guys made with the cards. At the end of the day, it’s the experiences that make items like these invaluable. Treasure them for sure.

You also have a hell of a childhood collection… I don’t think I recall ever seeing most of those cards IRL as a kid.

Thank you. You are absolutely right.

Regarding my childhood collection, yes there are some gems I’m lucky to have. I certainly didn’t do it all by myself though. I was very fortunate to be surrounded by smart and knowledgeable people.

My neighborhood friend was a couple years older than me. He taught me a ton about both competitive play and the collectible side of the hobby in general. He actually attended the 2002 World Championships. I remember he received that 1st edition promo error pikachu in a trade when he was there. When he came back with it he told me it was incredibly rare “like 1 in 10,000 booster packs”. In retrospect I doubt it’s that rare, but regardless I was very interested in it so I managed to buy it from him with my allowance money.

It’s a similar story for other cards like my Prerelease Clefable, as well as my Lucky Stadium and Pokemon Center promos (black star #40 and #41, forgot to mention those in my original post). All of those I got in trades from one of the PokeDads my my local league. He had a lot of rare & special cards. He was really nice - taught me about the cards and was happy to trade them to me. Good times!

Of course these are the memories that make it hard for me to ever sell the cards. So much so that I feel like I can’t even count those cards towards my “active” collection. I feel like I someday need to pick up duplicates if I am to go for, say, the complete WotC black star promo set. Otherwise the set would always have a qualifer next to it, because I know I wouldn’t be willing to sell the whole thing.

[eureko]

Have to agree with Charlie’s post there: If a sale can bring in life-changing amounts of money then it would be stupid to not to sell.

Rising from the bottom to the top requires many sacrifices. But as you get closer to the top and have things taken care of in life, the less incentive there is to sell at all.

[davie]

@Frosty.Puppy

@davie

@Frosty.Puppy , god damn. I’ll trade you 3.5 raw Bidoofs for your design contest slab collection?

What’s the story behind the Japanese cards? Would you consider getting them slabbed (maybe with custom labels), or are they forever binder cards?

Sounds a fair offer, let me think on it.

The six Japanese cards I first got were from my older cousin. I lived out in the sticks whereas he lived in the city and went to a school where Japanese students also went to board. My cousin traded with them and then traded them with me for some football stickers. This same cousin actually gave me my first ever Pokemon card which was a Base set English Bulbasaur.

I have contemplated getting them slabbed however, I came to the conclusion that I obtained, played and enjoyed them raw so I don’t want to take that element away. I have my graded cards so I’ll reserve that for my ‘proper’ collection.

Tell you what, I’ll give you the second half of the 4th Bidoof, so it’ll be a full four cards (if you piece the two halves together). It’s a take it or leave it.

That’s awesome. I imagine most people have very few (if any) of their original childhood cards – it’s great that you were able to keep yours around. Even cooler that your cousin gave them to you

[nonumbernolan]

My 1st Edition Umbreon Neo Discovery PSA 10 is my favorite card I own. I Would trade it for a Play Promo Umbreon, or something of equal value, but thats about it. When you find that card, especially one you always wanted growing up, in a PSA 10 condition, its incredibly special

[davie]

@nonumbernolan

My 1st Edition Umbreon Neo Discovery PSA 10 is my favorite card I own. I Would trade it for a Play Promo Umbreon, or something of equal value, but thats about it. When you find that card, especially one you always wanted growing up, in a PSA 10 condition, its incredibly special

Totally. And welcome to E4!

How did you acquire that Umbreon?

[jabby]

I got a few that come to mind that I hold in particular high regard mainly due to sentimental value. First one is my Base 2 Charizard that I only acquired in the past while. Base Set 2 was the 1st Pokemon card pack I ever opened as a kid and I pulled a Charizard in that pack so this particular printing of Charizard has a lot of sentimental value for me. It’s a really nice copy and I got it for only a bit more than a PSA 9 and compared to my PSA stuff, it’s definitely very strong. (Just got a scanner, still learning how to use it lol):

Next one is my Base 2 Alakazam (probably my fav Base Set holo overall), quite low pop and just a really nice copy with *beauty swirl*:

Next one which is my rarest card in my collection and the 1st graded card I ever bought is an amazing foil Exalted Angel from MTG. Pop 6 card, I wouldn’t say it’s got mass appeal among all collectors but for it’s time it was hands down one of the best cards in the game. Still very strong even 20 years later I’d wager. When I played MTG a lot as a young teenager, I won so many games with it over and over and was definitely a chase card during this era of Magic. These old foils in high grade are extremely rare and almost impossible to find, especially in a massive 350 card set:

And an honorable mention is my PSA 10 Jungle Wigglytuff 1st Ed. A recent acquisition, I’ve tried very hard to get a Base Set 2 copy in PSA 10 but they’re so rare and hard to find I went with my next favourite version as I’m still building the Jungle set. I grew a real attachment to the early Jungle Wigglytuff as I’ve hunted it down in high grade:

[barracuda]

Dec 3, 2021 at 9:06pm @jabby said:I got a few that come to mind that I hold in particular high regard mainly due to sentimental value. First one is my Base 2 Charizard that I only acquired in the past while. Base Set 2 was the 1st Pokemon card pack I ever opened as a kid and I pulled a Charizard in that pack so this particular printing of Charizard has a lot of sentimental value for me. It’s a really nice copy and I got it for only a bit more than a PSA 9 and compared to my PSA stuff, it’s definitely very strong. (Just got a scanner, still learning how to use it lol):

Next one is my Base 2 Alakazam (probably my fav Base Set holo overall), quite low pop and just a really nice copy with *beauty swirl*:

Next one which is my rarest card in my collection and the 1st graded card I ever bought is an amazing foil Exalted Angel from MTG. Pop 6 card, I wouldn’t say it’s got mass appeal among all collectors but for it’s time it was hands down one of the best cards in the game. Still very strong even 20 years later I’d wager. When I played MTG a lot as a young teenager, I won so many games with it over and over and was definitely a chase card during this era of Magic. These old foils in high grade are extremely rare and almost impossible to find, especially in a massive 350 card set:

And an honorable mention is my PSA 10 Jungle Wigglytuff 1st Ed. A recent acquisition, I’ve tried very hard to get a Base Set 2 copy in PSA 10 but they’re so rare and hard to find I went with my next favourite version as I’m still building the Jungle set. I grew a real attachment to the early Jungle Wigglytuff as I’ve hunted it down in high grade:

[/quote]

9.5 zard is quite impressive

[japanime]

@churlocker

I have a separate box in my collection space that contains only cards that were gifted to me. I cannot imagine a circumstance in which I would find it appropriate to sell those. Anything that I purchased would move if someone wanted to be silly with their money.

If you want to exempt life-changing offers in grand excess of the value of the item, there is a considerably larger portion of my collection that I simply would not sell. You can’t offer me anywhere near “market value” on my rare cards and expect that I would be willing to sell a piece of my collection. In general, it would be difficult to get me to sell anything from my “core collection” without agreeing to purchase everything in it at my full 10±year speculative consideration of it.

One thing I know I’ve typed out here in the past and to friends in the hobby is that I consider the opportunities to actually get my rarest cards incredibly fleeting. Unless you can help me overcome some substantial life obstacle, there’s just no point in selling because I can navigate life just fine without selling. I didn’t sell when I was homeless ~11 years ago, why would I sell when everything is going great? You might have gotten something off of me when I was getting married, but now that is gone. Might have gotten it when I needed a house, but now I’ve bought that. And you might have gotten something when I was setting up my firstborn financially for life, but that’s also already been accomplished. All of those were paid for with Pokemon, too. So now, it’s getting tough to imagine what you’d have to do to get me to sell something close to me. Because my prices aren’t fixed to other peoples’ opinion of the value of the card. They’re fixed to the utility that the sale provides me for improving the amount of joy in my overall life. And the more financially established I get, the higher that price tag becomes.

This might be my favorite UPCCC/E4 post of all time.

[parkermrparker]

Not a high roller but i buy and sell more than the “average” person

Three cards ill never sell, and the price is irrelevant.

1. The unl neo discovery non holo tyranitar which my dad bought for me 4 or 5 Christmas’s ago
2. A suicune and raikou legend (bottom) which Nas pulled for me. I bought and had opened a handful of japanese e1 packs in a box break and they were all non holos, just bad luck cuz Nas is a stand up dude and the box was sealed and the packs shuffled after opening yadda yadda yadda ect it was just back luck, he felt like opening me an apology -or pity- pack of unleashed for free and boom we hit the best chaser.
3. My e4 Christmas gift from last year, a PSA 2.5 jp base magneton.

(#4 coming soon, my next e4 Christmas gift lol)

[parkermrparker]

@parkermrparker

Not a high roller but i buy and sell more than the “average” person

Three cards ill never sell, and the price is irrelevant.

1. The unl neo discovery non holo tyranitar which my dad bought for me 4 or 5 Christmas’s ago
2. A suicune and raikou legend (bottom) which Nas pulled for me. I bought and had opened a handful of japanese e1 packs in a box break and they were all non holos, just bad luck cuz Nas is a stand up dude and the box was sealed and the packs shuffled after opening yadda yadda yadda ect it was just back luck, he felt like opening me an apology -or pity- pack of unleashed for free and boom we hit the best chaser.
3. My e4 Christmas gift from last year, a PSA 2.5 jp base magneton.

(#4 coming soon, my next e4 Christmas gift lol)

After reading peoples wild pipe dreams of people offering 10000000x the value for sentimental cards, yea sure whatever money talks but if the person is dumb enough to pay that much for my sentimental stuff i would be sending them my dads and nas and my e4 santa friends way so they can get theirs. In a realistic world i would never sell my 3 cards listed

[subf]

There’s always a price for everything ;p

[davie]

@subf

There’s always a price for everything ;p

What’s your most sentimental card, and why?

[subf]

Realistically though, unless someone is just trying to flex and buy my childhood cards in mp condition for some weird financial dominance fetish I doubt I would ever sell those.

[subf]

@davie

@subf

There’s always a price for everything ;p

What’s your most sentimental card, and why?

The most sentimental card I don’t own is the blastoise that was stolen from be in the lunch room while I was trading before school in second grade haha.

The one I have is probably the cards I have signed by friends and illustrators like snorlaxes and psyducks or my old venusaur base (which isn’t worth much but after the blastoise was stolen it was the only starter I had as a kid) I don’t even collect venusaurs.

[davie]

@subf

@davie

What’s your most sentimental card, and why?

The most sentimental card I don’t own is the blastoise that was stolen from be in the lunch room while I was trading before school in second grade haha.

The one I have is probably the cards I have signed by friends and illustrators like snorlaxes and psyducks or my old venusaur base (which isn’t worth much but after the blastoise was stolen it was the only starter I had as a kid) I don’t even collect venusaurs.

I remember Yugioh and Pokemon being banned in grade school due to rampant theft… that sucks.

Have a favorite out of your signed cards?

[subf]

@davie

@subf

The most sentimental card I don’t own is the blastoise that was stolen from be in the lunch room while I was trading before school in second grade haha.

The one I have is probably the cards I have signed by friends and illustrators like snorlaxes and psyducks or my old venusaur base (which isn’t worth much but after the blastoise was stolen it was the only starter I had as a kid) I don’t even collect venusaurs.

I remember Yugioh and Pokemon being banned in grade school due to rampant theft… that sucks.

Have a favorite out of your signed cards?

Probably my aquapolis reverse psyduck