I’m trying to assemble master sets of the WOTC era cards. All the low hanging fruit is gone. I’m reaching a point where it would take thousands of dollars to complete these collections - cards like dark espeon, the shining cards, T17 typhlosion, etc are going to seriously dent my pocket book.
I have retirement accounts, a brokerage, and all the other fun accounts that come with being an adult, and its a really hard decision to even think about buying these cards when I could spend the 2,000 - 3,000 USD on an ETF, or an otherwise normal investment (I do not see these cards as an investment, just something really fun and nostalgic).
Fellow efour people: how do you guys justify these purchases to yourself? I really want to make them, but its a substantial chunk of change, and i’m hemming and hawing about it.
Buy collections, pull out what you need. Sell the rest. repeat. No justification necessary. Play with house money
Maybe if trying to justify big purchases is causing you stress and anxiety then just don’t make those purchases. It’s okay to readjust your goals mid way through and aim for something you’re a lot more comfortable with
I too have financial limitations, so the only justification I can make for getting cards for my collection (besides tiny purchases on occasion) are through trades. Swapping your doubles for new collection pieces is what a “TRADING Card Game” is all about, after all:)
a hobby is an expense, it costs money to do what i like.
So I had lots of money (LIKE ENOUGH FOR A FIRST EDITION FIRE LIZARD IN THIS GAME) invested in Magic The Gathering cards. For me, the value was so dependent on utility, their ability to make you more likely to win games of magic the gathering, that I was really uncomfortable. A card may be worth X amount today because 3 is the highest number available for a card of that sort. But if tomorrow, Wizards of the Coast decide to print a card that has a 4! Well, my card is now worthless.
I feel a lot more comfortable with Pokemon, because value is based on condition, age and scarcity. Even if we got a Shining Gyarados reprint tomorrow, they wouldn’t be worth what the original ones were and the price of the original ones wouldn’t be hit anywhere what it would if the only reason that card was worth anything was because of its in game use.
I’m not at all worried about the pennies I’ve spent and hope to make more pennies too, whilst subsiding personal collections, but, I wouldn’t spend money that you can’t afford to lose. Tis a rich wo/man’s sport.
This is me.
The truth is, I cannot rationally justify the expense. There is no justification for it. I do it anyway. If Pokémon cost this much when I started, I probably would not have. But I am “in it” now and if I want to keep doing it then this is what it costs to do. I am determined to finish what I started despite the expense.
My family was lower class growing up and my mother and father hated Pokémon. They saw it as a brainless, frivolous fad. They opposed my interest in Pokémon at every turn, just short of forbidding it entirely, and made it quite clear they found my passion for it shameful. It sucked. When I put Pokémon down in 2001, there was a feeling of being free from the shame of it. But before that, it meant my collection was a lot of other people’s scraps. They were hand me downs and pity trades from other kids. Pokémon was something I was enthralled with and loved, but most of all it was something I wanted. I wanted things I couldn’t have. As an adult, I still really wanted them. More than a decade later I still thought about those cards. So I set out to get them, finally, and achieve that little boyhood dream just to see how it felt.
And honestly it felt amazing. I am not ashamed to say this anymore. I love Pokémon and it felt incredible to achieve that childhood goal even if it took until I was an adult to do. I got all those cards I wanted, quieted my inner child, and felt a triumphant peace for having accomplished something in maturity that I could not in my youth. The cards were more to me than a hobby, they were prideful treasures. It meant a lot to me.
When I finished my “childhood sets”, I was at a crossroads. I could quit while I was ahead, which I did for about a year, or I could keep going. There was nothing stopping me from picking up where I left off, exploring new cards and collections at a steady and personal pace, and even though I never collected those cards as a kid I still felt the pull to continue that legacy. I thought the expensive cards were behind me and anything from that point on could be slower paced and more affordable. I started four more sets - 1st Edition Neo Sets specifically - and planned to finish it longterm over the next few years. This was in 2019. Then 2020 happened.
I am close to finishing those Neo sets now. I have 5 cards left, which I have mentioned in other threads. They are expensive. They are too expensive, frankly. I cannot justify them. But I know I have to finish. Because now I am right back to where I was as a boy where the cards I want are once again out of my reach. If I walk away before I finish, I will always want them. I can’t open up that dissatisfaction again. I can’t once again let my legacy with Pokémon end with want. I can’t have it all be for nothing.
So I can’t justify it financially, logically, or rationally. But emotionally I have no other choice. This is why I do what I do.
I enjoy it enough that I can justify the cost to myself
start with the big cards not the small cards;)
I just finished my game collection recently and it cost quite a bit. I could have easily put that money towards my student loans and lowered my monthly payment but ultimately my games are going to bring me more joy. Also, knowing that I can sell my collection and get back what I put into it (if not a bit more) helped me justify my decision if I ever really needed to sell them.
I’ll be having a bit more income soon as my girlfriend is moving in with me and will be helping me with my mortgage. I was thinking about what I would do with that saved money. Do I put it all into Pokemon or my student loans? I think what I’ll do is put half towards collecting and the other half towards loans and other things I need to save for. Kind of compromising with myself so I don’t feel guilty about putting all my money towards cardboard when I could be digging my way out of debt. Maybe you can do something similar where you put half towards your collection goals and the other half into something like an EFT if that makes you more comfortable.
I’m able to justify it because:
- I’m confident in the medium-term value of the items I buy.
- I don’t have many expenses. I’m a student, am in my early-mid 20s, have zero debt, and have zero hobbies outside of collecting.
- Collecting is my lifelong passion. I’ve been wholly consumed by collecting for my entire life thus far, and I don’t see that changing.
- My collection has appreciated in value beyond what I could’ve ever expected. I started collecting Magic back in 2008/09, and since then I’ve accumulated a collection of Pokemon/Magic that is in the medium-high six figures, but I’ve spent only a fraction of that. So a lot of the money feels “free” to me. Everything I buy is with money generated from other collectibles, most of which I acquired for a tiny fraction of their current value.
@octaane, the more time goes on, the higher the value of my personal collection, so I justify it to myself as an investment as well as a hobby. But keeping a real head, if Pokemon falls into the abyss forever, I still love the cards that I own and I haven’t stopped doing anything else in my life that I’ve wanted - so no regrets! My collection could be worth millions or nothing at all and either way I’d be happy.
I keep my Pokemon purchases at a fixed percentage of my annual income. No matter what deals I find. I’ll also put half of the money from selling cards back into the fund, and invest the other half in VTI.
If my goal is unreachable for myself I just narrow and polish it to fit my needs. You also have to be rational and know your limits, for example I was aiming for all Magikarps that existed, all languages all code variants etc cos Magikarps were cheap and was fun to keep me hunting crap cards. But with todays prices I know that goal will empty my pockets and something I was doing for “fun” ended up being stress and a forced duty, and I prefer to spend that money on cards I do really need for my collection. So I changed my goal and aimed for just the first copy released of that specific art, even tho my karp power will lower, at least I can aim to finish a goal that I care more
I buy the things because I love them, not because I expect (any) financial return. It´s basically like spending money for novels, art or anything else I enjoy. I don´t spend any money I couldn´t afford to lose. That´s the reason that justifies it for me.
I enjoy it, therefore it is justified.
What’s the point in accumulating wealth you are never going to use? The end goal of money is to acquire things you need or want. If your options are an ETF or a card you’ll never sell, then sure the ETF is doing more for you financially. By this logic, all of your disposable income should end up in an ETF, this is true whether you’re 20 or 40 or 70… at some point you are just collecting money for tomorrow and you will either be too old to enjoy it or one day, tomorrow will never come.
Once my financial obligations are met and I save some for the future, I dont need a justification to spend the rest how I want. Especially when we are talking about one of the few hobbies where wealth creation is actually relatively simple if you know what you’re doing
I guess my current strategy is buying things I love, but that maybe won’t be with me forever, so that I can gradually turn that collection into things I wouldn’t be able to let go of, ever. Much easier than just dropping thousands and knowing I’ll never see that money again (even if it is worth it!)
I try to get what I think are good deals on things, so hopefully if I ever need to sell my cards I’ll be able to at least get my money back. I sort of sell it to myself/my partner as potential money sitting there as cards that could be turned back into money (with a lot of effort and time selling them if needed, of course).
I’d also love to complete my WOTC sets, as soon as I can, I’ll grab them, but I’m not going to worry about cards when I have other things that I need to save for, especially when I know that once I get them, it’ll be impossible to let them go!
My experience and scientific calculations lead me to the conclusion that Pokemon cards only go up in value.
Simple: I buy cards using ,money that I make from selling cards. So Pokemon basically funds itself.