Given all conditions remain same and if I have to start all over again, I probably would not. I already am priced out of a lot of things and barely make purchases, only after months of waiting.
But If I am in a position of luxury, I would really have a very firm collection goal. Looking back, the way I started, I was a bit all over the place. The boom in 20-21 really made me rethink my collecting ways financially and I only focused on collecting Japanese promos and did not buy anything else. I am much more happier with how I collect now and donāt regret my choices. I have also learnt to make peace with a lot of aspects of the hobby that I cannot influence at all.
If i was back to 1999 starting again iād obviously hoover everything up and have it all ready for the boom.
If itās back to late 2022 and starting again, I think iād have dialled back my aim to just getting promos and full sets, not try and pick up variations for the expert set.
And maybe go a bit slower on the raichus. I have hammered it over the last 18 months or so. Nearly done but itās not a sprint
Itās interesting seeing a lot of people say they wouldnāt start over. If the question was put to you pre covid boom would your answer likely have been the same?
I wonder if some of the joy has been lost since money is now a big part of the market, or is it just time spent vs value gained (financial or otherwise) that would make you not pick up the hobby again?
There are two major factors that would make someone say they wouldnāt start over. One is that Iām in a place in my life where I donāt have much time for it all anymore. Very focused on career and life goals and itās pretty irresponsible and wasteful to spend money on cards.
The other is that things are so, so much more expensive now than when many of us started getting back into it that itās inconceivable that Iād start collecting when wotc cards are 10x the price they were when i bought all but the last couple sets of them, old back promos, etc.
I was collecting heavily in the boom period anyway because I was so either far into my goals or even new goals at the time felt like they had a foundation of so much before it.
The chase is fun and all but to a large extent itās just not fun spending a stupid amount on that card you want. I loved, loved, loved when the kind of cards I wanted were $2, $5, $10. When we saw $50 as a massive amount to spend on a card. Plus, many members including myself here were only really buying many of those cards during 2020 even after their price spikes because we already had so many cards that appreciated that we could sell to fund the rest.
Makes perfect sense. As someone new the prices do seem ridiculous but I wasnāt collecting when things were so cheap so this seems the norm to me, and people even say now things are ācheapā comparative to 2-3 years ago which is wild.
It is not only that the cards are expensive, but everything else also is. Unfortunately whatever event happened in the last 3-4 years and are happening currently has also made a lot of other things very expensive while the payscaling has not risen appropriately. I still consider myself to be privileged than many around me but I always have to stop and think about the mortgage, bills, overall expenses for my family etc. It really makes it hard to justify spending money in this way.
I feel the same. Picked up my WoTC back in the late noughties when they were going for next to nothing.
If I lost my collection now and had to start from scratch? Thatās a tough one, Iād either not bother or purely focus on modern. I think decreasing prices is good for the hobby as a whole
Itās not so much that for me though that does play into that. It took me 20+ years to have the collection I do. The search for a single item sometimes took multiple years. The time committment is more of a thing for me than the money though I definitely wouldnāt be able to purchase some of biggest highlights.
There are definitely cards I have that would be now out of reach financially, however as I very rarely buy cards and mostly trade it makes less difference to me. My time, however is valuable and now that I have family of my own and other commitments, I doubt I would be able to invest as much of my time into the research/hunt for these cards again. I would probably focus on the same goals, but it would take many years to get back to where I am now.
Id have to get all of gen 1 - Ecard Era again. I dont have to do that if i dont decide to do it again (The line that haz too but a number iz broken, therefore, i need to need that line lezz)
If I had to start again with funds from selling my current collection - just buy a PSA 9 1st ed Charizard for posterity & call it a day.
If it was without any extra funds - re-complete Fossil first, then move on to Base & Jungle. Iād stop after that, because itād be heartbreaking to try rebuilding everything else from over the last 25 years of collecting.
For me its mostly that my collecting goals were very broad at the start. I liked a few cards in a set so id try getting everything from the set whether i cared for it or not, if i liked a set even a little id get it. Now with experience, I have a better idea of what appeals to me and would focus on that with no need to get everything. Also as some users have said, collecting limited and hard to find products can take years of constant checking, in fact there are still some prpducts that i havent seen in 2-3 years that i check multiple times a day for. And money can be a factor since I know ive spent way too much for my collection and id have to spend 3-8x that to get it again.
Exactly what I came to say. When I got back in I was collecting sort of willy nilly, then that turned into set collecting. Donāt get me wrong, Iām proud of my collection, but with the amount of money I spent set collecting I could have some BIG cards. If I could start over Iād just collect the cards I like and not worry about set or species collecting to the point of getting 100% on the set registry.
In that case my ācollectionā is mostly sealed cases bought purely to hold as an alternative investment, and the few slabs for sale on eBay, although Iād count those even less.
If āstarting overā means I get the money I put in back, Iād just do the exact same thing again, but skip larger footprint items like Charizard UPC. That would just mean sealed booster box cases from Fusion Strike through Paradox Rift, with PC ETBs for special sets Crown Zenith, 151, and Paldean Fates.
If it means all my stuff just disappears and I get nothingā¦ Then obviously it was a failed experiment and Iām out. No more for me.
Well, I really like pokemon, but Iām not shelling out hundreds or thousands of dollars for single cards I really like when thereās another, much cheaper product I can readily buy and strongly believe will appreciate very well.
I think Iāll only really have to keep accumulating for 3-5 years before I can begin selling some of the earlier set boxes for profits and use some of that to buy the cards I like, which I donāt expect to change in price nearly as much.
Nobody likes Kingdra. If Team Rocket Returns Kingdra holo and reverse holos are $1000 in 3 years Iād be shocked. I would be substantially less shocked if any of the booster boxes double or triple in that time.