I haven’t been involved in the Magic the Gathering scene in many years and made the decision to sell my collection some time ago. Finally got around to unloading it and I’m interested in putting the money back into Pokémon. Now I’m in the process of figuring out what I want to get with it.
In case anyone is wondering, we don’t need the money to go anywhere in particular. Our finances are in great shape - no debt, retirement is funded well, college funds are taken care of, etc. I’m not afraid to put money into cards, but would like something solid to dump my money into.
I’m not looking to stonk or flip Base 1st stuff. For those with a pulse on the vintage market, is now a good time to get into Base 1st? I know things went absolutely bonkers during COVID and have cooled off since then. Curious to know everyone’s thoughts on this.
Oh I’m also open to vintage things outside of Base. Feel free to drop any personal favorite cards that seem fairly stable in value.
I don’t usually ask these kind of “what should I buy” questions and apologize in advance if this is not the right place.
I am buying 1st Ed. high grades way more frequently this year compared to the last three years.
However, the best advice I can give is this: Use dollar cost averaging to spread your risk. Instead of purchasing many cards at single price point (we only know good price points when looking back at them in the future), you buy a card or two at regular intervals. Be patient and wait for the deals, they will come.
I feel like 1st ed base psa 8s are pretty decently priced right now, i bought a venusaur a month or so ago paid a little over 1100 usd for it is a solid 8 too.
Definitely better than late 2020/early 2021. Most of them are still up a lot from 2019, but have largely retraced since the Logan Paul hype prices. Personally, I bought a 1st Ed Base Set Charizard earlier in the year. For the grade I bought, I have not seen any at auction go for less than I paid since. I’ve seen either small upticks or stable prices across the board for the past 6+ months.
Overall, I would say now is a good time to buy. Whether the prices will fall anymore, it’s anyones guess at this point. The main thing is, they’re all down anywhere from 50-75% on the highest prices they sold for just 2-3 years ago. So for me, I am comfortable buying them with this level of discount.
It’s tough to say. Everything is down 50%-90% from the Logan highs but up 300-400% from late 2019. Prices have increased the last three months for sure. Everyone using their Japanese bubble profits on wotc probably lol
I have done endless research over the past year. Prices are lower now than when Logan Paul first showed up (mania started right after that moment). He brought so much awareness to Pokemon cards, especially 1st edition base that i find it hard to believe they will ever retrace back to 2019 levels. I really think now is a great time to pick up these cards. 2 years ago i never thought these cards would go down this much but im glad they did. I really wanted the cards for my collection and didnt want to waste the chance and got almost all of them over the past year.
Now is a good time but i think the absolute best time was a few months ago. I can’t tell you how many PSA 9 1st edition base non holo uncommons/commons I won at auction between $25 to $35 in the beginning of the year.
I think the supply is starting to dry up a little bit.
True i picked up non holos rares like Beedrill, Electabuzz, electrode and pidgeotto up for less than their 2017 prices. The pop for all the commons and uncommons skyrocketed over the past years keeping the prices low.
I think many vintage cards are quite good buys at the moment if you want to complete sets or start collecting.
Some valuations don’t make sense to me so great oppertunity, especially compared to the last 1-2 years.
I’m not focussed on 1st edtion but am buying Japanese early early holo PSA 9 cards fro crazy cheap!
I’ve been trying to pump the brakes on speculative graded card purchases but PSA 9 japanese base holos and PSA 9 1st Edition Base Non Holos for sub $35-$45 is STUPID.
I bought a PSA 9 1st Edition Base Zapdos back in april for $740 and a clean CGC 9 1st Edition Base Nidoking for $806 back in February. Personally I think any non sexy/non starter 1st edition base holo in PSA 9 condition for under $1k is a really good buy at the moment. I’m not sure how much longer being able to buy cards like these in this condition will last.
Note: The CGC 9 Nidoking was a CGC 9.5 mislabel that I originally thought was a true 9.5 but it turned out to only be a 9. Still, no regrets on that purchase.
Getting Base 1st PSA 9 holos for under $1k seems like a great deal. I was really hoping Blastoise was under $4k, but looks like he’s consistently above that. Venusaur seems to be under $3k most of the time. May start with these two.
Try to start with the Charizard, even if it takes a bit more time and patience aquiring the funds.
Get that though cookie out of the way and enjoy it while you buy the “cheaper” cards later!
There was an LGS I buy from doing a liquidation sale last year during the market declines who were trying to raise capital because of being overstocked on sealed products and I got a crazy deal on a beautiful Zapdos for $200. Totally pack fresh, probably at least PSA 8 or 9 (has a tiny corner chip):
- $266 CAD, so about $200 US