TCG tourists in Japan:
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Thanks for the discussion!
I didnât say that the JP release schedule should be the one to emulate. I donât think there are just 2 choices, but that whatever the choice is, it should be worldwide. That would require more collaboration between the two companies and as I have been saying, redesigning their whole process. How many cards should be in a set? How could they be released? etc.
I think this is addressed by my point being that itâs not an either or but a reimagination. If consumers feel burnt out, then how can sets be mixed and matched? I personally donât think TPC/I does any research with their consumers - both businesses and the end consumer.
Is that some kind of legal requirement? I mean, already there are accusations of TCGs being loot boxes. If they are just trying to avoid that, thatâs not something to praise them for. At least in the SVI era TPCI has finally tried to have product minimums for booster boxes or close to a guaranteed pull rate. Iâd say that the previous eras, especially SM and SWSH were an example of dark design.
Sure, you can have your opinion on whether you care about the climate, but that doesnât change the facts. The world/society we live in is not sustainable. Being in a developed/Western country probably shields you further or longer from the effects already happening to developing countries today. So, either by force, or voluntarily can every company play their part, and TPCiâs excessive plastic crap that goes straight to landfills doesnât help. Letâs not pretend that they donât want their consumers buying multiple ETBs, tins, plastic PokeBalls etc. and how many posts there are consistently asking what to do with all of it.
There were 300 promos over the course of SWSH. Thatâs at least 200 different products and more that didnât have any exclusives. Things like Virizion or Hisuian Electrode boxes or Battle decks etc. all had promos that are completely unnecessary.
Maybe exclusive was too restrictive, but like I suggested, there are many other ways depending on what they actually want to achieve. If itâs a TCG, then there should be promos tied to playing. If LGS are not nearby, then develop a proper online environment, which by all accounts they have failed to do again. Some say they were skimping on the development compared to other companiesâ efforts.
HmmâŠfor this I suppose weâll just agree to disagree. If the products never grew in value, no one would keep them sealed. None of the products TPCi produces are nice enough or made well enough to be used as a display piece. I suppose it is also a product of a modern consumerist society. If products were really made to not be opened, they wouldnât be made with the products they currently are. There would be no need to have any cards in the packs or all 60 sleeves - hell, the ETB should just be empty if itâs never going to be opened.
It is, and I hope it remains that way, so I can keep hoarding Japanese vintage at decent prices (looking at you Natta Wakes).
I am of the opinion that either modern is overpriced, or vintage is underpriced and it is only a matter of time before the market re-evaluates itself to a more balanced ratio between both.
Either that or I am a boomer who is doomed to âhave fun staying poorâ as I see the price of my collection fall through the floor for refusing to adapt to the changes in the ecosystem.
On a more outlandish perspective, I have a decent enough background in anti money laundering to understand that the hobby provides both opportunity and liquidity to anyone who wishes to engage in such activities.
Japan still remains a cash economy, so there might be a mix of organic interest, tax evasion and money laundering fueling the boom. That might also explain why the modern market is getting cornered as it provides the most liquidity in a hype driven society where yesterdayâs cards show up less often and move a lot slower.
By the way, I am not saying that this is what happens, I am just putting out an observation that if it did it wouldnât surprise me.
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Thereâs plenty of speculative fervor but I think the term âbubbleâ implies a rapid fall that Iâm not really seeing. Iâd expect waning interest to be more of a slow burn, if at all. 2 years ago there were plenty of cards with prices that seemed out of line at the time that have just marched on to orders of magnitude higher since then (i.e. GX Battle Boost Lillie). The supply issues for Japanese retailers havenât changed much since then, and the buylist tactics have only gotten more aggressive.
Itâs been interesting to see these cycles play out across different TCGs and how the parent company addresses (or ignores) it. The launch of the One Piece TCG last year in particular had major issues out of the gate with supply/demand imbalance and shops trying to employ the same buylist tactics they use for Pokemon. Bandai acknowledged and addressed it by continually trickling out more supply and after just a few months things are in a much more balanced place (and in striking that balance, some of the pumped cards dropped ~90% in price).
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Damn. Iâm pretty sure the alt art solgaleo and lunala GX is half that price in a PSA 10 on eBay rn
Edit: nevermind lol theyâve all been bought
I am slow selling the cards as price jumps happen:
Exc:
Solgaleo & Lunala GX PSA 10âs sold at
$611
$900
$900
Holding Last 2 for around 1500-2000
Modern Japanese set cards:
Selling as fast as I can in the new interest and increased prices. Set cards will be the first to fall in this speculative market.
All âWaifuâ cards I am selling them as fast as I can. Some have increased and sold, others were caught in the buy out.
Battle Festas: 2014, 2015, & 2017
Was offered $1950 for a 2015 Battle Festa on ebay (fake or not, still crazy). I am curious where they all will land in the next month. Still looking to move those soon, in the next month.
Special Japanese promos:
I am selling them and trying to optimize on the market currently by comparing to the Japanese prices. I still think some Japanese prices havenât gotten too crazy in all of this, exc: Easterâs pikachu, gobbled up pikachu, Kanazawa Pikachu, Yokohama pikachu, to name a few always on my buying list.
In terms of âundervalued cardsâ currently there are far and few between in terms of Japanese cards. I would say looking at other segments of the hobby and especially in terms of newer markets emerging such as the Chinese market. I think certain promotions have great releases in Japan and deserved to be collected. Also for certain cards that are WAY out of reach for the average and even middle tier collector in the space to collect such as Battle Day Lillie and Acerola. They were released as set cards in the set âDreams may comeâ in the Traditional Chinese Language. That is the only other language to receive a release of those cards.
My 2cents on the manner.
Come to my Ted Talk on E4 Discord Voice every night if you want to chat more about it all.
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Itâs 2020 all over when you could sell 2x PSA9 Base Charizards and buy an Espeon Play Promo.
Now you can sell a Lillie Battle Boost and buy a Trophy Kangaskhan. Loving it.
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Tax return season
No idea how accurate this is (especially because they are only tracking certain cards) but it matches my anecdotal experience
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SV era seems like it just started and Japan is already at 70 promos for SV-P. Both Japanese and English have tons of promos compared to just a few eras ago.
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408/SM-P + unnumbered SM-P is the one to beat
Bollinger Bands on a Pokemon Card price chart? We have entered the crypto bro era of Japanese modern.
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Iâm confused whether things are being shilled or they are actually being sold. I follow some pikachu cards and Iâve been seeing some sales that are way out of line with price history.
I honestly thought that with the current economy and immediate future concerns, weâd see a downturn in the market, especially for collectibles. But, generally Iâve been seeing prices move up, at least for pokemon
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Yeah what is going on⊠lillie cosmog - it canât be more than 3 weeks ago PSA 10 Lillieâs were $400, cosmog $180. Now Lillieâs over $1500, cosmog $1000.
Lillie dreams come true (extra battle day artwork) all way up from 500%.
Makes me regret selling the ones I had.
If you look closely, that chart displays a textbook cup with handle pattern with the handle having a really long base and falling within the acceptable <1/3 of the depth of the cup. It breaks out from the handle on fairly average volume. Great technical analysis on display.
Great information, thanks for posting.
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I own a couple copies each of the Sun and Moon Tag Team Alts that have all sky rocketed in price recently. Iâll probably list at least 1 copy of each to cash in a little bit. PSA 10 Gengar Mimikyu over 1K is f******g dumb lol. Although, the reason I accumulated several copies each of these cards is because i thought theyâd hit these pricesâŠseveral years from now.
I unfortunately didnât list my copies of PSA 9 Base Charizard when they were 5k to 6k. Tying to avoid the same thing thats happening with these Alt Arts. While at the same time, holding onto a few copies of cards that I genuinely love.