I don’t think anyone would want to disclose their collections value. What’s the point? And using the app that just compares you to other people using the app is pretty pointless. The people with cases of each set from their days working at a tcg store are not on that app. And neither are the people who casually collect so idk what the point is
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I was jk to stop the current discussion from derailing.
IMO, people only want to know the costs of other collections in hopes of thinking they have more $$ than someone else. Also, 99% don’t know the market value of their items. If you’re like me, I forget 90% of what I have because I am extremely disorganized.
Just remember that the intent of an app stating you’re in the top 75% of collectors is to psychologically attach your identity to that number so you keep buying. If you need to be humbled, know Scott is still collecting 
I can tell you that I’ve bought items that are now half of what I paid and others that doubled. I pray I have more of the latter 
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thats true, after I collect a set or finish a goal I dont usually keep up to date with the market price. I bet its a decent bit less than I paid in 2022 to build the ereader sets now, but it doesnt matter much.
but if I were to try to find my collections value Id have to use current value. Also modern would be rough. Alts are way way down and its physically impossible that someone got them before they boomed because they came out during the boom
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I’m glad you said you were kidding lol, I would never make that thread. Its pointless as it would be near impossible to be accurate.
It only piqued my interest like I said. Would be interesting to see is all I was saying.
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Your comment is what I had in mind when thinking about the different variables for such a poll.
For the average being 20k, I could believe that.
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There is no way that we will ever know, but I think $20,000 is a fair assumption with a HUGE range. I would also wager that 75% of e4 collectors have no clue what their collection is worth and would not like to find out.
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How many steps in the safari zone until you get kicked out? 
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My (unsolicited) opinion is that there are two main reasons why the market appears to be “stagnating:”
- Collectors still in the market are working on very specific goals. Back in 2020/21, there were many market participants who would just buy anything that was a “good” deal. Now, those participants seem to have exited (or at least significantly narrowed their collecting interests).
I suspect this is why there is a huge glut in the supply of the sorts of cards that PFM observed at the card show, but not a glut for the sorts of items that are both (1) very scarce and that (2) serious collectors actually want. For example, EX boxes and mint gold stars are at or near all time high prices, and at or near all time lows in terms of market supply.
- Way too many cards have been graded. I and others observed during the 2020 mania that this would happen. It was obvious that the continuous, unyielding conversion of raw cards into graded cards would eventually result in a supply glut of graded cards + a supply dearth of raw cards.
This has become true to an even more extreme extent than I anticipated. Back when I was building raw EX sets in 2020, I was able to buy most cards in NM/M raw (though I did crack a good number of 8s and 9s for the higher tier cards). Now, if I was to build the same sets in the same condition, I’d instead be cracking PSA 9s for pretty much any card worth more than $10 raw. That would literally be the most cost-efficient way to build those raw sets in that condition. This fact is clear evidence for the proposition that too many cards have been graded. I’m seeing PSA and CGC 9 exs and 1st Ed WotC holos selling for (in many instances) less than NM/M raw prices.
Basically, there were never enough graded collectors in the first place to sustain the sort of raw → graded conversion that happened (and continues to happen, to an extent). The graded premium on most cards has dissipated significantly for that reason. A lot of the perceived “stagnation” is effectively a combination of a supply/demand mismatch + reluctance by vendors to abandon sunk grading costs. As such, there’s a lot of dead inventory.
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Exactly! PSA grading more pokemon cards than anything else = unprecedented supply. Even some of the rarest cards had the most copies sell this year, mainly due to extra copies, which is just another layer of the unprecedented supply.
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I think there have been a lot of good points made here already. For what it’s worth, all of my saved searches have been very slow to “hit” over the last six months. There have been items that I haven’t seen pop up in over a year. I do agree that, broadly, the market has been slowing down in terms of prices and the amount of graded supply is at a very high level. I forget who posted it, but the K shaped “recovery” does seem to apply here
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Supply has gone crazy while demand has cooled off. Makes sense that would result in the market stagnating. I don’t think it’s a bad thing. Seems like a very natural progression of things in the moment to me. It’s not an indicator at all of what will happen in the future.
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I know it’s not this black & white, but I think of the Pokemon market with 3 main participants:
Collectors
Players
Flippers/Investors
I have no doubt Collectors and Players are as into collecting & playing as they ever have been. Flippers/investors? Now that there aren’t as many easy big money making opportunities in the hobby, I suspect this is the group that’s decreased most significantly.
In 2 years flippers have gone from fighting over cards in parking lots, to now attempting to return sealed product to the pokemon center. Oh how times have changed
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Couldn’t have said it any better!
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It’s because every single casual or uninformed buyer (not even going to call them collectors) is told by influencers to grade cards and then they repeat that ad infinitum everywhere they are. Who is buying them?
Personally, grading has always seemed a flipper’s paradise. You grade so you can flip it. If not now, in the future where your slab would supposedly be worth more and more. Those who are actually collecting graded cards are probably a minuscule %.
Furthermore, as I asked earlier on, where do people think all the slabs are stored? With the rate of top tier art coming out in every set, your house would be invaded by plastic if you chose to engage with the hobby solely through slabs.
Well, some pictures of your e-reader set wouldn’t hurt 
Ill make a collection post eventually. Goals changed a lot during and recently after COVID. Some stuff that seemed unattainable during is now very much attainable so I’ve been selling the COVID buys for the “new market” buys
Never stops
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Same here. I’ve made a few bigger purchases lately on some cards that I thought there was no way I’d ever own this time even a year or two ago. Going to start selling off a decent chunk of my current collection soon.
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He’s been saying this for years 
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I think your sentiment is shared among a lot of vintage collectors and especially those seeking set chase cards. Anecdotally, my sales for these cards have skyrocketed these past few months. While part of this is likely attributable to the holiday season, I do believe that there is a shift in vintage collectors’ buying behavior in late 2023. The opportunities are extraordinary right now.
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