Can we all agree that the fact that people are willing to spend this amount on cards is only positive for the hobby. The reasoning for the purchases are known by the buyers. Keep in mind that multiple people were bidding on this and this actually sold at a ~$50k discount to the one that sold a few weeks ago on cardrush. The multiple bids at the end may have very well been someone who didn’t want to lose. Happy for all who hold this card now.
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I’m not sure on the first sentence. Most people would have preferred Collectables Guru had not spent all that money in Pokemon in 2020 lol
I guess in my opinion it just bolsters pokemon tcg as a whole. I’m happy with the publicity this might garner. Adding more people and money into the ecosystem. It’s been a wild ride these past few years. When the spotlight is on a particular segment (waifus) I’m always looking elsewhere for undervalued opportunities
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fwiw, this card didn’t really have a market value until late last year. Most other trophy cards also have no market value because sales just don’t happen frequently enough.
Card stores in japan at the end of last year were willing to pay over $30,000 for the card, setting a floor. The amount of safety and interest that can drive is immeasurable. If a shop came out tomorrow and said that the Japanese Umbreon Gold Star they were willing to buy for $250,000, then two things need to happen. Either there is a ton of supply suddenly available and the stores can no longer absorb at those prices (and then lower it) or supply just doesn’t appear and people realize, “Oh wait. Maybe people ARENT willing to sell at the prices I thought?”
It’s the same as how auctions for cards that really don’t appear can end much much higher than last (even private) comps. The market doesn’t know the value until one is set. Whether via auction or via a buylist.
With the handful of copies appearing of the lillie, it’s still unclear whether the card stores will absorb all the supply and then just hold out to resell for higher (in which case, thats just the price now), or if they will get some supply, and remove the buylist (or change to negotiation only)
I think you wont have to wait more than a month or two to find that out.
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But it’s a 30k bulbasuar!
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This conversation is only a circle because no one has explained the non sexual aspect of waifus. I’m seriously trying to understand, and the only reason I’ve heard so far is “they are characters in the game”. If it’s about “collecting the characters in the game” why haven’t the male waifu prices increased? Why is there an exorbitant demand for only girls?
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Only reason why male husbandos haven’t increased in price is because the waifu collecting side is much much bigger than the husbando collecting side and folks with the deep pockets will certainly spend whatever it takes to get their waifu. It has always been that way and will most likely never change.
In my opinion, there is absolutely a psychological aspect at work that appeals to heterosexual males in particular. It might not be strictly sexual (for example, I just don’t see anything sexual about the extra battle day Lillie artwork), but it at least tries to portray the girl in a cutesy way that tries to activate protective instincts. “We must protect her”, or “she’s so precious, so innocent”. That’s also why male trainers don’t have the same effect, no one wants to protect Crasher Wake.
Now, there are also Pokemon designs that are tailor-made to be cute and moe, but the same appeal that one can show for Eevee being cute can have a very disturbing undertone once the object of desire is not a fantasy creature or an animal, but a depiction of a minor (emphasis on “can”). Of course there are people who harbor much darker thoughts and either consciously or subconsciously masquerade them behind a fondness for the cute. But there are much more people that don’t.
In the end, no one who likes to collect female trainer cards will feel like they’re doing something reprehensible. No one will think of themselves as creepy, everyone is certain that they are on the good side, and as an outsider, it’s impossible to figure out the exact intention that some collectors have. That’s why this entire discussion feels like a circle and will lead to nothing.
Also I just want to add that for exactly that reason, we shouldn’t put anyone under general suspicion for collecting this or that card in this hobby. It opens a door I’d rather see closed forever.
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I am here with my popcorn in hand reading all these comments 
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You’re absolutely right, I was just worried that assumptions were being presented as facts. There is no hard evidence, and there will never be. But it’s entirely possible that sexualization has an effect on these cards.
@smpratte One more possible (but maybe unlikely) reason I can think of why waifus are stonking and male trainers aren’t: female characters are sometimes just more aesthetically pleasing (in a non-sexual way). I’ve played a lot of World of Warcraft in my lifetime, and there are a lot of men who play female characters simply because they prefer the way they look.
Anyway, I think we can all agree that those who collect these cards for sexual reasons are wrong, and those who collect these cards because they enjoy them normally are fine.
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i like cute things
i like pokemon cards
i buy cute pokemon cards
personally i try my best to refrain from using “waifu” because it clearly has a stained connotation, but it also doesn’t apply to the way that 99% of anyone collecting full art trainers is collecting. it having become a colloquialism for “full art trainer” is honestly a net negative for the hobby for reasons like this and the previous locked thread.
the repeated discourse of attributing ill intent to those that collect full art trainers has been pretty disheartening- i get where smpratte and the rest of y’all are coming from, but its tiring to read assumptions that border on vilification about those that are participating in the same hobby. i don’t think i’ve personally talked to anyone in e4 that even remotely deserves to be labeled as a “creep” for the cards they’re collecting. i’m not saying those people don’t exist, but please be mindful of your fellow community members that do collect these cards. i haven’t commented on it up until this point because of how opinionated everyone already seems and really don’t want to add any fuel to the fire, but yeah.
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The majority of the collectors are heterosexual males that find these girls cute and endearing. The whole moe and idol industry, including a huge chunk of all entertainment products produced in Japan, is about selling these kinds of stereotypes to create an emotional “pseudo-romantic” or even “fatherly” attachment which is a much stronger driving force than anything overtly sexual. Not saying there is no sexual component whatsoever to it, I bet there is for some people – but if that’s what it was all about, people wouldn’t spend millions of yen.
It’s the same reason people buy dozens of copies of the same CD for a chance to enter a handshake event with their favorite idol or voice actor – there is an entire industry built around selling these “substitute feelings” for whatever these people lack in their lives – romantically, sexually or even interpersonally. It’s omnipresent in Japan and sometimes even happens unintentionally (see Hayao Miyazaki’s Nausicaä as one of the first moe characters) – and while TPC is obviously keeping it innocent, there’s no arguing that they also capitalize on this trend by producing more desirable cards of these popular girl characters.
I don’t think the sexual nature should be ignored altogether, but it’s not the main reason by a long shot. Though personally I find this whole “substitute feelings industry” or whatever you want to call it arguably even more creepy. But that’s a different topic.
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Wheres all my damn Agatha waifu cards already!
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is it the price that makes it weird? if it sold for $1,000 would it be “less” weird? if so that doesn’t really make sense.
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Are the Guzma and Acerola cards equally as rare as this one? I know they all have the same Battle Day title.
Yes, you got one of the three in a “pack” of 1 card. Back when they were first given out, people would shine a light through the pack to see which character they got. Even back then, Lillie was the most popular
The fact you could search them means this is likely the card to have been opened the most as anyone who has searched would be looking for this to open over the other two.
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Even worse, stores giving out those packs can search and give Lillies to whoever they preferred (i.e. if the winner was one of their setups). This gives plenty of room for market manipulation because you don’t know what kind of people ended up holding all those Lillies.
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