The unlikely tale of 3 Gengars (long story warning
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My 2024 Secret Santa assignment was a bit of a challenge because the member is a person of few words. I knew their 3 favorite Pokemon and that they were interested in vintage Japanese cards, error cards, & unique holo patterns. That was about it.
I started by researching their 3 favorite Pokemon, one of which was Gengar. I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I’ve never been a huge fan of Gengar. I don’t dislike it. I’ve just always been partial to Haunter and the market seems to value Gengar higher than I do so it’s never really been on my radar.
When everything was said and done, I settled on a Japanese Sabrina’s Gengar. It checked all the boxes, was within my budget and I think it’s a cool card. I made a case for it and sent it on it’s way to the new owner. (Gift below)
During my research, two other Gengar cards stood out to me for very different reasons. The first of which was the Skyridge Gengar. I immediately gravitated toward the artwork of this card. I like unusually ‘bright’ depiction of Gengar, the vibrant holo pattern, and the temple like structure in the background that reveals statues of Articuno and Zapdos when you shift the holo. It was out of my price range for the secret santa but I thought ‘maybe I’ll pick one up for myself someday’. While I had no plans of actively pursing this card for my collection, it has stayed in the back of my mind ever since.
The second was the Fire Red & Leaf Gengar Ex. I really like Gengar’s ‘pose’ in this artwork, but the ‘CGI’ style art just isn’t for me. After looking into this card, I was shocked to see how much it costs and didn’t give it a second thought. Different strokes for different folks I guess.
FFWD to early 2025>>
I stopped into a comic book shop and was thumbing through a binder that they had just taken in on trade that hadn’t been priced yet. Inside the binder I found a Fire Red & Leaf Green Gengar that had a bit of dirt on it. I still wasn’t a fan of the card, but knowing it’s hot commodity from my SS research, I saw it as an opportunity to make a little money that I could funnel into cards that I do want for my PC. I offered $150 and they accepted.
I cleaned off the dirt, graded it and put on the shelf. Over the following months the card rose in value significantly and I decided it was time to auction it off. It sold for $768. Not bad.
The day I received confirmation that the auction was paid for, I was driving to a campground and took a detour to check out a vintage video game shop in a rural town. I knew they didn’t have a large selection of Pokemon cards so I didn’t have high hopes of finding anything special but figured it couldn’t hurt.
When I walked into the shop I couldn’t believe my eyes. They only had about 10 vintage cards. One of which was a clean Skyridge Gengar. They were asking $775. I offered them $675 (the net proceeds from the Gengar Ex sale) and they accepted. I was giddy.
I hate to admit it, but part of my initial excitement was the potential financial implications of the purchase. I am pretty confident this copy will hit a PSA 7 which is worth about 2k in today’s market, and it was funded by a $150 purchase I made a few months ago. The thought of grading and selling it for a profit briefly crossed my mind but I like the card and the story behind it too much to sell it.
Into the collection it goes!