I’d love to hear from you guys on how you do things. Do you guys for most part save your money up for that one expensive card or do you just buy smaller cost cards for your collection. Thanks guys, I’d love to hear from your past and current experiences!
1 Like
Pretty much everyone here buys cards they like and want in their collection that they can afford.
10 Likes
Going through the same. A local buddy of mine said I’m wasting money buying smaller ones (which I do like). Said I should save the money and buy that banger. Problem is, I have a hard time saving money lol
I buy a lot of cheap raw cards because I collect master sets. I like having a large variety of Pokemon cards across many different eras! But, when I’m in the position too, I love to save up money to track down that big purchase to fill a blank space. Overall, buy the cards you like! If you like buying lots of holos from a specific era/set, do it! If you want to save up for that heavy hitter, go for it! The fun part of collecting is there aren’t any set rules, and everyone’s collection is personal to them and what cards they like!
At first I was trying to get complete PSA sets. But I started having instances of “I don’t really want to pay that much for a Shiftry”. So I have since been completing sub sets of cards that I actually want, instead of buying just for completion.
I’d rather have a few personal grails than a lot of unwanted cards.
3 Likes
And cards they can’t afford! Screwing them for weeks on end! Don’t forget those people too.
started out with less expensive cards I liked in grades that have sufficent appeal for me (usually 7s-9s), then started paying up for some 10s even though the grade bump wasn’t worth the money except maybe from an “investment” standpoint, then my comfort level with spending greater amounts of money on one card increased (not just cards that I could afford, but that I could justify to myself), and now I’m trying to focus on the higher value cards I don’t yet own but want to own. so, I’m currently foregoing most smaller purchases so I can target the bigger cards I want when I feel it’s time to purchase them (assuming the availability for the card is there). always heard on efour to “target the most expensive cards first” when collecting sets (or for me, specific cards I just happen to really like since I’m more of a species/art collector than anything), but I had to get there on my own and that meant starting smaller as my knowledge, comfort level, and preferences developed.
tldr: do what you feel works best for you.
Little bit of both, though I’d guess 99% of people are the same. Some cards require me to save up for, others I can just buy a bunch of in one swoop. I’ve got a binder set of modern cards that I keep up to date with all the new releases and that entails buying many cards at once. I’ve saved up for those graded cards that I’m looking to add to my collection. Like what others have said, collect what you like, it’s your collection.
My experience is similar. There is a natural progression to collecting that starts with small purchases until you feel more comfort with larger purchases. Collecting has a learning curve and sometimes the small purchases are needed to gain more knowledge and “level up” in this hobby.
yes
I’m sort of in a quality vs quantity dilemma too. I’ve always leaned towards a mix of the two because I love having such a big collection and experiencing the most artwork e.g having a load of PSA 5-9 WOTC holos instead of just a few 10s for the same price. Most of my collection is vintage booster packs, PSA slabs (anywhere from grade 1-9 with some 10s) and LP single WOTC holos. To me lower quality items such as bulk or most modern stuff doesn’t really interest me at all. I do have some higher quality items like PSA 9/10 Charizards but also a lot of lower grade cards which I still enjoy. When my PSA submissions come back I’m going to have over 300 slabs although sometimes I wish that I had got the higher end 1st edition/shadowless base holos in good grades before the prices exploded.
Quantity
Pros: Easier to build a bigger collection, more enjoyable (IMO), can be used as turnover to trade your way up, diversifies your investment and probably has less downside than buying at high prices
Cons: Harder to store safely once it starts getting big, a lot more to manage
Quality
Pros: Higher end items like PSA 10s are nicer to show off, satisfies the OCD in us, growth usually outperforms everything else
Cons: Potentially a bigger downside (see recent PSA 9 Base Charizard retrace), can be difficult and risky to sell
Would you give all your psa10s for one black label?
I think you’d be hard pressed to find anyone on the forum who’d do that
1 Like
I’m talking about his charizards hypothetically. What’s worth more to Gary 7 psa 10s or 1 impossible black label.
“One card vs Many Cards” thread related
I was actually just talking to someone on IG about something similar the other day!
We were talking about the PSA 9 and BGS 7 No Damage Ninetales on eBay. He was asking if I were planning to purchase either of those cards and I told him that I was definitely interested in both; however, I had just recently made a few other purchases and needed to cut-back on the spending for a bit. He said that I should try and sell some of my lower-grade No Damage Cards and just focus on the higher-grade No Damage Cards. My response to him… “Anyone can say that they have 1x PSA 9 No Damage Ninetales. But, who can say that they have 1x PSA 9 No Damage Ninetales plus 24x Other Copies???” LOL
So, short answer - at least in-regards to my No Damage Collection - I don’t care if it’s MINT ($$$$) or DESTROYED ($$) - I want it for my collection!!! Haha
Wish I had bought the most expensive cards first, rather than going for tons of cheap ones 
I like to focus all in 1 card
A mixture I enjoy the concept of trading up in collectibles.
vr
odds