People only in it for the $$$

[basesetwill]

@TheMarillFoundation

I’m always amazed and grateful that I can search on eBay and pretty much find whatever card I want, and better yet have a choice of conditions, and know that I am paying a fair market price due to the competition between sellers.

Business sellers are very much needed for the health of the hobby

And that has been the same for the last 10 years. I would know because I have been collecting on and off since Base Set came out. The difference is that everything was literally ten times cheaper until all these money grabbing opportunists who have zero interest in the cards came along

[rescuetoast]

One thing I’ve done is shift my goals. I wanted a Gem Mint tropical Wind. Not only is it tough to find, but a boat load of money if it came up. so I settled for a lower grade. Maybe one day I’ll upgrade but I’m just happy to have it in my collection. Same went with 1st Ed base. Not everyone can have a 10 set regardless of money.

You have to come to terms with that.

[gottaketchumall]

I could have chosen to make money any way I want in life but I chose to make it somewhere I’m passionate about and enjoy myself so I make money full time with Pokemon.

I’m a monster.

[trevcatchem]

Grab your pitchfork fellow Tru collector. Let’s go try and cancel Gary again.

[basesetwill]

@gottaketchumall

I could have chosen to make money any way I want in life but I chose to make it somewhere I’m passionate about and enjoy myself so I make money full time with Pokemon.

I’m a monster.

By your own admission you aren’t the target of my post. You said you were passionate about pokemon. I’m complaining about people who are not. And are only in it for the money. Come on man. At least read it

[basesetwill]

@trevcatchem

Grab your pitchfork fellow Tru collector. Let’s go try and cancel Gary again.

But Gary actually loves his cards and doesn’t want to sell them all. So again, he isn’t the type of person I’m complaining about here

[c0ll3ct0r]

Anyone wanna bet on how many posts with the words “arbitrary” “adapting”, “entitled”, “projecting” and “you’re just projecting” we’re going to see before the lock drops?

@basesetwill , I don’t agree with everything you said, but I do agree that not every bloodsucker in this hobby is some necessary evil.

[Berndos]

@basesetwill

@gottaketchumall

I could have chosen to make money any way I want in life but I chose to make it somewhere I’m passionate about and enjoy myself so I make money full time with Pokemon.

I’m a monster.

By your own admission you aren’t the target of my post. You said you were passionate about pokemon. I’m complaining about people who are not. And are only in it for the money. Come on man. At least read it

See this is why I’ve been gatekeeping Tesla stock for the past 4 years. If you actually enjoy Tesla stock, I’d be fine, but most people aren’t really passionate about it and I hate that.

[mirrodin]

If cards wouldn’t have any financial value, all TCGs would die out. I am sure that the big majority of collectors do mind if their card wouldn’t be worth anything anymore over night. It is nice to collect a card you like, but it is even nicer to know that that card has value or even appreciates in value over time.

[qwachansey]

When someone purchases a rare card I want but can’t yet afford, I am sometimes secretly relieved if I know they are in it for the money. While I’d also like for my friends to have the opportunity to get these cards instead, and it sucks when someone who doesn’t really care about Pokémon buys cards up, if someone purchases a card with the clear intent to resell, it means I will have another chance in the future.

For example, let’s say a Japanese Base Chansey holo shift error appeared for sale privately and I was not aware. If an error collector purchased it, they might never give it up, and who can blame them. Part of me would be happy it went to a good home but another part would be envious and resentful and bitter. On the other hand, if they sold to a flipper or investor, it’d mean the Chansey will show up on the market again, even if I have to pay a big premium.

I think a balance is healthy for collecting. If it’s 100% investors it’s a dead hobby with no genuine interest. If it’s 100% collectors who will never sell a card then it’s impossible for new people to grow their collections or long time collectors to reach their goals.

[basesetwill]

@Berndos

@basesetwill

By your own admission you aren’t the target of my post. You said you were passionate about pokemon. I’m complaining about people who are not. And are only in it for the money. Come on man. At least read it

See this is why I’ve been gatekeeping Tesla stock for the past 4 years. If you actually enjoy Tesla stock, I’d be fine, but most people aren’t really passionate about it and I hate that.

I’m allowed to feel that way

[basesetwill]

@mirrodin

If cards wouldn’t have any financial value, all TCGs would die out. I am sure that the big majority of collectors do mind if their card wouldn’t be worth anything anymore over night. It is nice to collect a card you like, but it is even nicer to know that that card has value or even appreciates in value over time.

Fair enough. I’m the other way round. I’m far more interested in liking the card than appreciating its value. I bought a super nice card the other day and it was £2. I don’t care how much it’s worth financially. I measure the value of the card in different ways

[basesetwill]

@qwachansey

When someone purchases a rare card I want but can’t yet afford, I am sometimes secretly relieved if I know they are in it for the money. While I’d also like for my friends to have the opportunity to get these cards instead, and it sucks when someone who doesn’t really care about Pokémon buys cards up, if someone purchases a card with the clear intent to resell, it means I will have another chance in the future.

For example, let’s say a Japanese Base Chansey holo shift error appeared for sale privately and I was not aware. If an error collector purchased it, they might never give it up, and who can blame them. Part of me would be happy it went to a good home but another part would be envious and resentful and bitter. On the other hand, if they sold to a flipper or investor, it’d mean the Chansey will show up on the market again, even if I have to pay a big premium.

I think a balance is healthy for collecting. If it’s 100% investors it’s a dead hobby with no genuine interest. If it’s 100% collectors who will never sell a card then it’s impossible for new people to grow their collections or long time collectors to reach their goals.

Then on the flip side, the error collector who would love to have that card in his collection never got to buy it because some flipper bought it and stuck it on the market for too much money. But you make an interesting point

[fourthstartcg]

There are two problems with this attitude. One, it addresses a problem that doesn’t exist. Two, you are attempting to police what is in people’s brains when they buy and sell cards, not their actual actions. Let’s deal with them one by one.

Making money in Pokemon is hard. It’s been easier in the past year, especially with modern product where for the first time ever you could make some money by botting out releases or getting to the Target early. For the latter, I’d say over the past year there have been less than 10 products that you could make a consistent profit on by buying them at retail and then flipping. But outside of those two very unique situations, you have to have a lot of knowledge to make money in Pokemon. It’s why a lot of people who try it end up failing. To make money you need to know what cards to buy, when to buy them, where to buy them, which ones to grade, where to sell, etc. etc. Again, this has been easier over the past year but its not like someone can come in with zero knowledge and do it. To develop the knowledge, you have to have a genuine interest. It’s why the biggest Pokemon moneymakers are also the biggest “tru collectors”: they were already fans and developed in-depth knowledge before making the shift to a business. You’ve admitted your problem isn’t with these people, so who is it with? The very small numbers of retail botters/scalpers? Ok, nobody likes them, but then just say that.

Second, you’re in this “tru collector” mindset where actions don’t matter, what matters is what you think when you’re doing that action. Buying an ETB from Target to open yourself? Good! Buying that same ETB to stick it in your closet because you think it’ll go up in value? BAD! According to you, making money in Pokemon is fine as long as you have the “right amount” of interest and love for the hobby. Who gets to decide what that is though? Policing this kind of stuff is textbook gatekeeping.

All the other stuff about how “I don’t care if Pokemon goes to zero,” as has been pointed out earlier, is just ignorance of the dynamics of collecting. Nobody collects things that are worthless. Show me one serious, sustaining community where the highest valued asset is 50 cents. It doesn’t exist. Why? Because value and interest are mutually reinforcing. As much as we all like to claim “I don’t care if Pokemon goes to zero” we all do care and if it did we would not be a part of the hobby anymore.

[implode]

Not looking to start a fight here, and it’d be hypocritical for me to act like I have all the answers as a newer person in the hobby, but I truly do think this kind of rhetoric is just misplaced anger. If you truly don’t care about price, then why are you so upset by people that 1. Have nothing to do with you 2. Are actually an incredibly small and mostly negligible group (taking your statement that we’re talking about people that have absolutely no emotional investment in the card at all literally)?

This kind of vague bitterness won’t do anything except keep you from enjoying what you enjoy and make you sound self-important and inexperienced. That’s why you see the types of responses you see (which you expected judging by your first post). People have seen this rant time and time again, and it’s usually made by people that don’t stick around in the hobby.

[qwachansey]

@fourthstartcg

All the other stuff about how “I don’t care if Pokemon goes to zero,” as has been pointed out earlier, is just ignorance of the dynamics of collecting. Nobody collects things that are worthless. Show me one serious, sustaining community where the highest valued asset is 50 cents. It doesn’t exist. Why? Because value and interest are mutually reinforcing. As much as we all like to claim “I don’t care if Pokemon goes to zero” we all do care and if it did we would not be a part of the hobby anymore.

I collect the smallest officially manufactured versions of everyday items. Smaller than trial size, usually industry samples or hotel room toiletries. I have some canned foods that are only a 0.5oz can, some ultra small hot sauce containers essentially single use, very small erasers… I will take more pics tomorrow.

[basesetwill]

@fourthstartcg

There are two problems with this attitude. One, it addresses a problem that doesn’t exist. Two, you are attempting to police what is in people’s brains when they buy and sell cards, not their actual actions. Let’s deal with them one by one.

Making money in Pokemon is hard. It’s been easier in the past year, especially with modern product where for the first time ever you could make some money by botting out releases or getting to the Target early. For the latter, I’d say over the past year there have been less than 10 products that you could make a consistent profit on by buying them at retail and then flipping. But outside of those two very unique situations, you have to have a lot of knowledge to make money in Pokemon. It’s why a lot of people who try it end up failing. To make money you need to know what cards to buy, when to buy them, where to buy them, which ones to grade, where to sell, etc. etc. Again, this has been easier over the past year but its not like someone can come in with zero knowledge and do it. To develop the knowledge, you have to have a genuine interest. It’s why the biggest Pokemon moneymakers are also the biggest “tru collectors”: they were already fans and developed in-depth knowledge before making the shift to a business. You’ve admitted your problem isn’t with these people, so who is it with? The very small numbers of retail botters/scalpers? Ok, nobody likes them, but then just say that.

Second, you’re in this “tru collector” mindset where actions don’t matter, what matters is what you think when you’re doing that action. Buying an ETB from Target to open yourself? Good! Buying that same ETB to stick it in your closet because you think it’ll go up in value? BAD! According to you, making money in Pokemon is fine as long as you have the “right amount” of interest and love for the hobby. Who gets to decide what that is though? Policing this kind of stuff is textbook gatekeeping.

All the other stuff about how “I don’t care if Pokemon goes to zero,” as has been pointed out earlier, is just ignorance of the dynamics of collecting. Nobody collects things that are worthless. Show me one serious, sustaining community where the highest valued asset is 50 cents. It doesn’t exist. Why? Because value and interest are mutually reinforcing. As much as we all like to claim “I don’t care if Pokemon goes to zero” we all do care and if it did we would not be a part of the hobby anymore.

Back in 2002 when the Pokemon market basically went to zero, I went around buying cards from everyone I knew. I bought a base set charizard for £1, amongst many, many other purchases I made. I still have it. Maybe I am just that unique person who truly doesn’t care about the value. I have also collected many things in my life that were not valuable.

Also, “policing” is a strong word. I just think it’s a shame. And you say scalping is a tiny number of people…… that’s clearly not true as recent events have shown us.

Also: I have numerous sealed Pokemon products. Again, I would never sell them. But I love them for the fact they are sealed. It has nothing to do with value for me.

[cooltrainertony]

Anyone wanting to reach the 50 post requirement for secret santa start taking notes

[smpratte]

@japanime

I cannot lie.

I’m only it in for the Lumpy Gravy.

Whoa I never thought I’d see a Frank Zappa reference here

[ghoulaiden]

@basesetwill

This is going to be an unpopular opinion but I want to rant anyway.

I really do think it’s a shame so many people have profit at the forefront of their mind with this hobby and that collecting is at best a secondary goal. Yeah it’s a free market and you can all exercise your rights to seek riches and profit in any way you see fit - but it’s sad to see for the people who actually just love the cards.

I don’t care about the monetary value of the cards. If 1st edition base set charizard was worth $0.50, and that was never going to change, I’d still buy them. Why? Because the card is amazing. I’m lucky in some respects that some of my favourite cards are “worthless”. I’m also lucky I bought a lot of cards that are now really expensive when they were also “worthless.”

In my personal opinion, the only redeeming quality to all of this is people trying to sell cards at a profit to then reinvest in their own collections and acquire cards they really want. Personally, I will never sell a card in my collection unless it’s to help me buy another one that I actually really want. To date, I have sold 1 Pokemon card in my life. And I used the funds to buy a Gold Stamp Promo card for my own personal collection.

I know it’s not going to change. And I know this opinion won’t be agreed with as some people hate an “attack” on their freedom (read: ability to make lots of money) but that’s my rant.

I know a bunch of people that are only in it for the money. I don’t usually like those people.