The history of the hobby. Look at Scott, Gary, Charlie, Zack, pretty much any of the OGs who have been in collecting for awhile and have very substantial collections. They will tell you themselves, they didn’t buy into Pokemon because they had educations in asset management and alternative investment. They bought what they did because they loved it and wanted to collect. And they kept what they did through price rises and drops also because they loved it. Things have changed now, but I’d bet on proven history over unproven speculation.
“Investing” in Pokemon takes a significant amount of time, effort, and capital, but most notably time. You need to search marketplaces for deals, buy collections, grade the right cards, buy the right cards that have already been graded. That level of interest and market awareness doesn’t happen just because people want to make money. So if you do come into this hobby solely looking to make money, you’re already at a disadvantage because the people who love it will outwork you for no other reason than they truly enjoy what they’re doing and don’t consider it work. Again, I’m not saying interest and investment are mutually exclusive, but its a pattern that people who have little knowledge of the hobby try to make money off it.
I don’t really get what you’re trying to say with your second point. Of course I’m happy to see more people in the hobby, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t feel negatively about the direction of some of the discourse.
Personal finance is important to me, and for my personal finances % is secondary to amount. My basic financial goal is to have $2.5 million usd in safe investments yielding 5%/year on the average, that way I can safely pull out 100k/year to live on (The 4% Rule). As long as I have no debts, an emergency fund, a 529 covering kids’ education, and that $2.5 million then any % I have invested in anything doesn’t really matter.
I never thought about net worth until the a couple years ago. Now my collection has grown in value faster than anything else I own, so it is fairly substantial, but it is very tough to state a number. Net worth does not equal liquid cash, so it can be a bit misleading too.
I can see this if a person is solely here to invest and has no enjoyment or interest in Pokémon whatsoever. It seems we do have a lot more people in this camp and in a macro sense, these people may not be as efficient and in that sense may come out behind people who inadvertently invest because they collect for the love of the hobby.
I’ll admittedly say that the the biggest motivating factor for me is the monetary aspect. I struggled financially several years after college. I discovered my childhood collection in my closet one night and looked through just for the nostalgia and decided it’d be worth checking out prices in early 2017. Once I realized I had a decent sum of value, that’s essentially what motivated me to look into PSA grading to generate some extra income to pay off some debts. This led to consider the potential of long term monetary potential. I set myself some goals to collect the earliest sets.
There was undoubtedly a degree of core interest however. I collected the sets I did because I grew up with them. I enjoy so many aspects of collecting, art, the community, the nostalgia. However it’s the investment side that keeps me engaged.
Yugioh was a big part of my childhood, I actually played the game, but I’m not as confident in long term monetary potential as I am with Pokémon. Even though both TCGs are nostalgic, maybe Yugioh even slightly more so, I have almost no interest in collecting Yugioh solely because it’s less certain how successful it will be long term.
I think there is definitely a spectrum from strictly investors to strictly collectors. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think there was a potential to grow my wealth significantly, but I also wouldn’t be here if I had no core interest. Both elements are present for me and I have a lot of fun. I love Pokémon at the end of the day, but my love for Pokémon doesn’t sustain my interest, the financial potential does. I realize many people may not consider me a true collector, but it doesn’t really matter to me, because I enjoy this hobby in my own way.
One point that resonated with me from one of your videos was when you said that the people with the highest margins are collectors because each time a new record price was set they said no and decided to keep their copy of the item. I could have cashed out of my Shadowless Charizard and doubled my money a couple years ago not long after I bought it. I could have gotten 50% more than that a few months ago. I could probably get double THAT today. I just don’t give a shit because I’d rather ride it out. I want the card.
@teraz I definitely think you make some good points. Again, investment and interest are not mutually exclusive, and I’m not here to gatekeep about the right way to enjoy the hobby and who the “tru collectors” are. If the financial growth aspect of Pokemon is what sustains your collecting, there’s nothing wrong with that. I think a lot of us have only progressed in our collecting because of the financially beneficial aspects of it, whether we intended that to happen at the beginning or not.
Nothing wrong with investing in Pokémon, nor explicitly wanting to collect. I’ve done both forever and have seen great financial success, as well as an awesome collection that just keeps growing.
I’ve never had the idea of “investing” on my mind while collecting cards. I buy Pokémon cards because I think they look cool and they bring happiness into my life.
Money is not what motivates me to buy more cards. What motives me is the collection goals I’ve made for myself and the never ending process of accomplishing those goals! I can’t tell you how much fun I have buying cards!
What I can say is that the price of my collection has risen exponentially in the past few years, but I had no way of knowing that it would be worth the price that it is today. I don’t take the time to add up how much I spend on cards because I do not have the time or general interest. What matters most is that I am having fun doing what I love! Sorry for going on so long, I’ve been told I can have diarrhea of the mouth.
Technically like 2 or 3% I guess. Although its just a collection to me, not an investment. I don’t buy more than the cards I need to complete the sets I like, I have no intention to sell.
I collect because I enjoy it not because of money. I’m collecting works of art for my own enjoyment. I’m supportive of all fellow collectors 
