PokeColor, the largest Pokemon/TCG auction house in China, seems to have unlimited access to various Pokemon artists. Historically, they’ve prioritized Arita, Harada, Himeno, Saitou, Tokiya and various newer artists. Now they have included Masago.
Is PokeColor the new signature meta? How long until they convince more private artists like Sugimori?
PS: These four appear to be selling out of Los Angeles, so they are officially bypassing the tariff situation that has prevented many buyers from bidding.
There seems to be a common trend with all these artist they’re getting on board. All of them rarely work with Pokemon anymore. These artist have almost all been phased out, with the exception of Saitou still doing some work from time to time.
If I had to guess, they probably aren’t working as much as they’d like to and are being offered a nice cash amount to come out and sign. With Pokemon in the past, it’s hard to say no to that.
As far as getting Sugimori, I don’t think that’ll ever happen. He’s one of the co-founders of Gamefreak and is still an active and working Art Director. I would imagine he’s doing fine and wouldn’t need the money. He’d probably also run the risk of burning bridges and be placed in the same boat as Akabane (from a TPCI/Gamefreak point of view) if he were do one of these types of events.
My new favorite countries as of the last year have been been Malaysia, China, and Singapore. Pokecolor is just part of the reason. Even though I dont buy through their ebay, they are legitimate.
We can have a nuanced view here rather than thinking in black and white. PokeColor should be shamed for shilling and praised for their unique selection of cards. If they develop a permanent U.S.-based location, it’s going to be huge.
I don’t trust them as an auction house yet, but I am willing to let them earn it.
I get what you’re saying, but to me strong evidence of in-house shill bidding directly compromises their integrity and business. Why would I want to buy from someone who openly displays dishonest practices or market manipulation tactics to make more money? How do I know I’m getting something for fair market price if their smurf henchmen keep bidding cards up?
It’s odd to me how quickly poor business practices are forgiven in this environment just because something rare or valuable is involved.
We don’t all have the luxury of choosing who to buy from when it comes to finding certain cards. If they open a permanent U.S. location, that’s motivation enough for me to engage with them.
As someone who’s been out of the auto market/game for a while – does anyone have thoughts on these prices, especially on some of the lesser known artists?
Because if a card is real and you have a set price you’re willing to pay for it, then you can’t get scammed. Either its shilled beyond the price you are willing to pay, or you “win” and get the real item you bid on. Scummy practices? Yes if it’s confirmed true. But the “trust” concern is a nonissue. You win something and pay for it, it will arrive in the mail.
masagos go for like 3-4k last time i checked and that was when the pokemarket was dead, tho they might completely tank if there was another signing since then
Those prices were primarily influenced by their rarity, and most were sold through Heritage and Fanatics Collect. I would expect additional signings to push the prices down as well.
That said, this is the first second time I’m seeing some high profile cards signed like Neo Discovery Umbreon or Ho-Oh.
Waiting for the non-dated copies to appear if any? If they have a contract with PokeColor, I don’t see the need for them to be signing the signature with a 2024 or 2025 like they do actual Pokemon sanctioned events.
Nearly everything (if not everything) that we’ve seen sold over the past couple years, before these on pokecolor, were from this set auctioned off a couple years ago.
While I’m not the biggest pokecolor fan, I hope that these signings still bring at minimum some financial benefits to the artists, and they enjoy their time!
