We will never here “hey YouTube, this is PriiiimetimePokemon” again… What you guys think? LeonHart reached out in a video today showing his support and willingness to get his name out there some more, but regardless PTP’s big announcement was that he is quitting for real.
I never really seen any high end videos on the collectible side as he mostly opens newer sets. I still think the community he has built is impressive. Certainly for back in the day when I was getting back into the game. Overall seems like his efforts to further grow the channel have failed and has gotten discouraged from the sound of his video. May have been basic edits and openings but still was a good place to see some new sets if you don’t like the over the top excitement of others lol. Anyone else remember starting a channel and looking up at PTP? He will be remembered that’s for sure, but seems like he was chasing subs rather than what he loved doing. In turn the burn out got to him
I saw and watched this when I woke up this morning - really sad news, he seems like a lovely guy and is obviously an extremely dedicated collector. He’s been uploading daily for years. I can’t imagine how difficult that must have been in conjunction with a full-time job.
I love his no-nonsense approach to opening cards but personally I think his lack of views is down to his regimented video style. He’s introduced some newer styles of videos in the past couple of years like his vlogs on prereleases but in my view I don’t think that was enough. I’ve seen tons of comments asking him to show off his collection, show us his rarest cards etc. He never really did any of that, or much of anything different, and just stuck to regular openings. I think he struggled connecting with the audience.
This is nothing against the guy of course, I’ve been a subscriber of his for years and I admire him hugely. I was excited when he did his official face reveal and chatted to us about himself and his other hobbies and interests! I thought that was going to be a turning point for his channel and he’d start to inject more of himself and his personality into his videos but nothing really changed too much.
Such a shame to see him go but I wish him all the best, he’s helped and inspired a lot of collectors through the years.
I used to watch every video of his couple years ago. Lately I just find them a bit boring. And that’s mainly because opening modern sets is so saturated and I feel like it’s not that exciting anymore. I have nothing against him, but he was the person who originally made me find and watch pack openings on YouTube. So in a way it’s an end of an era.
Wow he was a huge part of my childhood when I was 9 and 10. I remember watching his diamond and pearl openings , his summer booster box breaks, His traded cards by mail and free cards by mail videos. I stopped watching him consistently around 2011, since then I 'd just watch some of his videos here and there. I remember When Leonhart started to send PrimetimePokemon free card by mail a few times, that was one of the smartest decisions made by Leonhart since by doing that Primetime’s subs would checkout his channel. I guess you could say PrimetimePokemon helped Leonhart grow his channel in the beginning. I kinda felt bad for PrimetimePokemon once Leonhart passed him in subscriber count. It’s weird to think 10 years ago I was watching his video, now that I’m 20 he’s retiring from video making. Even though I wished he did a full collection video, he deserved more credit than what he got. After watching his final video you could tell this was probably one of his hardest decisions.
PrimetimePokemon was one of the first channels I watched back when I was in elementary school. I remember his diamond and pearl opening and they really got me into the cards more. It’s sad to see him go, but honestly, I haven’t watched any of his videos since like 2014.
That’s too bad. He obviously seems pretty sad and defeated by YouTube, especially considering how much time he put into the channel. Going out on a depressing note rather than a happy one is never something you want to see. Maybe it’s for the better and he can enjoy all the extra time he now has.
His videos helped get me get into the hobby and probably a lot of others as well.
He also wrote a semi controversial book, but I think it brought positive exposure to the hobby. Getting a published book on the shelves, which showcased the art and potential value of the cards, may have helped influence outside interest. He was the only one to do it too.
My collecting interest shifted away from modern openings so I didn’t watch as much. He never got into collection videos or really anything with PSA. As the hobby grew and changed, it seems his style of videos really didn’t. You can only watch someone open tins so many times before you want something else.
It is an end of an era in a sense. The the start of a new decade is a perfect time to switch things up and keep things fresh. Nothing last forever, but we can appreciate the contributions. Maybe in 50 years his videos will see a resurgence in popularity because the new generation will want to experience what it was like to open all of those ‘super vintage’ packs that were readily available at the time from Target and Wal-Mart.
He’s the OG Pokemon card youtuber in my book. He was a big reason why I got back into collecting, and I watched his videos for a long time. Opening cards has become a much less viable youtube endeavor now if you aren’t a major store. Why spend time watching someone open one modern product when you can see someone open 10 of them?
I really enjoyed his no-nonsense videos. But you can’t get by without being insane and clickbaity.
I always admired how he stayed the same throughout the entire lifespan of his channel, where the Pokémon TCG on YouTube and the community around it have changed a whole lot. 11 years of making videos on YouTube is impressive and not going the clickbait/overly excited route is admirable.
I also can’t fault him for wanting a certain amount of views/subs to be able to sustain a channel like that. It’s not just a hobby if you’re making daily opening videos; it’s a part-time job at that point. The products need to be bought and his time editing needs to be compensated. You can’t feed yourself or your family with some nice comments. He shows responsibility for his future family by making this choice. Well done.
Thankfully, he leaves a whole lot of modern product well documented on YouTube. I bet many people will be very happy about that.
I remember watching a couple of his videos back in 2009 when I first got back into Pokemon collecting after taking 9 years off. He was new to the scene at the time, but he was pretty much the only person who was doing what he did - opening massive amounts of booster packs for people to watch. Other people were opening booster packs, but no one else on YouTube had his volume. That set him apart and made him the biggest card opener for a long time.
But as others have said, his videos are very formulaic and he never really did anything to mix things up and keep things interesting.
He doesn’t have the sort of naturally engaging personality that creates YouTube stars, he’s more of a relic from a past era. Whereas what he does (open lots of modern Pokemon cards) was once unique, now it’s everywhere. So his audience shrank to the point that it became very tiny, even with all of his past subs.
Maintaining a YouTube channel is tough, especially when you have a full-time job. He got 400k+ subscribers, which is quite an accomplishment, and he’ll always have a legacy in the Pokemon TCG collector’s scene.
He had over 400k subscribers but many of his videos only got 1000 to 2000 views which makes it impossible to sustain the channel and make any money.
Ryan has a bright future I’m sure:)
Lost in this discussion is that this is just another great person and influential channel that the YouTube machine has chewed up and spit out, and it will certainly not be the last time this happens in 2020. Hope you’re proud of yourself, YouTube.
As for PrimetimePokemon himself, he’s a great guy and no one can deny the impact he has had on the hobby. The good news is that he has a full-time job, is married and is about to start a family, so he pretty much has all of the other boxes checked off. Good for him. I’m sure he will live a happy, fulfilling life without YouTube.
He was my go to, to learn more about each set when I came back during Generations and will always be grateful for his structured videos, I guess Youtube Coppa wins this time.
YouTube’s new terms and conditions have made it nearly impossible for Poketubers to make money because they are forced to label their videos “child friendly,” which eliminates ads and just about any income they can make off of their videos along with it.
YouTube has been making this transition for months, and now that 2020 has arrived, it is fully established. Plenty of Poketubers have been talking about this. Leonhart, ShadyPenguinn, etc.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that PrimetimePokemon announced his decision to retire on literally the same day YouTube’s new terms were officially implemented.
Trust me: he won’t be the first.
Perhaps YouTube shouldn’t have been targeting children with ads in the first place instead of throwing its creators under the bus and leaving them with no wiggle room.
YouTube implemented a new algorithim a little while back that emphasized watch time over views when promoting videos. The advertiser exodus hurt everybody. And most recently, the COPPA crap has made it impossible for kid-oriented channels to profit.
I remember the early days of Pokemon booster openings on youtube I’ve actually met a few of them in real life during events and just random meetups. Back in the days it was always fun doing pack openings and I remember like 3-5 people including PrimetimePokemon trying to out beat the others on who opened the most booster packs. It was great seeing these things and was interesting what people did send him.
But I will say his videos were plain and kinda boring after a bit. He should have change what he did or make it interesting opening packs after awhile to keep it more entertaining. Then more and more people started doing it and mixing up the formula a bit to help their channel and youtube has changed in the past decade of Pokemon openings. It’s very hard to maintain a youtube channel especially with how the ads and everything has changed over the past 3-6 years buying the stuff needed and the content is a lot of cash to put out
I do give him credit for maintaining his channel for this long and doing what he did especially with over 400k subs.
Well, this policy isn’t what YouTube wants to do. They stand to lose money from this. They are doing this because they are being forced to comply with privacy laws.
Leonhart made a video in which he showed that the good majority of his audience was made up of viewers 18 or older (or show up as 18 or older according to their Google accounts anyway, which is really all that matters).
I watched his older videos when I first statred collecting a few years ago. I think the lack of views proves a couple of points. 1. Pokemon collecting is still primarily a kid’s hobby. While I enjoyed his lack of over the top emotions when pulling cards, kids seek the hyper expressions of people like Leonhart. 2. Modern product is boring. I fast forward through every Youtuber who opens modern product before they open vintage product. 3. YouTube’s algorithms and policies are hurting Youtubers. 4. You need to vary your content and grow with your primary audience. Many of his original viewers are still in the hobby today, but they aren’t primarily focused on modern product. He probably would have been better off focusing on vintage product.
They aren’t losing money from this, and they are doing this because they were literally breaking the law.
The age of the viewers does not matter, either. A 12-year-old can make a Google account and say they are 18. If the content is viewed as “child friendly,” you lose ad revenue.
All YouTube has to do is put a “mixed audience” option. But they aren’t.
Primetime was 2009-14 for Primetimepokemon. That was before large businesses opened 1,000 packs in one video. Now opening modern anything is so saturated like the product itself, its impossible to sustain a channel.
While the youtube algorithms play a part, a key role is the fickleness of youtube viewers. Most viewers are kids. Most people want to be entertained. The collecting “community” overall can be very volatile and fickle. Trying to sustain a business around hobbies is extremely difficult. You basically need to have everything, and then some. 99% of channels fail, its only the exceptional ones that sustain.
