Hi everyone,
Thank you all so much for your kind words. Based on some of the questions I thought I’d try and add a bit more context. Time for another story….
The Way Things Were
To give an idea of prices in Japan back then…well, take a look at this image from my dinosaur-phone from a major card shop in Tokyo, taken in June 2013. I left all of these cards behind as at the time I considered them “too expensive”. At the time, 4000 Yen was $40. I even held the Gyarados, inspected it, and put it back. Yeah. Ouch. And despite some cards being a bit warped from humidity, most were at least Near Mint.
More telling are the dates on the cards in the YY.MM.DD format (which is when they were put in the cases by the shop). Note the Fanclub Magikarp to the left of the Shining Magikarp. It had been sat there for 6 months (since December 2012). The Shining Magikarp had been sat there for 4 months, and the Gyarados for 3 months. No one was buying these. There were even cheaper prices than this in the local shops I found, or in smaller towns I visited during the holidays. There were rows of gold stars in more-or-less every major card shop, and often multiple copies stacked one behind the other. Even on Saturday afternoons in Tokyo, I was often the only person looking at the display cases.
It may be anecdotal but most people seemed far more interested in other TCGs (YuGiOh, Weiss Schwarz, MTG) than Pokemon. Based on this, imagine the prices of non-chase cards.
A few more bonus old images below across various years, again of things I didn’t buy…
The Way Things Are
They say a rising tide lifts all boats. And this was certainly the case when I began selling in 2022 after the scam. I missed the 2020-2021 peak as I was more focused on staying safe, and the absolute last thing on my mind during the pandemic was Pokémon. I didn’t resume buying until 2024.
The “bulk” cards I am selling are all PSA10 vintage Japanese holos (Base, Jungle, Fossil, Neo, Promos etc). Perhaps bulk is the wrong word, but I bought a literal box full of these for next to nothing decades prior. I’m a binder person at heart, but clearly some people are willing to pay large premiums for professionally certified cards. I listed a couple a month and continue to list to this day. I still have quite a few left, and these will be sold to fund future purchases.
The binder/graded cards shown are my “final” cards and will never be sold pending some kind of fiscal emergency. I’ve had such great enjoyment categorizing and displaying them in the way I feel they deserve.
Revisiting The Past
Before deciding to buy online, I actually went back to that same shop earlier this year to compare my “in-person” card shopping experience from years prior. I was absolutely blown away by the change. The number of people. The (often poor) condition of the cards in the cases. And the prices were just astronomical. Suffice it to say, the good ol’ days I once knew are over. But with change comes new beginnings, and some modern remains both beautiful and affordable.
Thanks for reading!
Parallax
