I’ve been shredding a LOT of old paperwork the last few days. The process was moving right along until I got to my piles of eBay purchase printouts, and it pretty much stopped when I found receipts for PSA-graded Pokemon cards I had bought (all long since sold). Here are several examples of how things used to be a very long time ago:
I can’t fathom a case of base set unlimited boxes for only $500 – that’s insane, I hope you still have them! This actually hurts to read bc I am not sure if I will ever be able to afford one of these boxes.
Not “way back” but in November 2016, I purchased 8 boxes of Mario / Luigi Pikachu for ~$640. Proceeded to flip them all within a year because they 2x’d and I needed cash
This isn’t really that far “back in the day” but my wife and I bought a PSA 8 1st Edition Charizard in 2018 for $2,500. Other than our cars, it was the most money we ever spent at one time on one thing. Imagine our shock as that card 5x’d in 5 years.
I have always lived on a very narrow margin of income along the lower middle class/poverty threshold. At that point there was nothing we had ever bought that cost that much all at once. There were of course things that were more expensive in total (like our degrees) but nothing had ever required a drop like that. Our most expensive recurring expense was $850 a month for rent.
Prior to the Charizard, the most money we ever spent at once was on a new couch ($1,300). That couch sucked. Never get jersey fabric upholstery, it pills like crazy.
However you are correct. This is my cat Rosie and she is rich. We live in her house now that she owns.
I’ll add another “back in the day” story to stay on topic: when I was still a boy I was walking around the mall with my father, a place I was strongly discouraged from browsing. My father hated spending money and hated frivolity, so the mall was a place I was trained to put blinders on and not let anything catch my fancy so we could complete our mission without distraction or discomfort.
Important for this story was also that my father hated Pokémon very intensely and largely forbade me from discussing it or interacting with it in front of him.
As we walked through the mall we came across a kiosk in the corridor selling singles, a format of Pokémon distribution I’d never seen before and never considered. To my 8 year old brain Pokémon came from packs and packs only, so the prospect of simply buying the cards you wanted and circumventing the luck element was inconceivable. I tried not to surrender my attention to the kiosk, but to my gobsmacking surprise it was actually my father who pointed it out and guided me towards the case.
I felt like this was a test. I did not spend long at the case. I did not let my excitement overcome me. I remained stoic and reserved as I beheld the display of cards for sale in this previously unknown format.
I remember some of the prices. Charizard, $40. Raichu, $15. Venusaur, $20. I did not recognize them as such at the time, but I am certain in retrospect they were Shadowless prints. As I looked them over my stomach turned a bit as I thought to myself “imagine spending $40 on a Pokémon card. I can’t let my father see this.” I hastily wrapped up my inspection and returned silently to my father. He asked if I liked any of those. I replied with no, believing I had passed the test.
In hindsight, I don’t know what my father’s intention was. It seems unthinkable he would have bought me one of those cards. But it’s also unbelievable he would direct my attention towards them to begin with. Would he have bought me one? Was he trying to connect with me? Was he attempting to understand my hobby which he so deeply reviled?
I wonder sometimes if that was the one opportunity to connect with my father over Pokémon and if my fear of his reaction to the exorbitant prices (lol) prevented me from reciprocating in that pivotal moment. After that the door closed forever and my father never showed any interest in Pokémon ever again.
The funny thing is that cards were MORE expensive back in 1999 than in 2010, so back in the day can depend on which one you mean. I recall packs being 7 dollars each in 1999 during the hype and black triangle packs not being anything special as I recall seeing them for sale. Then around 2010 the cards got so cheap that I got interested again because it made me happy to see some of the old vintage stuff from back in the day. Buying batches of 1st edition base set or other 1st edition holos for almost nothing compared to today. I’m just happy I got something, but I of course wish I got more.
I got back in to the hobby in late 2008 and hit my stride in late 2009. What a great time to be in the hobby. Everything available, everything plentiful, everything affordable. If only I knew in those first five years or so what I know now.
Oh my god stagecoach, that BABY. She is such a beauty. Careful, I’d kidnap her if I could.
Every once in a while I’ll these kinds of threads reminiscing about the past and such. I’ve never actually looked back at old receipts or orders. Funnily enough, I didn’t know you could look back that far on amazon. I am against amazon these days, but back then I really didn’t quite get the concept of being patient and waiting for ebay auctions in which I probably could have saved quite a bit even more.
I pay 3x that for an apartment