The market for Pokémon is booming for vintage and modern alike, but I’ve noticed that Gengar in particular seems to now be earning a premium. He’s always been a popular card for sure, but it seems to be on another level now. All Gengar cards seem to have skyrocketed in a way that is similar to how the “Big Three” always earn a premium no matter the rarity.
Just wanted to gather other people’s thoughts on Gengar’s current market share as a Pokémon card in general. For example it seems fossil Gengar now rivals Dragonite as the big fossil hit and masaki Gengar is on another planet compared to the other masaki cards. Even the non holo Sabrina’s Gengar is similar to holos in its set.
Just part of the cycle. Each popular character has a surge in value. Throw in a card that notoriously tough to get a 10 with like the Maskaki and you have a value multiplier.
Deep Pocket Monster’s “collect every Gengar card” video(s) prolly helped, plus the hype after. His videos on Gengar have a combined 14 million views, plus however many from shorts. Prolly helped a bit. Not that he is a bad guy or anything, the complete opposite. I think it just brought a ton of eyes to Gengar.
You could argue that Charizard, being weakened by fronting the terrible gen 8-9 gimmicks, receiving consistently terrible cards partly as a result of that, and what you could call a natural Charizard fatigue (not only with the character but with the prices and competition,) has left more room for other $tonkers to $oar. Definitely a factor to consider together with all the other madness.
gengar, umbreon etc are getting premiums coz their modern versions anal gengar and moonbreon are super inflated rn so the vintage cards have to pump far past it for the prices to make sense
agree here, feels like the pop on those already expensive vintage cards are a lot lower and easier for a couple people to see the surge in modern and up the price on their listings, or for the same thing to happen to buyers that see the modern cards skyrocketing.
I was a little surprised to see gengar from Lost Origin trainer gallery at $40 now after hovering at 5 for so long. Big spike from $15 to $40-50 starting in July
I’m just glad Gengar is getting its flowers. I feel the masaki is still somewhat undervalued and not well-known to some newer collectors but im glad i picked up 10 when i could. With how prices are today.. i guess it makes sense.
Unlike Umbreon, which has been the poster child of modern hype, Gengar has silently been creeping up into a top 5 Pokemon in the TCG in terms of popularity (only behind Charizard, Pikachu and maybe Lugia/Rayquaza).
A lot of Gengar cards are actually more expensive than corresponding Umbreon cards now. Skyridge Gengar used to be neck and neck with Umbreon as the second most pricey card in the set, but now it’s pulled ahead and is close to double the price in similar grades. Masaki Gengar needs no explanation as it’s the perfect storm of top tier artwork, limited and unique releases and extremely hard to grade - on a top 5 Pokemon. Even a lot of mid era Gengar cards are moving up in price. XY/SM and some random regular holos can go for several thousands now.
The popularity of Gengar transcends multiple generations, from those who grew up with it in Gen 1, all the way to the skibidi kiddies. It’s a spooky, mischievous and playful Pokemon, which probably explains why it has such a broad appeal.
I have also noticed the Gengar premium in recent months. A notable example is the Gengar Web with the Masaki artwork going for crazy prices even in lower grades. The Web set also has other great holos like Dark Charizard, Dark Blastoise and the legendary bird trio, but Gengar is clearly the top card of the set now.
Imagine if Base set had a Gengar and how a 1st edition Gengar then would compare with 1st edition Charizard…
