Those prices are still messed up, but wow, they really tanked from the ATH
I canât imagine anyone buying these didnât know that this was overwhelmingly likely to happen. No-one has been âfooledâ yet, a few thousand in either direction wonât matter unless the population explodes, and weâre months away from seeing how that plays out.
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The only reason youâd buy the first one is if you thought that either very few others would appear, right? Otherwise youâd save yourself the 5-10K and purchase one when the pop goes up a little
Itâs not that simple. The first one always go through the roof, but that is not only because people think there wonât be many more. And how many are âvery fewâ? Another conundrum. Also, the people competing for the first ones may not be stonkers, but simply collectors who donât care about paying a few thousand extra to make sure they get one.
For every one you hold off on, you risk losing as well, just as you risk winning. Also, from the stonk perspective, one of two things happen: either the pop explodes, and every purchase being made now is âcrazyâ, or the pop does not explode, and they all pay dividends just at different rates.
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Youâd think so, but some people actually just want the card now and donât care if they overpay
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Fair points! Itâll probably swing north of that initial selling price in a few years if TPC doesnât print the hell out of the UPCs
Totally fair â $15K is just an unfathomable amount (for me personally) of money to be spending on a single card. One can dream 
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Pretty sure the $15k went unpaid, and the seller relisted.
Yes, then it went for 11,5K I think, anyone knows if it got paid for that time?
Hey folks,
New here. Forgive me if Iâm posting this in the wrong thread.
Iâve seen various post on discussing whether one should collect/invest in PSA 9 1st Ed Base versus PSA 10 Unlimited.
What about PSA 9 1st Ed Base versus PSA 10 Shadowless? Which do you think is a superior long-term investment?
Given the broad awareness of the 1st ed stamp and the fact that Shadowless is a bit more niche, I feel like PSA 9 1st ed base will always be more âcollectibleâ in the sense that itâs value is better understood and it has a bigger market. That said, since Shadowless is more niche, the average Pokemon collector would likely never be a buyer for PSA 10 shadowless anyways, which makes me lean towards PSA 10 Shadowless being a superior choice than PSA 9 1st ed base due to itâs rarity/pop compared to 9âs in 1st ed base.
Another reason I think that PSA 10 Shadowless is superior is comparing the market prices and growth rates for the big 3 (Zard, Stoise, Saur) in PSA 9 1st ed base versus PSA 10 shadowless. Based on the data Iâve seen, Shadowless 10âs win in both all-time high price and price appreciation over time.
Thatâs how Iâm thinking about it at the moment and am leaning towards PSA 10 Shadowless over 1st ed base PSA 9.
As a newer collector in the hobby, Iâd love to hear thoughts from yaâll who are far more experienced collectors than I.
Thanks,
CY
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page 420 blaze it
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Short answer: no one knows.
Longer(ish) answer: Any question that derives from a place of pure speculation will always yield a multitude of results, all of which none will be ârightâ or âwrongâ. In the end, itd be up to you as a buyer to decide on what to do if buying any of these options. A good rule of thumb for you would be to just take all those random points you listed about each and make your decision from there, as anyone elses input here is coming from that same exact place: just a guess based in some minor facts through analyzation.
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@collectoryoda, Both are fine. Maybe more margin on the PSA 10 shadowless, especially depending on the species.
@smpratte, Iâve always wondered âŠ
Big leap from unlimited to shadowless/first edition, but if you had to place shadowless on the scale (where 0 is unlimited and 10 is first edition), where would you place it? In terms of demand/rarity/how the community covets the print
www.ebay.com/itm/224690406890?hash=item34509785ea:g:~pgAAOSw4vBhjwQd#vi__app-cvip-panel
Someone scored a good deal on Trainer Deck A Machamp. I was out bid by an increment($10). Even if itâs played, itâs rare. I think these cards are sleepers.
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@collectoryoda , Youâll get a lot of answers/perspectives on this but personally I am all for 1st Edition over both Shadowless & Unlimited. I just feel the fact itâs the first English Pokemon card product combined with the 1st Edition stamp will always hold itâs place above all the other prints long-term. Itâs pretty much been like this since 1999 and I think will hold true forever. Just like the Alpha print for MTG, it just has that long standing history and desirability among collectors. I personally seek out 1st Ed Base even in lower grades over anything Shadowless/Unlimited and I always feel better about buying it because of how rare it is and how expensive the sealed boxes are now. They continue to break records at auction all the time.
Shadowless is definitely next in-line though and I donât think itâs a bad choice if that is what you like. Itâs true, you can definitely get PSA 10 Shadowless much more affordable than 1st Edition. Theyâre still very cool cards and many people like them as well. I would take Shadowless over Unlimited if given the choice, but I would personally take 1st Edition over both of them.
Again, all of this is my opinion, you will get many different answers on this topic. The most important thing is collecting what you enjoy. When I first got back into the hobby, I built up a Base Set 2 holo set because I enjoyed the set as a kid. One of the most hated sets overall, but I collected it because I enjoyed the set and I like the holo patterns it has. Itâs also very rare in high grade as well. If you see the value in Shadowless and enjoy collecting those cards, by all means keep collecting it. You canât really go wrong either way.
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I remember when all of these cards were still in their decks. People sold these cards as complete decks. You could search âTrainer Deck Aâ or âTrainer Deck Bâ and get multiple results for the total package. That made sense to me. They are a sort of novelty that it seemed like people would want to have as a complete unit. Their historical context is that of a deck, not a collection of individual cards.
I was horrified to see people had begun selling the cards individually. Who would want to buy one card from a trainer deck? I thought separating them destroyed the relevance and meaning of the deck. These decks would never be complete again and that part of Pokémon history was ruined. I still sort of feel this way⊠but also I have been wanting to buy a Trainer Deck B Starmie for my Starmie collection for a long time now and I have no interest in any of the other cards. I am a traitor to my ideals.
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BuT iTâs HaRd To GrAdE
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Yes, preliminary numbers would indicate so:
84,3% Shining Fates
81,3% Darkness Ablaze
68,7% Champions Path
61,8% Cosmic Eclipse
56,4% Hidden Fates
23,6% Burning Shadows
17, 7% Celebrations
âŠbut itâs too early to speak authoritatively about it.
No doubt that the metal card quality is scuffed compared to modern pack standards, but people were initially treating it like itâs T17.
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