The hobby really feels like we are back to pre-pandemic levels, in a good way:
New product available everywhere
Grading fees are below $20 for cheaper cards
Bulk buylist prices are low or non existent. Bulk just feeds junk 3rd party products anyways
High end cards are now available, similar ballpark price or lower, but multiple copies are out there now (Eevee Fan Club, Espeon/Umbreon gold star, etc.)
Makes one wonder if the hobby will level off here or experience nice steady growth like the past 10 years. I have seen about 95% of the flippers/scalpers/Team Rocket on Facebook groups leave the scene.
Kinda sad to see lots of people liquidating their personal collections though. Some things on IG I have watched people build over the years just being sold to the highest bidder. A lot of times they are coming from people who I really thought were into pokemon
Times change, peopleās interests change. Itās sad for sure, but hopefully all those collections go to someone who either truly appreciates it or can make the most of them. Eventually, everything worth collecting will land in much firmer hands.
Probably one of the worst times to be selling given the huge drop in asset prices across the board, unless you got in well before the 2020/2021 Logan Paul boom and are locking in whatever gains you can. So many come in looking for easy/quick money with so many things these days, but I am glad they have been flushed out for the time being as well.
I definitely agree that this is a great time to be a buyer again. Itās feeling more like the Magic market to me these days where we get the odd exciting thing, but for the most part things are just flat and steady.
Iāve been getting so many great deals on raw NM WOTC cards and just slowly filling up my binders each week/month and taking it slow. Every once in a while Iāll go for a high grade slab of the ones I really like the most, and have gotten some really nice deals lately.
I have to admit that I was quite late to ever seriously collecting Pokemon again aside from what was left of my small childhood collection, so Iām really happy to be able to pick up some cards I really wanted and being patient and waiting for this downturn has paid off immensely in that regard.
My one worry right now is the Bulk prices being so low - Like them or not those 3rd party products help bankroll a lot of LGSās both online and brick & mortar stores. I wasnāt around much during the last time bulk went to 1c a card but didnt quite a few people have to close down ( I think I remember an smpratte video talking about TCA having to shut down in part due to this? )
Given the amount of product being opened nowadays, itās pretty remarkable to me that bulk is still even commanding $0.01/card. I donāt know how there are enough end consumers for it. 9 billion cards distributed last fiscal year, 95%+ of which is bulk. Obviously, most of that doesnāt enter the available bulk supply, but itās still shocking how even a fraction of that could be absorbed. I guess there are really that many people buying these āmysteryā lots on Amazon/eBay?
I certainly donāt feel like we are back to pre-pandemic levels in terms of prices, Iām still paying 3-5x what I would pay before things went crazy (better than 5-10x though). But, recently things have started to feel much more attainable. Iām getting back to collection goals I had put on hold, Iām cleaning out the massive grading backlog, the JPY exchange rate is great, and I donāt feel a massive amount of pressure to buy cards in case they become unattainable in the future.
I hope things keep chilling out. Take me back to the days where I can buy a booster case of modern Japanese for 15% off retail and itāll be paradise.
The market is definitely different and much larger than pre pandemic 2019. While wotc went up and down, EX is just up. DP is higher. A lot of japanese promos are higher. Plenty of boxes are higher. The team upās I bought at retail in 2019 have 10x.
The idea that it is bad to sell isnāt necessarily true. Selling the items mentioned above in 2020 would have been worse than today. Selling trophies during 2020 would have been less than 2021 and some of the prices now. Its a good sign to see a mix in trends. It implies the interest and market isnāt binary.
Good point, I guess I should clarify that mainly the early WOTC stuff that got heavily inflated when Logan came around and everything else was booming is what Iāve seen continually drop the most, except for the more scarce offerings and PSA 10s which have held high prices much better it seems. Like the days of $1000 Jungle Pikachus I think are long gone for the time being, lol.
But no doubt that other sets and cards have gone higher even in this slower environment, which is nice to see. I hope to eventually collect more of those over time.
Dang I hate it when an older card becomes ācompetitively viableā in the unlimited format because of a new modern card, and then the 5 people who actually play that format in their hidden after-dark around the corner underground game bunker decided to try and buy up the card even after its literally 60x in price.
Iām trying to complete my sets and I understand the market does what it will do. But that doesnāt mean I have to like it
People also shouldnāt be buying playsets of a 10-year-old reverse holo, now going for $40-80, that cost $1.50 a month ago
Looks like the Test Print Blastoise is back on the market at Heritage. Wasnāt expecting to see this card again. Super curious how itāll do this time.
ā¦or that if they CAN convince others, itāll be true. Itās uncanny, how often that ends up being the case. āThere will always be people like [them] among us, waiting for the right climate in which to flourish.ā Respect, if anyone knows what thatās from.
I feel like this will probably be more in line with the Sword and Shield dogs Ultra Premium Collection than the Celebrations one. The Celebrations one had a lot going for it to appeal to a wider audience (Metal cards of Charizard and Pikachu, Gold Pikachu V, Charizard and Pikachu pins, Celebrations packs), where this one seems more ānormalā depending on the Pokemon itās based off of.
That said I guess it depends on how many they print, and if the promos are available elsewhere (the SWSH dogs were available in ETBs too). I guess itās hard to really say one way or the other until we know what the actual promos are.
