That is something I always think about, I was really curious to see if it would effect hidden fates when Nintendo announced the reprint.
After 2 reprints of hidden fates it’s still impossible to find any sealed product in store shelves, so it’s the only thing giving me some confidence in these limited holiday release sets post hidden fates.
But ultimately you are right if it wasn’t for that fear of multiple reprints I would have preordered a lot more.
The way to eliminate the risk of reprints is just to buy out-of-print product. The only appeal to modern sealed product is the lower price point. But that doesn’t justify ‘investing’ in it – if anything, it means that the investors in it are, on average, more cash-strapped than the vintage investors.
It’s hard to say without knowing what’s in the set and how much is being printed. Charizard promo is nice, but it’s not a huge factor to me, more of a bonus as it’s one per box (stained glass birds kind of rarity/value range). People are buying it up thinking it’ll be like HFs, where plenty of people couldn’t find it but I don’t think it’ll be like that when the set comes out. Major factor is going to be what’s in the set, I’ve seen some speculation that the missing tag team all stars cards could be in it but I don’t think so, I think we either get that in a separate product or not at all. I’ve yet to see a set that mixes ex/gx/v pulls so it would be a first (not impossible since us getting the RR vmax/full art v Charizard is also breaking precedent). At the very least, it’s unlikely you will outright lose money on the boxes and Charizard sets have historically aged well relative to their contemporaries.
Edit: I wouldn’t personally buy that many boxes at the beginning, a lot of people are buying it thinking it won’t be available on shelves but I’d imagine it’ll be printed/re-printed with that in mind. If it’s massively popular, they’ll re-print it so you’ll at least have more chances at it. But yeah, not a financial advisor haha
Hey can someone tell me what the deal is with Luxray Level X. None of the other level X cards are anywhere near the price. I can’t find a ungraded one for a decent price for my collection. The only graded one is a 9 listed for $200. I’d bite the bullet and buy the graded one but I don’t want to pay a premium and have it be my only graded level X. If it was a lower grade and better price I’d just buy whatever is available.
It was the most expensive Lv. X at the time. extremely playable in the TCG for years so I doubt there are many 10s. Got up to $65-70 at one point and two were needed in the LuxChomp deck.
I get it. I just can’t even find a light played to near mint for sale. Or a 6-8 grade would be cool. The card itself is just like gone. I see like 3-4 ungraded ones listed for $200 and the psa 9 is the same price. I’d be cool with $50-$75 range maybe for the conditions I’m looking for. I just see none listed reasonably
The card was probably bought out by flippers hoping that ppl like you will just buy the overpriced copies currently listed. Decent candidate since it was one of the most popular Lv X cards.
I figured as much. I’m fine with having a hole in my collection before paying top dollar. If anyone has one for sale for a reasonable price pm me. Id make a buy thread but it’s one ungraded card i need so not worth a whole thread
Make the thread- and use it for any updates/any other cards you might end up buying! 
A card like this Luxray level X I’m simply being patient till I find one. Same for Steelix ex from unseen forces. Almost every other card i buy is readily available online and i kind or buy on impulse while completing collection goals. I’ve made buy threads here so many times before and delete it right after because I couldn’t find the rarer card so I moved onto next goal and spent my money there lol. But I will probably make one for harder to find cards like this soon.
Are you talking about the rising rivals one? There are two available on cardmarket in nm for 75€.
Yes that’s the one. I’ve never heard of card market. I looked it up and there is abunch on there from around Europe and looks like Japan as well. But no pictures similar to tcgplayer. Varying from 15 Euros to 75. I’m in the US I try not to buy internationally especially during convoid delays. Do you know which sellers are trusted and have you used the site yourself? Edit; During sign up it doesn’t allow me to choose United States. No idea why. Maybe I need a middle man for this one
Cardmarket is mostly catering to the tcg players and not so much to us collectors. That’s why there are almost never photos of the actual card. It’s hit or miss condition-wise like tcgplayer.
But you can message the seller quite easily asking for more pictures and international shipping. I can’t recommend any particular seller since nowadays I’m using cardmarket almost exclusively to check availability and prices of cards that seem to be scarce on ebay.
I’m ok buying it blind I don’t need it to be mint I just want one that’s not creased or dented etc. Maybe they also have the Steelix ex I’m missing. I will have to check it out. Thanks for the tip 
Do you guys think we’ll continue to see rising prices?
Last year I remember seeing PSA 8 unlimited Charizards for $125 now the cheapest buy it now is $500.
Is it because PSA is taking a long time to grade cards so people aren’t listing new supply to the market?
No one has a crystal ball.
But Charizard prices do not often fall.
And yet, the mistake most often made in all of history is thinking that history always repeats in the long haul.
Time will tell all.
A thought occurred to me with the increased rise of English releases and the boom of collectors. We’ve already started seeing people priced out of their initial goals and some people are turning to Japanese product to have their goals met.
With this being the case and the number of cases where this occurs slowly rising, I wouldn’t doubt it if we saw a boom within the next few years on Japanese cards just because of people turning their attention towards it.
I imagine it’ll work out a lot like this: Grading services and selling via graded is established as norm > English prices rise for raw and graded cards > Attention turns to Japanese cards > Japanese prices rises for another 5~10+ years > Fallout of collectors as older sets become too much for many except for the few who can afford it > Focus on Modern and modern only with reserves for a few “holy grails” sprinkled in the mix.
Granted I imagine the entire time span realistically for all of this will be in the next 10~20 years, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we see it sooner since we’re entering that 3rd phase already.
I’m just glad I spent my money like a maniac completing collection goals. My wallet hates me but if I didn’t buy at such a rapid pace I would have feel victim to the price spikes of doom 
Given that people who collect now also do so in a decade or two and more people keep their cards than sell them. With regards to that idea, it would also be interesting to know how many people actually plan on exiting the hobby or just don’t see themselves collecting Pokemon cards anymore by then. A couple people outside of Pokemon mentioned how they expect an amount of Pokemon collectors to transition to longer established categories like coins or antiques with historical value, much like people expected kids back in the day to transition to Magic when they were done with Pokemon. The idea of not just investing & planning your exit strategy, but collecting while planning to exit the hobby you genuinely enjoy now, is just strange to me.
Me too, @mcorey777. Me too. Though I wish I hadn’t waited as long to replace some cards, I’m just glad I still have the major heavy hitters in general with the exception of one.
“Burn out” is a phrase that I’ve heard and shared with some binder collectors about the hobby. I know a few members fight with the idea of it as well since we see binder collecting as a dying hobby for Pokemon outside of Modern - where the outliers lay are the people who can afford to crack cases routinely.
As for transitioning to another collection or hobby, for some reason I find that unlikely unless they were interested in that in the first place. Granted, MTG is causing a big fuss nowadays with some impressive marketing campaigns in recent years which I imagine might entice some people who might be planning to exit out of Pokemon. Like you, I find the idea of planning an exit strategy unusual unless you have specific goals that, when met, don’t leave room for anything further. I’m not sure what to think about the idea, honestly. More often than not, I find it more realistic to see people either finding out that they can do more with the money they would have by selling their collection or they run the risk of financial ruin and ultimately give up their collection to avoid that issue.