To add on to the comments on Japanese set cards, I think early Japanese sealed packs are under valued. I get that the Japanese set cards are significantly lower priced than their English counterparts… but you’re guaranteed a holo in every pack! English may be better for investing, but I think Japanese packs would be more fun (and less expensive) to open if you’re in the mood.
I don’t know if the FRLG Charizard is undervalued…I think the Burning Shadows one is just wayyyyyy overvalued. The FRLG one went up so much it’s insane. For instance: I bought a raw one advertised as NM in March for $100, which was about market at that point. It ended up having a corner issue that I didn’t like, so I resold it. Then, in April, I bought a PSA 8 for $300. Cracked it, and it also had a condition issue, so I resold it. Then, a month or so ago, I finally got one that made it into my set: a PSA 8 for $600. For reference, PSA 9s were like half of that a few months ago. PSA 9s were HALF of the current PSA 8 price – nuts. I don’t think the card is undervalued at all. But perhaps it’s because I’m not a huge Charizard fan (I like Charizard, but I equally like Blastoise, Venusaur, and any number of other Pokemon).
As far as undervalued cards are concerned, I think many holos from the second two EX-series sets (Sandstorm and Dragon) are still undervalued. They’ve gone up dramatically during this crisis (like, in the case of Salamence, from $5 → $50), but some are still only worth like $10. This is despite the fact that they are individually just about twice as rare as the exs from the same sets (exactly twice as rare for Sandstorm holos, because 14 different holos and 7 different exs).* So there are just about half as many EX Dragon Altarias in existence as EX Dragon Dragonite exs, yet Dragonite ex is worth $80 and Altaria is worth like $8? Of course, the demand for the exs is much greater, but some of the holos still feel underpriced.
Also, another reason why I think they’re undervalued: almost every holo from Sandstorm and Dragon are rookie cards for those Pokemon. Some exceptions being, off the top of my head, Flareon, Jolteon, and Golem.
*the caveat being the holos that appeared in theme decks (Armaldo, Cradily, Crawdaunt, and Roselia). There’s no way of distinguishing ones from theme decks vs. ones from packs, AFAIK, so there is much greater supply of those.
@kpod , part of it is definitely value, people often grade things that they like or are worth money in order to sell it so that definitely could be it. I think genuinely clean copies now are scarce as well. I think it’s all down to what people can get access to as well, Japanese cards aren’t as common in Canada/USA so only people looking for them would grade them and that’s a layer of effort you’d need to put in. If it’s not commensurate with the value they’d get, maybe they just don’t bother looking for them and put that effort in higher value cards?
@chok, definitely agree. I think the biggest issue with it is the awareness/exposure of the set, which is a shame because there are some pretty awesome cards in the set. Also got some Rocket’s cards which are always a bonus. I honestly wish they had done more holos in the set, feel like’s a ton of cards that would’ve been even more beautiful with the holo treatment like the Articuno.
Makes sense. Hey I’m glad for the lack of competition, I’ve actually been able to source some 10 and 9 quality cards, including Erika’s Bulbasaur and Dratini, and both Lt. Surge cards. Giovanni’s Nidoking is a PITA, almost all had factory edgewear while still attached to the sheet I’ve heard.
i think i started looking for those binders in late june…and there were none…
yeah, i know scott’s always touted the set as THE set that got him back into pokemon. i knew about the set for a long time, but it wasn’t till recently that i really fell in love the art. top notch. i hope more people will grow to like this set.
I mean from Phib’s recommendation - I looked up the set and it’s AMAZING - something I’m really looking forward to collecting in the near future if possible! Hopefully it doesn’t get too pricey for me to pull off!
I think the worlds promo cards are still super underrated myself. If they ever reach mainstream popularity the prices could explode. The fact they are not holo and not recognizable to most I think have held them back, but the art, rarity and history elements to me are all off the charts. They have gone up quite a bit in value recently but I still think they are way undervalued as compared to many similarly expensive cards in the hobby.
You are talking about the Champions Festival promos, right? If so, I agree. They have already gone up a considerable amount in the last few months and they are limited each year by the number of world’s competitors
I completely agree, but it is always undervalued compared to other sets, at least since I reentered - I bought a psychic/fighting box for 600$ iirc only last year… people have often times already heard about it but never bothered to go deeper into it from my experience talking to some collectors.
Since there is no comparable English set and it being a japan exclusive make it much more appealing to one side of the collectors but also much less to the other side.
I loooooove Vending Series and I agree with you to an extent, but I think one thing that holds them back a little bit is that the set doesn’t have any holos.
That’s why for my binder collection I treat the Vending series, Red/Green Quick Starters holos, and Masaki promos as if they’re all part of the same set (they do all have the same set symbol and all from the same set in spirit). That way it’s just a really amazing set that includes some sick holos too.
The last sales have been around $19k no?
By undervalued I don’t mean they should all currently cost 50% more than they are. Instead that if you buy any at market price today I expect them to do well over the next several years. But you can’t apply forecasted price increases to contemporary prices.
The first is the 1997 toyota promo pikachu. 8 PSA10; 31 total.
The second is the green 7-11 variant of the japanese card from the 2010 world collection. 15 PSA10; 20 total. (however I would expect the pop on these to double in the next year as people may be more inclined to open the sealed world collections for grading nowadays)
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