Charizard will never go away.
The toughest pill of them all to accept.
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Just out of curiosity, why would one want Charizard to be gone though?
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So we can stop seeing it everywhere and all the time.
We are literally getting back to back sets with the Charizard line getting SIRs.
They’re just at such an inaccessible price for average people now, and once you’ve seen one you’ve seen them all.
The only pack openings I can watch now are new sets I’m unfamiliar with or someone like maxmoe who’s nuts haha
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I collect because even when I buy some graded vintage card or crack modern booster boxes, I FEEL the same way I did as a kid. Safe to say I would still collect if I didn’t find E4 (I don’t get to share my collection Irl much). So many of the “pills” in this thread weren’t so bad, but jeez yours was brutal.
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When the market falls, it’s time for collectors to hold, fold, or double down
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Yup those are pretty much the options. It comes down to who really believes in the tcg and who was here for the good times
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I’ll be honest. The cards I collect especially vintage are the cards that came out from my childhood. I hope to maybe one day pass them down to my kids (if I ever have any) when I head to the stairs above
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My tough pill of the day is that I’ll only ever have enough liquid capital to take advantage of a tiny fraction of the vast number of opportunities staring me in the face at any one time.
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Here’s a tough pill for some parents:
Your kids will probably not like Pokemon as much as you do. Forcing them to inherit your messy cardboard collection is unwise. You need to determine what they would like to do with your belongings, and accept the highly probable outcome that is selling your collection well before you die. Decades from now, your children may need money, not old, shiny, cardboard.
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Harsh pill, I try not to think too much about 2020 crude oil. 
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That’s also very true. As much as we dont want to sell you never know if you might have to because an opportunity to help your family comes up etc.
Eh. At the very least keep it very well catalogued with updated value estimates. Which is basically what my dad does with his precious metals collection. Because he knows we will just liquidate it when he passes.
Also I just finally found out how to easily embed a quote reply on accident lol
Blunt truths (aka “tough pills”) in Pokemon TCG:
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Even a black label graded card doesn’t mean 100% perfect card.
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Card grading is not just subjective and involves an element of luck.
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“Low pop” is for the highest grade in existence of a particular card. See auction below.
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Any card can be obtainable when you have the money.
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Always think and see long-term. Not be thrilled by short-term gain or saddened by short-term loss. Time will change everything;- modern will become vintage, vintage will become antique.
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Always follow your heart and collect what cards you adore. Do not follow hype, do not have herd mentality, do not be brain-washed by “influencers”.
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Only art is timeless. Not hype.
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You can’t turn back time, so every decision you make to buy/sell/price a card matters and will be of consequence later in the future. Think and analyse carefully before making decision. Stick to it and do not have regrets later.
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I’d go a step further and say inheriting anything that isn’t straight up cash.
We live like we are immortal.
Just like corporations should be forced to manufacture with disposal in mind (ridiculous how they are allowed to socialize the costs) people should know that death is inevitable and downsize accordingly as time goes on. I suppose it’s more a problem of privilege in the richer countries. You don’t need that much stuff.
Ugh, to have to inherit a first edition charizard, maybe the kid wanted a venusaur since seeing the show. Terrible to think about
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4 in your list has me thinking. I feel like there are some cards you wouldn’t be able to get no matter how much money you had, but maybe I’m wrong. Maybe if grade isn’t an option that’s more likely or if you’re willing to wait long enough to see a rare card go up for sale. I’m not experienced in the ultra rare cards, so maybe someone else can chime in. My gut instinct says there are cards out there that are incredibly hard to get even if money were no object. Is that true? Or am I mistaken?
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You are not mistaken. There are plenty of cards that are effectively 1/1 or of similar rarity. Money may not persuade a collector to part with the card.
That said, nobody lives forever. So at some point, the ultra rare cards may be for sale in the distant future.
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Modern and vintage collectors often clash. I wish we could all better see the interest in each and appreciate people’s interest in the hobby regardless of which era they like to collect.
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Sadly the side effect of how value driven the hobby has become.
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