My modern hot take
BW > SM > SWSH > XY > SV
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to each their own, I am not a celebi fan by any means but even I like crystal and celebi ex
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I 100 with this. Crystal and ex are…GORGEOUS. like crystal celebi is my favourite crystal card…and kabutops goes crazy on that.
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I feel that people have became so desensitized to what they are actually paying for modern cards. The average person on the street is shocked at the idea of paying $50 for a single card in a hobby, never mind hundreds, or even a months wages (I’m looking at you PSA 10 Moonbreon).
10 years ago I remember buying a PSA 9 Base Set Blastoise for $30, a raw one was $15… this was an iconic card that we all grew up with, probably 95%+ of these were played with in playgrounds so not many in PSA 9 condition. At this point it was still a 16 year old card…
Yet here we are with random modern cards which are almost always straight from the pack into a slab selling for more than Base Set Blastoise back then, sometimes even for hundreds of dollars. Compared to vintage there is no established intrinisic value or nostalgia IMO.
I know people will argue that the hobby is way more popular now, that some cards are hard to pull and that buyers have access to more money… but it still blows my mind. I’m not hating on modern but just saying sometimes things don’t make sense in comparison to vintage and mid-era cards. I think a lot of money could be lost by people buying modern singles as investments because of hype from Youtubers.
I admit that I have bought some cards for around $1k before but I justify it because they were 1st Edition Base etc
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Did you grow up/collect during the BW era?
Otherwise hot take for sure. BW cards are the ugliest for me. And I don’t think it’s close with the next gen lol.
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It depends on your entry point doesn’t it?
If the first time you enter the hobby and cards are all priced at a certain range, then you normalize that since you have no price memory. And actually it doesn’t even have to be the hobby as a whole, but even different parts (languages, generations, slabs etc)
And as I have mentioned regularly, we can estimate the amount of chase cards printed, so it’s up to each individual to decide whether or not the price reflects the demand and quantity. There is both objective and relative scarcity.
I think the best advice that I got from here was buy what you genuinely like because if you do, then chances are others may as well, and whether it goes up or not, you aren’t left holding the bag since you like the cards anyway.
As late as I was buying my SM tag team alts (already had gone up by a decent margin in 2021-2) I still felt like the fundamentals were strong but since it was the beginning of my journey, I didn’t buy extra or slabs because it felt like too much money. People kept saying it was overpriced etc but prices have shot up even higher. Now, I don’t think there’s much left hidden. Everything that was basically an alt art/SAR without the actual rarity has now risen to what you would expect.
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Good points. From a fundamentals standpoint, I don’t think we’ve seen the true range in potential of modern, from the highs to the lows. When I look at the price spread of slabs, I see numbers indicative of buyers who simply want the card, and not prices suitable to the relative grades. 7, 8, 9 = no big difference, meaning quality is largely irrelevant. What fundamentals are being traded on?
BUT time will tell, and we’ll have to see what happens. How much does sentiment-trading stretch the duration of heat-up and cool-off?
I think people who started with modern are largely unaware of the Rarer and Minter impact (and Older is not even an inkling of a proclivity in modern.)
Older Rarer 
Minter 
Feels = Better
Could there come a time when objective fundamentals are irrelevant?
Modern may not be as old as vintage but does it not follow the same trajectory? People collecting in-print modern today will go back to out-of-print sets that associate with cards alike in demand, and that positively affects the price. Late Sun & Moon is a great example. Isn’t that also true to older is better?
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Good point. On the scale of “modern” there is older modern.
I think it’s not that late sm is older it’s just that it has alt arts. Early sm is older than late am and those sets are garbage
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Indeed. It’s just one factor of many, and it may not be responsible for a perceived trend at all… 
If I ask you to name 10 pokemon and a majority of your answers are either
- The eeveelutions
- The big 3
- Kanto Starters
- Any of the top 5 hits in the pokemon TCG during Sword and Sheild and S&V
You are not a true pokemon fan
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I guess I am not a true Pokémon fan. Yikes!
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Hahaha, just cause thats the first people mention, doesnt mean they dont know more…
Tried this with people in a line for prismatic evolution. Told them to think of 10 more and 99% didn’t know 10 more.
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I mean, i can list off all of gen 1 
And about 15% of all other gens haha
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Now I’m interested: List all of gen 1
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Wailord, Eternatus and Dondozo are some hard to guess Pokemon.
Cheers!
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This includes Rayquaza from ES, does this mean you aren’t a true Pokemon fan? I’m just saying the most popular and expensive Pokemon are popular for a reason
I hate this “true fan” stigma on E4 and other places, if someone enjoys Pokemon they are a “true fan” they don’t have to love unpopular Pokemon or enjoy vintage to be a true fan, in my opinion all you have to do to be a “true fan” all you have to do is love the hobby
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