I missed out on a couple 1st edition charizards in other languages when nobody seemed to care. I was collecting other things so it isn’t a big deal, I just wish I knew when they were going to explode in value. Then again, don’t we all wish that?
Not buying multiple quantities of the Luigi box during my trip to Japan in 2016
They had sold out of the Mario boxes at the time I was there but still had plenty of the Luigi boxes. They may have been limiting it to one per person but I could have had one of my friends make the purchase. I had seriously debated buying at least one more but didn’t think it was worth it for just the Luigi…
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I’ve been having a pretty rough time in this Japanese boom because I’m a Japanese promo collector (mostly vintage) and many of the cards that have seen wild spikes I had only a year ago. I think what bugs me is I put a lot of thought into what I pick up (like I think we all do). I know these were good to hold long term but I parted with them because I needed the money for other collection goals and I truly didn’t think they would rise in value for a long time if ever. Some of the current prices I’m shocked at.
Lillie Cosmog PSA 10 sold for $450 in 2022. Last sold the other day was $3500.
Lillie Dreams Come True BGS 9.5. I had 5 of them I sold for $650 each. Looks they’re selling currently for about $2200 each:
And this one baffles me: Lillie School Festa 2017 PSA 10 (a reprinted common non-holo Lillie from a niche release stamp that I knew was pop 2 at the time but I did not think it would ever be worth what it apparently just sold for). I purchased for $90 on eBay and sold for $120. There was a BGS 9.5 at PWCC this latest auction at last check it was something like $950 before buyers premium. I’m too afraid to check what it actually sold for. Someone check for me please haha and tell me how bad it was.
Where’s our time machines??
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The surprising one for me is the cosmog promo. From 400-3500 is wild
In the future. 
Geez from 90-2k?!?!
Plus a psa 10 premium must surely break the 3k mark. Market manipulation is fascinating.
Wow that’s depressing.
You made a profit in the first place. If you can keep doing that you can’t go wrong.
Today in the E4 server, people made me remind something …
Every time I see a “Highly Played” card that has a lot of potential to be a PSA1, reminds me the most unlucky thing that happened me as a collector (more than all those auctions I lost):
It was January 2021. At those times, I didn’t know about the existence of E4 and all groups I’m part of. I was bored watching a local Facebook Pokémon TCG group when suddenly a dude appeared asking:
Hi, I’d like to know how much could I sell this card for …
It was a Mew ☆ δ 101/101 
… from the Dragon Frontiers expansion (It wasn’t the Tournament variant). Card was in really bad conditions. For that reason, everyone started to laugh and make jokes. There were people that wanted the card for less than $2 (S/5.00 in 2021 was less than $1.5).
All of these were real comments made by people when they saw the card available for offers.
At those times, I didn’t give much attention to that post. I saved the photo because it ended being hilarious for me.
Then, a year later I joined E4 and learnt that Highly Damaged cards were valuable and it’s as hard to get as PSA10. (because they don’t accept damages made in purpose). I reminded the Mew ☆ δ I’ve seen some time ago and I regretted not making an offer while everyone was laughing at it …
More photos in higher quality:
The moral of that day was not judging cards that are in heavily bad conditions. They can be better than a PSA7.
Can’t say I’ve heard that one before. How is PSA supposed to know if I put my card through the washing machine by accident or on purpose?
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Interesting story, but this isn’t true.
PSA 1s are not difficult to achieve. They retain their value because people want to feel special and will pay for anything that says “low pop,” even if it was a badly damaged card. It is a mixture of irrational spending and perceived rarity. There are eBay sellers who are often grading and selling PSA 1s because the market is so large.
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Interesting … I had no idea of that.
I had the believing of PSA1 being difficult to obtain due to some people I’ve met in the past.
I remember receiving some offers for that Mew in a certain moment.
But yes, I still regret not making an offer. Thank you so much for your message.
Its very very very difficult to complete a psa 1 set comparable to completing a psa 10 set. People don’t grade bad condition cards in as high a quantity as good condition cards that’s why there aren’t many psa 1s in pop reports compared to higher grades. You would’ve done well if you had have bought it even if kept raw.
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Going to grab one?
Too many cards to mention. But 15th Anniversary Full Art Pikachu I got graded in PSA 10. That card is worth over 10x what it was back when I sold it. And such a cool card ugh, why did I part with it?
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Beat up gold star charizard for 100 nzd locally. Didnt have the money at the time and didnt wantcto ask my partner to use a part of our savings for a pokemon card. Thats like 70 usd for perspective.