I’ll be honest here, the boom and money did lure me back to collecting after 20 years. But not because I want to make money. The boom made my old cards valuable, which in turn allowed me to sell cards I don’t need and buy cards that I want and loved back in the days.
Sometimes life happens and not everyone can keep spending money on the hobby without selling. Like others have said, not everyone that joined after 2020 is in it only for the money. I do believe the boom has brought a lot of lurking/closet collectors out though. And during my research of card evaluation and grading, i found efour.
On topic, Moonbreon growth is too insane, own and love the card, but I still prefer the OG Neo Umbreon.
Both @zorloth and @Dyl and many other “newer” members are great examples of why growing the hobby is a net positive. There are quality people who become aware of pokemon because of publicity.
Also there were plenty of money people back in the day. I made the no sales rule almost 10 years ago because it was already spam in 2014.
No one is gatekeeping on who can say what based on when they joined. Simply pointing out a correlation.
I only chimed in on the topic because of the elitism within this thread. People are ragging on Reddit for talking about the value of cards, in an E4 thread about the value of cards, while un-ironically claiming the collectors on here are less concerned about the money aspect than on other platforms… lol
There’s an apparent difference in attitude between E4 and places like Reddit, IG/FB and YouTube, even when the monetary aspect of Pokemon comes up.
With the social media sites I find the focus of discourse is almost always “will this card/sealed box make me money in 1-5 years?”. When that becomes the driving force behind interaction it completely changes the dynamic of the community. There is no camaraderie, no celebration of card artwork, no appreciation of the history of the hobby. It’s all just “me, me, me” and “money, money, money” day after day.
No community is perfect, E4 included, but as someone who joined the forum last year after lurking for a number of months this place is like an oasis. While the monetary aspect of Pokemon is never going away, there’s a healthy mix of threads of people just geeking out over their favorite cards, sets artists and Pokemon.
There are also tons of resources on E4 that users put together for the community to help spread awareness of lesser-known promo releases and campaigns. Those people didn’t have to take the time to compile such information for the benefit of others. But they did, to help the hobby grow. You’ll rarely find such dedication on Reddit and Facebook, because information is often withheld from others so people can gain even the slightest of advantages in the market.
By the way, the date I joined this forum is not the date I returned back to the hobby or started the hobby. Noticed many posters like to group people into “newcomers” and “seniors” based on forum registration date, kind of silly to me. A person can be new to forum but definitely not new to Pokemon TCG. A handful like me already started collecting Pokemon cards way back in the 1990s.
Joined E4 end of 2020 and last time I sold anything in my collection was mid 2021. Literally just buy and collect what I like. I’ve been following this thread very closely and dilligently lately, primarily because of how wild the conversation is. Would love to own a Moonbreon, just because of how amazing Umbreon is in general. But there is NO WAY I would ever spend what it’s “worth” for it currently. One of the stonkiest cards out there nowadays.
When you joined the forum should not be a metric of what type of collector you are.
As a general statement that is not directed at anyone in particular: your actions on the forum, the threads you engage in, and the type of discussion you generate are all much better indicators of where your priorities lie. Be the change you want to see
Just about everyone cares about the money; whether you want to sell in the future for profit, or are just looking for a good deal without the intention of ever selling. Both require similar research to make an informed decision. Regardless of one’s goals, few would want to have a card that has massively devalued from its original purchase price.
I don’t collect Pokémon cards to make money. I collect Pokémon cards because I hit that fortune teller with my station wagon in the Arizona desert and this is the only way to break the curse they put on me. And you know, I’ve really come to appreciate it along the way. Did you know there are over 100 Pokémon?
You’ve got a valid point there. Some people are looking to sell existing older cards to streamline their collection or to get modern cards to add to their collection. Especially modern cards are rising so fast in price.
I watched all those streams and ended up joining his discord. Crazy how it took that many packs! But incredibly happy he pulled it. And still no Rayquaza pulled. Ended up graded two PSA 10s during the months of his streams. Before it went from $400 range to $650 range ungraded. At this point I’m just keeping them.
By the way for anyone comparing join date you need to get a life! Come on now do you really need to measure yourself against someone because of a date the forum says? That’s childish if anything. Grow up
Rayquaza vmax alt art’s previously recorded pull rate was lower than Moonbreon at 1 in 2,333 packs. Technically it was rarer than Moonbreon in 2021 until Moonbreon’s now updated pull rate of 1 in 3,705 packs.
Some people even compare collection with others’. Collection is supposed to be something private and personal. Which is why I refuse to have instagram or anything like that.