What should I do now?

General
1

Hi everyone.
Since June I have got around to organising my collection I have owned for a quite a few years now and really wanted to get your advice on what I should do going forward with with what I have so far.
In the image below is everything I own and in each of their respective sets; The only complete sets are Base, Fossil, Jungle and Team Rocket with every other set listed missing between 5-30 cards. All of the cards, with the exception of a few 1st Editions, are Unlimited.

I have sent off 55 of the best Holo’s to PSA during their grading special in June, did not have enough money to send off any more but hoping they do another grading special later this year or next year so I can submit the rest of my potential 8-10 grade cards.
My wife and I see this collection as an investment piece (hence sending the best ones off to PSA) but I have been wondering about what to do with the remaining cards in the completed and uncompleted sets that would almost certainly be PSA 7 or lower.

I have a few scenarios that could play out and if there is one that makes the most sense given what I currently own (or one I have not considered) I would love to get some feedback from any of you on them:

  1. PSA Grade all of the best Holo/Rares/Secret Rares from the collection and sell those individual cards after a few years
  2. Complete the incomplete sets by purchasing the missing cards and sell the sets3. Complete the incomplete sets and PSA Grade them irrespective of the grades
  3. Sell some of the later release date sets that are incomplete to help purchase a complete PSA 9-10 set from one of the earlier release sets.

I have loved watching Gem Mint, Smpratte, LeonHart and the rest of the YouTube Pokemon collectors whilst oragnising my collection again after so many years knowing that there was something special about the TCG even when I was around 10.

Having not collected any cards for the best part of 17+ years I suddenly have the itch to complete my collection and go hunting for the secret rares in the newest sets like Celestial Storm, but financially a lot of what that entails would be out of my reach and investment wise there are many other things to invest in that will be financially better for us over the next few years… I think I just love the idea of going back to that time of opening packs, collecting cards and now, grading the best among them.

As I say, the emotional attachment I have to the cards has been the reason they have stayed in binders or sleeves all these years but we have to do something with them eventually (sell, trade, collect missing cards, sell the best and ignore the rest).

I hope this has not come across completely scattershot and welcome any further questions people might have in pursuit of giving me an answer.
Cheers!Jim

2

Welcome to E4!

Honestly this a very personal decision. Something that you need to make. Keep collecting if you enjoy it. Sell it if you don’t. If it’s fun for you to collect them then try and finish some sets or collect new things. Whatever you decide will be the right decision. I personally would finish your sets. It will be fun and go from there.

-Matthew

3

Completing sets will earn you a bit of a premium, so you should definitely go that route. However, make sure it makes sense financially. For some of the sets you’re missing 30 cards it might turn out more expensive than the premium you will get depending which cards you need.

Remember each card has some value. Sometimes they’re better kept ungraded than to spend $7-8 on a holo that isn’t even worth that extra grading cost. I’ve actually had trouble getting $20-30 on certain PSA 10 Gym Unlimited holos, so you don’t want to end up stuck with cards no one want. lol

You don’t seem to have a big budget, there’s absolutely no problem having a nice binder collection. There’s big demand for this. Not everyone has thousands to put on PSA graded sets. :blush:

4

I only have 1 card psa graded and I’m fine with that. It’s like a compliment piece to the binder collection. I don’t need to authenticate the rest & as long they are in a neat binder, selling the set should be golden. If I want to psa grade everything, idk if I’d get high sell return for a common Eevee.

5

If your goal is to sell, there’s little demand for graded unlimited cards, especially for anything lower than a 10. Make sure you look at sold listings prior to grading to determine if a given card is even worth sending to PSA.

1 Like
6

Thanks so much for the advice so far!

I like the idea of completing the collections for binder buyers and as poken00b88 pointed out… not everyone has the money to sink into acquiring those PSA 10 complete sets, myself included (although they are beautiful to look at)

I could easily see myself completing the sets I already own over the next few months/ years so that should keep me entertained and enjoying the hobby again without sinking £1000+ every month on maybe three or less PSA 10 cards.

7

My advice is don’t sell and keep collecting!

3 Likes
8

Good advice above.
I do like the way you organized them though as long as the holos don’t shift out of the sideways laying top loaders,

1 Like
9

Thanks all, I’ve pretty much made my mind up now hearing all the solid advice you have sent my way, And to Gary they are indeed safe and sound in there :blush: