I’ve been recently mulling over shifting my PSA 10 2003/04 Victory Orb trophy to fund a PSA 9 1st Edition Base Charizard (I’d love to say I acquired a Zard without actually “spending” anything; weird flex I know).
The old-back “grail” trophies are obviously the pinnacle of the hobby, but the whole thing has made we wonder, with a PSA 10 copy of my card only roughly equating in value to a PSA 9 Charizard, are the top tier new-back trophies any competition for the peak of the English tcg, when it comes to desirability?
Does the extreme rarity of some lesser known cards, on the whole, stand a chance against the nostalgia and recognisability of things like 1st Edition Charizard, Neo Genesis Lugia or Gold Star Rayquaza in the long term?
First of all, let me say that I love your profile picture and your signature
Regarding your question,it really depends to your personal preferences. My humble opinion ( I am never gonna be able to afford a card of that type) owning a low POP trophy card like that in a PSA 10 condition seems more attractive than a PSA 9 1st ed charizard, even though the charizard is the big card, but due to popularity has become in my eyes more “mainstream” than such a trophy card
Either way both cards are incredbly beautiful and high end “trophy” cards, you got a very nice decision to take
My opinion so take it as you like but Zard is set card and there will always be another one to get but trophies even modern have limited number for sale and PSA 10 even less. I wouldn’t sell trophy for Zard.
Your Victory Orb is much more impressive and awesome.
I wouldn’t get caught up in the old back new back shenanigans. The Victory Orb is an ultra beautiful and ultra rare card from 19 years ago.
I sold multiple psa 9 unlimted zards for 4-5.5k in 2020, so I don’t think your view on value should be based simply on what a current price is.
If you want to make an investment I would just sell the card and put it in much safer options, but if you are just looking to have a really standout and amazing piece in your collection that is much more fundamentally rare and in my opinion much more cool, I would just keep your orb.
Very difficult to compare high-tier set cards to trophies. It all just comes down to high supply + high demand vs. low supply + low demand.
Personally, the only trophy cards that genuinely appeal to me are the ultra top-tier ones (Illustrator, 97 Pikas, etc.). But because those trophies are out of my budget, I just collect high-grade copies of the set cards I grew up with. I’ve found plenty of challenge and joy in that. Just go with the card you enjoy the most (for me, that would 100% be the Zard over the Orb).
Even if I like the Charizard, I won’t sell the trophy card. I will just save over time and get it later. Charizard will still be readily available in the future.
This reminds me of a similar topic from years ago. In that situation someone was between a psa 10 jp shining set and psa 9 1st ed zard. From just a money perspective, everyone was confident charizard was the clear answer. Yet the PSA 10 jp shining set is worth more today.
I think the lesson to take from that conversation is to not base these type of choices entirely on money. Also, common knowledge is not always correct. Popularity is the most overrated variable in Pokemon; there will always be a charizord available to purchase. I’d personally make the decision based more on your emotional preference.
I just recently had the exact same predicament, and in the end I went with a master’s key trophy. My reasoning was this might be my only chance to get a key, pass it up and another copy may not appear for years, and it’s by far my favourite new back trophy. With the zard I can always save and/or sell other parts of my collection to fund it further down the line, or accept a lower condition to suit my budget at any given time
Thanks for the feedback, everyone! I really appreciate the insights and views from differing angles (and the praise for this little overlooked trophy warms my heart).
Thanks very much! And you’re quite right, I appreciate how very lucky I am to be able to make decisions like this.
Wow, thanks for the link to that example, smpratte!
It has been the clash of fundamentals against nostalgia for me on this particular thought.
The trophy has all the fundamentals leaning in its favour and I have an attachment to the Victory Orb, as I purchased it raw around 15 years ago from Japan, and graded it just before the boom in early 2020.
The draw of 1st ed. Charizard is that classic “wanted it as a child and never had one” nostalgia that drives a lot of us. I know monetarily it’s anything but a sure bet, but my inner ten year old puts up a compelling argument haha.
I do think that this has helped dissuade me from taking the plunge though, at least for the foreseeable. My fear is regretting any sale/trade in the future and forever being haunted by it…and there’d likely be no reacquiring this card.
Keep the Victory Orb, there is quite literally always another 1st edition Charizard available.
The recent pandemic boom of Pokemon prices flushed a lot of the trophy cards out of people’s collections. While the price of a PSA 10 Victory orb is roughly similar to a PSA 9 1st ed zard, the availability of the Orb is likely to be lower both now and in the future.
I would take the Charizord because it has so much more significance to me. The victory orb is also one of the weakest trophies - just my personal opinion.
Ultimately it’s a personal choice. I guess the advice I would have is that you should go into it assuming you’ll never get a copy of the orb again. If you’re okay with that, I think it’s a solid trade.
Just curious why a couple of the mods are spelling it “Charizord”? Is that a meme with which I’m not familiar? (I’m old, so I’m not familiar with most memes, haha.)
Yeah its just a lighthearted meme from the post I linked in my earlier response. Basically just teasing when people only see charizard and nothing else in pokemon.
If the trophy means more to you as a collector then keep it and then save up or sell something else for a lower grade Charizard. Does the difference between a PSA 9 and lower number make it worth giving up your trophy?
In terms of investment I would say that more people would want the Charizard, but the trophy supply is so low that the potential future customers are likely going to be prepared to spend more… compared to something that has circa 1000 copies in similar or better condition in the world