Yeah sorry 
Exactly.
Thereās a reason many of us care that the IONO SAR, Giratina, Lugia, Umbreon Alt Arts, the Lillie Waifus, the Master Battle sets are getting crazy. There is crazy demand. That sandaconda art is nice though, but itās just simply not at the top of the polls of collectors favorite pokemon/trainer.
We just need to be patient and realize that in 5 years, thereās a chance that a lot of these modern prices will stabilize-maybe even become more affordable or stagnant, and we can then complain that vintage is 5xing again before we got a chance to complete our later wotc sets or Nintendo sets.
Now excuse me while I go to Smprattes ebay page and listen to somber music while window shopping.
2 Likes
I like the honchkrow and lumineon v
When they cost the price of like 2 packs (in honchkrows case), Iāll happily take the risk
1 Like
Agreed, they look absolutely stunning. But this is what happens when most people couldnāt care less about those Pokemon. Popularity > Art when it comes to alt art value.
If that lumineon was a wailmer it would all be over
4 Likes
Thereās far more interest in modern than vintage, this forum is an anomaly. Donāt think modern collectors care about pop reports that much either. Glad to keep buying vintage right now.
2 Likes
I agree with these responses about how the majority is interested in modern. But I think there is also a large number of vintage collectors who are in a holding pattern watching prices drop and not wanting to panic sell. Especially with the cards they picked up during the pandemic.
They donāt want to take a huge loss like these guys did with their Lugias so they are waiting for another Chinese lab to whip some something spicy.
2 Likes
I for one like to diversify. Ultimately my goal is vintage, wotc, trophies, but I dabble in modern too. Have a master set of alt arts and trainer galleries cause I love the art, and some modern sealed that I likeā¦ but all to hold long term, unless of course something catchās fire, Iāll sell and get my next trophy goal!
As Sssss Mmmmm Pratt says, there is always value to be found, In both vintage and modern. I think the main thing to define is, what are your goals? Art, completing childhood sets, collecting trophies, or making as much as you can in as short a time period as possible. Thatās why I think so many have been drawn into the PokĆ©mon orbit, the possibility of making a strong return, which is mainly modern. Of course we want to see our collections grow in value over time, but hopefully you just enjoy the journey with whatever path you choose!
Iām working on my diamond hands. 3 years in for me with buying slowly and no selling yet, but a long way to go with my goals, so some modern will be turning soon enoughā¦
I like modern for binder cards. I do like opening packs so if a new set that seems interesting to me comes out I open packs and fill my binder. Its a nostalgia thing for me.
But for collecting itās vintage all day
I feel like a portion of this forum struggles to accept/understand this.
Being rare doesnāt make people automatically want something.
You donāt have to look that far. There are a lot of cheap alts right now. The Pokemonās popularity has always and will always matter. People should also define what exactly vintage is. If weāre talking e-Series-ex era art for holos, then I think thereās a higher chance of people wanting those if they are coming into modern for the art.
If weāre talking Sugimori cut and pastes, old CGI art etc. I think people are overestimating the conversion rate. Those need to be seeing demand now whilst nostalgia is still in play for that generation, otherwise people will keep getting older and the nostalgia will move to later and later cards.
1 Like
Whenever I see this report, I always felt like 2016/2017 reports were higher than what is reported. I swear remember feeling PokĆ©mon Goās release had a pretty significant boon during that XY - Fates Collide era.
at one point this phrase was used for the opposite, but the future is what matters. āNowā was 4 seconds ago.
Iām reminded of Cliff Young (Australian farmer turned athlete) who used none of the established techniques, yet beat the ābestā. However, he was not able to repeat his performance, yet established experts would adopt some of his techniques. Point is, something new may come along and do well for a time, and even reveal something useful, but thereās no guarantee that will translate to staying power. So whatās you term outlook?
1 Like
Iām not surprised that modern is rising in price while vintage is āstagnantā (it actually isnāt if you look at the right cards) because so far, the price point for 99% of modern cards is still way lower than that of vintage cards. People are going for what they can afford to buy, and for the masses, thatās modern.
Furthermore, it is mostly PSA10s that moon (as always). But whereas it was reasonable to buy a PSA10 of a vintage card (because there are so few raw vintage cards in gem mint condition in circulation), there is no reason to buy a PSA10 of a modern card instead of a raw mint copy (which you can easily find) in similar condition for a fraction of the price. To me thatās another indicator that the current wave of price spikes in modern is mostly due to flippers and āinvestorsā that care mostly about increasing the size of their wallet instead of their collection.
3 Likes
Grading modern is odd. There really is not a massive premium gained from PSA 10s on a lot of them. After fees and grading cost I was literally making like 15$ on what Iād consider pretty cool modern cards. Not really worth it but I donāt dabble in the ones that are 300$ raw because Iām still finding 1st base holos for cheaper and Iāll buy those every day till the sun burns out. Maybe the expensive ones have better premiums idk
4 Likes
The worthwile margins on PSA 10 modern are few and far between. There are a few that are easy but alot of the times like you said, youāll tie up like $200 in a single card to only make $30.
3 Likes
Yeah oddly enough, the best margin for modern cards seems to be in the Character Rares you can pick up for like $3 and then sell for $40 in a PSA 10. The chase cards just arenāt worth the risk in buying raw and attempting to grade. If you get a 10, youāre making a negligible amount, and if you get a 9, youāre losing a ton of money. Itās not just worth it.
3 Likes
Iāll give you another perspective that might expand your approach.
What if some people have seen this again and again during the years, (the new thing being the hot thing) and actually are talking from the experience of what happened in the past and MIGHT repeat itself?
Not saying is the guaranteed thing to happen because there are exceptions, as in anything in life.
2 Likes
Modern right now feels like watching the bitcoin run up to 60k and saying, āwhy is bitcoin outperforming the s&p 500ā.
25 Likes
I take it that some modern chase cards are exciting to collect, mixed with collector FOMO driving certain prices up. I feel as if its a complete separate market to vintage. I always remind myself that set cards are not rareā¦ meaning a little risky long term if demand softens. I apply this to both, vintage and the ongoing printing of modern.
1 Like