the crypto bros realized that vintage pokemangs in psa 10 is a better investment than bitcoins
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When the american dollar collapses, the plastic encased cardboard will still hold its value
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i think its partly because the big celebs (like post malone and the paul brothers) bought crazy expensive rare vintage stuff for millions of dollars. people wanna be like celebrities. they want to buy stuff like celebrities do. i think its a trend that will most likely continue for a long time, sadly for us regular folks on a budget. i dont know much about market stuff but this is just my guess!
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Hey, theres a good amount of us that grew up in the original ex era and LOVE those cards. Also, the psa 10 prices are partially due to them being very difficult to grade well, as the border holo can scratch easily.
That said, should an ex dragon Muk ex psa 10 sell for 1k? Probably not lol
idk about you but i sent amazon 1 moonbreon to cover this years bills
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I miss the good old days. Where you could buy vintage psa 9âs even for 2-5k ⊠crazy how those kind of prices back then were high and now I miss them lol
I love followed Reserved Investments and Alpha Investments, they have great takes on the market and help validate my own observations or add new insights to my understanding of what the f**k is going on during this crazy bull market. The crazy almost 17m Pikachu Illustrator sale for sure is also contributing to some new capital entering the market.
I do think the Pokemon market is ripe for a pullback, but prices could shoot so far up from here that even a pullback would not erode profits of people whoâve been buying and holding since 2024.
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Nailed it! While itâs almost a sure thing the market will experience some kind of pullback, itâs not like the pullback will settle with 2024/2025 pricing. If ATH sales and records keep getting set, many people are going to be disappointed when the pullback happens and cards settle at their early 2026 prices. Some cards may still be cheaper today then their eventual pullback pricing.
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Iâve followed the market sporadically since 2019, and I think most of the current hype is based on prediction and not on actual demand or interest in the cards.
People predict that the market is going up because the situation is very similar to the 2020/2021 hype. The crypto cycle is over and money flows to the next best speculative object. The next big Pokemon anniversary and main game announcement is on the horizon, so more eyes are on the hobby than usual. A new crisis is putting pressure on the economy (this time war instead of a pandemic) and people are looking for unconventional ways to make money while the rest of the established investment market tanks.
All of this leads people to buy cards and re-list them for literally ten times the price immediately. They WANT the market to explode because they bet on it, all factors considered. And they often are proven right because of a) collectors who are buying the cards for those insane prices out of fomo, and b) speculators who bet on selling the card for even more money because nobody ever thinks they will be the greatest fool and the last sucker in the food chain.
Lastly, it is very easy for ebay sellers to list a card for an incredibly inflated price and let an insider contact purchase that card to create the illusion of legitimacy for that price point. This in turn enables the seller to list a similar card or a card of higher value for the same insane price again and hope that a genuine buyer will be fooled by the fake sale and purchase the card, at which point the seller starts making profit. This scheme works especially well in the Pokemon vintage TCG because there are many low-pop cards so the fluctuation/retrace happens much slower than with something like crypto that can be bought and sold in an instant. Iâm not accusing anyone in particular of doing this, but I see no reason why an established seller on ebay with a big portfolio and a built reputation to start with wouldnât be able to do this.
Of course you are free to believe that a card that was recently sold for $2000 and got sold for $20000 a month later is all just demand and normal growth in the hobby, if thatâs more comforting.
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Maybe people who speculated on Modern realized pokemon wonât reprint vintage. 
In all seriousness, there is no single variable explanation. It could be a combination of vintage being underrated, migration from modern due to reprint worries, crypto speculators realizing pokemon is what NFTâs wanted to be, growth from 30th, Olympic Commercials, PSA 10 Illustrator sale, or any other media. There are just so many things happening today at an unparalleled rate. Certainty has never been more of a fools errand.
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You basically covered it all. Iâd add that the exponential rise in vintage 10s has something to do with the (actual or perceived) PSA grading scale change. I get the sense that people are scared they may never get 10s again in vintage submissions.
Also I wouldnât write off genuine interest in some cases. Iâve noticed people really caring about older cards at the few shows Iâve been to lately. Collectors seem to be happy and even surprised to see affordable and middle of the road vintage graded cards.
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I feel it started as a way to park money from Modern stonking, with a clear contagion effect as people tried to find the next âeasyâ/obvious opportunity. Logan Paul was the green light for the last wave of investors.
Another thing to consider is that people have become desensitized over the years, spending thousands on collectibles is no longer taboo. To me this is crazy, but I guess no one is truly immune to this drift.
The rise of species collectors, viral content, meme-collecting, challenges, and so on surely doesnât help, because now even bulk is inflated.
Lastly, I might be wrong, but I feel that many people who accept paying such amounts seriously believe that the cards they purchase come with a promise of doing a 2â3x in the reasonable future, or at least having their money back. The power of the narrative is such an incredible phenomenon that it allows people to justify even the dumbest ATH purchases.
Of course without that informal promise, weâll see how deep the market really is for $10k Hitmontop, $2k UF smeargle, and $5k LM Omanyte. More illiquid than a junk bond, in my opinion.
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I donât think thereâs necessarily so much as a ârise in species collectorsâ as there is a realization among grifters that every Pokemon has its hardcore fans.
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i hope market crashes so bad and never come back up to get all the things i want like it should be
nothing excuses a poliwag first edition cgc 8 for 150$
Are you talking about 1st Edition Base Set Poliwag?
The most recent sale in a CGC 8 was $54.99 plus $5.00 shipping.
Your post also comes across as peak entitlement.
to get all the things i want like it should be
I mean, really? Let me introduce you to the world.
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it was a figure of speech and not literally. i didnt mean i expect buying no. 3 pika for 5$ but to pay for magnemite base set 1st ed cgc 8-9 almost 200$ ? that is exactly the way it shouldnât be
its great the latest sell was this go on ebay and look at their prices now its deff not 55$ i also took a simple card which is way too expensive to give an example and make the point
why does it bother you if market will crash ? gatekeeping isnât fun
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This pretty much. It moves in cycles. Vintage was just overlooked for a year or two.
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You might think and feel that, but 1000 other people might think differently, so why should your opinions and feelings dictate how things are over someone elses?
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where did i try to dictate something ? did i not use the word âi hopeâ ? i have every right to hope something will happen regardless what others think. for base set ill have to resort to shadowless holos because even a cgc 7 holo 1st ed is too much
iâll vent as much as iâd like. if people want to gatekeep and happy that others cant get stuff that have now redicules prices good for them i know people are happy in the misery of others its many humans nature. as well as i can voice my opinion and want the market to crash. for you it isnt good maybe for many others it is
if people collect long time and dont want others to buy thatâs their problem im not new but still in general. its like people played world of warcraft spent time getting gear and people bought after the expansion and got a free max lvl char with (not max lvl) equipment. i invested leveled did raids got new gear and people bought an expansion and got free char max lvl i wasnât complaining oh look i spent time and they got their lvl 60 char with no problem
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Imagine being the one visionary who decided to go hardcore into random non-tcg junk and unlimited japanese bulk 16 years ago.
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