Founded a TCG-related business at the beginning of this year, yes right before COVID-19 but we did great despite it. I can say, it has been quite a ride already and I learned/realized quite some things. One key takeaway is that I prefer a lot of smaller customers instead of larger ones because of flipping…
Generally, I do things because I like doing them. The company was also founded with this intention. Of course, it will generate some income, but that was not my main intention. The main intention is to share my love for the hobby with other passionate people and offering them great deals.
Notice how I mention passionate people. I had a lot of scalpers reached out to me, without appearing to be one initially. I’ve felt really heartbroken when I sold a case of wanted product to people and see it appear for sale again by them within a couple days while I had to let some other really passionate people down because they were later.
How to battle that is a hard one. I’ll definitely be more hesitant for large orders/inquiries I get. Yes, a large order can give a larger chunk of profit at once and save quite some work (packaging 100 items at once instead of 10 times 10) but if you see it being flipped a couple of days later and realize you were dealing with someone unpassionate that’s just riding the wave for some quick profits are you happy? I’m not.
Like a few others here I also bought my house lol but other than that not much changed for me.
The few things I learned from just being an E4 lurker are:
Don’t worry about missing out. Another opportunity will always come.
Be smart with your money. Just because you can spend x amount of money doesn’t mean you should. You never know when your money will come in handy for more important things in life.
Be nice and respectful to everyone. It can go a long way.
I’m still in College so I can’t relate to the buying houses and getting engaged stuff, but some things that I learned this year are:
1. Buy the card, not the grade
As someone who doesn’t have a lot of disposable income, I’ve recently started selling PSA 10s and buying PSA 9 counterparts. This has allowed me to get a larger variety of cards as well as save for the future after I graduate. At the end of the day I love the hobby for the art and the stories, not if a card has a white dot on the back.
2. Be happy with what you have
I’ll never own a 1st ed base charizard, but the unlimited is just as beautiful and one of my favorite parts of my collection. Comparing to other people is useless.
3. Don’t be afraid to share your passions
I have stopped caring about if people think what I like is cool or not. Most people around me are supportive of my hobbies but the few that say “guys in college shouldn’t be buying children’s cards” are not worth my time.
4. Don’t take time with friends and family for granted
After not being able to see many people for months on end, I appreciate even simple hellos with old friends.
Hmm pretty good year for me. Not much changed in my life and that’s exactly how I like it.
I finished my Japanese Mew collection (all artwork), stepped into all languages/100% category. Bought my first PSA card (and several after that), and my first CGC cards. I started a few other smaller collection projects too, like my Relicanths, all Mizue art, etc. I got the heart badge on efour And my collection has at least tripled in size and cost this year. Most important of all, my knowledge about Pokemon cards in general has skyrocketed this year
The biggest thing I learned is how awesome the pokemon online community can be. I joined up here in April mainly to try and buy items that I wasn’t finding on ebay and instead I learned so much about this hobby.
I also came to two big realizations:
How much I actually appreciate my collection and
How much I dislike graded cards. They bring me no joy. I cant examine them the same, I cant flip through them like cards in a binder and they are bulky and ugly imo.
2020 has been tough all around but I am happy with what pokemon and this forum have brought me.
2020 has been a very interesting ride for myself but its taught me a lot about myself. One of the main aspects is that I’m much better working directly for someone than being my own ‘boss’ in a sense of building brand for people. I also recently started working as a video editor for someone I look up to and that has been a really fulfilling job
In terms of Hobby related, I initially joined this community in September of this year trying to learn more about pokemon as I had not really understood it coming from sports cards, but after binging Scotts videos and recently almost all of his Patreon videos (highly recommend joining if you haven’t and are able to) I’ve learned so much and have actually found that I REALLY enjoy collecting the cards. This forum and especially the PWCC discord voice chats have been such a fun event to look forward to as well and I’m very appreciative of my Internet friends through here like Sherb haha.
This year has been one of my most challenging personally. But I’ve come to appreciate a few things:
Putting limits on what I decide to purchase and fine tuning my collection goals has made me appreciate what I have more.
Putting your heart into something you actually care about nourishes you while putting your heart into something you don’t actually care about hinders you.
Condition no longer matters as much as it used to - the connection to a card or its story does.
And lastly but most importantly:
The incredible friendships that have solidified this past year. Of all the things that has kept me going, it’s the daily conversations, check-ins, etc. that have made this year actually worth while.
There are a lot of dumb people with money who are easily influenced by social media.
Stick to the fundamentals of what makes certain cards desirable while other cards worthless. Don’t chase hype.
A low PSA population does not mean the card will be valuable. Learn to factor in the demand side of the equation…see #2.
What the next generation of collectors will want is more important than what the current generation of collectors want.
The market forces of supply and demand will always correct any irrationalities in the market but it could take months or years for the irrational aspects of the market to be corrected.
Reading these I realized I have quite a bunch, some of which have been shared by others. Sorry if these are a bit TMI. Great thread idea.
The online Pokemon community has been a life-saver
Like many people, this has been a difficult year for me. One of my personal frustrations has been living alone all year in a small studio apartment (to be fair, with a cat). I enjoy having my own space and privacy, but the combination of social events being shut down and spending much more time at home (working remotely) really starts to wear you down. I’m grateful that my general feeling is “exhaustion” and “irritation”, but not “crippling loneliness” – because I can chat with my friends 24/7 on discord or on the forum thanks to different timezones. It’s a blessing to have virtually met so many new people this year.
Pokemon money isn’t monopoly money
In July, a forum member asked, “How do you justify a high-end purchase?”. My response at the time was “The money doesn’t count the same if it comes from selling other cards” has been my somewhat illogical but rather common mindset ; separate card selling profit from regular savings."
It feels much easierto spend $10,000 on a Pokemon card if you just sold one for the same amount, than to be dipping into your savings to buy the same card. But the money is the same. I know this is blindingly obvious, but I’m quite used to putting a completely irresponsible amount of money into Pokemon, even if it’s from profit on sales and not my savings account. Obviously, having done this basically my whole life paid off in this year’s boom, but it’s not something to do my whole life. It gets too tempting to think, wow I made a bunch, I should buy whatever rare card I want. I’m determined to stop doing this, even if it means temporarily not going for some goals, and to put more money into regular trusted and low-risk saving methods like cryptocurrency (jk).
I don’t need PSA 10s (or 9s) (or 8s) (for now)
This year I sold my collection of PSA 10 1st Ed. Shinings and Crystals. I’ve started buying them back in PSA 8/9 or ungraded (thanks Moo for the crystal Zard and buckna for the crystal Kingdra!). I was very proud of my PSA 10s and never intended to sell when I first purchased several years ago. But values (and I don’t mean only money) change. If I wouldn’t want to spend $X to get the same card today, I shouldn’t feel obligated to hold it when it’s worth $X. I’ve also downgraded the condition on some of my chase set cards. For so long I felt it was completely off the table to sell something in my binder collection, even if I planned to replace it. It felt like I was committing a collector sin and I felt guilty. For example, I purchased my 1st Ed. Neo Genesis set in 2010 for $115. I’ve had it for a decade with no intention to ever sell. I have endless memories of flipping through the binder pages. But when we’re talking a four figure difference between grading a binder card to a 9 and buying it back in a 7… at the end of the day a Lugia is a Lugia.
The above is easier said than done and I’m a hypocrite
I don’t have much competition for Chanseys as a Chansey collector. I’m thrilled with my collection, especially with this year’s acquisitions. Yet I still feel compelled to go for “the best” grade for things like 1st Ed. Base Chansey. I find myself telling others, “I’m so happy to have mentally settled for a lower grade”, then being too tempted to bid when higher grades appear on auction. It’s funny to me because it’s not like I have anyone to impress, yet I still feel inadequate or that I’m not doing good enough by Chansey. I’ll try to work on this in 2021… I’ve noticed the same pattern when buying gold stars; for cards where I love the art and history it’s an internal pressure to get the best available and I should try to ignore that voice in my head and save a lot of money by doing so.
I can’t control other people’s perspective on the market overall or individual purchases, even when I think they are making big mistakes
If I fear people are buying something irrationally, misinterpreting data points or anecdotes, or selling at a bad time, there’s very little I can do about it. I’m sure people felt the same watching all my modern breaks. Which leads me to…
I love modern!
Not everything in this hobby has to break the bank! Some of my favorite pick-ups this year are are cards like Gold Galarian Perrserker.
Endless market discussion, obession, and analyzing is draining yet somehow addictive
I don’t know how to articulate this one. I’ll catch myself irked at a post on the giant market thread of someone obsessing over a card’s future value when I myself spent the last half-hour comparing trends on a set card to see if I should buy it now or wait. Maybe it’s a compulsion that if I have as many data points as possible I’ll have more control, when I really won’t regardless.
I should stop purchasing for a while to better appreciate what I have
The more cards you buy in a year the less time you focus on each. This has been an incredible year for my collection, as I managed to get both Snap Chansey and No. 1 Chansey trophy card. I should be spending more time thinking of what I have than what I want next.
Started 2020 as a purely modern, “competitive” player. Ended it as pretty much a solely vintage collector. I feel like I learned a lot about myself in the hobby and the hobby itself this year.
It’s fine for your interest in this hobby to change, evolve and even wane.
It’s fine to spend money. Funnily enough this has been the biggest positive change the hobby has brought to me this year. For many years I’ve had an almost unhealthy relationship with money, being so reluctant to spend money that I end up hampering my own enjoyment. Getting involved in vintage Pokemon and unabashedly spending money has actually broken a mental barrier I’ve had for a fair while.
The enjoyment to value ratio isn’t there for most PSA cards for me. I’d much rather have 5 beautiful binder sets than 1 PSA 10 card.
PSA 10s aren’t worth it but neither are PSA 7s. I couldn’t believe what PSA could classify as ‘near mint’ when I got my hands on my first 7. 8s and 9s appear to be the graded sweet spot for me.
The Pokemon community (definitely including this one) has more snarky and petty people than most.
Overall I enjoyed Pokemon in 2020, my interest will probably wane a little going forward but I will look back at it as something positive that kept me occupied and happy in a bleak year.
@qwachansey A sure lot has changed this year! Get yourself out of that studio man! Use some of that Pokémon money haha. I know rent up North cost a arm and a leg, but studios suck! I lived in one myself on more then one occasion it’s almost unlivable and very depressing. Anyways congratulations on the changes and sales! I hope 2021 will be a great year for everyone!
This was a GREAT year for pokemon card collecting. Between the new sets and hype for the 25th anniversary and the strong growth in the vintage card market, it has just been an insane year for any collector.
Second, this is a market and while pokemon cards over time have only trended upwards, this does not mean they can not retrace as well. I finished my 8-9 1st ed base set back in February and now in December there is a several fold multiplier on all those cards and that is after a retrace. Look at the long term trends and not the short term.
Limits are important, whether it is how much to spend or how much to collect, knowing when to say enough is enough is important.
Decks arent really collected as a collection piece by themselves. Sucks to say but as someone who enjoys collecting decks, I thought there’d be more people out there who collect them and have information on them. Im just going to have to build the hype myself.
Prioritizing responsibilities in life VS Pokemon cards. Shiny cardboard is great, but when that shiny cardboard can gather a sizable amount of money, asking myself what is important to me and why I collect is something I reflect on often.
How much I love the pokemon community in general. There are so many talented and interesting people in it and most of the time people are quite helpful and positive.
I learned how much collecting Pokemon means to me. I’ve always been a player almost exclusively, dumping cards as soon as they rotated or after deciding to take a break from the competitive scene. After playing on and off for 20+ years, looking at these cards is like looking at a photo album, conjuring memories of long ago. I think about my Dad building an Arcanine deck and learning how to play the game with my brother and I. I recall road trips across the Midwest for tournaments, sleepovers spent playing Nintendo 64, and nights out with friends at Nationals and Worlds. So many cards are tied to important people, places, and times in my life. Looking at them is like a trip down memory lane, a way to briefly relive all the fun.
That’s awesome, I’d love to hear your stories from competitive play. It’s refreshing to see the hobby from a different perspective where I’ve only seen the hobby through a collector’s eyes.
the adult cheat code would have been ok at the start of 2020, then the game switched to the hardest difficulty mode where prices rose by 3,000% thus making the cheat code somewhat obsolete.
And my collection has at least tripled in size and cost this year. Most important of all, my knowledge about Pokemon cards in general has skyrocketed this year