VIDEO: The Pokémon Card Price Boom explained, similarities to the video game market is remarkable

[Abelardo | 154]

Nice video explaining how things got out of hand with the Pokémon cards. Seems like a mirror image of what the video game market has been going though.

 

 

[Br81zad | 629]

I've noticed a ton of new listings for these on Facebook marketplace lately. Enough so that I dug out my old binder to survey what I have. lol

I'm honestly thinking of selling them now. I have zero use for them, and if there's a legitimate demand for them now, then I may as well let them go.

 

PS: Let me know when POGS become valuable. lol

[ThePhleo | 2,184]

If it gets the investor types to dilute their collective wallets then I'm all for it.

Hey, maybe they can move to vhs, pogs, and crazy bones while they're at it!

[Gloves | 11,771]

2 hours ago, ThePhleo said:

If it gets the investor types to dilute their collective wallets then I'm all for it.

Hey, maybe they can move to vhs, pogs, and crazy bones while they're at it!

Don't you DARE diss Crazy Bones.

[DefaultGen | 5,401]

2 hours ago, ThePhleo said:

If it gets the investor types to dilute their collective wallets then I'm all for it.

Hey, maybe they can move to vhs, pogs, and crazy bones while they're at it!

Oh damn I haven’t thought about Crazy Bones in so long. I need to buy all my childhood Crazy Bones.

[DefaultGen | 5,401]

Oh my god there are Marvel Crazy Bones, this market is primed to explode.

[a_profile_name | 230]

7 hours ago, ThePhleo said:

If it gets the investor types to dilute their collective wallets then I'm all for it.

Hey, maybe they can move to vhs, pogs, and crazy bones while they're at it!

I really don't get these people.

It's beyond misunderstanding of economics. It always seem like there is a self-awarness issue involved. They see other people buying pokemon cards or whatever, and then they buy them an "investment" as if they are the first to realize the cards can become collectible. They think that someone in the future will be the sucker who will buy these cards from them for more then they originally paid, and don't stop to think there is a pretty good chance that they are that sucker right now in the present.

(I don't have anything against people willing to pay a lot for an item if they themeself want it, even if it's just a collectible that will sit on the shelf. But it's baffling when people spend ridiculous amounts on items that already have a lot of hype, because they think it will have more value in the future.)

[ThePhleo | 2,184]

8 hours ago, Gloves said:

Don't you DARE diss Crazy Bones.

Ain’t no diss.

I grew up with crazy bones! I don’t remember if it was an official game or not, but I remember we used to throw them and depending on which way they landed we awarded ourselves points! I remember certain bones being highly coveted for their “balance” as well.

[The Count | 526]

Best of luck to anyone submitting first generation cards for grading expecting a top dollar PSA 10 in return.

[Deadeye | 1,596]

Don't have them anymore.  I do have Marvel series 1 full set. As soon as that is worth anything, I'll dump it.

[Andy_Bogomil | 815]

ebay is now absolutely polluted with Pokemon cards.

[JamesRobot | 5,793]

On 11/6/2020 at 8:20 PM, ThePhleo said:

crazy bones

Never heard of 'em.  

[DefaultGen | 5,401]

6 hours ago, JamesRobot said:

Never heard of 'em.  

What if pogs were friggin' rad??

[tidaldreams | 654]

On 11/7/2020 at 2:14 PM, The Count said:

Best of luck to anyone submitting first generation cards for grading expecting a top dollar PSA 10 in return.

You don't even need PSA 10s anymore to get $$$. PSA <5 1st Edition Charizard sells for thousands.

[Tanooki | 4,932]

When I was looking around for cards before the dumbass virus for my kid and I to mess with I came across a selection of the old 90s cards that you can't play in a deck anymore due to some choice some years back.  I wonder if any of them have value to someone?  I care, not enough to put them in plastic and be a jerk about top dollar on each, but I could see stuffing them all in a stack and see what sticks to the wall.  I like the art, but if I could turn maybe 50 cards into $50+ I wouldn't mind.

[a_profile_name | 230]

One thing that is worth mentioning that makes this very different from the video game market, is the effect of aesthetic condition on value.

Say X is cartridge game (that came in a cardboard box). A fair or bad condition loose cartridge of X will probably sell for %70-%90 percent of a great condition one. A zombie-apocalypse-condition cartridge will probably sell for 50%-60%. I have an unverified guess that most copies out there are fair or bad condition, so on the supply side people are willing to pay only very little premium for good condition. A cib version of the game will probably sell for %200-%300 percent of a good condition cartridge, which may seem like a lot, until you consider how few people probably kept these cardboard cases.

Now say X is a disc game and that it came in a jewel case / dvd box. For some weird reason, some people decided to throw away the box and only keep the discs (why? realy, just why?). Buying a loose disc will probably be %60-%80 of the complete copy, even though the "condition" is much worse. In other words, people are willing to get a much shittier copy for a little reduction in price.

This probably has to do with the fact that people mostly buy games to play them, and people collect cards for the aesthetics / fun of collecting. This is also why what I wrote above isn't relevant to sealed video games.

[tidaldreams | 654]

23 hours ago, Tanooki said:

When I was looking around for cards before the dumbass virus for my kid and I to mess with I came across a selection of the old 90s cards that you can't play in a deck anymore due to some choice some years back.  I wonder if any of them have value to someone?  I care, not enough to put them in plastic and be a jerk about top dollar on each, but I could see stuffing them all in a stack and see what sticks to the wall.  I like the art, but if I could turn maybe 50 cards into $50+ I wouldn't mind.

Depending on what you have, it could be worth a whole lot more than that. Anything made by WotC is worth $$$, even commons and uncommons.

[DefaultGen | 5,401]

On 11/10/2020 at 10:51 PM, tidaldreams said:

You don't even need PSA 10s anymore to get $$$. PSA <5 1st Edition Charizard sells for thousands.

Crazy different market from games. The cards so much more common (but more in demand). You can get a super low grade 1st Edition Shadowless Charizard, the holy grailzz!, for like 1-2% of the price of a mint Charizard and like... it's fine. If I could get a holy grail like NWC or Stadium Events that looked in "fair" condition like the below Charizard for 1% of the value of a mint sealed one, I would be the lord of the trash baby!

Edited November 13, 2020 by DefaultGen

[ThePhleo | 2,184]

3 hours ago, DefaultGen said:

Crazy different market from games. The cards so much more common (but more in demand). You can get a super low grade 1st Edition Shadowless Charizard, the holy grailzz!, for like 1-2% of the price of a mint Charizard and like... it's fine. If I could get a holy grail like NWC or Stadium Events that looked in "fair" condition like the below Charizard for 1% of the value of a mint sealed one, I would be the lord of the trash baby!

My 9 year old self would literally trade you my three SEALED ancient new cards, and my Southern Islands set for that card back in the day.

...

Also seeing the skyrocketing prices of Pokémon cards makes me realize that investor collectors really don’t give a crap what they buy and sell...what does a graded playing card actu— crap I fell into the games were meant to be played camp.

[DefaultGen | 5,401]

44 minutes ago, ThePhleo said:

Also seeing the skyrocketing prices of Pokémon cards makes me realize that investor collectors really don’t give a crap what they buy and sell...what does a graded playing card actu— crap I fell into the games were meant to be played camp.

Ha, I was discussing it somewhere and literally forgot Pokemon TCG is a card game at some point. To be fair, half (most?) kids didn't actually play the card game. You just wanted to get as many pogs as possible. Pokemon cards, not pogs. Pokemon cards.

[tidaldreams | 654]

2 hours ago, ThePhleo said:

My 9 year old self would literally trade you my three SEALED ancient new cards, and my Southern Islands set for that card back in the day.

...

Also seeing the skyrocketing prices of Pokémon cards makes me realize that investor collectors really don’t give a crap what they buy and sell...what does a graded playing card actu— crap I fell into the games were meant to be played camp.

To be fair, Charizard was always a very desirable card even back in the day. I remember going to independent game shops and seeing them display loose Charizards in the glass case and charging like $50 back around the 1999-2001 era. Can't remember if those were first editions.

[tidaldreams | 654]

1 hour ago, DefaultGen said:

Ha, I was discussing it somewhere and literally forgot Pokemon TCG is a card game at some point. To be fair, half (most?) kids didn't actually play the card game. You just wanted to get as many pogs as possible. Pokemon cards, not pogs. Pokemon cards.

I used to play the TCG. My old Haymaker deck wrecked havok back in the day. Trainers like Bill, Prof. Oak, Gust of Wind (aka Gust of "Win") were totally broken.

[Tanooki | 4,932]

On 11/12/2020 at 11:44 PM, tidaldreams said:

Depending on what you have, it could be worth a whole lot more than that. Anything made by WotC is worth $$$, even commons and uncommons.

All I could do when I get time, too late now, start taking some bulk images. Only saying that as I've got a stack of cards around 3 1/2 inches thick and 1/2 of them are pokemon, the other is nearly a 50/50 split of energy and all the other base 'trainer' cards of the usual item, support, etc types. They're all wizards cards, majority 1999, a few 2000, maybe earlier but I doubt it.  Most of the cards are in excellent condition.  Also two legendary birds cards from 98 and four perhaps earlier japanese cards (2 trainer, 2 pokemon.)  I read the cards are 1/80th of an inch, so I would estimate poorly around 300 cards.

I've kept them isolated in a octagonal modern pokemon card box tin because I like the original art, and if you did play no one would allow them in a standard deck anymore either.

[a_profile_name | 230]

6 hours ago, DefaultGen said:

Shadowless Charizard, the holy grailzz!

 

When I was a kid I got Charizard in a booster pack. I ran through the house crazy with joy, can't believe my luck, thinking I'm in a dream. I didn't get a lot of booster packs so statistically there wasn't a good chance I'd get one.

A couple of weeks later a "friend" (i.e. classmate) was at my house and I let him look through my cards. The asshole stole my Charizard and I realized it only later that day. I was 9 or 10 at the time and this was devastating for me. I think I cried the whole day and my mom called his mom but he kept claiming he didn't take it.

Childhood trauma.

[DefaultGen | 5,401]

42 minutes ago, sg17 said:

When I was a kid I got Charizard in a booster pack. I ran through the house crazy with joy, can't believe my luck, thinking I'm in a dream. I didn't get a lot of booster packs so statistically there wasn't a good chance I'd get one.

A couple of weeks later a "friend" (i.e. classmate) was at my house and I let him look through my cards. The asshole stole my Charizard and I realized it only later that day. I was 9 or 10 at the time and this was devastating for me. I think I cried the whole day and my mom called his mom but he kept claiming he didn't take it.

Childhood trauma.

My Machamp got stolen from my lunchbox (came with every starter, it's worthless). I told a teacher and rather than help me find it, Pokemon cards were banned from my school. Screw you Jared.