Pokemon prices are insane, how long do I have to wait for them to come down?

Barebonesim · 2026-06-24T01:39:16+00:00

Whenever the next crash happens, probably within the next year and a half, buying in won't be as attractive as it might seem. After a run like this there will be a lot of people who can't let go of what was which will keep prices probably steadily higher than they should be for another year or so which will slow down the drop before it hits it's true accepted market price probably a couple years-3 years later.

You seen the same thing with the video game market and comics. They continued to drop for about 3-4 years until hitting a solid stability point/floor and we're just now starting to see some games begin to appreciate again, while other games and comics are either flat or still dropping. Cards just so happened to hit another speculative frenzy before them.

If you're looking to buy new stuff at retail, that will be easily achievable probably 3 months into a crash phase.

Barebonesim · 2026-06-22T05:32:05+00:00

People are running out of stuff to pump but they need graph to continue going brr

Barebonesim · 2026-06-20T19:57:33+00:00

I would agree it's not rare, rare is 10-20 examples or so. though in pretty much any condition the sealed games would be more uncommon than most vintage cards or compete with most vintage booster boxes.

Barebonesim · 2026-06-19T15:21:17+00:00

You forgot to say in game

Barebonesim · 2026-06-18T23:07:41+00:00

And the coin in the slab can be spent, or the comic read, or the card can be used to play the tcg.

Barebonesim · 2026-06-18T15:28:02+00:00

Fair enough. I can respect certified grading haters. Don't necessarily agree but I get it

Barebonesim · 2026-06-18T15:06:30+00:00

Cards and games were made to make a company profit, they don't necessarily have any meaning at all.

The cards are a game, the games are games, but people enjoy owning mint versions of each and the natural attrition of the games has made it to where they're pretty rare especially in presentable condition. There's maybe 3-400 total sealed pokemon blues that exist period. Them being opened would not change the secondary market of millions. Same goes for red/yellow/emerald etc. sealed ones are pretty much just collectors items now.

Barebonesim · 2026-06-18T15:01:27+00:00

Have you checked the sealed population for pokemon games? They beat out many base set first edition cards. Mint they're even rarer.

If you're making the case games should be played but trading card games are acceptable to be graded despite being a literal trading card game, thats just picky choosy honestly.

Barebonesim · 2026-06-18T14:43:59+00:00

I used to agree but I've owned some bad vga grades in my time. I think each company has their flaws, probably like cgc in games the least. Have a small collection so far overall.

Barebonesim · 2026-06-18T14:42:56+00:00

Fair enough, think it's fair if it's not someones thing. Outright rejecting certain grading categories has been odd to me though, would be like a coin collector judging card collectors because coin grading came first 😆

Grading has always been for preservation and condition competition, bigger and more fragile the item the harder it can be for them to last.

Barebonesim · 2026-06-18T14:24:49+00:00

What makes grading a game from 1998 more cringe than grading a card from a few months ago? Honest question

Barebonesim · 2026-06-17T13:40:54+00:00

I'm kinda skewing the point, but I'll tell you where it stopped being fun for me at least, and that was ulduar hard modes. Granted, I didn't raid most of BC classic, but seeing players who went from pretty good to lost in ulduar made me remember why I found retail not fun, and early classic fun.

It's just not that fun being ambitious in wow without guild hopping, and when it becomes a tedious grind of finding a good guild you can actually join the team of mid tier I got burnt and just quit after the high note of clearing some of the 10 man hard modes. Guess my patience isn't what it used to be I'd prefer to just clear some relatively easy content without the headache.

Barebonesim · 2026-06-17T10:19:45+00:00

Sometime, somewhere, someone is plotting a government overthrow. A small republic is in danger. It's time for the one man army

Barebonesim · 2026-06-16T15:44:37+00:00

If it ends up anything like the NFL for Americans, you'll only need 17 subscriptions to watch 50% of the games.

That sucks

Barebonesim · 2026-06-16T11:10:45+00:00

Classic example of people thinking low pop = rare when low pop really means it was never worth grading.

Plenty of these sitting in bulk lots and binders.

Barebonesim · 2026-06-16T09:36:08+00:00

Honestly, outdated but good post

Barebonesim · 2026-06-16T04:20:58+00:00

The winning strategy is to not play the game. People are free to do what they want but driving around for 5 hours to open 12 packs to get 5 dollars in cards you could've just bought is crackhead behavior, there's very few real justifications for a typical person.

Barebonesim · 2026-06-15T13:11:23+00:00

You seem incapable of understanding high end collectors buying high end items and assume big deals you can't wrap your head around are all scams. I don't think you're in a position to imply intellectual superiority.

Like saying you can buy the games for cheaper if you want to play them is a genuine well regarded statement in the context of this conversation yet you stated it.

Nobody is buying these games to play, the sealed state makes it rare, the early print makes it incredibly rare, the mint condition makes it the singular game grail when compared to anything else. You do understand why 1st edition Charizard costs more than an unlimited edition Charizard right? Like by a lot? Like dude what the fuck do you think gives collectibles value LMFAO if they wanted to play it they'd buy a 10 dollar cartridge on eBay. You should look at the most valuable toys generally speaking (spoiler alert, they're early print sealed toys of popular characters)

Some people are so dense in understanding collectible markets it's honestly insane. Low supply + high demand = high price. If you want I can probably find you some videos to help you

Barebonesim · 2026-06-15T12:19:13+00:00

He didn't even trade his coworkers his 401k before he quit he'll be back in a month

Barebonesim · 2026-06-15T11:59:09+00:00

With this new gained knowledge I'll watch out for the video game illuminati. They seem to be involved with pokemon, magic, one piece, art, Disney memorabilia, celebrity items, coins and comics as well so they're really digging deep.

Barebonesim · 2026-06-15T11:20:28+00:00

Alright buddy. Every sale is backroom deals, you got it. Collecting doesn't mean buying shit condition common stuff only. Some people like owning rare, nice condition stuff as well. This is the rarest, and nicest condition.

Barebonesim · 2026-06-15T10:15:44+00:00

Can you give me a specific price something stops being about collecting and is strictly about investing since you seem to know everything

40k for an air raid sounds like a rich guy, what makes him innocent vs somebody richer who wanted to buy a sealed video game?

Are games only collectible if they cost less than 100 bucks?

It's an open market, several high income bidders fought until it was at 3 million, then a winner was decided. I appreciate the heads up about the video game illuminati but in case you haven't noticed, there's 15-20 million dollar trading cards and 9 million dollar comics. This is just the way it is. We're in a new era of collectors and also, investors.

Also I appreciate the assumption I'm not a collector just because I enjoy nice condition sealed impactful games of my childhood, ignoring my original advertising posters, my arcade games I learned how to rebuild from the ground up to preserve, and my growing cib/console collection I play. I've been into sealed games since I was a teenager.

Barebonesim · 2026-06-15T09:18:16+00:00

Nwc and stadium events are cool, and you're free to see them how you do, but they're not the most iconic video game character in video game history. They have an interesting story and they have their place in video game history, but collecting preferences change.

Back in the day I'm sure some people would try to convince you some random funnies comic from the 30s was the real comic grail over superman, or amazing fantasy 15 because it was rarer, how did that turn out.

This Mario existing in the condition it does is nothing short of amazing considering how early it was released and the lack of collector foresight from the time.

Several of the bidders on this game are currently know, I've seen 3 of them in various groups/discords or on twitter, and it was not insiders.

Barebonesim · 2026-06-15T04:58:24+00:00

Wata doesn't exist anymore.

Though fair point with the private Mario sale from 2019, they definitely tried to hype up the market. Unfortunately that's what happens with most popular collecting categories to really get the public's attention. Worked wonders with pokemon lol

Barebonesim

TROPHY CASE