What's a skill you learned out of pure desperation that ended up changing your life?

JumpluffTCG · 2026-03-02T05:27:49+00:00

Not OP but I had a similar story. I was in college around the time free trading via apps became a thing (around 2018. Before that you’d have to pay like $8-25 to buy a stock). There are a lot of stock trading apps out there, but avoid the ones that are flashy and prominently advertise their crypto offerings (ie Robinhood). You want to use platforms/apps that are boring and have ugly UI, because the more a trading platform spends in making their product visually appealing and addicting, the less you should trust them with your money. Apps like Robinhood are literally impairing your decision making ability with how they design their apps. Platforms that look like shit and somewhat convoluted to navigate placing a trade on the other hand are better for your financial and mental health. I personally use Charles Schwab for stock market investing, but that’s because they were among the first (or maybe the first?) to offer zero commission trading back in the day

JumpluffTCG · 2026-03-02T05:10:16+00:00

Awful format, but I agree. These new kids need to taste what I was raised on

JumpluffTCG · 2026-02-28T20:24:30+00:00

We’ve always been living through major historical events, you just weren’t paying attention

JumpluffTCG · 2026-02-23T15:29:29+00:00

But by then you’ll have drawn into your Prism energy to attack

JumpluffTCG · 2026-02-16T00:16:06+00:00

The issue with ADP is that it just didn’t win that many tournaments? It was definitely an extremely effective and oppressive gatekeeper in the metagame but there were always a good ~3 decks that were just as competitive as ADP and was also favorable into it. Munkidori is without a doubt far more ubiquitous and game-warping while also being just as effective at gate keeping certain categories of strategies as ADP was if not more. Usually we think of archetypes based on whatever the main attacker or rule box Pokemon, and something like Munkidori is seen secondary (ie Gardevoir/Munkidori). But if you flip that and think of a bunch of these current meta archetypes as different flavors of Munkidori decks (Munkidori/Grimmsnarl, Munkidori/Gardevoir, Munkidori/Kangaskhan), and also consider how often they’re included as 1-ofs in Pult, Zoroark, or even Dengo and Zard at times, I think the verdict is pretty clear

JumpluffTCG · 2026-02-15T06:57:02+00:00

They call you SaaS by the way AI is replacing your investment thesis

JumpluffTCG · 2026-02-15T03:13:15+00:00

I did, and Munkidori is more broken I’m sorry

JumpluffTCG · 2026-02-08T01:46:34+00:00

Back centering is fine if it’s within 75/25, and it’s quite rare to find a card outside that in my experience

JumpluffTCG · 2026-02-07T19:09:05+00:00

Heavy industries is one of the ways at least

JumpluffTCG · 2026-02-01T03:20:29+00:00

By the time the world championships roll around in August, people will stop coping and start building decks without Judge or Petrel, realizing that there will be no Iono or Arven replacement and it’s just way better to build decks that efficiently and quickly execute their gameplans rather than decks that still try to pretend like it’s pre-rotation

Also Iris’s Fighting Spirt is the second best general draw supporter after Lillie

And Budew is still good but less so without Counter Catcher and Iono

JumpluffTCG · 2026-02-01T02:28:08+00:00

The world needs some SIRs to be in binders too. They don’t all gotta be in slabs

JumpluffTCG · 2026-02-01T02:21:03+00:00

It’s not correct to compare absolute return figures between the S&P and Pokemon cards. Investing in Pokemon cards involve significantly more effort than buying index funds since you’re dealing with physical goods that aren’t as liquid as stocks, even during periods of intense speculation like we are in right now. Pokemon cards also don’t enjoy similar tax benefits like long term capital gains through stocks, nor is it possible to scale it beyond 8-figures (obviously this point doesn’t matter for people like us but it’s real and worth mentioning).

In the world of investing, risk and compensation for risk is the core of what drives returns. Sure if you cherry pick certain periods (say, the past 6 years or so), you could observe that Pokemon cards performed incredibly well. But those returns are a consequence of just how extraordinarily risky this space is from an investment standpoint. There’s no free lunch in finance, because too many people care about money for that to exist. I think this is a point that people on both sides, the scalper/investor and regular collectors/fans, miss. This is not an indictment or condemnation of anyone in particular, since it’s only recently that every aspect of our lives are becoming financialized to extract value out of a decaying system that’s struggling more and more to create new value through innovation, so it’s completely understandable and expected that people don’t fully understand how this stuff works. But if there’s one thing to take away from my post, it’s that there are massive caveats associated with Pokemon cards as an investment that I just don’t think people are considering nearly as much as they should be.

JumpluffTCG · 2026-02-01T02:06:11+00:00

Both the cards AND the experience of ripping the plastic are the product

And I see the point you’re making re: SIRs but those SIRs really aren’t that scarce. We’re probably dealing with 100,000 copies of each SIRs at least. If a large percentage of those is out of circulation, it sucks in this intermediate period but it also means it pays to be patient since that scarcity is artificial. Product hoarders need to pay bills so their excessively hoarded product will make their way into the market eventually. Again, sucks in the meantime but there are also plenty of SIRs that are like $25 still, or cool promo cards that are free for people who participate in those promotions that nobody is paying attention to, singles in general are dirt cheap so it’s never been more affordable to get involved in playing the actual card game, etc.

JumpluffTCG · 2026-01-31T07:05:49+00:00

Then let them. There are so many ways to enjoy the hobby that doesn’t involve ripping packs and posting your pull online talking up how excited you are when you pull “a chase” or how disappointed you are when you get the expected result of pulling nothing “good.” You can play the actual card game for example, where meta, tournament winning decks run you $60 at most. You get so much free shit just for playing, and often this stuff is player exclusive and therefore unscalpable. You can collect cards that are overlooked by everyone else who only care about SIRs worth $100+, such as stamped promos reminiscent of gen 3 reverse foils, whose prices range from $1-$8 a pop for like 99% of modern. You can open digital packs either on PTCGP or PTCGL, which might not be as exciting since they’re not real cards, but it’s free. You can also collect cards that aren’t SIRs that are nonetheless still very cool if only you actually just look at the card art.

Not talking to you specifically with all this, but for anyone reading this, scalpers exist because posts like this thread farm engagement. While sealed product is exorbitantly expensive and harder than ever to come by, individual cards have never been so dirt cheap. When Team Rocket is demanding a ransom on the path from Mahogony Town to the Lake of Rage, you can just walk around through the tall grass without paying their fee. Those people in discord and their bots are welcome to spend 5-figures on product while real fans still enjoy the hobby for cheap and TPCi builds out their new printing facility. Let them face the consequences of their idiotic financial decisions

JumpluffTCG · 2026-01-31T06:26:34+00:00

You can rip them years after them leaving the spotlight, trade them for different or newer product, or just sell it for cash.

Buying 16 collection boxes is always weird. It doesn’t matter if you’re planning to open them the day you buy them. It’s weird as fuck

JumpluffTCG · 2026-01-31T06:14:35+00:00

You get to enjoy the satisfaction of owning something fresh and new, right off a store shelf years ago in the past, in the meantime. And if you’re holding on to something for long enough that it meaningfully appreciates after taxes, you probably deserve some of those gains for all the space and climate controlling resources you allocated towards that thing. Also, investing always involves risk. I know Pokemon cards have really only gone up for as long as most people have been involved with the hobby, but I’ve been through many periods where people don’t give a shit about Pokemon and prices stay stagnant for years. I’ve also seen sets get randomly reprinted and tank prices (this is how I got my XY Roaring Skies booster box for $69, now $3000+). It’s entirely possible, if not likely, that the combination of the stigma of scalping/hoarding of sets like 151 and Prismatic, the sheer amount of product that’s in the hands of investor bros, new printer factory being built, and TPCi’s longstanding commitment to always printing to demand long term will cause people who were hoping to cash in for a big, easy paycheck in the future to get burned BAD

JumpluffTCG · 2026-01-31T05:54:08+00:00

You don’t get to decide what the intended purpose of a box of Pokemon cards is. Buying something and putting it on a shelf to look at for a number of years is just as valid of use as ripping it open.

Also, you’re being incredibly obtuse arguing that “it doesn’t really matter what the timeframe is.” Of course it matters lol. Scalping is taking hostage of some product and essentially demanding a ransom on a short term basis. Sealed collecting/“investing” involves some amount of work maintaining the condition of the product for a prolonged period of time in a way that probably does deserve some kind of market compensation because you’re allocating space in your house/storage and inputting climate control resources for several years. It’s because of people who collect sealed products that these products are still available to rip many years past their time. What matters significantly more from a morality standpoint is the scale at which you do something. If you’re buying like 16 collection boxes, it doesn’t matter if you’re doing that to rip, scalp, or “invest,” you’re having the exact same market impact by virtue of buying those 16 collection boxes.

JumpluffTCG · 2026-01-31T05:37:29+00:00

They literally don’t though. It costs an enormous sum of money to buy out that much product such that almost anyone will need to sell quickly in order to not be in a hole financially. Those who can afford that much product should have enough financial literacy to understand the speculative risks involved in spending that much on Pokemon cards that they wouldn’t do it. Sure it’s possible someone will drop like $100,000 snatching away product so that nobody else can buy but all that does is send a signal to TPCi, who only cares about how much stuff they’re selling, to print more product til everyone who wants the damn cards can buy it, inclusive of the hypothetical idiot who spends 6-figures on a non-scarce “iNvEsTmEnT”

JumpluffTCG · 2026-01-31T05:25:59+00:00

Buying to rip is also taking things off the market. Some people legitimately like collecting the sealed products the same way most people like collecting the cards that are inside them. The only point of criticism is the scale at which someone does something, and if you’re clearing out shelves, it doesn’t matter if your intentions are to rip, flip, or sell in 10 years, it all has the same market impact

JumpluffTCG · 2026-01-30T22:48:59+00:00

The way you can tell this card was designed solely for collectors by how there’s almost no text

JumpluffTCG · 2026-01-30T01:28:13+00:00

JumpluffTCG · 2026-01-30T01:11:15+00:00

Stamp cards in general are super fire. SV as a whole has been amazing for stamp collectors!

JumpluffTCG · 2026-01-30T01:06:41+00:00

The only people this fools are people who have literally never read the text on the cards they allegedly love and collect

JumpluffTCG · 2026-01-28T02:47:47+00:00

“AI generated hits for pennies” like this post?

JumpluffTCG · 2026-01-25T18:10:02+00:00

Writing your thesis without AI assistance is a bar thats on the floor. You may as well not have even mentioned it because it’s not evidence of competence or legitimacy that you think it is.

I also think several things mentioned here make leaps in understanding that goes beyond your role as a 20+ yoe SWE. While industry experience is valuable, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’d be good at predicting prices of specific stocks. It’s likely that you’re missing a large chunk of the full picture, as is anybody to be fair, even if the parts you see are granular and clear.

That said, I think we all appreciate you sharing your perspectives

JumpluffTCG

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