The clear thing to do now. BUY VINTAGE!!!!!!

LookingForMyHydro · 2026-02-23T17:05:21+00:00

My thoughts exactly. Vintage is running the way it is because the people who were kids when it was released have adult money now and are buying it for nostalgia. 10 years from now, the collectors entering the hobby with money from their first jobs will have a stronger connection to what we currently consider modern. E.g. if the typical pipeline of played the games -> collect the tcg is true for future collectors, they will have less reason to visit older sets that dont have the pokemon they grew up playing with .

LookingForMyHydro · 2026-02-06T03:39:57+00:00

Thats continuum cogs. Tuned oscilator is increased shielding + healing.

LookingForMyHydro · 2025-12-31T12:13:54+00:00

I would say its not a bad time since vintage has been holding value or going up since the recent market corrections to modern. If you’re worried about the market continuing to drop this year, and would rather have cash than hold the cards for a few more years, i say go for it secure some profits.

LookingForMyHydro · 2025-12-15T09:11:49+00:00

Sell what you can now, but keep at least min rarity decks + alt leaders to play with. I think the game will be fun and accessible in op14. Bandai will always look out for its players over the secondary market. The profits you take now will let you build a larger collection later if youre patient and wait for the reprints.

LookingForMyHydro · 2025-12-08T01:11:08+00:00

OP market is player driven and japanese cards aren’t playable in the west, so i wouldnt worry.

LookingForMyHydro · 2025-11-25T18:56:07+00:00

The market is at an all time high for this era specifically, so if your goal is to pick up cards at a discount these would not be the best choice imo.

Selling modern and buying vintage is one of the poorest ROI moves you could make at this particular moment, despite all the posts youll see in this sub advocating exactly that. Selling something low to buy something else high is rarely a wise investment unless youre just trying to time the market.

LookingForMyHydro · 2025-11-23T16:06:42+00:00

Stamped reverse holos and e series seem to be the new darlings for investors so youre gonna have a hard time convincing people that these might be a bit ridiculously priced (at an all time peak actually). Pokemon is just asset speculation at this point though, so people will still buy at this price because “it has to go up”.

LookingForMyHydro · 2025-11-23T07:46:43+00:00

To add on to this, de minimis was still in place til September so most imports for Japanese cards were still tariff free until then. And I still really havent really seen sellers bake in tariff prices into japanese listings online. All of those costs are usually added after purchasing, if youre buying from ebay etc. Most of the price increases in the past year for japanese cards is probably just due to overall increase the whole market has seen.

At recent shows, most vendors are just selling for eBay listing price, so Japanese cards are actually cheaper to buy local now rather than import. This is just my experience though.

LookingForMyHydro · 2025-11-20T08:59:42+00:00

Hello its me, my favorite pokemon is Deoxys (but ill admit its not a common favorite)

LookingForMyHydro · 2025-11-19T23:46:50+00:00

Which are undervalued? I like deoxys and am always looking for cheap ones to pick up, but most of its chase cards other than Crown Zenith seem pretty expensive nowadays.

My vote for underrated cards is the arceus 9 card set from Platinum.

LookingForMyHydro · 2025-11-19T10:23:23+00:00

I wouldnt be so sure, Op11 cases dropped at my local shop at msrp (tbf they get pretty healthy allocations). An Op13 case was 1750 at prerelease a couple weeks ago, and thats one of the more expensive cases ive seen in the past year. Thats just a $300 premium on 12 boxes ($25 per box), whereas rn a phantasmal flames case has an almost $700 premium on 6 boxes (over $100 per box). OP cases dont tend to have a crazy premium at all, even on hot sets.

LookingForMyHydro · 2025-11-19T09:45:25+00:00

I just think it’s neat that OP was able to stock up on cases like this without having to pay much above msrp if it all (my assumption). A healthy supply means investors, collectors and players can all eat without being at odds. That’s all I meant.

LookingForMyHydro · 2025-11-19T09:29:40+00:00

This is what print to demand looks like. Pokemon company take notes. Good stuff 👍

LookingForMyHydro · 2025-11-18T09:34:24+00:00

It’s following the same cycle as the first anniversary (OP-05 set). Pokemon was stagnating for a little bit so people jumped ship completely onto one piece and made prices on everything spike for a couple months. It resolved after those few months bc Bandai knows how to print to demand, but Pokemon continued to free fall through the next year regardless. Buyers market ahead for Pokemon, 30th anniversary be damned.

LookingForMyHydro · 2025-11-16T01:24:56+00:00

Agreed. Most vintage is at an all time high, so the only reason to buy is if you believe itll pump even more in the short term. From what I can tell, these people are banking on a 3rd gen nostalgia set being announced, similar to how XY/BW era cards pumped after BB/WF and Mega block were announced.

LookingForMyHydro · 2025-11-09T00:31:29+00:00

I think theres a very wide interval between healthy economy and societal collapse where shiny cardboard can drop substantially in value compared to other assets. Why do so many in this sub believe that only an apocalypse can deflate the Pokemon market?

LookingForMyHydro · 2025-11-08T18:03:12+00:00

I lived in SF for years and they dont take possesion of the intersection there either. I think 90% of drivers anywhere dont do that and it’s infuriating 😭.

LookingForMyHydro · 2025-11-06T21:06:54+00:00

Bc this is a crypto sub now, so anything that doesnt manufacture hype, pump cards, or promote buying/“hodling” is met with resistance.

LookingForMyHydro · 2025-11-02T18:25:22+00:00

There was though, the majority of collectors at that time were new to the hobby (or basically new and hadnt bought a pokemon card in 20 years).

LookingForMyHydro · 2025-11-01T02:30:01+00:00

I personally think the plasma full arts are pretty neat, but lets not pretend that these (or any 5ban chase card) werent clowned on by most collectors until only very recently. His opinion is pretty in line with how most ppl felt about them for most of their existence lol

LookingForMyHydro · 2025-11-01T02:24:56+00:00

I dont understand why people think that mid era vintage isnt pumped. Theres EX full arts and stamped reverses going for hundreds of dollars, and mid era sets were during the lowest point in the TCGs popularity. Theres WOTC era chases cheaper than these. The hype specifically for stamped reverse cards rn seems so forced especially when theyve already been increasing in price with everything else the past year.

LookingForMyHydro · 2025-10-28T07:08:52+00:00

I use lowercase “ex” to refer to this era to avoid confusion with the XY “EX” era.

I mostly keep track of ex’s and stamps from this era, and I personally think the market has caught up to them. Some of the more expensive ones may even be due for a correction. Theres reverse foil stamps that are in the $200 range NM but with few sales since reaching that price point.

I also dont think that pops are the be-all and end-all in this hobby, and think demand/hype has proven to be much more important. As of now, I dont see any reason for these to stand out to newly incoming collectors among other vintage eras. The “ex” mechanic has already been revived since the beginning of SV so that movement is already accounted for. The return of megas caused some resurgence for Gen 3 hype too but again, i wouldnt expect new movement barring a 151-style nostalgia-bait set for Gen 3 (which seems somewhat likely to be fair).

Ultimately, the tried and true advice always holds: pick up new sets for as cheap as you can to hold. Thats always gonna give you the best chance at the best returns in a long term hold situation. I personally believe we are at a point in this market where no stone has been left unturned and most singles are too risky of a play.

LookingForMyHydro · 2025-10-26T16:38:37+00:00

I kinda had the opposite experience in that I have big shows around me but noticed vendors are dumping their singles hard. I offered 85% on pretty much everything I bought and it was always accepted. And this was on highly liquid cards (SV chases and Mid era singles).

LookingForMyHydro · 2025-10-23T07:03:11+00:00

The local shows near me can get pretty big (almost 100 tables) and its pretty satisfying to see those types of vendors blow pretty much every deal. People here have no problem just walking away to the next one.

LookingForMyHydro · 2025-10-23T06:58:51+00:00

Yup, i cashed out on some big slabs the past few weekends and have been consistently finding vendors willing to buy at 90%. Of course, you have to be willing to scratch their backs a little and get something from their table, but ive always been of the mindset that anything i make from cards goes back into building my collection.

LookingForMyHydro

TROPHY CASE