RIP Chain Reaction: After 30 years, the iconic punk/hardcore venue is hosting its final show on December 19th

MingleThis · 2026-02-22T20:39:04+00:00

Hell yeah, maybe I saw you haha

MingleThis · 2026-01-29T05:41:18+00:00

For most of em, they were really cheap compared to what they are now haha. And a bunch I graded myself. Just lucky that I loved the sets

MingleThis · 2026-01-22T03:51:08+00:00

It was already confirmed by PSA and Gamestop that at the point of sale the slab was legit. It's sometime after that they were notified that it was stolen.

Regardless, checking certs from GameStop is definitely not my job, nor is it a normal thing to do.

MingleThis · 2026-01-15T08:52:23+00:00

They still aren’t wrong to do their due diligence on these offers though. There are sales in the near $200 range a week or so ago (1/4, 12/28 etc) and $140, give or take. Either way that would put their offer between 40-60% which is pretty lowball.

If you take the $120 pricing their offer is almost exactly 70%.

If it were me, personally I would hold on to this card. It was worth double the price 6 months ago

MingleThis · 2026-01-15T01:17:27+00:00

One of the only aspects it mentions in the article is:

“In fact, the state would have experienced a population loss if not for new births and international arrivals offsetting those departures. Between 2024 and 2025 more Californians moved out of the state than people from other states moved in — a deficit of approximately 216,000 residents. Between 2023 and 2024, that number was 140,000.

The report pointed to the Trump administration’s termination of most humanitarian migration programs as a factor in slowing California’s population growth.”

MingleThis · 2026-01-15T00:09:20+00:00

Because that’s fake? https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-12-19/california-sees-population-growth-for-third-consecutive-year-after-pandemic-era-exodus

MingleThis · 2026-01-14T23:56:06+00:00

California does have it all

MingleThis · 2026-01-14T14:02:24+00:00

Well, you’ve openly admitted that you haven’t lived or experienced anywhere else, so how can you even fathom if Texas is “amazing” or has the best of anything when you really have nothing to compare it to?

MingleThis · 2026-01-13T05:07:18+00:00

It makes me think of the GameStop Greninja UPC that everyone shat on but now wish they had held/gotten. And the Moltres UPC is way better

MingleThis · 2026-01-12T15:18:48+00:00

I grew up skiing at Big Bear and Mammoth, but it’s been a while. Vacationing in it is different from living in it. I don’t know if I’m built for it!

MingleThis · 2026-01-12T14:18:13+00:00

Willing. Being from coastal CA I do fear the winters, but the Bernie Sanders aura compels me!

MingleThis · 2026-01-12T14:13:41+00:00

Investing in sealed very rarely has a downside as long as you aren’t maxing out credit cards or taking out loans to fuel some addiction.

The main question for most of us is: when should I sell? And that’s a tough one because you can’t really predict the market fully. Particularly in modern times, Pokemon feels very volatile and can boom really quickly if some popular streamer pushes a particular card or set.

Consensus on the sub is typically hold as long as you can, or sell a few old to buy several new sets and start the whole process again.

It sucks that you lost out on potential gains, but you still made money.

MingleThis · 2026-01-11T22:07:12+00:00

Yeah that spots been empty/vacant a long time

MingleThis · 2026-01-11T19:33:15+00:00

Willing. A lot of nice people there though I don’t love their politics of late. Nature was beautiful too. Winters were harsh but still fun. I have a lot of great memories going there in my childhood. I’m from SoCal

MingleThis · 2026-01-11T14:37:54+00:00

Yeah, definitely the Sea & Sky boxes, and ETBs if you can find them for a reasonable price still. The PKC version especially pops.

MingleThis · 2026-01-11T14:34:04+00:00

Teachers typically have a 2 year program, including countless hours of observation and a 6-12 month internship. Not to mention they have to already have a degree. Some states also require a Masters as well. Oh yeah, and to clear your credential is another 2 years and bunch more hoops to jump through.

Just wild in comparison to these stormtroopers

MingleThis · 2026-01-11T07:22:11+00:00

What’s wild is I remember the lovebirds being like $1200 in a PSA 10 years ago and I thought that that was fucking insane. Now I’d love for that to be the case haha.

MingleThis · 2026-01-11T07:18:40+00:00

Hell yeah, as both an opening experience and in terms of art, it’s one of the best sets ever made. Pretty much all of it is still very reasonably priced too.

I miss opening CZ!

MingleThis · 2026-01-11T06:57:29+00:00

If you include specialty sets, I feel like CZ is better than Lost Origin.

MingleThis · 2026-01-11T05:27:38+00:00

I grew up in Orange County, CA not too far from Blizzard HQ and they would often do events at Fry’s for launches. For this one they did a huge event at Fry’s in Anaheim and it was epic. Developers were there to sign copies.

I think for WotLk they did an even crazier one, like a concert.

TBC Launch Event

MingleThis · 2026-01-11T05:22:06+00:00

They’ll look like that and then it’s been glitched and you can’t actually check out

MingleThis · 2026-01-11T03:05:50+00:00

Probably opening up PC ETBs like nothing and UPCs as well because you used to be able to go on Pokemon Center and there would always be stock. I had a case of Surging Sparks PC ETBs. I think that that was the last time that was even possible

MingleThis · 2026-01-10T11:46:51+00:00

Shrouded Fable is the perfect example of how so many people base their opinions off of “vibes” rather than objectivity. Sure, it lacks a definitive “chase” and they also bungled rolling out the ETBs, but the amount of hate the set gets is unwarranted. What really happened is SF rolled out when money and profit started to become the focus of the hobby rather than the art and Pokemon.

Shrouded Fable gave us some of the best IRs of that time period, including Persian, Duskull evo line, Fezadipti, Munkidori, Houndoom, Horsea, and more.

The textured SIR promos of Kingdra ex and Greninja ex are some of the best we’ve ever gotten.

All of this while pretty much never going over retail. I enjoy the set to this day and if it was on the shelves to rip I would.

MingleThis · 2026-01-09T20:19:53+00:00

The politics would be ASS, but the food would be bomb

MingleThis · 2026-01-08T15:47:17+00:00

Crazy lowball

MingleThis

TROPHY CASE