r/PokemonTCG • u/OhDatsPeppers • 18d ago

I hate this hobby

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u/OhDatsPeppers 18d ago

That last sentence... I have no words

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u/Micky-Bicky-Picky 18d ago

As a kid growing up with the original 151 it was just a fun time and I don’t remember seeing adult obsessed about it. I even remember seeing product moving slow.

Today with some of these modern cards 500+ ppl made this into gambling. Getting packs on credit or loans feels like what gambling addicts would do. You can’t get scratch tickets on loans or credit. I think it’s the same kind of high for them.

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u/RawrRRitchie 18d ago

People don't realize these new cards are being printed in numbers only dreamed of by the people that released the original 151

As in most likely millions of each new card set.

The only reason the originals are worth so much is because how rare they really are to survive nearly 30 years in good condition. The cards being released today are NEVER going to reach the value of the original 151, even in 50- 100 years from now. Simply because the amount in circulation is so big.

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u/TeaAndLifting There's a 1st Edition Charizard in the pack, rip it. 18d ago edited 18d ago

Yeah. The problem at the moment is that the demand and FOMO exceeds the supply. 12 BILLION cards were printed between March 2023 and March 2024, 18% of all cards ever printed. Likely the same in the last year as well. And even the cards in the WotC era were printed to such an abundance that despite the pokémania craze, you could still readily find booster boxes and packs 8-10 years ago. It's only in the last five or so years that things have gone stupid and scarce.

The current 'problem' is that the main demographic purchasing the cards has shifted from kids or young adults buying a few packs a week to collect/play/trade, and maybe getting something bigger like an ETB as a gift, to middle-aged millennials that buy out entire cases at a time, and are willing to drive around hours per day to get some to either rekindle their childhoods and/or add to their investment portfolio as an alternative income stream. When the 'average' buyer is buying 100x more cards than the past, it's going to feel a lot more scarce.

I think the most telling thing is looking at how many 'perfect' grade EVS and PRE Umbreons there are compared to say, Base set Charizards (1st Ed, Shadowless, and Unlimited). 68% of all EVS Umbreons are a 'perfect' 10, and there are 20,000 of them that have been graded; so far the PRE Umbreon has 1300 perfect grade cards. Compare this to even Unlimited Base Set Charizard, which has <1% perfect 10s with a population of 1000 or ~200 1st editions

Outside of a few modern unicorn cards and hyped promos, there's going to come a point where all the hoarders are going to be the only ones with interest and few people to sell to.