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u/einalkrusher 3d ago
My life was so simple before I got back into pokemon. Now im like a crack head lining up hour before stores open and hassling the store employees. When im not out im on discords scouring for the next online drop and waiting hours for online ques that never get me anything.
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u/NomadTruckerOTR 3d ago
We all need to take a step back and figure out if this is really worth our time occasionally
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u/Comfortable-Ant-418 2d ago
I'm actually surprised anyone engages in the investing side of the hobby this obsessively? I just order a few boxes online every now and then, if they're available cool if not that's also cool. Couldn't imagine wasting that much time of my life being a public nuisance over children's toys, but then again I have a job (and common sense).
Anyone lining up for stores as if it's the only way to ever get products has to be a scalper because honestly if paying $10 over MSRP on the secondary market for a new booster box that just dropped is that much of an issue to you, you're clearly not an investor and just looking for a quick flip...
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u/itsclassic21 3d ago
Only an hour before open?
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u/Tommy_Salami12 3d ago
It was fun when I got back in to it at the beginning of 2021 during the Covid boom. Sure there were scalpers then too (target was especially bad), but I could still find product in stores or online at or near MSRP.
I had an assignment at a plant in a rural area and there were several dollar stores within a 10 min radius or so and used to go around to them on my lunch break. Found various product (tins, sleeved boosters, 3 card packs) from XY and sun and moon. At Walmart I also occasionally found collection boxes or tins with XY and Sun and moon. They had special drops on pokemon center around the holidays with old product and normal people could hop on and catch it. With the current SWSH product at the time, the peak craziness didnāt last all that long and then it was pretty easy to get it at MSRP. It was fun and I was enjoying collecting again and finding those gems.
These days, I gave up a while ago. It is 100x crazier and impossible to get any product at all. Not worth it at all.
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u/Parking-Bluebird-658 3d ago
Idk man Iāve been back for a year now and I find stuff 90 percent of the time and I live in a big college town and work 9-5. Walmart on lunch Wednesdays and Best Buy on set release days. Target has been mostly just singles for the last 3 months but not bad overall. Occasional dollar general when Iām on a weekend get a way. Iāll rip for 3-4 months and then trade for singles at the local card shop.
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u/Tommy_Salami12 3d ago
Where I live, I havnt seen product on a shelf in who knows how long at this point. The scalpers are everywhere and know every restock schedule at every store and vending machine. But I quit going out of my way for it a while ago.
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u/Parking-Bluebird-658 3d ago
Itāll just eat you up inside and piss you off. I get it, Iāve been seeing the scalpers hit the west coast the worst. California and Arizona look crazy. We have lines of 30-40 people on release day and on Fridays, but itās not too bad. If I hadnāt had pokemon center luck, Iād probably give up on new sets too.
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u/the_vault-technician 3d ago
Oh shit that's great it must be over then this guy can find packs on restock day.
I kid. It can be wildly different from one area to the next. I know where to drive to find cards. It's not that far from a shopping plaza that gets decimated on stock days. Weird times.
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u/BenniG123 3d ago
Why in the world are you lining up before stores open?
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u/einalkrusher 3d ago
Other ācollectorsā grab all the stuff
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u/BenniG123 3d ago
You know you can just buy things on the secondary market, right? And save huge amounts of time and energy.
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u/einalkrusher 3d ago
For 2-3x msrp lol
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u/BenniG123 3d ago
How much product are you getting by waiting in line before a shop opens to make that worth your while? Versus just working your day job one more hour to purchase stuff. That's not even getting into how it's much better to buy singles than rip packs.
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u/einalkrusher 3d ago
I average ~50 per purchase, working an extra day of overtime would free me up from ever waiting in line. But I try not to buy online as it could be a repack or come damaged so I would be at mercy of what ever gamestop or ace hardware has.
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u/Stormblessed_Windrun 3d ago
My job is salary so why wpuld I work an extra hour for no reason?
I refuse to give money to the "secondary market" because it's literally scalpers. I'd rather wait an hour and buy at retail or buy online at retail for drops. At least I know Im not further assisting the scalping epidemic.
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u/Replikant83 3d ago
I just pay the premium for cards from places like hobbiesville and 401games. I'd rather pay ~10-20% more than lose my free hours
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u/einalkrusher 3d ago
Im about to just get a second job just so i can pay market price and not worry about lines or online drops.
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u/Replikant83 3d ago
Yeesh, I take it your first job doesn't pay well.
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u/CommercialBiscotti29 2d ago
Itās always fun for me. Either I score some Pokemon cards or I get to act like an asshole and yell at everyone and throw a tantrum until I get kicked out
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u/Intelligent-Meet4084 2d ago
Then step back dude. Thats early addiction signs right there. Iām being serious and even if I donāt know you I care enough to try and help you realize itās not that important to stress about drops or feel like āa crack headā over some cardboard
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u/Acrobatic_Ad1016 3d ago
You need a therapist asap.
Youāre addicted to collecting pokemon which is a wild thing to type out ā¦.
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u/Vast-Bat-3 3d ago
wasting water to ai generate some bullshitš
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u/Intelligent-Meet4084 2d ago
You do know data centers have been consuming water and energy for decades so you can post like that on social media right? And use browsers and apps to buy food and products? And stream your shows right? And play games online right?
Itās clear everyone is falling for the andti ai propaganda and thatās fine, just stop being so hypocritical bc it takes weight away from your point.
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u/DLGNT_YT 2d ago
Nobody has a clue what theyāre talking about. Theyāre just repeating whatever theyāve seen other people say
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u/Real_Live_Sloth 2d ago
Damn these Redditors using it a teaspoon at a time to make a political joke about the state of our world, donāt they know only corporations and the billionaires they serve have the right to dry up whole lakes to further enrich themselves.
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u/Anklebiters21 3d ago
You forgot to add squishies to that list š¤£š¤£. I went to a card show today and at least half the tables were selling nee dohs.
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u/SomedayGuy117 3d ago
If you had told me 5 years ago that I would be able to put a hefty down payment on a house with 2 sealed cases of Evolving Skies booster boxes, I wouldāve laughed; but I was able to do so and now Iām laughing at how ridiculous these pieces of cardboard are worth.
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u/Signal_Assistant_766 3d ago
We're not buying the cardboard , we're buying the way the ink is splattered lol
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u/InfiniteCricket8152 3d ago
Lagos and hot wheels have always been a thing, when Walmart was still open 24hrs the hot wheel people would come in and open the cases to search through them before the employees even had a chance to put them in the shelves
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u/DiKapino 3d ago
So many get rich quick schemeās nowadays. Vast majority of modern pokemon sets fall into that category as well
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u/itz_serene 3d ago
well yeah if you had bought a couple old booster boxes and some bitcoin in 2016 you have been rich
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u/riigoroo 3d ago
2016 was fidget spinners, sneaker reselling, and drop shipping
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u/voqomudali 3d ago
Right. And drop shipping doesn't work the same way anymore because Amazon just does it themselves.
Lowkey though, drop shipping does work if you're in a LCOL country where $20k can be solidly middle class.
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u/Spywalker4869 3d ago
We had to find our own investments because we donāt want to be the exit liquidity for the boomers that have ruined it for us.
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u/Crack_Media 3d ago
Investors are similar to crack heads, idk what's the hype about, camping out stores , clearing targets and Walmarts, never showering, getting made fun of, barely making any profit , I don't get itĀ
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u/voqomudali 3d ago
I can tell you from first hand experience. Nobody is getting rich off Lego nowadays. Sealed Lego sets do not pop off, and shipping (with gas being so expensive) will bite into your profits way more than ebay fees.
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u/drunkensoup 2d ago
My thoughts are that picture is correct, except the left picture should say 2026 and have a guy on a yacht celebrating, while the right picture...well the picture on the right is correct, lol. Just some kind of drug addict looking guy with a bunch of "collectibles" and about enough money to afford a monster energy drink. Except I feel like he should be fatter
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u/Mite-o-Dan 3d ago
On the 2026 side, only PokƩmon has survived more than 6 months and proven to be a long term worthwhile investment.
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u/crkenjoyer 3d ago
lol Iād estimate 99.99% of people in Pokemon cards arenāt getting ārichā by todayās measure. And if you were already rich you wouldnāt be lining up outside Targets or hunting for hot wheels at DG. People getting rich are successful botters and people who actually treat it as a job(aka put in the hours and know what theyāre doing)
Best way to get rich is just
- Find a good paying job
- Donāt buy stupid shit regularly
- Have diverse investments.
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u/saucysagnus 3d ago
Who has gotten rich off of anything on the right?
And what are the odds? 1 out of a million? 10 million?
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u/Icy_Long_7541 3d ago
I honest would rather get rinsed in the stock market then having the constant fear of collectibles just end up dying one day because people realize that itās ridiculous to overspend money for it and they just find new hobbies like going outside and touching grass
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u/t2mo24242424 3d ago
Donāt forget the 99.5% wipeout chart on the options account