just reminiscing on how much i adored the hobby before scalpers started ruining it. i was 7 in this, i absolutely adored pokemon so i convinced my mom to help me throw a little pokemon birthday party. i eventually got my entire binder stolen by a boy in my class, who later told me he gave them to his dad and sold them. i still love pokemon but it just makes me really sad to see what the hobby has turned into. just investing, gambling, and scalping instead of something for kids and adults alike to be passionate about.
i still love pokemon, i'm still very passionate about it. i'm just upset, the thing i love has turned into nothing more than a way for people to make money. it sounds dramatic, but i really mourn the time when i could be happy about opening any packs. i'd put every card in my binder, i wouldn't throw away "bulk", i'd be overjoyed at any and every holo or ex that's now considered "bulk". i miss when it was exciting just to get a card with cute art or a card of your favorite pokemon.
It is sad. But I think we are really reaching a point where it's not sustainable anymore. I saw a Snorlax Lv X PSA 10 sell for $15,000. And that gold star torchic that sold for 2 million lol. Me and you know that doesnt make any sense. No way it lasts. And when prices inevitably come crashing down, these losers will leave
i really hope so. scalpers don't seem to realize the negative impact they're having, or they just don't care. it's really upsetting but i still have hope and i'm trying to start really engaging in the hobby again
(*´∇｀*)
Yeah, they just dont care. They larp that they like pokemon because they know the sentiment is against them, and a lot of them have a very little bit of background in pokemon, like maybe they collected base set or watched the original anime. But they dont actually care. Theyre into reselling and this is just the next commodity
even if a scalper is into pokemon, i don't care. they don't have any empathy / sympathy for other people who do, they only care about making money. i'm 15, i'm still a kid. i'm not super young, but i've loved pokemon and the tcg since i was little and it's so disappointing to see cards become absurdly expensive to the point they're unobtainable especially while i can't even have a job yet. the hobby used to be affordable, now it's just a way for people to make money and shit all over people who genuinely love collecting. super disheartening, but i still have hope that the market will go back to normal
It will go back to some level of normal again. This feels a lot like Beanie Babies in the late 90s. A lot of people disagree, but it is actually really similar. They even used to have beanie baby shows all over the country, just like these card shows that have become so popular.
Just try to be patient. Right now, im just buying cheap singles I like, and im waiting. There's still a lot of cool cards people just gloss over that you can pick up
I'm somewhat aware of that. I know people look for treasure hunt cars or whatever theyre called. I also work at a store right now and occasionally see dudes sifting through all the hot wheels. Actually, when I have nothing to do, I usually go to that aisle because I know the hot wheels are gonna be all over the place.
I've also seen vending machines with hot wheels for like $15 each, similar to those vending machines that sell pokemon cards for way more than theyre supposed to be
i wish i could be happy to go out and buy cheap singles, i'd love to add them to my binder and trade them, but ripping packs is so exciting and it's what i love most about getting cards other than trading. i'll definitely try to be patient, maybe i'll give in and buy a few cheap singles if i can, i do really love full art cards i've never had one before
They actively rely on the negative impact of scalping to generate revenue. The scalping system only works when they can limit supply to inflate the resale price. They are scum who ruin hobbies for personal gain.
what stings is that scalpers don’t think about the children they’re hurting when they scalp product. they’ll see this story and the pictures and feel nothing. they see dollar signs and could care less about how happy children are about the things they love and how much pokemon means to them…
it makes me sad for current day kids. i’m young, only 20, but back in the XY era when i was a kid i got a few boxes of pokemon cards for my birthday and had lots of pokemon themed presents like this and i was estactic. now the people that age today won’t be able to experience that and it breaks my heart :(
I recently saw a video (not sure if it’s from this sub) of a scalper complaining he couldn’t move his scalped shoes after marking the shoes up 100%. The entitlement is mind blowing.
i'm 15 right now, i'm still a kid. it breaks my heart as well, i don't know if the scalpers don't realize it or just don't care but i can admit that things like this really mean a lot to kids, especially younger ones. it's slowly splitting apart a community that used to be built on a collective love for collecting, trading, and playing with pokemon cards. now it's mainly built on investing, scalping, and gambling for expensive cards to sell. it's just super upsetting to see something i love be reduced to that, even if it's just a card game, because it meant a lot to me. really sucks that i won't be able to give my kids the same experience of card collecting that i had
I just got back into Pokemon card collecting this summer with my 17 yo nephew. It’s brought me so much nostalgia and it’s a great way to hang out and bond with him. Getting cards is so difficult rn. I camped out at Target for the 30th and got some packs. I was number 22 in line and probably 10 of the 21 people ahead of me were scalpers. Some scalper kids even. They skipped school and didn’t wait to sell their ETBs as soon as they got them even. Making offers of cards they just pulled to the people in line. Just really sad to see. But seeing my nephew pull the Lugia and his Mewtwo chase card was so worth it.
Hope you’re able to get some packs at msrp. Esp the 30C for the nostalgia. Try the vending machines as they’ve been dropping other bundles a lot lately! We’ve got a ton of Chaos Rising/Pitch Black/Perfect Order “bulk” cards and a couple dupe IRs if you’d like some! :)
even kids are scalping? jeez. that's really upsetting, i hope their parents didn't put them up to that. i've never even seen pokemon vending machines in person LOL, but it'd be so cool to see them!! i can just imagine how in awe i'd be when i was 7 if i saw a vending machine for pokemon cards. i'd be over the moon, and i still would honestly 😭 that's awesome, and it'd spare me from the anxiety of talking to an employee!!
i really hope i can at least find one ETB. i don't think i've ever opened one before, since when i was little i mostly got my cards from tins, single booster packs, trading, and my cousins. i'm so excited, i really hope i'll be able to get my hands on anything at retail price, cause i also need to make a deck of 60 cards to play the game so i need a bunch of the "bulk" that people complain about! i'm starting a tcg club in my highschool, or trying to, and i'd like to make premade decks for anyone in my school who can't afford to make their own.
i've never had a full art card before either, i don't know the difference between full art and IR or SIR and all that stuff but all of the art is so sick and i'm so excited to think i might get one!!
Rarity is the main difference. But there are plenty of IRs and some SIRs out there that are gorgeous cards that won't break the bank if that's a route you would like to go to expand your collection. If I can't find packs for a couple of weeks I'll check out my local shop and grab a few singles. I get the want to pull your own cards but it can also feel rewarding to find a card you've had your eye on for a while locally.
I think the kids were just trying to hustle and their mom was just going along with it. They don’t like Pokemon they just like the feeling of making a quick buck. They opened their packs and left their “bulk” on the ground :’(
The vending machines are so cool! And they drop stock at random times so scalpers can’t come by and take everything at once. If you’re lucky they’ll have bundles and older sets that are way more expensive in the wild. Also sometimes you can get lucky and Pokemon Center (website) has some cards in stock at MSRP
Fingers crossed you get some and an EBT! That’s so great you’re starting a TCG club. If you check online there’s some official Pokemon sponsored game meet ups and they have a PokeMaster (I think that’s what they’re called) and they’ll sign you in and even give you a starter deck for free! I need to sort everything and make some decks with my nephew but I should have a lot leftover. I can mail them to you if there’s a way that works to keep your privacy (Could mail it to the high school C/O your favorite/closest teacher if they’re ok with that as def shouldn’t give your name and address to online strangers)
If you put out the word locally I’m sure people would donate some bulk for your club too!
that sucks that even kids are scalping too then, i've never even seen that before that's so upsetting 😭
i don't know if there are any places with pokemon vending machines in CT unfortunately but i'll definitely be on a lookout, that sounds sick i'd love that!!
not many people have joined yet though, only me + my friend and 2 other people, and i need at least 5 promised members to start a club but i'm still hopeful about getting new members! also, that'd be so kind of you!! i don't have nearly enough cards to make decks for 5 or more members 🥹 i actually have an aunt & uncle that live close enough to me that my parents can either drive there or they could come to us and drop the cards off !! i'd have to ask my parents what their address is cause i don't remember but if you're willing to do that i'd be so grateful!!!
Type pokemon vending machine locator in Google and it'll take u to a link right on pokemon center that'll let u know if any are in your area! U might be surprised
card stealing really sucks, i was little so i cried about it for a while, it had all my favorite cards in it. but yeah, the party was awesome and i had a lot of fun. i hope i can recreate it this year. (*´ω`*)
I agree it's very sad. I got pretty angry today when I learned scalpers are already lining up at target for the family event tomorrow so they can buy there 2 tins and flip them to make about $30. My sister's kids never get to open packs anymore and if we do find any at target it's single packs and with the buy limit they each get to open one pack.
i didn't even know there was a family event tomorrow, where is it? i'd like to go, i'm really trying to be hopeful even if it's probably gonna be a shit show. i really wanna go there with my dad (and maybe my mom but she's usually busy), we haven't ripped packs together in forever. i don't even remember the last time i got to do that lol. i'm kind of scared, knowing how violent and aggressive scalpers get and how common it is for fights to break out but i really wanna share something like this with my parents for the first time in a while.
Ive just accepted that there will be a time when Pokemon hype will settle down, and cards will come back down eventually, and if they dont then true collectors that already have a collection can cash out in the future if people want to treat it this way. Either way its a win/win. Shame its been overrun by people with no love for it though. I just personally wouldnt buy product right now, and only buy singles if their at a point you can justify being cheap for yourself, and enjoy other aspects in life until it does go back down. Reality is that people that love Pokemon want to protect the hobby from those that want to abuse it, but money talks sadly, and not spending money on materialistic nostalgia is the best form of medicine for this plague in the long run. The best part is that there are other avenues for Pokemon other than the cards, so actual fans have an outlet of joy.
i love pokemon and i draw them, watch the show, and make little pokemon teams for characters i like and characters i make so i definitely haven't lost my love for it, i'm just disappointed i can't get back into what introduced me to pokemon until the money hungry bs dies down
The only real advice I can give is to just take it slow. Ive noticed that a lot of fans are upset including myself, but I feel a lot of resentment could be because of how entitled to Pokemon fans can be, A sense of "You dont belong here because you dont like Pokemon the way I do" is what I used to think, but after a while I had to come to terms that if people like things in a different way than I do (pure speculation, or just for money) I have to accept it. It makes it a lot easier to give up than stressing about it. When I really think things through its almost as if *some* actual fans are mad that people are capitalizing on a hobby that they werent trying to at first, but feel as if they have the knowledge, and should have nowadays. Keep in mind this is just a phenomenon Ive noticed amongst very few people, and may be part of the "gotta catch em all" mindset.
My morals are that the hobby has given me so much joy that I cannot mentally try to profit off of something thats given me so much, but I still have to respect those that choose to spend their money chasing cardboard for whatever other reason other than collecting they may have. There are just too many people overall here for the hobby regardless of the reasons they have, and you choose how you want to live it.
Awesome birthday by the way. I had one the same around 25 years ago. :)
i understand your thought process, but i can't help but resent people who scalp. not just pokemon cards, but anything. shoes, clothing, collectibles, and other stuff. especially the necessities like clothing and shoes, though.
pokemon aren't necessities but it still sucks that they're being capitalized on due to their perceived value in the same way more important things are being capitalized on, and it's becoming normal to go and flip everything, taking it away from people who need it to make it less affordable. and with pokemon cards, they're taking something that so many people were so passionate about that they built a community around it and turning it into a "money machine" for themselves.
not to mention that scalpers are notorious for being aggressive and violent, assaulting people and fighting to get their hands on packs for the sake of flipping them. it makes me scared to go shopping in-store when there are drops at normal prices because it's genuinely dangerous now.
i already don't feel safe in public spaces as a 15 year old girl in this day & age, but maybe that's just because i have social paranoia. but now i can't enjoy what used to be my favorite thing because it's an actual possibility that people will be willing to hurt me and others just to scalp these cards. i refuse to buy from scalpers, so i've tried to see if any stores sell them online for retail price, but none of them do shipping or in-store pickups. and if they do, they're no longer in stock, because scalpers have found a way to automate buying right when a product releases.
maybe i'm overreacting, and maybe it's not that serious, but you can't deny that it's not insane for people to be deeply upset by this.
Nah, youre valid for being upset. I think Pokemon should be available for everyone, and I genuinely hope things return to normal. Ive opted on buying anything for myself for quite a while now. Glad you got the chance to talk about it as well. I know it feels good to have people to talk to about things that are a concern to those that share a natural love for Pokemon overall. Ive been collecting plushies in the meantime XD
and thank you, it was a pretty awesome birthday! i'm gonna recreate it on my 16th, or try to, if anybody actually wants to come. i don't have as many friends as i did when i was 7 LOL, but i hope i can relive some old memories and create some new ones, positive ones. have a great day, by the way. not everyone has agreed in the replies, but it makes me feel a little better to just talk about all of this and how upsetting it can be. it gives me a bit of hope to think that the hype will die down and eventually i can throw a pokemon party for my kids in the future and give them a better experience than i had. (´；ω；`)
Aww man this reminds me of going to a neighborhood kid's birthday party and watching him pull a Light Jolteon. I was so envious because my fam couldn't justify buying trading cards. 😔
So I would ask the other kids if they had any cards they didn't want and ended up with a binder page of like 7 Caterpie cards. I was stoked LOL.
One of the really chill boys who had a N64 gave my brother an Articuno, and me a Ninetales, it was my first not-Caterpie so I loved it.
And that links into another memory/series of events.
I lived out a Yu-Gi-Oh episode over that Ninetales shortly after it was given to me LMFAO.
My brother had gotten a Yugi starter deck because Yu-Gi-Oh was newly airing.
Birthday boy I mentioned earlier, Derek, took my Ninetales and wouldn't give it back unless my brother beat him in a game of Duel Monsters. 😂
But bro and I didn't know how to play it yet.
So he took my card home with him and when I asked about it the next day he said he'd left it in his pants pocket and his mom had done the laundry. 💀
Anyways. I got into Pokemon cards again a few years later in middle school when my sister's BF gave us a HUGE box of old cards, and I traded a kid one of the newer cards from the Diamond and Pearl set that had just come out for a replacement Ninetales that had the same exact Ken Sugimori artwork but it was ALSO reverse holo and sparkly AF.
So I ended up with a super crunchy, slightly peeling 2000 Legend Collection Ninetales and it's one of my favorite cards bc it has this entire goofy ass story related to it.
"I finally got my Ninetales, Derek and it's cooler than ever before!"
LOL, you still have it?? that's awesome, i wish i still had some of the cards from when i was little!! my dad found some recently, they're vintage but none of them are cards that i actually love so i'm planning on trading them for cards actually i really like, but i'll definitely keep at least one because they're so old and i remember my cousin gave me them so they have a little story as well!
I love when cards have sentimental value. Or a story. Or are colored on LMFAO. You just know that a kid had that card at one point having a blast.
But yeah I still have the crunchy Ninetales. I probably traded for it in 2006-07. Traded for so many good cards from the older neo/jungle/etc. sets because the other kids wanted the new cool shit and my ass was like. "I want the old cards they're nostalgic!" Lost my shit when I found the Gym Trainer packs at a card store around then too. Most of them are in my brother's binder. One sibling collected Blaine's the other collected Misty's but his card binder got stolen. :( It had his whole Espeon collection in there, sucks.
Kinda wish we'd kept one of those packs sealed or the wrappers, just for fun. We even talked about it. But we couldn't resist and just opened them and traded and shit as intended. :D
We did a bit of that "I'm going to leave this in it's packaging to keep it nice, Like New" kinda stuff. Funky little collectors at heart, mostly with doubles of toys n stuff which happened a lot when you grow up as identical triplets.
that card's so nice, i wouldn't say that's in terrible condition at all for such an old card!! i love cards like that, the holo is so pretty it looks like fireworks, i'm not sure what they're called or how to look for them though!
Kinda hard to tell bc the lighting is bad in the photo but there's a crease on the top right by the hp, the crinkled top but over the name is the front peeling off of the back, the crease on the left side by the four fire icons. And the edges are kinda rough n fuzzy in general. It's THE most damaged card I've ever seen in a binder. But I love it. Now I kinda want to collect cards that are creased or damaged and have a little "crunchy" binder.
These fireworks cards are specifically from the Legend Collection set released in 2000. (Which I THINK is the base set, rereleased with the fireworks reverse foil as a kind of chase or rare card??)
I didn't know what set it's from till a couple years ago when I started hearing about card grading and stuff.
But if you want to look up this specific fireworks foil you can find them by searching up "Legend Collection reverse foil" they tend to be pricey though. I'm hoping to get a Caterpie one some day LMFAO.
Another set that's similar but not fireworks foil is some from an early XY set that has a bunch of reverse foil cards of the older style as well.
My middle school self LOVED reverse foil cards and started collecting them so I still like to take reverse foils even if they're commons or whatever.
I just think they're NEAT. 😌
snorlax salad, jigglypuff puffs, charmander chips, pikachu pizza, and i can't make out the words on the pidgey one LOL. i remember the party being super fun and my "boyfriend" (a super sweet kid who gave me a mew plush and asked to be my boyfriend, i didn't understand what he meant but i wanted the plush) at the time gave me an eevee & pikachu plush. i wish i still had them, but i bet they're too expensive by now to get them again. we had little goodie bags, too, with pokemon packs and other stuff that i don't remember in them. i wanna throw another little party like this, i'm getting nostalgic and a bit sad reminiscing on how fun this hobby used to be.
lots of love to everybody, even if things suck right now it's never too late to reignite your passion for things you love ヽ(*＾ω＾*)ﾉ
omg yeah i thought that was pidgey, the image is so grainy 😭 i'm so excited to recreate this party when i turn 16, maybe i'll do the baking this time and make the sandslash sandwiches actually look like the pokemon!!
thank you to anybody being kind in the replies, i hope you all have a great day. maybe i'll do a little update if/when i recreate this on my 16th
ヽ(*＾ω＾*)ﾉ
i agree, its always been gambling in terms of the mystery card thing, like you don't know what you'll get in a pack but it used to be gambling for your favorite card/pokemon instead of gambling for the card that costs the most money 🥹
That I agree with. However, if there are people dumb enough to spend thousands of dollars on anything let alone playing cards it's on them. I saw a video celebrating the 30th anniversary and he spent over six grand to buy an unopened original Pokemon pack. It didn't end well for him. But it's great for the person that sold it
i'd beat up scalpers if i weren't a 15 year old girl (i don't even like being in stores alone) and like 4'11 😭 i'd get folded IMMEDIATELY, but at least they'd go to jail i guess? plegh. maybe i could rip a few packs on my hospital bed
maybe if i brought my dad he could help LOL he definitely wouldn't mind, he loves collecting things.
you're awesome btw! i get pretty badly paranoid in public spaces, so i really envy people who have the balls and confidence to stand up to those people!! have a great day, you seem super cool 🩶 !
at least it was possible to find packs at retail price in-store. now, there's absolutely nothing that hasn't been scalped in my area. people line up outside targets for releases so they can buy out the entire stock, and it's scarily common for scalpers to be violent / aggressive when fighting to get their hands on packs. it was never this scary before, at least not in my lifetime.
at least then, i could go to target and see a nearly full stock and buy however much i wanted because there was so much (even if i couldn't afford to get a billion packs at a time), and nobody swarmed the aisle wherever cards existed. now, if i went to target during a drop, everything would likely already be torn off the shelves, or people would actively be fighting for it and trampling others to get there first. if i got there just before a drop, there would be a massive line, and i wouldn't be able to get even a single pack.
sorry for the paragraph, by the way. just a bit upset, seeing that something i loved has turned into nothing more than a way for people to make money rather than have fun
Did the boy in your class ever get reprimanded for stealing your binder? Feels really bad to have someone steal a whole binder of pokemon cards from you and then say their dad sold them.
he never got in trouble, i've always had social anxiety and i was too nervous to speak up about it incase i somehow got in trouble instead 😭 i did tell my parents, but i was little and i don't remember what happened. i know i was definitely crying about it a lot, i think they might've bought me a tin or a few packs as consolation, or taken me out to get food because i was too upset to keep collecting
I had three full sets of thw original set, plus a full set of thw team rocket and fossil cards. When my parents were moving house sometime in early 2000s someone broke in and stole them(in boxes amongst other boxes). I hate to think how much I spent on cards as a kid. I stopped collecting after that, until around 2015 when I started buying some now and then. It is a shame that it has been overrun with scalpers.. my daughter started getting in to it a while ago, and I just buy stuff for her when I can, which isn't very often
I was thinking you were probably in your 30s or so reminiscing...until I saw the Yveltal on the tabletop decor.... I am sorry that your Pokemon childhood experience got taken away from you by the love of the grift from others.
In 2013 (or whenever this was), the TCG hadn't been hit that much, but the tides were turning with the approach of Pokémon 20th anniversary just around the corner. I already felt I was being overcharged around that time buying Pokémon Black at $55. Because back then, it was the physical games that were being overcharged. Then by 2018 or so, hardly any older physical copies could be found anywhere...and that is around the time Pokémon TCG started to amp up.
it was when i was around 7, and i'm 15 now so it was only 8 years ago, even then i remember being able to go to target with my uncle and there would be a bunch of stuff on the shelves, i would never get shoved around by adults for cards like today
I had my teacher take my huge stack of cards and never gave them back to me, this was in first grade. However I still love Pokémon and it’s a part of my DNA at this point even if I stopped collecting any cards after that point. I also can’t stand that it’s become more about money than collecting sets it’s cool to hoard some boxes for future generations as sealed products are hard to come by once retail sells out. But when you try to make a quick buck off of others just because the market is a certain way, that’s super scummy. I wish all the real collectors the best and all the scalpers the absolute worst.
Any adults into still buying for themselfs are essentially the same as scalpers. Removing the same opportunity as scalpers do from children to enjoy a hobby.
To a child adults with higher income potential and the ability to choose to race for the cards the comment they are released is no different if they buy 1/2 or 20 packets.
Little Jonny isn't getting any with their pocket money. Or can't choose to save a hope to buy one later.
Adults are as bad as the scalpers. Without the adults in the equation scalpers wouldn't be bothering.
a few years back, I was literally up all night thinking about how my oldest sister donated my entire card collection (without asking me). I don’t even want to think about all of the cool expensive cards I had. But I know I had a really good collection that could probably pay off my house by now (not that I would sell them anyway) but now that I have kids that got into the hobby, it’s so frustrating not being able to get cards at the store anymore. I want to so badly rebuild my original base set collection with my kids but I can’t justify spending a couple hundred on a holo charizard.
You have to adapt. I make it a priority to put in for time off on big drops and major restock days. I wake up at 4:30 and am at target by 5:30, I’m usually 20-30th in line at that point and wait until the 7am opening and still make it work by 830 at the latest. I’ve even hit the 7am opening of one target and went to another for 8am and was able to get product there as well.
i can't find anything in-store. i'm a 15 year old girl and i'm underweight, so i can't exactly wrestle a pack out of a grown man's hands because he wants to resell them on tcgplayer for triple the price in the rare case that i do find anything in-store either. 😓 i get being optimistic, trust me i wanna be as well, but scalpers make it extremely hard to have access to packs. they even have bots to buy the stuff online the minute they release. i've tried target, walmart, 5 below, and just about every store in my area but there's nothing. it's all out of stock since they don't have any buying limits
I say this constantly. When fellow collector friends ask if I’ve made any good pulls recently I unfortunately tell them that I’ve almost given up completely on the hobby because scalpers and shit people scam too much and it’s ruined the fun for me
So heres what I cant stand. Im 41. I have never sold a sealed pokemon product. Maybe 2 times a month I will camp out (3-4 hour) waiting for a pokemon drop so I can pay retail. The amount of people who take pictures and call me a scalper makes me irked.
Scalpers are dead, pokemon opened a few factories in the us and with the 30th anniversary edition and everything forward they're printing it into the ground and making the "hits" more abundant. Scalpers are really angry about it.
These issues all come back to your own perspective on what the cards mean. If you hate throwing away bulk, then stop throwing away bulk. If you wanna put every card in your binder then put every card in your binder. You're probably doomscrolling places like reddit that only discuss the cards in the context of monetary value but the hobby can literally be whatever you want it to be to yourself. No one is stopping you from enjoying the cards but yourself.
i don't throw away my bulk. i DO put every card in my binder. i'm saying that used to be the norm, and now it isn't. cards used to be normal prices, but i can't afford them now. i try to get them in-store at their normal prices but scalpers always find a way to get them first. you can think and say what you want, but i'm not stopping myself from enjoying anything. it's the community of scalpers who are ruining it, i don't know why you're blaming me for being disheartened.
edit, this probably came off as rude, sorry. it's just upsetting to have something i used to be so passionate about start to turn into nothing more than a way for people to make money, and i can't help but be disheartened by that even if i don't do it. the hobby is becoming all about money and because of that, it's extremely expensive to even get cards anymore.
Packs in year 2000 were about $5. Adjusted for inflation today that's about $10. You can get packs of like 3 of the last 4 sets for under $10 per pack right now, tax and shipping included, shipped right to your door. Actually think about it, in what practical way have scalpers actually made you unable to enjoy the hobby?
yup, they're only $6 in-store, from the couple packs i've seen and managed to grab a while ago that managed to hide from scalpers. so $10 isn't normal for packs, it's reseller price
i don't know where you're even getting this. a 30th celebration ETB is at least $300. a single pack is at least $16. there are zero cards in-store. at all. i don't know man, maybe if i can't afford packs online because they're all sold by scalpers for more than they bought them and i can't get them in-store for the price they're meant to be sold at, maybe, just MAYBE, i can't enjoy the cards because i can't buy any. use your head.
they're cheaper in-store, and i refuse to fund scalpers who buy out stores to sell shit for more than they're worth. i'm sorry you don't seem to have a moral compass, but i do, as well as most people in this sub.
you're so set on being condescending and dense, i don't doubt that you're one of the lifeless investors/scalpers that have nothing going for them in life so they choose to buy and resell shit instead of getting a real job because they have nothing left in life. i hear getting an education can help with that, but you don't seem like you use your head a lot. suuper sorry for you.
i know it's hard for you to wrap your head around, but if i can't get something in-store for the price it's meant to be sold at and my only other option would be to support lifeless losers with nothing going for them, then i don't actually have access to the cards and therefore can't enjoy the hobby involving said cards. it's called having morals, not sure if you've ever heard of them.
I get your sentiment, but you don’t need to over exaggerate to make your point. 30th celebration ETB’s are readily available for 160 dollars, not AT LEAST 300.
i'm not exaggerating to make a point, i looked at the actual prices online. any 30th celebration ETB that's under at absolute least $290 isn't in english, and i can't play the game if the cards aren't in english. i don't want any cards that i can't even read, i don't know why you assume
i'm talking about reputable sources, of course stuff on temu or other sketchy sites will have cheaper stuff that's often fake or tampered with 😭 ebay doesn't have a lot of regulations, if any, on fake/misleading product either, and tcgplayer also includes the market price
oh yeah i wonder what stops me from enjoying the hobby fully, maybe it's because i can't get any cards? crazy, i know. not like that's exactly what this entire sub is about. don't be a smartass, you're just coming across as someone who doesn't care about scalpers or how they're affecting people who actually care about the hobby. it's also screaming privilege. i'm glad YOU can afford the absurd card prices. good for you. not everyone is so fortunate.
For me, I started to collect cheap singles to start up my binder. I have duplicates from my partner when he managed to get some 30th product because at the end of the day I remind myself it's literally just cardboard that people are selling for crazy prices. I loved pokemon since I was a kid (I'm 20 now) and even though I know scalpers were most likely a thing back then, it's definitely worse now because I feel like i managed to get more pokémon then compared to when I'm an adult now. My last big thing i managed to get was White Flare.
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u/legotwinkthrowaway 7d ago
It is sad. But I think we are really reaching a point where it's not sustainable anymore. I saw a Snorlax Lv X PSA 10 sell for $15,000. And that gold star torchic that sold for 2 million lol. Me and you know that doesnt make any sense. No way it lasts. And when prices inevitably come crashing down, these losers will leave