First "big" purchase advice (small fry alert)

Hey all, I’ve only been collecting since January 2018 and most of the time it’s only $300-$500 a month on older cards I really enjoy that I believe have a decent degree of sustainability (mostly promos and e series). This year I wanted to start 2021 with my biggest purchase ever as I’ve saved $1500-2000 to spend on a single card. It’s pretty exciting combing through this forum to narrow something down on ebay and I’ve keened in on the 2016 20th anniversary Festa promo(w/ Pikachu + the 3 Kanto starters) OR the (1999?) grand party double black star promo. Both cards really appeal to me! I’m not too interested in set cards except the Japanese shining cards at this price point. Are there any cards you would buy with this budget? Thanks in advance

  • a 3 year (woot woot!) rookie
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I think most replies you will get here are going to be along the lines of buy what you like, go for items you enjoy or have an emotional attachment to.

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Yeah you’re probably right *sigh*

I think that’s what i’ll end up doing, I just have a huge worry about my most expensive purchases not being gem mint

I’d go with grand party all day

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The answer is that no one can tell what´s the better purchase, it all ends up being a subjective decision. Personally I´d go for the Grand Party, it´s an old back japanese sudo trophy with great artwork and triple star rarity - but that is only personal preference and no “what will go up the most”. You could bring similar arguments for buying the Festa.

For other cards, if you’re lucky, you might be able to find psa 9 art academy cards at the price. Also championship arena, masaki promos, corocoro shining mew, Mario pikachu, porygon fan club promo psa 9

You have a lot to choose from at $2000

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I’m biased but the 2016 Festa is one of my favorite cards of all time, one of only 3 cards I have a graded example of. The Grand Party is very awesome, but I’d go Pikachu. But in the end, its always what you like more

I’d go with Grand Party because I love to collect trophies and its a staple in the trophy niche. That being said I feel the Festa Promo is without a doubt a better investment. Its only 4 years old and its already asking for 4k in a PSA 10. Just depends what your goals are within the hobby.

I’d buy the battle festa cards, but I already own the grand party so…

I also dream of owning the team rocket special suitcase cards but I guess they’re a little more expensive by now.

I thought i’d be ready to make a decision today but ofcourse im not. Will keep digging, thanks for your input everyone.

Honestly, neither.

You’ve taken the time to save money for this non-specific goal and it just seems like you’re rushing to spend it. It feels a little backwards to me that you’ve collected the money before you’ve decided what you want to buy. Not that there’s a problem with doing that but by choosing this route you’re increasing the probability that you’ll pick up the first thing that fits this budget and then regret buying it or find something else that was cooler after the fact.

If it really is a lot of money to you and you took time to save it, I’d advise being respectful to that and to really take the time to figure out what you want.

People here can probably offer suggestions on things in that price range but not without knowing more about your collection interests because there are probably 100s of cards in the 2k range

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What many others have said:
Get what you like/ want to collect!
The 20th anniversary festa Pikachu has been going up in price rapidly in the past few months. This is especially true for the graded PSA 10 variants. If you were going to cop, now is the chance!

I like what you said, and you have a good point. I let the $2,000 draw me to only cards around that price, instead of really nice cards I’ve been wanting in the $300-$500 range. I think I’m going to purchase a few different cards for a total around my cap instead of one card for it all.

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Grand Party is a great card. Should be able to get it in a solid grade in that price range I would imagine.

You can never go wrong with a Grand Party. Arguably the best entry level “4 digits” card in the entire market. Unique art, unique concept and rarity, what more could you ask for?
I’m actually going to grab another few copies, just talking about it makes me feel like it’s underrated.

Frame the money until you find a card you really like. I wouldn’t look for a card at $2000 because I want to own a card I spent $2000 on. It just seems like maybe you mixed up the order of picking a card to buy (Pick a card → Save for it → buy it vs Save → pick a card → buy it)

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Personally, I’d go with the 20th Anniversary Festa card out of the two. That card is hands down my favourite from everything I’ve come across. I got one that I’m sending off for grading but only expecting it to come back a 7 or 8, after that I’ll be trying to find one to grade and hopefully come back a 10. It’s something I want to keep and hold for dear life.