How do you think about the demand for older sets (WOTC specifically, but this can be applied to later sets as well) will be moving forwards as young kids nowadays will likely never have a chance to open it and thus will have little to no connection to it.
For me personally, I have never opened a WOTC pack, and thus am indifferent about it (even though I’m not that young, 1999 baby). While I do have respect for it being the original, as the prices continue to rise and rise, I feel less inclined to even bother trying to get into it. I only recently got back into pokemon, and the first thing I went for were the chase cards I grew up with. EX FRLG was my first set and the big three for me were the ex versions of the original 3 starters.
I could see a trend where kids who grew up with gen 4, 5, 6, may also do the same, going for chase cards of what they grew up with, and just disregarding older sets as they they may only have limited amount of capital to spend on cardboard. Especially considering all the different types of overload sensory rarities there are today, they may view old WOTC holos as comparable to the common holos in modern sets today.
I’d tie your question to future generation’s interest in Pokemon. If people still love Pokemon then there’s no need to worry about WOTC. Pokemon fades away, we have bigger problems.
Pokemon’s a collectible where I could easily envision base set being as desirable as the newest set to the beginning collector regardless of generation or age. I was originally going to type out an analogy using sports cards and collecting the players you grew up with but Pokemon is a little different. Charizard is Charizard always, doesn’t age, doesn’t get old or retire. I do think people who collect based on nostalgia are more likely to go for what they grew up with but I think the Wotc era is so historic and accessible that people will still collect them, regardless if they were born in the 80s or 2020s.
That being said, I do think we’ll see a greater divergence in who collects what. It’s still feasible to go for a set of every card created today, challenging as it might be. However, in 5, 10, 15, 20 years that might not be the case anymore, by sheer volume of releases. I don’t know what effect that might have on wotc collecting but I do think it’ll become rarer and rarer to find collectors of all eras. That’s just my opinion though.
It really depends on the collector themselves… I collect on a historical basis so yes there are going to be new collectors that are growing up now that are going to desire some piece of history prior to them. I collect multiple different things I think best example is comics, I wasn’t around when the first comics were released in 1930s… I never even collected comics as a child, I just remember my father always talking about his collection growing up. I went straight to the “holy grail” for me which was Amazing Fantasy #15 which was the first appearance of spider man. So it’s anyone’s guess…
This is interesting to think about. As someone who grew up with WOTC, I always just assumed that the original cards would be desirable for everyone, since they started everything, and what’s not to love? However, I guess the nostalgic component is pretty important. If that’s missing, then the draw to those sets definitely could be lacking for younger generations.
Personally I got out of Pokémon in 2004, a few sets into the post-WOTC era. I’ll admit my interest in sets between 2004-2015 (my years away from the hobby) is practically zero. Those would be the last sets I would ever touch. I’d have to finish all other collection goals first, simply because I have no memories of that era to pull me into it.
Anyway, I’m going to guess that this is a common feeling. So to answer the original question, yes I do suspect that younger generations will focus on the sets they originally grew up with. However, some percentage of all generations will be interested in the sets that started it all. So, as long as Pokémon remains popular in the future, I see the demand for WOTC (buyer pool) only continuing to grow.
I feel like there will always be people who go back for WOTC either way. I one says they are priced out and give up, then the next person has a chance to buy. If everyone gives up then the prices pull back to reflect that. But pull backs are healthy and can add even more desire to the item if it’s seen that they are at a good price. This is the natural fluctuation of any market. Aside from the worst scenario… (that Pokemon becomes irrelevant and we use our cardboard to light the bonfires), the second worst is that all of us WOTC collectors move on or pass them on at T.O.D. and there is no one who wants them. If that scenario happens or a big collector cashed out, the supply will be available at a lower price and the cycle starts again!
Just like our generation over the last 10 years, yours too will go on to make more money, expand your profession, and expand the hobby… (along with your collections!)
Kid like me is born in 1992. I grow up with a natural inclination towards music (pokemon)–as that gets more intense and I get older and refine my taste and desires, and increase wealth, I get into getting higher quality for me to enjoy that music (pokemon) as much as possible. Since I am music lover (pokemaniac), I get into vinyl records, LP’s, and never look back. Once I got into vinyl, I immediately was getting into original pressings from the time because, well in this case it is higher quality, but that aside, the appeal for the originals was inherent, whether I liked new music or not, I love music PERIOD. So not only was there new vinyl, new music available to me, but there was a great appeal for the old stuff, for more reasons than just the music within. It was also the aesthetic and experience of the older.
Just like gemmint said–If vinyl died in a mainstream (or at least niche) way, then the prices of all of these would go down considerably. But for now, just like vintage pokemon, older records, especially mint copies, of desirable bands or groups, are extremely valuable. The Charizards and Blastoises of records, if you will. Clean copies are highly saught after for their sonic experience as well as experiencing, or for some, re-experiencing the history of it. And the sealed copies, well, they are secure in value because of their historical and irreproducible quality, just like base set packs/boxes and the like.
The demand for WOTC will always scale with general interest in the hobby. Direct generational connection to WOTC isn’t the only metric driving demand for it, though it is a big lever as of right now.
An example to look at would be golden age comics. Most people alive today who collect comics didn’t grow up with them and didn’t have that generational connection, but if you were to hand a modern comic collector an original copy of Action Comics #1 they would make a mess in their pants. 1st will always be 1st and invaluable to anyone with a passion for the hobby.
I think it’s a fallacy to believe people only go after what they grew up with. Some of the most valuable cards are goldstars and japanese trophies; one being from the least popular era in pokemon history and the other being a class of cards that virtually no one has experience with before getting serious into this hobby.
Additionally, you don’t need to open base set yourself to create experiences with the set. Logan Paul’s stream had a consistent 300,000 viewers. I’m sure some were kids and that experience alone had an impact on them. People like Leonhart expose kids to WOTC products all the time.
I don’t think WotC is infallible. I just think its going to be near impossible for it to never not be popular. So many people are financially and emotionally invested in the era, and unless prices rise to the point where new collectors are largely priced out, then people can afford it and therefore will buy it. I think at a certain point unless a new collector has a lot of money to blow, then they will be priced out of all 1st edition sets completely. It’s only a matter of time.
Places like this forum are proof that newer collectors don’t need to gravitate towards a specific era of the TCG anymore for it to remain in demand. As long as there is demand for Pokemon itself, WotC will sustain itself. The big frogs will go for the NM-Mint raw and graded, and the tadpoles will eat up whatever else they can find. It will be interesting to see, though, what all the current 5-10 year olds do in 10-15 years after they remember the 36 different Charizards from the past 3 years that they could never pull, or lost on the school bus.
I’m not young either (also late 99 baby). Speaking as someone that grew up with Gen 4 as a kid in 2007 (I was 7), I have more WOTC cards than Gen 4 cards in my personal collection. The main reason I even have cards from around 2007-2010 is because I grew up with them and they remind me of when I started collecting back then.
Think of it this way: kids who were born in the 2000s never saw Michael Jordan play once in their lifetimes (well, maybe some kid remembers him playing for the Wizards back when he was three years old, but you get the point). But do you think they are not going to chase after a Michael Jordan rookie card?
Honus Wagner played in the late 1800s and early 1900s. There is probably not a single person alive who saw him play. Yet, his card is the most expensive baseball card in the world.
While Pokemon cards aren’t sports cards, I do think they parallel sports cards quite a bit, which is why I am using these examples.
I was shocked when I found out that the kids of a friend of mine know basically every wotc set, they told me they watch leonhart regularly I have 0 worries regarding the popularity of wotc as long as Pokemon is as good as it is today.
The most expensive painting in the world is Mona Lisa and I don’t think anyone alive today has grown up with Da Vinci. Well, maybe Gary. But still. Checkmate.
I have more cards (certainly value-wise if not absolute quantity) from before I was born than after. I think there is undeniable, universal value in things that are the first / originals.
The only thing you might start to see is the dissolving of the nostalgia bias. Certain cards in Base/Jungle/Fossil especially are kinda… not very good when you didn’t grow up with them. While I respect the history behind them, I can’t see many zoomers willingly buying something like Jungle Venomoth when there are other cards that aren’t pathetic that cost the same (which by the way holy shit $1300 for that card).
This perspective is based on my own and a lot of other collectors my age that I talk to. I’m being harsh on Venomoth in particular, but the general pattern I’m outlining is more people buying specific things they like than simply WotC = stonks. The mindset for a lot of older collectors (who, by the way, aren’t going to disappear when younger ones also grow up) is just “buy every WotC set,” and I don’t see everyone doing that. Of course, the people that do this aren’t going away, unless you’re talking 50+ years from now.
I didn’t grow with WOTC, even though I was born in 90! But my country just didn’t have pokemon cards. But I still collect WOTC along with modern because I do understand its significance of the hobby. It’s with all hobbies similar to this though. Coin collectors, antique collectors, sports cards, etc. No one grew up in those times but they understand the significance and hence it is always valued. The only issue I see is if pokemon dies out. May not be in our time or it may very well be tomorrow.
I grew up with Orkut (if anyone remembers that lol). It was “THE” social media and it was by Google! But it died to facebook and even a huge company like google couldn’t save it. Tech is not the best example but just to point out, clout and money alone will not save something.
TL:DR: WOTC is good as long as pokemon as a franchise is good
I’m surprised no one mentioned evolutions. A popular set kids collecting have surely opened up packs for. I’d imagine these kids as adult collectors would think very fondly of this set and be interested in the originals.
I originally collected as a kid from 2003 through 2006-ish. My earliest memories of Pokemon are opening e-Series packs, but the bulk of my childhood Pokemon memories are with the early EX Series sets. When I got back into the hobby roughly a year ago, I started with the EX Series since that’s what I best remembered. Once I got to TRR/EX Deoxys, I faced a bit of a roadblock because of prices. So I switched gears and started collecting WotC. At that time (~7 months ago), an entire NM/M 1st Edition Jungle or Fossil set could be put together for like ~$1500, which felt a lot more satisfying than buying like one gold star lol. So I finished those really quickly and nearly finished 1st Edition Team Rocket and 1st Edition Gym sets. Some of the cards I needed for those, though, were pretty pricy (i.e., Dark Charizard, Blaine’s Charizard, etc.). So I switched gears and started focusing on the e-Series, as well as the EX Series again. Now, I’m probably ~80% done with the e-Series holos in NM/M condition.
And then, very recently, prices started to spike on early WotC so hard and so fast that I basically abandoned those sets. I’m still in the process of piecing out those sets on eBay and I don’t feel remotely bad about it. I have zero nostalgic connection to those sets and I’d much prefer to put that money toward the EX Series (and, to a lesser extent, toward the e-Series).
So my point is that I collected WotC, despite not having any nostalgia for it, when it felt very reasonably priced. But now that those cards are like 5x more than I paid for them, I’ve realized that I would much rather reallocate that money into the cards that I’m more passionate about. And so yeah: I enjoy collecting pre-e-Series WotC-era, but I’m not nearly as spendy when it comes to those sets. I’d love to collect those sets again, but as it currently stands I have no plans to re-collect them. That money goes a long way toward purchasing cards that I really care about. I think that WotC will ALWAYS be of interest to collectors who didn’t grow up with it. But nostalgia is a huge driving factor in how people collect. I would never consider spending tens of thousands of dollars on early WotC sets, but I’ve spent many tens of thousands on the EX Series and e-Series without the slightest hesitation. Those are the cards that are meaningful to me. They have value to me beyond their monetary worth.
Along these lines a related consideration is the state of graded set collectors in the community. Yanma in the highest grade(s) carries a massive premium for a reason, and it’s at least indirectly related to others who may want a high graded set or subset, and Yanma is included in that—esp as a holo for holo subsets. It’s interesting that via this “tough to grade” card characteristic that a high grade card can almost take on an added characteristic of being a “set trophy” card—if no one kills me for going there with that word as it relates to set cards. If someone is doing a PSA 10 set, how desired does that 10 become? How many other set collectors are competing for that card? And how OCD might they be? (That ONE 9 is messing up my perfect No Rarity set, man!). How about 9 or 8 sets as the 10s become impossible?
In this way—even as it pertains to modern or post WOTC sets, those hard to grade cards have a better chance of becoming “chase” or “trophy” cards the more graded set collectors there are. Otherwise, yeah, popular species cards or iconic set cards become the premium cards to focus on getting in the highest grade possible while you can. And that’s enough to drive price up for a popular species in a hard to grade card, obviously, and we see that all the time across all sets.
But over time, how many binder sets will get sold and broken up for individual grading? I would personally “wreck” a binder set if it meant I could grade a 10 of an iconic or first appearance card of a popular species in at least one of those cards. Blasphemous to many, I know. Thankfully, I think I remain in the minority on that one. I’m not a binder collector, but binder and set collectors carry an important tradition in the hobby that links generations and plays an important role in how desirable (valuable) many cards become.
I have 0 worries regarding the popularity of wotc as long as Pokemon is as good as it is today.