Hello there again. My Diego and I was able to find this forum by doing some googling. I hope I’m posting this in the right place and I’m sorry if I bombard you with questions.
Anyhow what I wanted to post about was me asking some questions about starting a collection. Obviously I am like 10 years late to the party where most of the valuable cards have come and gone. I have some non first ed base cards and some holos along with a few nice commons but I take it that only the shadowless ones are the valuable ones. Right?
Then what I want to know about. I already collect pokemon cards as I play the TCG but I want to go beyond that. Something more timeless as a lot of cards eventually become useless to play. I originally wanted to collect ultra rare cards or secrets but there is always the issue of quality of the card so one day I was at my local card shop and they were selling a PSA graded 8 M Charizard EX 69 from Flash Fire.
-Would you guys recommend collecting PSA graded cards over other grades or straight up ungraded cards?
-Once cards go out of rotation, would you recommend turning in my cards to get psa graded? I have 3 FA Landorus from BC that I’d like to have them hold value.
-Is there a good way or easy way to start your collection? Like cheap sets or cards that are somewhat worth something? My friend told me about the “Secret Isles” Binder set that goes for like 200 dollars. (recommendations?)
-If I do pursue PSA graded cards. Are anything below 10 looked down upon or is it like school where 7 is like decent and 8 and above being better and still valuable to collectors?
Anyways thank you so much for reading this and I look forward to your replies.
-Would you guys recommend collecting PSA graded cards over other grades or straight up ungraded cards?
It’s just personal. PSA cards usually cost a significant amount more than ungraded so I guess it just depends how much condition means to you and how much cash you are willing to put in.
-Once cards go out of rotation, would you recommend turning in my cards to get psa graded? I have 3 FA Landorus from BC that I’d like to have them hold value.
Get them graded can potentially add a lot more value if you are wanting to sell the eventually. If you have specfic cards you want to know about you can look up prices for what they have sold for in completed auctions on eBay. For your example the Landorus FA sells for around $25-$40 ungraded. There are a few graded 10 that are listed for much higher than that. Whether they will sell or not for that price is a good question. Again, It is probably just personal as to what you want to be in your collection.
-Is there a good way or easy way to start your collection? Like cheap sets or cards that are somewhat worth something? My friend told me about the “Secret Isles” Binder set that goes for like 200 dollars. (recommendations?)
Most of the stuff that is worth something usually due to the rarity, sealed condition, or grading will usually be listed or sold for around what you could potentially resell it for. Sometimes you can find really good deals when you find people listing things with errors in the description or just collections of stuff that don’t list everything that they are selling. Just collect what you think is interesting as price fluctuates a lot and sometimes cards are not as valuable as you would think. It’s hard to really determine what the future will be like. I like collecting WOTC English. There is a lot of variety and a lot were produced so it is not too difficult to collect what you want.
-If I do pursue PSA graded cards. Are anything below 10 looked down upon or is it like school where 7 is like decent and 8 and above being better and still valuable to collectors?
It depends on the card really. Like a 1st edition charizard can tolerate a lower grade and still be valuable. The PSA pricing is exponetinal as a 9 or an 8 might be unproportionaly more affordable but still worth collecting in my opinion.
It just comes down to what you want to collect and what is enjoyable for you. Making it about worth and money will not really provide a lot of satisfaction because It is not exactly the easiest to find ways to make a profit.
I’m sure a lot of other collectors will soon reply that yes, you definitely should go the PSA route. Many of them have valid arguments for using PSA, and I respect that.
But that still doesn’t mean I have to agree with them.
Save your money! Just say no to PSA!
You’ve already acknowledged that making your collection about money isn’t going to bring you a lot of satisfaction. And you recognize that dealing in Pokemon cards is by no means an easy way to make money.
With that in mind, you can fully enjoy the cards for what they are — children’s playthings that have the power to delight the kid in all of us.
I’d recommend you picking a niche and sticking to it. A series or character who evokes pleasant memories.
Until you become a more experienced and knowledgable collector you should pay less attention to condition and more to content. If you start with PSA it’ll likely get too expensive and you may price yourself out of the hobby… At least out of the fun:)
Having started with collecting english ultra rares and keeping them in top loaders to moving to japanese cards with the interest of having my cards graded I feel as though my goals have done a 180. (I moved from English cards to Japanese purely for card quality)
For me grading isn’t about money, it’s all about the best protection for a card. While I think that PSA slabs aren’t exactly attractive, they do their job and I can admire them perfectly through the case.
To me, keeping my cards protected is paramount as they are memories of my childhood, good times and excellent artwork.
One thing everyone here will agree on is that collecting is exceptionally personal. Set goals that mean something to you. Don’t let what others do get you sidetracked.
I think for starters I want to get the World Cup Pikachu. I see a few people have it at psa 10 and it’s not overly priced for now. Afterwards I think I want to move on to EX pokemon and the Secret rares. So like the Kanto starters Blastoise/Venusaur EX and their Mega from XY base and Flashfire Charizard and Megas then the cover secrets like M Lucario. I think that would be a neat foundation to get started with and none go over 100 bucks.
