(ALL OPINIONS) Hey all, a little rant for those who are sick of this as well:
I don’t know why this didn’t bother me during the hype-train which was 2020 & 2021, but I am so sick of people glossing over beautiful cards just to chase after the stonks. It’s like they all have hive mind-like desires without any personal desires to only go after huge market-valued cards. To me, it feels a-lot like sports in this manner where everyone knows who are the best players and anyone else is just garbage.
To put this opinion on steroids, just take a gander at poke-tubers like CoolTrainerRyan. I personally can’t stand his content because of his over the top hatred/attitude in every video toward not getting the chase card in whatever he opens. I mean my God the man has a TRASHCAN that he throws every card that isn’t $100 into. Maybe that is his thing he goes for every video, but goodness, to me it is not fun to watch. I would rather watch one of those silent Pokemon openings, with just their hands, opening x50 Crimson evasion packs for an hour then watch any more of his content.
Again nothing against him, but I can only see this content being attractive to all the 420blazakins that waffle off items on Facebook and have a Whatnot stream every Tuesday and Thursday. Maybe I am being too cynical on people’s preferences, but it feels to me this type of content is so shallow for the hobby.
To me, Pokemon is more about art appreciation than it is about money. Now I have some great nest eggs in my collection that I may sell later on, but If you are in this hobby to make money only, you are going to have a bad time.
I love hearing about people’s favorite card or character or some aspects of cards that make me see them differently. Just as Scott has said, there are literally collectors for every type of Pokemon. Hell my Wife is a Hippowdon Fan and it is strictly due to her childhood memory of winning an intense Pokemon battle only due to Hippowdon. Now to this day she love this Pokemon and I have never heard of anyone else that is a fan of Hippowdon in the hobby.
Now this mindset could be coming from a hyper awareness of the hobby and therefor I am looking too much into this and nobody cares about this. Totally could be! I know I am only sounding myself with Youtubers where their main motive is to get views and sponsorships and make a living. I know the nature of the beast. But there are some great Youtubers that have a mixer of attention grabbing and appreciation of the hobby. Some that come to mind is Leonheart and Maxemoefoe. Two polar opposites I know, but it is a good healthy mixture of both sides of entertainment for the masses, appreciation for the art & rarity, and view-attracting videos.
Am I being too cynical or does anyone else feel this way?
I’ve recently been watching okJLUV on youtube; his openings are very art-focused and quite the opposite of your typical open-mouth Poketuber. It’s quite refreshing to listen to!
There’s so much good art in modern sets and it’s a shame that they’re glossed over so often (at least on Youtube).
YouTubers are a bit like politicians… support the ones that you like and hope for their success. Not much that you can do about those that you don’t like.
you said it yourself–there are collectors of every kind in the hobby. the collectors with different interests than you give you your identity as a collector ~“who appreciates the art and the collectible over the return.”
the other day i was helping a friend look through his old collection he just got from his parents’ house. we found base set gem after gem, but they were all trashed.
he shared a childhood memory of accidentally scratching his favorite jungle Flareon card and seeing that the holofoil wasn’t only in the pokemon art. he proceeded to use a coin to scratch off a larger area on the card because he thought it was cool.
now he wants to sell his collection and he kept saying how he felt bad for ruining potentially valuable cards. i told him that pokemon is for kids. he did exactly what he was supposed to do with the cards: play with them!
so yeah, you have some unnecessary contempt for people who don’t appreciate the cards the same way you do. and just like my friend, it may burn your soul to see people (maybe even yourself) mistreat items that you would love to have or sell. but it’s exactly that zeal for your interests that makes the hobby special to you.
keep that fire! and just appreciate that people get the same joy out of pokemon that you do, even if they do it differently
I started practicing / reading up on Stoicism a couple of years ago. It has helped me immensely in life and also in this hobby. What others do will never be in your control and the feelings/emotions you have are 100% in your control.
Reading your post reminded me of a quote I read:
Do not waste the rest of your life speculating about others in ways that are not to your mutual advantage. Think of all that might be accomplished in the time you throw away-distracted from the voice of your own true and reasonable self-wondering what the next person is up to and why, what they’re saying, thinking, or plotting.
Purge your mind of all aimless and idle thoughts, especially those that pry into the affairs of others or wish them ill. Get in the habit of limiting yourself only to those thoughts that-if you are suddenly asked, “What are you thinking about at this moment?” -enable you to reply without equivocation or hesitation, “This” or “That.” In this way, you show the world a simple and kindly person, a good neighbor, someone who is indifferent to sensual pleasures and luxuries and untouched by jealousy, envy, mistrust, or any other thought you would blush to admit."
-Marcus Aurelius, Meditations Book III:4
P.S. I also would recommend okJluv. He has great insight and also is art focused. Funny guy as well.
I’ll admit at times this is something I struggle with as well.
I think, at least for me, seeing things I appreciate being taken for granted can always be a little bit of a mental game. Just like you mentioned, lots of youtubers/streamers will scan through a pack as fast as possible just to get to the “hit”, and on the journey there, in my head I’ll say (for example) “oh that new Magmar art is awesome! I’d love to see - well…nevermind…” Feels like a lot of the value of the hobby is distilled down into only one aspect of it, which is the financial portion. Granted, that portion is clearly significant (particularly on the high end, hence the sToNkInG), but it’s not all I as a collector and hobbyist care about.
For what it’s worth, I don’t think what you’re feeling is invalid; you’re recognizing value and an aspect of the hobby that is not being recognized elsewhere. I just wouldn’t recommend putting too much stock in it: let those feelings remind you what parts of the hobby you like and don’t let the stonkers live rent free in your head.
I like cooltrainerryan. Much better than the other youtubers that cheer and scream about some random holo ursaring. I understand that for many the cards are about more than the chase but you’re clearly watching the wrong content if that’s what you’re trying to get out of some of these people.
ryan has an insane collection that includes like 60 gold star celebis so im sure he appreciates artwork. I interpret his videos as performance art commenting on the state of modern poketubing
If someone is breaking non-stop, you already know all the un/commons, what they look like, whether you want to collect them or not, etc. I’d rather people be honest that they don’t care about bulk than try to feign interest for a common they’ve seen hundreds of times before. It may be a new artwork to you but not to them. When I am opening boxes myself, sure I will take a closer look at every card the first few boxes, but after a while I am only interested in the hits. Especially for Japanese sets which are smaller, have zero market for bulk, and you end up getting dozens of duplicates.
Personally, I spend A LOT of time filming and editing my YouTube videos . . . I’m guessing significantly more time than 99% of YouTubers out there (Pokemon or otherwise). It’s easy to see other channels as “competitors” and be resentful of their success for a number of reasons: perhaps they rely on reactionary content, create/exploit drama in the community, promote advice or strategies I disagree with, or simply have more success despite less effort into their production process.
HOWEVER, POKEMON IS NOT A COMPETITION, and everyone is entitled to their own approach, viewpoints, and interests. There is room in the hobby for a plurality of voices (even those that appeal to an entirely different demographic than myself) and these voices may actually enrich the hobby by engaging others in Pokemon that would otherwise be left out or disinterested. In short, diversity of content is a positive thing (in my perspective) . . . even though certain types of content don’t appeal to me, doesn’t mean they don’t resonate with others. If someone is passionate about Pokemon though, then I don’t see them as a competitor, but as a fellow enthusiast and perhaps even a friend. I don’t think I’ve ever met a fellow collector or content creator that I felt didn’t have something to offer the community. Stay positive and always look for the value in others; the world would be a better place and the people in it more self-content.
I’m getting tired of hearing people complain about other people not caring enough for commons/non-stonk cards. Nobody is nobler for enjoying commons and nobody is less valid for only enjoying the big hits.
I’ve never heard someone whine about people enjoying commons, but I seem to constantly hear the reverse.
I enjoy common cards too, especially from my favourite artists like Sowsow, Komiya, and Yuka Morii. But nothing will beat the rush of pulling the big chase card, especially if it is expensive.
Close your Instagram, Youtube, and FB and suddenly all of these petty problems are gone.
a little cynical. People gonna people and u gotta do what makes you happy. This is a correct and good observation to make; however, it’s not worth getting worked up over. Just remember these are also the people enjoying the hobby in their own way, and its people like this that keep pokemon in the record books in terms of sales.
