So I was recently re thinking and re organizing my collection.
I was considering like I might get out of the hobby soon so I’ll make a solid structure of investment and thoughts of this nature.
Every time I try to quit Pokemon though, a love always keeps me coming back and I dump way more cash into the market.
So I came to the conclusion I’m probably going to do this for the rest of my life.
Are you in it for the short/medium or long term? That is my question to you today
I’ve had a few other hobbies in the past, but I’ve definitely stuck with pokemon the longest and as long as I get new Rays to collect every so often, I’ll be here! Haha 
Investment or not, for me I like the aspect of collecting something whether that be cardboard rectangles or bones of my enimies.
I was around during the time that the hobby nearly fell apart. I never considered quitting. My impulse was to help in its revival and I, and a few others, worked our asses off to that end. Sadly, this was done with little support from TPCI. If it would have died outside Japan the hobby would have turned into the Japanese beanie baby.
Like in any relationship there will be hard times but hang in there. If you quit, you were never meant to be together anyway. With a lot of work, you WILL grow old together. Plus, you’ll make a bunch of friends along the way.
I was out for 19 years. For the right offer I’d probably sell it all…and then 19 years later try to rebuild it again. Never ending cycle.
I seem to come and go from it. I was at my most serious in 2015-2016 when I had a better job. I think what keeps me in is my ability to maintain the hobby. Honestly I’d probably sell most of my collection if the price is right but I highly doubt that will ever happen so I’m in it for the long haul. Plus there’s cards I wouldn’t be willing to part with so I’d probably just start right up again. XD
I feel like I’ve been priced out to be honest. Prices are becoming far too rich for my blood. I’ll probably bow out soon, get a few cards I’ve always wanted, keep the investment cards and sell off the rest. No new product has caught my attention since the DP era and that’s ok, people grow in and out of hobbies.
I think I’m in this short term. I made two-short term goals for myself that are finite so I can pump the breaks instead of infinitely shoveling money into collecting.
For me it’s gonna be about self control. I really enjoy the collecting and gathering aspect but there are other hobbys I want to participate in as well. While I don’t want to wake up one day and have a ridiculous amount of cards taking up space; I think the real reason this seems finite to me is because most of the newer stuff doesn’t appeal to me.
I’m not going anywhere!
There have been times where I’m less invested in the hobby due to work/school/personal life, but I’ve been collecting since I was 5ish so I’m not going away anytime soon 
Nope. I sometimes imagine myself to when I’m old and see myself still admiring my Pokémon cards. I couldn’t sell them off twice, that means I was just wasting precious time doing something I didn’t love; collecting Pokémon. Speaking of admiration, I have a Misty’s Gyarados as I type this. It’s beautiful, so glad I finally found the perfect one.
In it to win it lol. I am definitely staying for the long run. My focus is not on the money at all. Definitely love it when I stumble upon some valuable cards but that is what I get for being patient and full of knowledge (plus a snipers’ eye). Not a big fan of the new stuff and that is why I buy it cheap to save it for a son or daughter to enjoy in the future. If I am lucky I get to open it myself tho haha. May end up being a great investment. I love organizing my collection and it is pretty satisfying to see boxes get filled with booster packs 
Also enjoy being a part of a community like this and meeting new people. The power of communication and building relations is insane!
Lot of stuff I want to say but hard to say in english without sounding like a toddler lol
There is no point for me to ever quit because like many here I’d just end up coming back,
It’s always tempting especially with my higher value cards, fact is though, it’d be a lot harder to buy them back,
Enjoy Pokemon hobby as a whole, from playing Fire Red on my GBA to buying outrageous PSA Cards! 
Glad to hear many feel the same
I’m a little older so have been through many hobby’s. I never “grew out” of any. I accomplished goals and packed them away. I set priorities which required trading out one thing I needed less than another but it was all a progression…a master plan of what I wanted most.
Prices are way too expensive for me currently, same situation as what Kai said in an earlier post. I’m only interested in the era that I grew up with (1999-2006) and can’t afford sealed product/Gold Stars/most Shinings, etc. so I’ve kind of dipped out of the TCG game around last summer. I’ll never be able to afford booster boxes and cards that are worth thousands of dollars, not anytime within the foreseeable future anyway.
I still pick up a few packs of modern TCG but have lost interest in that to an extent as well. I stay focused on the video games and older anime seasons/movies instead.
For individuals who feel they are priced out, what about ungraded played cards? 90% of the cards ungraded in pokemon are affordable. It’s the handful of very rare and/or very popular that have higher price tags, which are the minority.
I’ve recently decided to stop buying and cracking sealed packs. I just do the quarterly pre-release and take home the valuable cards to sell off on eBay and that’s it. For my collection, my main focus is just the Bulbasaur collection which is becoming more of a challenge lately because having just the more expensive cards to chase, with my monthly limit it can take a while to finish. My Dutch Base set is on hold these days, because I just cannot find the time to chase the cards and/or combine it with my monthly limit on the Bulbasaurs.
I do have to admit, through last year I’ve been selling off major parts of various collections I have just to free up space and money. Collections and stuff I got together and lost interest in, while it’s all collecting dust.
For me personally, I like collecting mint cards. The played cards I have are all ones I grew up with. Their dents and creases don’t mar them for me, they’re better for it in my eyes. Remimds me of happy times trading with other kids or pulling some awesome card. Other folks played cards don’t have this, the specks and creases don’t add anything for me, just make them look uglier and frankly, not worth the money in my eyes. Of course there are plenty of affordable minty cards that aren’t in demand, like old school ex cards or lv. X. But in this case, I own the majority of cards I want minus a few dozen I’m looking for in the condition I want them.
Basically I’m hitting a plateau in my collecting, where my only price options for the cards I want are junk. I’d rather not own the card and let it go to someone who is happy with it no matter the condition.
Right now, most of the cards I’m looking for I can easily get. It’s just a matter of time. I don’t expect there to be many more alts of Gyarados coming out any time soon so I feel like I can take my time with them. There’s only two cards right now that I struggle with: New Year Present Card (which I have, but the one I received has indented type and some sort of residue on one side of the border, hoping I can find one with a blank back and in good condition). The other is the SNAP Gyarados card, which honestly I don’t think I’ll ever get. I’m not sure if I could ever feel like I could justify the price. Not unless I’m close to making 6 figures a year. It’s out of every conceivable price range. Plus I don’t know where I would obtain one at this point. So I feel like my collection will never be complete.
A project I’ve had in mind, however, is seeing if I could get a BGS Black Label collection of my Original 5 Gyarados cards. It’d be a nice display item and a good way of putting an “end” to my collection.
Ive left twice but never again. I am getting priced out of cards i like to collect but rather than quit this i will shift my focus to more affordable cards that i would enjoy owning/collecting. For example modern cards like shining legends, some hyper rares and promos. As new sets come out i always see about five cards i really like so in the future that will be my focus really. Ive got a mortgage and kids are on the horizon so ill just have to adjust things a bit, but will remain in the hobby
There seems to be an attitude, at least in the serious side of collecting, that anything less than the best of the best is not worth collecting. There’s some corocoro promos that cost like $4 in slightly played condition and go for hundreds in a PSA 10. That kind of premium just seems a little silly to me.
You’re starting to see an appreciation for played trophy cards or 1st edition base charizards. I’m interested in seeing how much more of that you’ll see for set cards or if the supply of PSA 9+ set cards will always satisfy the demand.