Thought this would be interesting for everyone, especially those that were not around to buy certain items back at the low point. I flipped way to many when I thought the market was done and sadly wish I hadn’t.
pokegym.net/community/index.php?threads/700-for-a-psa-10-1st-edition-base-set-charizard.111691/
Lots of friendly faces on these threads… @smpratte
“$700 for a PSA 10 1st Edition Base Set Charizard? Is $700 now for this card worth it in terms of future investment?”
Jesus…
I think I can get $250.00 for my psa 9. ‘Well no one really wants nine’s, they are treated as trash compared to the 10’s.’
Thats a stomach punch right there.
That thread was 10 years ago, before I discovered punctuation. 
Very nice 
While we’re at it… I know I’m beating a dead horse here, but I wanted to address this for quite a while now. Looking through smpratte’s collection thread (http://efour.proboards.com/thread/82/smprattes-collection?page=11), I found these neat quotes of Scott (regarding pre-release Raichu!) from 2011:
“Oh it definitely exists 
I have seen one in person!”
and
*"It has never been listed on ebay, but it certainly exists.
Here is a great link to an article from the gym."* (History of Pokemon Part 2a - Prerelease Raichu | The PokeGym)
The opinions have changed, I guess 
It exists, he never has said it doesn’t. However it is not a legitimate release, a card that should have ever been released and should be detailed as a mistake. Its a card that won’t ever be gradable or authenticated, but its here in the world by accident. There was a legit sale for something like 12k I believe.
Its always interesting to see how we all use to think back then haha.
Thank you for the clarification! I wasn’t around at this time in the hobby. Glad I finally understand the nature of the holy grail of Pokemon haha
“Oh and the Holy Grail of Pokemon cards is the Pikachu Illustrator.“
So sad cuz some 9’s are as beautiful as a 10 and 10s are not always perfect. Grading is still a matter of an opinion depending on who sees it.
This was a fun read. Scotts grammar and punctuation has improved 10 fold haha. I can only imagine I joined the hobby at that time. Could of been Gary Jr. with a bunch of zards lol. Instead I was worried about girls and a bunch of other dumb stuff that I wasted money on.
smpratte dropping some knowledge with his assertion that $700 for a psa 10 1st ed. Zard is a good deal …
If only I would have listened to myself more. 
Who is that Will-iam guy on E4? He seemed pretty active. Is That a dead forum?
Pokegym use to be the eFour of the pokemon scene. The positive aspects of the forum was shadowed by other factors and the positive people left. Slowly died and now is just a shell of its former self. Its still active but barely. Thankfully Scott then created eFour.