I’ve just got back into collecting again, and deciding where to put some of my money, I’ve always loved the players promos and the added story behind them, obviously I don’t think I’ll ever be able to afford some of the more expensive cards like the umbreon -espeon, but investment wise can anyone tell me if this would be a wise choice investment wise to buy some of the less rare cards ? Graded, they’ll sit in my collection for years to come, but wondering wether it’s best to aim for these cards or some of the other wotc cards ?
I love the PLAY promos, some of the best artwork out there in my opinion! Most are fairly within reach, the Mew ex is pretty expensive now but things like Lugia and Ho-Oh ex are Japanese exclusive and really cool. Celebi ex and the other promos are cheap, usually available, and awesome. I especially recommend the _______'s promos!
I wouldn’t even consider investment. PLAY promos are not going to suddenly skyrocket, but neither will any WOTC cards you buy for similar amounts. You should always buy what interests you the most, not what you think will go up in value. I will say that I don’t see these cards losing any value.
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Buy what you like the most, there is no such thing as investing in pokemon unless maybe you are ready to spend quite some money
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Perfect, yeah I feel the same, I remember them coming out when I was younger and collecting without the funds I have now, some of the higher tier cards from the set was a lot cheaper back then, but they would always catch my eye, I was lucky to buy the ______ mew and the celebi back then and I loved the card, I will be sending it to psa in the next couple of weeks and hoping it’ll get at least a 9, yeah investing wise for me will always be a secondhand thing and I’d never buy cards I didn’t want just because they’re a good investment, but I can’t help but wonder what the future holds for these particular cards, being Japanese and only obtainable by being apart of the fan club would suggest theirs a chance when I’m older I can be content in the knowledge that I bought the cards I loved but there’s some value/history behind them, currently looking at buying the celebi 5000 points in a gem mint 10 , but I’ve noticed it has some whitening on the picture on one of the corners, so I’m in two minds wether to buy it or be patient until I see a strong gem mint 10 comes along!
Yes I’m looking to spend a little chunk now and then steadily over time, so nothing major really, but the collecting scene has changed so much since I stopped back in 2012, I’m left behind a little,back then no one really used the investment word, and I think what I’ve done is come back and been shocked into thinking about the future of them more so than I did years ago when I was just collecting them because I wanted it, it feels like now it has potential to make wise choices that could pay off down the road if you was to come to part with some, but I will always buy what I love no matter what, if I had it my way I’d buy everything pre 2005 haha
Just an update on what I’ve just purchased today and yesterday
Ho-oh ex - £45
—— raquazza
—— groudon - all three £100
—— kyroge
Turtwig
Piplup - all three -£60
Chinchar
All psa gem mint 10
all in all I think I did well on the purchases and hope to get some of the others over the next few weeks-months as I see deals
I’m tempted to buy this celebi ex 5000 points card and it’s a gem mint 10 but this is the back, it looks quite a big bit of whitening to be a 10, is this something that should be on a 10 ? I know there is tolerance but it looks like this should be a 9 to me
My play promo energies are some of my favorites. I love the look.
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Is this card from Japan-daisuki? His psa 10s have a lot of whitening.
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Don’t use ‘investing’ to justify your interests.
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No your totally right, it’s just that I love so many cards pre 2005 that for me any card I get I would love, but I just didn’t know the thoughts of the serious community what sorta things would go up in value more in time. As I could base my collecting around it. And still do what I love and snag certain things before other items that perhaps won’t value as much over time that’s all, we’re at a point where I won’t get everything I want so I have to choose more so where to put my money, just wanted a bit of insight into the trends people have seen so far with other trophy and fan club cards etc
No I don’t think it’s that card seller actually. I think this particular card is a seller in Malaysia
Yeah they look quite cool and even the trainer card looks good. The Japanese cards just look so much better than English in my opinion
There are definitely purchases with more potential/less risk than others when it comes to future value. Something like the gold star umbreon and espeon is at the right intersection of desirability and rarity that I would expect the price to only go up with every sale. If you want to invest or get in early, buy something like this.
The other PLAY promos (for the most part, there are a couple exceptions) are just not rare. There’s a good chance there will be slow to no growth, but really it’s impossible to know until we get there. These cards aren’t going to suddenly become $3000 cards. Maybe if you get tired of the cards in 5 years you will double your money. Maybe you will lose £100. Either way, making a couple hundred or losing a couple hundred… is it really worth getting worried over? This is like less than a week’s paycheck at almost any job.
If you’re buying 50 copies of a card or spending thousands on a single item, then yes the investment mindset is valuable. But for items that are not particularly rare or valuable, just buy it for the passion. These cards are almost certainly not going to explode or go to $0 in your lifetime so in the worst case you take a small loss or spend a bit more than you wanted, but the real ‘investment’ is the emotional satisfaction you get from building a collection of cards you like.
Anyway. If you still are interested in the financial perspective, my advice for cards like these is patience, which it seems like this advice is a little late lol. For cards that aren’t particularly rare, your best bet is to wait and pick them up as cheap as possible. For instance, the ____'s Groudon, I picked up my copy on auction at $20.50usd shipped. I got the ___'s Jirachi for $21.50 and the three energies at ~$20 each. When you buy under the market, you basically have a head start and will still be ahead even if there is zero or negative growth. I realize there aren’t as many opportunities when buying from the UK, but the principle is still valid.
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Yeah your right, that’s exactly the response and knowledge I was looking for, I sort of answered it in my own head that they wouldn’t ever explode into super rare cards and they would somewhat hold their value, it’s just as of right now I want to collect things from a few different sets but wanted to aim and concentrate on just one, which I’ve decided to be this set first, they’re beautiful cards and have always caught my eye, even the little p stamp I love, plus with the added bonus of them having a bit of history with them being only obtainable in Japan through the fan club, thanks for taking your time to reply to with your opinion
And your right the opportunity’s don’t come up as much as with america, and on top of that we have to add shipping plus the fact that we don’t have psa here,so we’re a little bit more limited as to what we can buy, but we can still get good deals now and then, now we have the third party ludkins so I’m able to send off my old cards to psa, but even then that will cost me £470 ($630)for 50 cards haha
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Also, getting closer to your actual concern, I should mention the general advice is to pick up the most expensive items first. A 1.5x growth in a $50 item is $25 and a 1.5x growth in a $500 is $250 - i.e. relative changes impact expensive items more. The celebi ex and mew ex are ones that come to mind as something you should check off sooner rather than later.
Also I’m Canadian so I understand the struggles of international shipping. Finding someone in america to middle your items is a extremely valuable option.
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Thank you, yeah that’s my thoughts exactly, I’m going to aim for the celebi next, and then maybe go for the mew, I don’t want to rush into it, but I think with the mew I may have to take a gamble on buying a sealed ungraded card for that as I don’t think I’m able to buy the graded card for the price, but I’m aware that could be a more costly risk haha but it may just have to be a card I never have, like most cards I looked at years ago that would have easily been affordable for me now is out of my price range at today’s market value, hindsight’s a wonderful thing
@zebadee I am the seller of the Celebi ex you posted with the whitening. I have send you some extra pics on eBay.
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Thank you I will check now, it’s late for me in england so I’ll check now and decide tomorrow thank you x are you based in England or Malaysia ? It’s saying your based in England but will be shipped from Malaysia ?
Mew Ex is the best Players promo.
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It’s such a great card, I was so happy when I bought the ____ mew years ago when I was younger, and always wanted the mew ex but it was more expensive, i was young and didn’t have a job so I couldn’t really ask my mum for two mew cards haha
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