Observations on the current state of the hobby from a show this weekend

[PuddleMonkey]

They mentioned blowout in the vid so I wonder if they read the forum. Brutal returns for someone who is raking in the postseason.

[solt0131]

Originally Posted by auctionjmm

I feel like there is a massive disconnect right now between perception and reality. This is the busiest I've been in a very long time with sports cards and I couldn't imagine adding Pokemon to the mix. The margins are so good as it is. I am drowning. But people insist I'm missing out by not doing Pokemon? So freaking weird. Unless they can extend my life by adding hours to my week, I just don't see any world where TCG's make sense for me.

I agree totally with you, the sports cards margins are the best they have ever been outside of CoVid.

[KhalDrogo]

Originally Posted by auctionjmm

I feel like there is a massive disconnect right now between perception and reality. This is the busiest I've been in a very long time with sports cards and I couldn't imagine adding Pokemon to the mix. The margins are so good as it is. I am drowning. But people insist I'm missing out by not doing Pokemon? So freaking weird. Unless they can extend my life by adding hours to my week, I just don't see any world where TCG's make sense for me.

The Pokemon ship may have sailed. But if you invested $100k in SPY at the pandemic bottom and now have $305k, would it be wrong to point out you missed out investing in NVDA?

[auctionjmm]

Originally Posted by KhalDrogo

The Pokemon ship may have sailed. But if you invested $100k in SPY at the pandemic bottom and now have $305k, would it be wrong to point out you missed out investing in NVDA?

No, everyone wins in that scenario but I'm sure the SPY guy would be kicking himself for missing out on the bigger prize.

But that's the difference with stocks. If I were the SPY holder, I could have clicked two buttons and instantly moved 50k to NVDA. Or less If I was being more conservative. Either way, you can get the best of both worlds in 30 seconds.

To be a 25-year seller of sports card singles, a near expert in that field, and then have to learn an entirely new business takes time. Then re-allocating your inventory to free up new cash flow, acquiring the Pokemon for sale, and doing all of this with a finite amount of time available to you is not easy to do. Certainly not as easy as reallocating some SPY funds to NVDA.

And if the ship sails and the craze ends, to go backwards again is another large chunk of time. I found it much more practical to just ignore Pokemon and stick with what I knew.

[hermanotarjeta]

You should never invest in what you don’t understand.

[finfangfan]

Originally Posted by hermanotarjeta

You should never invest in what you don’t understand.

If still don’t understand NFTs!

[hermanotarjeta]

Originally Posted by finfangfan

If still don’t understand NFTs!

Nor project 2020!

[ThoseBackPages]

Originally Posted by hermanotarjeta

You should never invest

this right here for cards

[KhalDrogo]

Originally Posted by auctionjmm

No, everyone wins in that scenario but I'm sure the SPY guy would be kicking himself for missing out on the bigger prize.

But that's the difference with stocks. If I were the SPY holder, I could have clicked two buttons and instantly moved 50k to NVDA. Or less If I was being more conservative. Either way, you can get the best of both worlds in 30 seconds.

To be a 25-year seller of sports card singles, a near expert in that field, and then have to learn an entirely new business takes time. Then re-allocating your inventory to free up new cash flow, acquiring the Pokemon for sale, and doing all of this with a finite amount of time available to you is not easy to do. Certainly not as easy as reallocating some SPY funds to NVDA.

And if the ship sails and the craze ends, to go backwards again is another large chunk of time. I found it much more practical to just ignore Pokemon and stick with what I knew.

Ah. So what you’re saying is the disparaging statements toward people who don’t want to rip things like Flagship in bulk, piece together sets, and sell every single to make $35 an hour are maybe a bit problematic?

In the trading card hobby, Pokemon has the highest margins, the most available product, and the easiest patterns to pick out. You could take one weekend to learn this, but you refuse.

[jjcan]

Originally Posted by KhalDrogo

Ah. So what you’re saying is the disparaging statements toward people who don’t want to rip things like Flagship in bulk, piece together sets, and sell every single to make $35 an hour are maybe a bit problematic?

In the trading card hobby, Pokemon has the highest margins, the most available product, and the easiest patterns to pick out. You could take one weekend to learn this, but you refuse.

Very True, Selling Pokemon is very easy. I been selling at shows (not as a Business) Since 1990. When Pokemon came out in 1998 it was the easiest thing to learn. Small releases a year 5 to 6 (Rotation sets 2-3 years) , Learn the top 15 cards per release for raw values, have a bulk strategy, throw things in under $10 binders for non Top 15. Grading again learn the Top 5 cards per release for values.

And to be Honest, Why do you think there are more Pokemon Dealers now? Easy Cost Entry, Easy card Rotation, alot of Demand, alot of Supply, and it is EASY. Once there is a crash, it is even better to be knowledgeable, because that is where the best deals will be once people want out, it be the best time to just CHERRY PICK the best stuff on the race to the bottom. Make the profit at the time of buying is the quote something like that.

Stuff is so easily liquid too because of demand. I primarily do Baseball as we have a local team in SD, while NFL and NBA sells without a local team it is not as easy for me, and the NFL/NBA cards are way more volatile in prices then pokemon. Don't even want to talk about how simple sealed is.

My best deals are when someone who has Sports cards wants to trade for my sports cards and has lingering Pokemon singles (which have value), the sports person usually value the Pokemon cards LESS, Which ends up being a better Return, because they throw in the Pokemon cards at lower trade value.

[hammerva]

Pretty good first day of the Chantilly show although this show had a lot more empty tables than usual. Not sure if they are waiting until Saturday or Sunday or what. Also strange how probably half of the dealers were not ready for the general admission. If there was any questions it was confirmed by a number of dealers that this is the last Chantilly weekend. They don't know where the show will be which can't be that encouraging.

They also did kind of a National thing where they had a small section of dealers outside the main area. They were all TCG though. they didn't put all the TCG in that area. Still kind of funny that they are expanding in their last show.

[notfast]

Originally Posted by jjcan

Very True, Selling Pokemon is very easy. I been selling at shows (not as a Business) Since 1990. When Pokemon came out in 1998 it was the easiest thing to learn. Small releases a year 5 to 6 (Rotation sets 2-3 years) , Learn the top 15 cards per release for raw values, have a bulk strategy, throw things in under $10 binders for non Top 15. Grading again learn the Top 5 cards per release for values.

And to be Honest, Why do you think there are more Pokemon Dealers now? Easy Cost Entry, Easy card Rotation, alot of Demand, alot of Supply, and it is EASY. Once there is a crash, it is even better to be knowledgeable, because that is where the best deals will be once people want out, it be the best time to just CHERRY PICK the best stuff on the race to the bottom. Make the profit at the time of buying is the quote something like that.

Stuff is so easily liquid too because of demand. I primarily do Baseball as we have a local team in SD, while NFL and NBA sells without a local team it is not as easy for me, and the NFL/NBA cards are way more volatile in prices then pokemon. Don't even want to talk about how simple sealed is.

My best deals are when someone who has Sports cards wants to trade for my sports cards and has lingering Pokemon singles (which have value), the sports person usually value the Pokemon cards LESS, Which ends up being a better Return, because they throw in the Pokemon cards at lower trade value.

You must be rain man if you think modern pokemon is easy.

The mega evolutions most recent release has like 3 “rare” of each character. And 50+ rare/illustration rare and special illustration rare whatever cards.

It is not something anyone can just pick up and it’s not like it was in the early 2000’s.

[auctionjmm]

Originally Posted by KhalDrogo

Ah. So what you’re saying is the disparaging statements toward people who don’t want to rip things like Flagship in bulk, piece together sets, and sell every single to make $35 an hour are maybe a bit problematic?

In the trading card hobby, Pokemon has the highest margins, the most available product, and the easiest patterns to pick out. You could take one weekend to learn this, but you refuse.

I don't believe you. If anyone with the internet could learn a high margin business in one weekend flat, they'd all be doing it. And if everyone were doing it, it would be a bubble. And if it were a bubble, it would quickly pop.

There was once a time where "anyone" with a credit card could become a Project 2020 millionaire if they just pre-ordered every card in bulk. We know how that turned out.

I don't know where you were going with your first point. I've certainly never disparaged anyone for not ripping flagship. I've defended myself against people who said it can't be done, or that I wasn't properly valuing my time, or wasn't properly calculating my expenses...but that goes back to people, for God knows what reason, telling me how to run a business that they have no interest in being in. Again, weird.

I will offer advice when people are interested in getting into the business. I've been very helpful to that end. If someone said they wanted to make money but were stuffing base in their closet, I would tell them to sort it and sell some sets. But I've never told a random hobbyist "You should start a business and rip flagship because it's easy".

[xposipx]

I feel the need to chime in about a local card show in Charlotte last weekend. It's the biggest one in NC and advertises 500 tables or so and is in a nice convention center with great AC and lots of space. The promotors did well and had Canseco signing and got people through the door pretty fast. That's about where the positives end. I've posted in this thread before and generally have stated shows have been fun and busy over the last few years even though my style of collecting is fading away.

Anyway, I have also been a bargain box collector and collect teams/players from every sport. I also run a small COMC store where I send in bulk cards during specials to flip into PC cards. I do pretty well and stay lowkey and found my niche. To do this, I typically have to get there early, spot the dealers with bulk .10-$1 boxes and go. I'll find the best one and spend hours there. Most shows have two of these dealers worth checking out and then some small boxes here and there after. I wrap up by going around looking at showcases for anything that stands out and typically buy a "bigger" card or two.

This show had nothing unique outside Grand Slam Collectibles showing up front and center and having some cool stuff to look at. They were making sales left and right because they know what they are doing and price their cards well. The show floor was about 66% full with 33% unused/empty space, 50% of what was set up were Pokemon dealers, and about 20% had giant BUYING signs with little-to-nothing for actual sale. That left about 125 tables of sports cards. Almost all of them had ultra-modern stuff that was overpriced of the same players over and over. There were also a couple high end dealers with eye candy showcases of cards that will not sell in this environment (also overpriced).

That left the "bargain" dealers. There were a few. One was decent, but I was disinterested by the time I sought him out. Charlotte also still has people like this ALL over the place:

B728FD95-CE21-467C-AE89-E72F1DA5ED51 by xposipx, on Flickr

I had to share for a good laugh. This still exists here. Needless to say, most people were just taking up space and it was the worst card show I have attended in a very long time. As you can see, he had tons of top loaded $1-5 cards that can be had on comc for the minimum price allowed. What's sad, though, is that there were way worse dealers than this one. For the first time in my life, I saw a dollar bin that had a 2008 6th-year Joey Harrington Atlanta Falcons base card top loaded in it. Good times.

[PuddleMonkey]

Originally Posted by xposipx

For the first time in my life, I saw a dollar bin that had a 2008 6th-year Joey Harrington Atlanta Falcons base card top loaded in it.

You snatched it up, right?!?

[jjcan]

Originally Posted by notfast

You must be rain man if you think modern pokemon is easy.

The mega evolutions most recent release has like 3 “rare” of each character. And 50+ rare/illustration rare and special illustration rare whatever cards.

It is not something anyone can just pick up and it’s not like it was in the early 2000’s.

I am an excellent driver. Compared to all modern Sports cards Modern Pokemon plus Vintage Pokemon is easier to understand and sell.

If it was easy everyone would be doing it....OH WAIT they are!! PSA up, Card show spaces up, Investors are in, Supply is up, Low hanging fruit on the ground it is not even hanging.

[xposipx]

Originally Posted by PuddleMonkey

You snatched it up, right?!?

Heck yeah! Totally forgot he played for Atlanta.

There were some other oddities as well, but seeing that one at the front of a box to entice customers was memorable.

[theshowandme]

An incredible amount of Pokémon at Chantilly

[ThoseBackPages]

Originally Posted by theshowandme

An incredible amount of Pokémon at Chantilly

how great is that?

[KhalDrogo]

Originally Posted by notfast

You must be rain man if you think modern pokemon is easy.

The mega evolutions most recent release has like 3 “rare” of each character. And 50+ rare/illustration rare and special illustration rare whatever cards.

It is not something anyone can just pick up and it’s not like it was in the early 2000’s.

This is like saying Fanatics released too many Topps Chrome sets and now the Topps Chrome brand isn’t easily understood.

To make money in Pokemon, you don’t even need to dabble in ultra modern. All you do is ask two questions: 1) is this a popular character?, and 2) does the PSA 10 price match the pop count? It’s Pokémon’s version of the 90s resurgence in sports. And that’s still very slept on IMO.

[KhalDrogo]

Originally Posted by auctionjmm

I don't believe you. If anyone with the internet could learn a high margin business in one weekend flat, they'd all be doing it. And if everyone were doing it, it would be a bubble. And if it were a bubble, it would quickly pop.

Sure. But you are the evidence that there are plenty of people who sell sports cards for a living who refuse to dabble in Pokemon because they’re intimidated by their lack of subject matter knowledge. So everyone could be doing it, but I guess it’s a good thing they aren’t.

[finfangfan]

CNBC article about soaring trading card sales at Walmart/Target…

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/18/targ...ay-season.html

[towerymt]

Chantilly pickup yesterday...

[hermanotarjeta]

Originally Posted by towerymt

Chantilly pickup yesterday...

That looks stunning, especially for the grade!

Great pick up!

[solt0131]

https://imgur.com/a/aYXTw4B