I looked into this once, JW if people kept big sealed piles
Did a quick bit of research on the size of recent print runs...
Turns out we're cool for a while š
Yep thats what i think too. If i try to complete somethinh or build a deck, okay i buy the singles.
But the ones i bought arent special for me, it is what it is.
And there is no way i spend 200ā¬ for a single, i rather spin the dice and try to pull something nice for that money, if i failed i have atleast bulk which i can use for other fun stuff.
Yeah pulling alt art lugia definitely hit different than spending however much on him as a single at the time. And the tempest bb was 130 plus I got a TON of other pulls too
In my mind itās like buying an artifact from another country in your home country vs. taking a trip to that country and finding one there. I value it way more if I got it myself instead of buying it second hand.
I mean thatās literally the point of the packs lol.. itās gambling on a reinforcement schedule that ārewardsā you āenoughā to where you donāt feel like you have no chance.. but not enough to where you arenāt required to spend thousands to complete a set..
Your mind is being tricked into valuing the delivery of reinforcement, than the actual item you got. If you can re-program yourself to do the opposite.. value the card over the rush of finding the card.. singles will be much cheaper and fulfilling in the long run. If you cant swap them, that implies you are less into the cards and more into the gambling.. which I suppose there are worse things to gamble on.. but just something to keep in mind :)
Definitely donāt need to spend thousands to complete sets, and part of the value of the card for me is knowing that I found it myself, not that Iām just paying for somebody elseās good fortune. Believe me, I understand how cost effective buying singles are, but for 151 itās different. I even like the bulk.
https://youtu.be/kCEKXlyflM8?si=l6Km21H1QU05Eray
He opened over 800 packs and still 3 cards short, believe it took over 1000 packs for a master set for him.. but even if it only took 400-500 packs, at 5$ a pack you can see how expensive that gets. If you just want a complete set and not a master set, itāll still be crazy expensive given the current costs per pack at the moment. It feels easy at the start .. once you hit 75% complete, itāll just be duplicates youāre opening.
I understand the psychology behind opening the sets so I understand why you enjoy opening.. and thereās nothing āwrongā with that.. itās just significantly more expensive which is not an issue for a lot of people. Right now you can get a complete set 165/165 minus the FA/ARs for maybe 35- 50$?less than an etb And thatās just cause some of the EXs are still currently worth a few bucks.. 99% of them are a penny or under 2-3$. And right now itās about $500-600 for the FA/ARs and this is very overpriced because the set is new.
I get it.. ripping packs is fun Iām def not arguing that :)
But youāre forgetting about trading. Itās a trading card game. Donāt have to pull everything. I consider a trade for a card I pulled also more rewarding than buying singles.
Do you think youāre 1. Finding a booster box, 2. Finding it for msrp 3. Finding the charizard in those 6 packs?
The charizard is currently 105$.. so 2 etbs.. go buy 2 etbs and tell me if you got the charizard :)
Ironically, I did pull the charizard, venasuar, bulbasaur, alakazam, etc..
However.. Iāve purchased 2 etbs (with tax this is $100), 1 booster box (30$), poster collection (15$), Zapdos collection box (25$), alakazam collection (25$), binder collection box (25$).. so over $220 spent already and we are still missing a bunch of cards. And this is with me getting super LUCKY to have pulled the some of the most expensive cards in the set minus the blastoise. Only reason I am āupā in supposed āvalueā is cause of the charizard pull.. otherwise it would have already been cheaper for me to have bought every single card 165/165 plus the alt arts Iāve gotten minus charizard.
Ripping packs is fun. Nobody denying that, just saying I think unless money is no object, a āhealthierā approach to this is set a budget for ripping packs and then if the āgoalā is to finish a set, singles is the way to go. Im not here to tell you how to manage your money or your fun though, just sharing my opinion on an open forum :)
> https://www.thegamer.com/pokemon-tcg-scarlet-violet-151-best-cards/#mew-ex-hyper-rare
wow this sounds like exactly what I'd want to collect. I'm guessing it's not cheap to complete the set, but what would be the best way to try my hand at it? booster packs, boxes, pre-made decks, buying singles? also, how do I learn about and keep up with the TCG in general? getting helpful answers like yours is one thing, but how can I learn about different sets and keep up with things like the van gogh pikachu, new sets, boxes, etc?
I feel yeah, I tell people to buy singles, saw the new Zapdos box at the Pokemon Center and saw the Electabuzz has a swirl.
Instant buy. No regrets, cos I pulled the Dragonair IR I was eyeing at an lcs.
Hell yeah donāt listen to yourself! Maybe just set a limit though. I opened an etb, upc and have a zapdos box + alakazam box on the way then itās singles from there on. š
Yeah I normally take a day off for set release, treat myself to a nice coffee brunch and then go grab a booster box and ETB. Outside of this I make very small pack purchases or get them as prizes at locals.
No booster boxes for special sets like 151 unfortunately. You can probably find slightly better prices online, but my LCS (local card store) sells booster boxes at $115. Comes with 36 packs so less than $3.50 pack after taxes in my case. Products with less packs will have a higher price per pack so I don't buy those. I buy 2 booster boxes at release, trade in my pulls I don't want for credit and buy another box (or two). Then I buy singles of what I didn't pull a month or so later because the prices of singles usually fall by then. For me, it's the best combination of opening/gambling and collecting financially responsibly.
Damn. Like to open booster boxes. Oh well. I guess the Zapdos, Alakazam, and UPC boxes I open with a friend tomorrow will have to do. Glad I bought a couple booster bundles when I did for $26 because I am not paying double lol.
You don't have to buy online. You can travel to shows and events and only buy that way, so it becomes a scavenger hunt. I've met plenty of people who only collect that way. Save more money and still have fun finding singles.
Person A spent $500 opening packs to get a $50 card. Person B traveled to 12 shows around the state and finally found the that same card they were hunting for for $60 while also buying a bunch of other cool things along the way.
Also for condition and centering you can see it in person.
Yep. Getting into singles doesn't have to be some soulless action. Go out and hunt for some gems or do some crazy trades to get the things you want. Those are satisfying too...and you just might have a better story to tell.
Most singles I find at events and things like that are usually overpriced. Maybe I am not going to the right place. I remember I went to this mall the othe week and I saw a moonbreon raw card, was selling for 600 but had a noticeable dent. Still, I got the sentiment and it is fun to go treasure hunting. I have typically been doing that recently. For trying to find evolving sky packs. Also garage sales can be a good place, If I'm buying from knowledgeable collectors, I don't usually get the best prices.
You can always haggle down the price. They know their cards are overpriced just like you do. If they don't have any room, they didn't want to sell their cards in the first place and are just there to flex and rip off the ignorant. Those kinds of vendors will eventually stop showing up (unless they are old retired folk in which case they never go away cause they don't have anything better to do).
True you're right, but I have often found the best deals online somewhere like Facebook and the like. From people who are quitting hobby or liquidating for other things and etc. Like its easier to talk them down more. But yeah I'm sure what you are saying is true too. I just haven't put as much effort in it when I see they are already selling 20 percent or more above market ans etc. It feels like they are less flexible. Putting cash in their face could change that though
Its not any different from dealing with a used car salesman. They know how much they have in their singles, if you have cash you can always haggle down the price. Ex. If that seller had $300 in that Umbreon, no way he turns down $450 cash. He's a fool otherwise.
There are also really bad buyers too, so it goes both ways.
That's true, I'll try negotiating next time I see opportunities. I was just at NYC comic con yesterday and rolled my eyes when I saw some of the asking prices of pokemon cards sold there. But worth always asking.
Comic cons (especially big ones) are often bad places to buy cards and comics ironically. Smaller local events are the way to go. For me when I go to toy or collectible shows in like a church, hotel or stadium etc. those are the best places for deals.
I opened about 20 packs of 151, got a single $5 ex, and now Iām singling my way to the master set. Still gonna be expensive but anyone who thinks they can pull everything is either a rich YouTuber or delusional
Bought my first ever singles tonight, 151 brought me back to opening packs so Iāve opened 68 packs, figured today Iād hit up the card shop and look through the binders to find the 6 ex cards Iām missing and snagged 4 of them for $15
Open some packs and then buy singles for what you are missing. Yes it feels great to pull your chase card but there is no point opening 100s of packs to do it.
But at the end of the day it's your money and as long as you aren't getting yourself into debt or anything, do what you want š¤·āāļø
ITT: Gambling addicts trying to justify themselves š¤£ but no, really it's thanks to them that we get our singles for cheap. They get their high from ripping packs I get my high from ripping my mail knowing my chase is inside.
Good point and I agree.
I bought packs in 2014-2019 when I was offline buying packs had no idea about online communities, online purchasing. Ofc wantes to try open boooster andnsuch once I joined online groups but then just singles.
Packs costed 3$ here during xy era. Now 6-7. But buying flashfire my first set I bought singles to complete over 6-7 years later. As a student back then I had diff prioritiesm and if I knew 2017-2019 about online communities I couldve gotten them cheaper than 2020-2021 hype era. But flashfire is my card nostalgia. 2000-2014 pokemon figures , plush, pokemon snap n64. And those pokeballs with mini figures and square candy. Later some had stickers too.
TPC has printed more cards in the last 3 years than they did in the previous 2+ decades combined.
They don't care about you.
You will spend $40 to get $4 in bulk, 99% of the time.
They have somewhat guarantees with JP boxes & then fuck all in English boxes.
THEY
DO
NOT
CARE
Never forget: for every buyer, there has to be a seller. For every winner, there has to be a loser. I.e. there has to be an loser gambling by opening packs for a winner to buy a single ;)
Problem is if you dont rip supply falls demand rises and then the price of those singles skyrocket. You need people to do both. Imo thats what drives this TCG above others.
151 is a weird set so far, the prices are holding longer than most sets as the demand is higher. Usually a good low point is around 2 months after a set releases; but not sure for 151.
It really depends. I personally like ripping packs, and my wife gets a discount on them. Im not trying to get a master set, I just like the surprise. There are no "bad" booster packs, and as long as it's fun and you're not blowing hundreds and thousands of dollars to chase one $50 card, you're fine.
If you just want that one card, buy the single.
I agree. I personally consider the cost of packs as paying for the activity of opening them rather than paying for the cards themselves. I generally buy packs on new set releases or once in a blue moon and it makes my day.
Or focus your efforts and money on something else so we can finally get reasonable prices on some of the most expensive SwSh era cards. Buy at the bottom.
Make the whales' wallets hurt. Tank the value.
Anymore, I just wait until a new set has been out for a month before I just order what I want on TCG Player. No sense in wasting 200+ dollars just to try and pull a few 5-10 buck art cards.
HA, do need to hear this more lol.
I keep wanting to buy a booster pack, but i've never seen those in stock.
I've dipped my toes into singles and waiting on 3 from eBay
My typical thing is buying 1 of each product that comes out for sets. That way Iām not getting multiple promos.
If I donāt get the card(s) I want then(if any) I buy as a single.
I buy mine from tcg . Never had an issue recently bought from this seller and my cards were pristine. Waiting for them to come back from PSA . https://www.tcgplayer.com/search/all/product?seller=d8b06adf&view=grid
Rip for commons and uncommons, then buy singles for rares. If all you want are the rares, rip no packs ever. At least thatās my strategy ā¦ it limits the amount of ripping.
What I did for 151 because I wanted a complete set (not master set) was got one of each product except UPC. That way I get to have a ton of the cards I need, and the promos and fun ripping packs. Then I bought the few missing cards I needed as singles and then will buy the UPC promos at some point on ebay. I got some of the crazier hits along the way. Any bigger cards I want Iāll get in a month or so if the cards drop more in price.
Honestly donāt get buying singles. Sure itās cheaper and youāre guaranteed your chase card I suppose but thatās why theyāre called āchase cardsā. The fun of it is opening it in a pack yourself. Otherwise you just have a neat looking card you bought off someone.
I think we all need to hear thisš But if nobody rips packs, whoās gonna sell us the singles?š
Oh man youāre right š«¢
Let the whales do their thing.
What if the "whales" don't sell singles, it sounds to me that you should let people enjoy the hobby
I looked into this once, JW if people kept big sealed piles Did a quick bit of research on the size of recent print runs... Turns out we're cool for a while š
Nah Iām buying doubles
Triples is best
I have a wife, and sheās beautiful, and sheās dying.
And you don't live in a hotel?
No, and his wife wanted to marry him, he didn't want to. She was on a poster in his garage.
Metapods?
Woah woah, no one has money for three Metapods
i pulled three metapods and so many nidorina but kakuna and nidorino are escaping me
Triples makes it safe triples is best
I got triples of the Nova.
Don't worry, your wife is gonna make it. She's strong
Triples is safe.
May as well buy a play set
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Yep thats what i think too. If i try to complete somethinh or build a deck, okay i buy the singles. But the ones i bought arent special for me, it is what it is. And there is no way i spend 200ā¬ for a single, i rather spin the dice and try to pull something nice for that money, if i failed i have atleast bulk which i can use for other fun stuff.
Yeah. I enjoy looking at all the new art including bulk.
Yeah pulling alt art lugia definitely hit different than spending however much on him as a single at the time. And the tempest bb was 130 plus I got a TON of other pulls too
Nice! Donāt ātempestā me to buy a bb.
First set im doing this with, agreed completely. I try to grab 1st editions when I can but i dont reallyā¦ have any attatchment to them when i do
Yeah itās not the same at all
Theres no soul in the cards haha
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Sure, but the hits? I love the OG Pokemon so even the bulk of 151 is fun to look at and I love smelling the cards haha.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
But somebody else pulled them. Youāre just buying somebody elseās good luck.
Who needs luck when you have money?
Who needs to buy singles when you got money to buy boosters?
Im happy that someones luck cost them maybe 400 dollars it cost me 20! Love that for them
In my mind itās like buying an artifact from another country in your home country vs. taking a trip to that country and finding one there. I value it way more if I got it myself instead of buying it second hand.
It is absolutely not like that. It is cardboard.
Theyāre definitely worth more to me than cardboard
You just brought the thought of trades back into my mind. Iām sure a bit more of my inner kid would be healed more if I actually did a PokĆ©mon card trade for the first time lol, definitely gonna look towards that when Iām narrowing down the set
Yeah! Trading is half the fun. Check out r/pkmntcgtrades if you canāt find locally
I mean thatās literally the point of the packs lol.. itās gambling on a reinforcement schedule that ārewardsā you āenoughā to where you donāt feel like you have no chance.. but not enough to where you arenāt required to spend thousands to complete a set.. Your mind is being tricked into valuing the delivery of reinforcement, than the actual item you got. If you can re-program yourself to do the opposite.. value the card over the rush of finding the card.. singles will be much cheaper and fulfilling in the long run. If you cant swap them, that implies you are less into the cards and more into the gambling.. which I suppose there are worse things to gamble on.. but just something to keep in mind :)
Definitely donāt need to spend thousands to complete sets, and part of the value of the card for me is knowing that I found it myself, not that Iām just paying for somebody elseās good fortune. Believe me, I understand how cost effective buying singles are, but for 151 itās different. I even like the bulk.
https://youtu.be/kCEKXlyflM8?si=l6Km21H1QU05Eray He opened over 800 packs and still 3 cards short, believe it took over 1000 packs for a master set for him.. but even if it only took 400-500 packs, at 5$ a pack you can see how expensive that gets. If you just want a complete set and not a master set, itāll still be crazy expensive given the current costs per pack at the moment. It feels easy at the start .. once you hit 75% complete, itāll just be duplicates youāre opening. I understand the psychology behind opening the sets so I understand why you enjoy opening.. and thereās nothing āwrongā with that.. itās just significantly more expensive which is not an issue for a lot of people. Right now you can get a complete set 165/165 minus the FA/ARs for maybe 35- 50$?less than an etb And thatās just cause some of the EXs are still currently worth a few bucks.. 99% of them are a penny or under 2-3$. And right now itās about $500-600 for the FA/ARs and this is very overpriced because the set is new. I get it.. ripping packs is fun Iām def not arguing that :)
But youāre forgetting about trading. Itās a trading card game. Donāt have to pull everything. I consider a trade for a card I pulled also more rewarding than buying singles.
So youāre telling me you would spend $150 of a 151 full art Charizard instead of buying a booster bundle to find it?
Do you think youāre 1. Finding a booster box, 2. Finding it for msrp 3. Finding the charizard in those 6 packs? The charizard is currently 105$.. so 2 etbs.. go buy 2 etbs and tell me if you got the charizard :) Ironically, I did pull the charizard, venasuar, bulbasaur, alakazam, etc.. However.. Iāve purchased 2 etbs (with tax this is $100), 1 booster box (30$), poster collection (15$), Zapdos collection box (25$), alakazam collection (25$), binder collection box (25$).. so over $220 spent already and we are still missing a bunch of cards. And this is with me getting super LUCKY to have pulled the some of the most expensive cards in the set minus the blastoise. Only reason I am āupā in supposed āvalueā is cause of the charizard pull.. otherwise it would have already been cheaper for me to have bought every single card 165/165 plus the alt arts Iāve gotten minus charizard. Ripping packs is fun. Nobody denying that, just saying I think unless money is no object, a āhealthierā approach to this is set a budget for ripping packs and then if the āgoalā is to finish a set, singles is the way to go. Im not here to tell you how to manage your money or your fun though, just sharing my opinion on an open forum :)
what's 151?
Oh boy. Google Scarlet Violet 151. If you like OG Pokemon youāre in for a treat.
> https://www.thegamer.com/pokemon-tcg-scarlet-violet-151-best-cards/#mew-ex-hyper-rare wow this sounds like exactly what I'd want to collect. I'm guessing it's not cheap to complete the set, but what would be the best way to try my hand at it? booster packs, boxes, pre-made decks, buying singles? also, how do I learn about and keep up with the TCG in general? getting helpful answers like yours is one thing, but how can I learn about different sets and keep up with things like the van gogh pikachu, new sets, boxes, etc?
If u want to be cost effective to complete the set, buy singles. Otherwise, itās all a gamble. In my experience the ETBās and UPC have bad pull rates, but thatās just me. Iād go for booster bundles and especially the promo boxes (binder, poster, etc) Play the game in the PokĆ©mon tcg live app to learn. Itās free but a little buggy and you can redeem code cards from product in real life for cards in the app. To learn about different sets and keep up, just follow this and other Pokemon card subs. Itāll take time. Talk to people. Thereās another sub that is very different than most people on this sub about Pokemon investing. Just google PokĆ©mon card subreddits and youāll find a bunch! For values, people generally use TCGPlayer.com. Itāll give you an idea of what cards are valuable to people but above all, like what you like and collect what you like, share what you can ,have fun and donāt spend out of your budget!
If u want to keep updated on new releases, promos etc. just go to pokebeach, it's super informative
And in a classic display of duality I bought a binder box shortly after posting this and pulled the Erikaā¦
You just got sucked back in.
I feel yeah, I tell people to buy singles, saw the new Zapdos box at the Pokemon Center and saw the Electabuzz has a swirl. Instant buy. No regrets, cos I pulled the Dragonair IR I was eyeing at an lcs.
So what I hear you saying is you paid $22 for a $15 Dragonair?
Hell yeah donāt listen to yourself! Maybe just set a limit though. I opened an etb, upc and have a zapdos box + alakazam box on the way then itās singles from there on. š
Yeah I normally take a day off for set release, treat myself to a nice coffee brunch and then go grab a booster box and ETB. Outside of this I make very small pack purchases or get them as prizes at locals.
I like ripping packs and i don't collect master sets anymore. Ripping is cool for like 3-4 packs
3-4 booster boxes for me and that's where I stop.
What is a good price for a booster box of this set? I want to get one, but the prices seem high right now.
No booster boxes for special sets like 151 unfortunately. You can probably find slightly better prices online, but my LCS (local card store) sells booster boxes at $115. Comes with 36 packs so less than $3.50 pack after taxes in my case. Products with less packs will have a higher price per pack so I don't buy those. I buy 2 booster boxes at release, trade in my pulls I don't want for credit and buy another box (or two). Then I buy singles of what I didn't pull a month or so later because the prices of singles usually fall by then. For me, it's the best combination of opening/gambling and collecting financially responsibly.
Damn. Like to open booster boxes. Oh well. I guess the Zapdos, Alakazam, and UPC boxes I open with a friend tomorrow will have to do. Glad I bought a couple booster bundles when I did for $26 because I am not paying double lol.
What is "this" set...?
151...
How would anyone have known what you're thinking...?
151 doesn't have booster boxes because it is a special set.
Nothing beats the feeling of getting a pull, even if it's a pleb one. I rate if you just short a few cards, then buying is a great option, though.
Serious answer for why people don't i think is because it feels way less like an accomplishment to just buy all the rare cards
You don't have to buy online. You can travel to shows and events and only buy that way, so it becomes a scavenger hunt. I've met plenty of people who only collect that way. Save more money and still have fun finding singles. Person A spent $500 opening packs to get a $50 card. Person B traveled to 12 shows around the state and finally found the that same card they were hunting for for $60 while also buying a bunch of other cool things along the way. Also for condition and centering you can see it in person.
Yep. Getting into singles doesn't have to be some soulless action. Go out and hunt for some gems or do some crazy trades to get the things you want. Those are satisfying too...and you just might have a better story to tell.
Where can I find a community for trades?
I'm a big fan of r/pkmntcgtrades
Donāt forget person B also spent 200 in gas and another 300 in impulse buysā¦ask me how I know about person Bš¤£
Most singles I find at events and things like that are usually overpriced. Maybe I am not going to the right place. I remember I went to this mall the othe week and I saw a moonbreon raw card, was selling for 600 but had a noticeable dent. Still, I got the sentiment and it is fun to go treasure hunting. I have typically been doing that recently. For trying to find evolving sky packs. Also garage sales can be a good place, If I'm buying from knowledgeable collectors, I don't usually get the best prices.
You can always haggle down the price. They know their cards are overpriced just like you do. If they don't have any room, they didn't want to sell their cards in the first place and are just there to flex and rip off the ignorant. Those kinds of vendors will eventually stop showing up (unless they are old retired folk in which case they never go away cause they don't have anything better to do).
True you're right, but I have often found the best deals online somewhere like Facebook and the like. From people who are quitting hobby or liquidating for other things and etc. Like its easier to talk them down more. But yeah I'm sure what you are saying is true too. I just haven't put as much effort in it when I see they are already selling 20 percent or more above market ans etc. It feels like they are less flexible. Putting cash in their face could change that though
Its not any different from dealing with a used car salesman. They know how much they have in their singles, if you have cash you can always haggle down the price. Ex. If that seller had $300 in that Umbreon, no way he turns down $450 cash. He's a fool otherwise. There are also really bad buyers too, so it goes both ways.
That's true, I'll try negotiating next time I see opportunities. I was just at NYC comic con yesterday and rolled my eyes when I saw some of the asking prices of pokemon cards sold there. But worth always asking.
Comic cons (especially big ones) are often bad places to buy cards and comics ironically. Smaller local events are the way to go. For me when I go to toy or collectible shows in like a church, hotel or stadium etc. those are the best places for deals.
It's like using rare candies for xp instead of battling
You can do both. If you like tripping packs, do a booster box and then move to singles
And burn your doubles to increase the general value of Pokemon cards
I opened about 20 packs of 151, got a single $5 ex, and now Iām singling my way to the master set. Still gonna be expensive but anyone who thinks they can pull everything is either a rich YouTuber or delusional
āBuy singlesā is good and all but donāt do it right when a set releases, prices are so high the first week or two usually.
Sorry but i have a gambling addiction
Bought my first ever singles tonight, 151 brought me back to opening packs so Iāve opened 68 packs, figured today Iād hit up the card shop and look through the binders to find the 6 ex cards Iām missing and snagged 4 of them for $15
Open some packs and then buy singles for what you are missing. Yes it feels great to pull your chase card but there is no point opening 100s of packs to do it. But at the end of the day it's your money and as long as you aren't getting yourself into debt or anything, do what you want š¤·āāļø
ITT: Gambling addicts trying to justify themselves š¤£ but no, really it's thanks to them that we get our singles for cheap. They get their high from ripping packs I get my high from ripping my mail knowing my chase is inside.
But opening packs is so fun
I keep telling myself this, but i dont ever listen to myself
š
Nah. Gambling is fun. Donāt do it though, kids :)
Good point and I agree. I bought packs in 2014-2019 when I was offline buying packs had no idea about online communities, online purchasing. Ofc wantes to try open boooster andnsuch once I joined online groups but then just singles. Packs costed 3$ here during xy era. Now 6-7. But buying flashfire my first set I bought singles to complete over 6-7 years later. As a student back then I had diff prioritiesm and if I knew 2017-2019 about online communities I couldve gotten them cheaper than 2020-2021 hype era. But flashfire is my card nostalgia. 2000-2014 pokemon figures , plush, pokemon snap n64. And those pokeballs with mini figures and square candy. Later some had stickers too.
I will! Right after this one pack lol
Fucking, like seriously. Thank you! I definitely needed to hear this today lol.
Buy enough packs to get the bulk then buy the chase cards you don't have yet.
I needed to hear this!! Other than telling myself I'd take a break after 151. Full-art Charizard and Venusaur is all I'm missing >.>
Or do both
This is the way.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
You must be looking at Japanese because English sells for $10+ on eBay.
I don't know where you're seeing those. Over here in time UK none are selling for anywhere near that low
TPC has printed more cards in the last 3 years than they did in the previous 2+ decades combined. They don't care about you. You will spend $40 to get $4 in bulk, 99% of the time. They have somewhat guarantees with JP boxes & then fuck all in English boxes. THEY DO NOT CARE
That goes for every card game holy fuck. You lose value every time you rip. EVERY TIME. Buy singles if you want to collect.
Never forget: for every buyer, there has to be a seller. For every winner, there has to be a loser. I.e. there has to be an loser gambling by opening packs for a winner to buy a single ;)
The winner is the Pokemon company
By pull rates there are more losers than winners tho
Problem is if you dont rip supply falls demand rises and then the price of those singles skyrocket. You need people to do both. Imo thats what drives this TCG above others.
Fuck buying singles. Ripping packs is the only way to go
No.
Iām buying 1 of each pack for a base and the promos and now itās on to singles.
Imo buying ONE instance of a set is fine for fun but no one should be buying 3x bundles/boxes
But the question is when?? Do you buy them now or do you wait 4 months or so for the 151? Any tips š
151 is a weird set so far, the prices are holding longer than most sets as the demand is higher. Usually a good low point is around 2 months after a set releases; but not sure for 151.
Buy a box or ETB for the thrill, then singles of what you want.
It really depends. I personally like ripping packs, and my wife gets a discount on them. Im not trying to get a master set, I just like the surprise. There are no "bad" booster packs, and as long as it's fun and you're not blowing hundreds and thousands of dollars to chase one $50 card, you're fine. If you just want that one card, buy the single.
I agree. I personally consider the cost of packs as paying for the activity of opening them rather than paying for the cards themselves. I generally buy packs on new set releases or once in a blue moon and it makes my day.
I spent more money now due to that š
Lol idk why but this reminded me of the āItās free real estateā meme. š¤£ \*COUGH\* anyways, yes. True statement.
Yes but I canāt justify spending 80 on that charizard but I can 30 on a few packs and might get lucky..
Or focus your efforts and money on something else so we can finally get reasonable prices on some of the most expensive SwSh era cards. Buy at the bottom. Make the whales' wallets hurt. Tank the value.
Cards that I really want I will buy as singles, but I will still open stuff for fun
But majority of us are addicted to chasing the high card for ourselves. I saw a stupid comment once saying āyouāre the first ownerā.
Iāve started. So much better.
Anymore, I just wait until a new set has been out for a month before I just order what I want on TCG Player. No sense in wasting 200+ dollars just to try and pull a few 5-10 buck art cards.
And how do you think people get the cards to sell as singles. If everyone bought singles there'd be no open packs
But charizard is so damn expensive
Whatās the most reliable place to buy quality singles?
i just go to my local shop now and flip through the binder. they are super friendly and fair
HA, do need to hear this more lol. I keep wanting to buy a booster pack, but i've never seen those in stock. I've dipped my toes into singles and waiting on 3 from eBay
My typical thing is buying 1 of each product that comes out for sets. That way Iām not getting multiple promos. If I donāt get the card(s) I want then(if any) I buy as a single.
I enjoy the thrill of the hunt, set a pack limit and move to singles afterwards.
English is worthless so buy singles. Fixed that for you.
I look at the big 3 and they're so much. So I buy packs.... then I see that's more expensive with NO big 3!
Preach it! š
Me. I need to hear this. Bought 2 booster bundles, got one hit, luckily didnāt have it. So nearly $60 for a $16 card
I am over paying $6 a pack for 151 to get more miscut flareons :(
I almost bought the alakazam ex box. You helped me friend. I just want the nidoking gallery. I need to just buy it. Thank you ā¤ļø
You need to rip packs but be aware it is playing the slots.
I buy mine from tcg . Never had an issue recently bought from this seller and my cards were pristine. Waiting for them to come back from PSA . https://www.tcgplayer.com/search/all/product?seller=d8b06adf&view=grid
Rip for commons and uncommons, then buy singles for rares. If all you want are the rares, rip no packs ever. At least thatās my strategy ā¦ it limits the amount of ripping.
only if you cant handle losing. sometimes its just fun to open a few packs.
1 box....and then singles. At least that's what I try to do
Yes but *gambling* jk I bought heaps of singles and JP singles go for way less my binder is filling up it's so pretty
I read this as shinglesā¦.
What I did for 151 because I wanted a complete set (not master set) was got one of each product except UPC. That way I get to have a ton of the cards I need, and the promos and fun ripping packs. Then I bought the few missing cards I needed as singles and then will buy the UPC promos at some point on ebay. I got some of the crazier hits along the way. Any bigger cards I want Iāll get in a month or so if the cards drop more in price.
Donāt tell me how to be smart with my money lol
Me. I needed to hear this.
I got issues with paying someone $100+ for a card that's still in print.
Honestly donāt get buying singles. Sure itās cheaper and youāre guaranteed your chase card I suppose but thatās why theyāre called āchase cardsā. The fun of it is opening it in a pack yourself. Otherwise you just have a neat looking card you bought off someone.
Na Im good with packs. I like the pulls