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[packs]

Why do people denigrate Pokemon collecting so much? There are constant complaints about how the hobby is no longer catering to kids and pricing them out of participation. Pokemon doesn't do any of those things, caters directly to kids, and found a way to make collecting exciting.

What don't you appreciate about that?

[4815162342]

Originally Posted by packs

Why do people denigrate Pokemon collecting so much? There are constant complaints about how the hobby is no longer catering to kids and pricing them out of participation. Pokemon doesn't do any of those things, caters directly to kids, and found a way to make collecting exciting.

What don't you appreciate about that?

What I mostly see online are adult men, well past the target age, getting into fights over Pokémon cards at stores.

[packs]

Those images are probably 5 years old at this point. Isn’t this board full of adult men who mostly always have something to get mad at each other about?

[4815162342]

Originally Posted by packs

… Isn’t this board full of adult men who mostly always have something to get mad at each other about?

lol point taken.

[jayshum]

Originally Posted by 4815162342

What I mostly see online are adult men, well past the target age, getting into fights over Pokémon cards at stores.

Originally Posted by packs

Those images are probably 5 years old at this point. Isn’t this board full of adult men who mostly always have something to get mad at each other about?

Not sure this is completely a thing of the past. Target has signs limiting purchase of Pokémon boxes to 1 per customer (if they actually have anything in stock) so there's still plenty of people interested in buying it. Maybe the stores have managed to avoid having fights about it happen but I could see it still being a possibility.

[packs]

Originally Posted by jayshum

Not sure this is completely a thing of the past. Target has signs limiting purchase of Pokémon boxes to 1 per customer (if they actually have anything in stock) so there's still plenty of people interested in buying it. Maybe the stores have managed to avoid having fights about it happen but I could see it still being a possibility.

Even if that is the case, I can't prove people's interests from afar, but it seemed to me that this behavior was/is especially prevalent among people who were/are looking to make a quick buck and not necessarily rampant among actual collectors who are interested in the cards.

[perezfan]

I think people bash Pokemon because when they go to a local "Sports Card Show" nowadays, they have to fight though dozens of Pokemon Booths to try locating 2 or 3 vintage card booths that may or may not even be there. And if you are successful in finding a "vintage" booth, they'll have mostly '60s - '80s cards, with maybe half a dozen low-end pre-war cards on hand (if you're lucky).

No malice towards those who like Pokemon (child or adult).... it's just not the same hobby experience we grew up with and loved.

[BioCRN]

TCG and sports cards are increasingly sharing store space, especially some of the newer started stores.

The TCG's are no longer the sole realm of hobby/game stores and mass retail.

It make for uneven audiences at "card shows" but it keeps getting increasingly hybridized together. For the most part the 2 groups could easily have their own specific card shows, and often do, but the promoters seem to have no issue having them slammed together in the same venue.

[puckpaul]

No problem with Pokemon, but i think sports cards are terrible these days. There are seemingly no base sets that have any real value, just a waste of money and i dont even know what a base set would be to collect a key rookie card. Seems like you have to get the fancier versions and it’s incredibly confusing and expensive. I tried to buy a key DeGrom Rookie when he started with the Mets. I went on eBay and bought a bunch i could find. I have no idea what i was buying, and no way to know if i had the right card that people would focus on if he kept doing well. Wasted a bunch of money likely. Not doing that again. I dont even know how to describe the cards i bought to look up what they are trading for now.

[jayshum]

Originally Posted by packs

Why do people denigrate Pokemon collecting so much? There are constant complaints about how the hobby is no longer catering to kids and pricing them out of participation. Pokemon doesn't do any of those things, caters directly to kids, and found a way to make collecting exciting.

What don't you appreciate about that?

I agree with you about Pokémon catering to kids, but I don't think pricing is very kid friendly on many of the cards. I was at a show last weekend and talked to a dealer I know who deals only with Pokémon. There were plenty of cards he had that people were asking about for $100+ and not many that I saw below $10. I'm not sure I would consider that to be kid friendly.

[packs]

Originally Posted by jayshum

I agree with you about Pokémon catering to kids, but I don't think pricing is very kid friendly on many of the cards. I was at a show last weekend and talked to a dealer I know who deals only with Pokémon. There were plenty of cards he had that people were asking about for $100+ and not many that I saw below $10. I'm not sure I would consider that to be kid friendly.

That's going to be true of any chase card in any hobby. But the packs cost on average about $5 and you can buy ETB's for $35 to $50. The other thing Pokemon does well is they include all chase cards in one single product.

Look at the alternative in the baseball card world. There are multiple versions of every Topps release (Topps Series 1, Series 2, Update, Chrome, Chrome Update, etc.) and on average you'll be paying a few hundred dollars for base set hobby boxes. The price only goes up from there.

In baseball there is also a clear separation of the quality of cards available depending on the product you buy. There are retail versions of every product available but the odds of getting a hit get more and more remote as you level down. Compare that to Pokemon where the same chase cards are available at comparable odds in every product release type (ETBs, boosters, tins, blaster packs, etc.).

[swarmee]

Originally Posted by jayshum

I agree with you about Pokémon catering to kids, but I don't think pricing is very kid friendly on many of the cards. I was at a show last weekend and talked to a dealer I know who deals only with Pokémon. There were plenty of cards he had that people were asking about for $100+ and not many that I saw below $10. I'm not sure I would consider that to be kid friendly.

I think he means the $3.99/pack price point. But yes, there are trillions of cards you can get for a nickel to play the game with, if your goal is to play the game and make a fun deck. Which again, is the kid thing to do. Or just collect them like my nephew; he doesn't really get the value stuff yet, and sorts his collection by the hit points (?) of the character at the top of the card.

[LEHR]

Originally Posted by jayshum

There were plenty of cards he had that people were asking about for $100+ and not many that I saw below $10. I'm not sure I would consider that to be kid friendly.

This is a new era. Every show I go to I see kids everywhere with wads of cash. I've seen kids that look as young as 8-9 buying $500.00 cards in cash. It doesn't matter where they got the money, they have it. The age old argument of "kid's are priced out of the hobby" doesn't hold much water in 2025.

Just my perspective.

[Leon]

The barrier of entry to be an entrepeneur in our hobby is about 5 bucks. Buy a card for 5, flip it for 6, and you just made 20% profit. Collecting doesn't seem high on the priority list of most of the whippersnappers buying and selling, so it seems to me.

Originally Posted by LEHR

This is a new era. Every show I go to I see kids everywhere with wads of cash. I've seen kids that look as young as 8-9 buying $500.00 cards in cash. It doesn't matter where they got the money, they have it. The age old argument of "kid's are priced out of the hobby" doesn't hold much water in 2025.

Just my perspective.

[Yoda]

Before Pokeman there were Beanie Babies, repulsive little creatures. Many show promoters eventually banned them it got so bad.

[BioCRN]

Well, that dropped quicker than I expected...

https://powerpacks.gamestop.com/

It's in cooperation with PSA. Market is so saturated with 1000 different versions of this, but in a way it's also an emerging market so who knows how big they can actually make this "buy a mystery slab" thing.