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Seven Bad Habits that Hurt Collectors - One Piece TCG, Pokemon and More — Transcript

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0:00Hello and welcome to One Piece of
0:02Insight. In today's video, I will be
0:04talking about seven collecting bad
0:06habits that I know I have and have to
0:08try to battle against and I imagine that
0:10some of you have them as well. You know,
0:12these habits can interfere with us being
0:14able to maximize the good time that
0:16we're having with our collecting. And
0:18so, I wanted to present both what they
0:19are and also some strategies of how we
0:21can avoid them. So, as always, this is
0:23intended to be interesting, informative,
0:25but not financial advice. So, with that,
0:27let's jump right in. First, I want to
0:29start with some important caveats. These
0:30aren't inherently bad, right? We do
0:32these things and a lot of it is totally
0:34fine. It's only if they make our
0:36experience worse. So, if you feel like
0:39you recognize some of these things and
0:40it doesn't negatively affect your
0:41collecting experience, cool, not a
0:43problem. And also, you know, the goal of
0:45all of this is to understand ourselves
0:47and be aware of how our choices affect
0:49our collecting, right? So, if you're
0:51watching this video and you're like,
0:52"Oh, I guess I do do that. I never
0:53really thought about that. Maybe that
0:55makes my collecting worse." That's when
0:57I would start thinking about whether or
0:58not these are things that you would want
0:59to try to mitigate. So, our first
1:01category of bad habit is completionism.
1:04And this is buying what we don't value
1:07in order to check a box. Now, again,
1:09we're talking about only if this is
1:10making your collecting experience worse.
1:13Sometimes we set out to complete a
1:15project and then we may realize part of
1:17the way through that like we don't care
1:19as much about everything in the project,
1:21right? We only really cared about some
1:22things. But then when we feel this
1:24compulsion that we have to actually
1:26complete it, that's where it can become
1:27problematic. I included the pictures
1:29here of the Ascended Heroes Master Set
1:31uh for Pokemon binder. Ascended Heroes
1:34is such an incredibly massive set and
1:36the cards have gotten incredibly
1:37expensive. Like if you're the type of
1:38person who likes to master set Pokemon
1:40cards, like this is way more challenging
1:42uh than any previous set. And so like
1:44are you doing it because you really get
1:46joy out of it or are you doing it
1:48because you feel like well this is what
1:49I do. So, even though I don't really
1:51want to, I guess I probably should just
1:52do this, right? Part of where I learned
1:54this lesson was starting from when I was
1:56very young. I was an avid coin collector
1:58and I had this book of all of the
2:00Lincoln pennies and I wanted to fill
2:01every single hole in the book with every
2:04penny. And so, in the beginning, I could
2:06get most of them for really, really
2:08cheap, right? They were just pennies.
2:10And then, as I started to get into the
2:11rarer ones, they got a little bit more
2:13expensive and a little bit more
2:14expensive. And eventually, I found
2:16myself with an entire book full except
2:18for one coin. the one coin on the
2:20screen, the 1909 SVDB. This one was
2:22going to cost me like $1,500 or more in
2:25order to buy. And so it just sat there
2:27with a hole in my binder for years until
2:30I was an adult and I finally had a job
2:32where I could justify spending this type
2:34of money on a collectible. So I finally
2:35bought it and yeah, it felt good to
2:38complete the collection. But like as I'm
2:41sitting here years later, like was a
2:43penny really worth, you know, $1,500 to
2:46me, especially when I didn't have that
2:48much money. I think this is like one of
2:49the questions we need to ask when we
2:51start out on a collecting journey. I
2:53also wanted to highlight the Hoodie
2:54Jones here from the gold SP Leader
2:55collection from Ebo2. This card's like
2:57between $500 to $1,000 at this point.
3:00It's super super rare, right? I estimate
3:02there's like less than 500 of them, but
3:04like who wants to spend that much money
3:06on Hodi Jones, right? Like the reason
3:08this card is expensive is because there
3:10are people who want to collect the
3:12entire set. And so like if you set out
3:14to collect the entire set, I think it's
3:16worth asking, should I just buy the ones
3:18that I want, or is it worth it to me to
3:20like spend $1,000 to get a hod just
3:23because it's necessary to complete the
3:25set. So why can this be a problem? Well,
3:26it can be a problem when we feel
3:28compelled to buy something that we don't
3:29actually want, right? If we set out a
3:31journey that seems fun and then we find
3:33ourselves in a position where in order
3:35to finish it, we got to buy stuff that
3:36we don't want, like that may be a
3:38negative experience, right? Like if you
3:41started trying to collect the gold SP
3:42leaders when they were cheap, like the
3:44entire project you thought would
3:46probably cost you a couple thousand
3:47maybe and now it's going to cost you
3:49over $100,000. Do you stay committed to
3:52that task uh knowing how much more
3:54expensive it is? That's one of I think
3:56the inherent challenges with trying to
3:57be a completionist. And then if we are
4:00not enjoying the journey of completing
4:02the set and instead we feel bad that we
4:04haven't completed it, like that's more
4:07of a compulsion than it is a hobby or
4:09something that we actually enjoy. So
4:11what can we do? Well, first don't commit
4:13to a project and you unless you already
4:15have the means to complete it. Don't
4:17commit to like a massive 15-year
4:18collecting journey, right? Because we
4:19don't know what those cards are going to
4:20cost 15 years from now. And you're going
4:22to be awfully frustrated if you spent 10
4:24years working on something and suddenly
4:25the rest of it becomes inaccessible to
4:27you. So buying things that are currently
4:28within your means that you plan to
4:30complete in a short period of time, I
4:31think could be really good strategy.
4:33Another thing you can do is buy the most
4:34expensive item first. So if you do want
4:37to start on a long-term collecting
4:38journey and you're worried about prices
4:40going up, buy the hardest to find one
4:42now. Buy the most expensive one now and
4:44then you'll be filling in the smaller
4:45ones, right? Like if I had started with
4:47a $1,600 penny, it would have been much
4:50easier for me to complete the collection
4:51as prices rose on the penny. And then
4:53finally, make by bite-size collecting
4:55goals. I am trying to like identify
4:57smaller things that I really want to
5:00collect, right? So, you know, collecting
5:01a complete set of the Japanese base shop
5:05cards we're going to talk about a little
5:06bit later in a CGC pristine 10 was one
5:08of my goals. I'm currently working on
5:10getting one of every illustration box
5:12card in a CGC pristine 10. Like, these
5:15are both relatively affordable goals,
5:16but they're also like small in number,
5:18right? I only need to get like six cards
5:20or eight cards or whatever in order to
5:22actually do it. And so it's much more
5:24manageable than trying to do a complete
5:25master set. The next potentially bad
5:27habit I want to talk about is gambling.
5:29And this is when we are chasing thrills
5:31over specific cards. Now obviously like
5:34gambling, everybody's familiar with it,
5:35right? No one is surprised that gambling
5:37is a challenge uh and a bad habit when
5:40it comes to trading cards, but I did
5:42want to try to provide a little bit more
5:43of a nuanced view to this, which is that
5:45I understand that gambling can be very
5:47very fun. Uh and gambling is not
5:49inherently unhealthy. It's only
5:51unhealthy if it's problematic. Like I'm
5:54not a huge gambler, especially at this
5:56point in my life. I like to know what
5:57I'm getting when I spend money. But even
5:59I have fallen victim to some of these
6:00things, right? So like PRBO1, I really
6:03wanted to open one of the god packs. I
6:05thought this was like the coolest thing
6:06that I had ever seen in a trading card
6:08box. So I ended up opening like five
6:11boxes of PRBO1. Now granted, they're
6:13only like 100 to 150 bucks at the time,
6:15but like if I still had those boxes, it
6:18would be worth a lot more. I didn't end
6:19up opening the god pack. I didn't end up
6:21opening anything great. I had a good
6:23time, so I don't like regret it. Um, but
6:25I was definitely chasing something,
6:27right? And there was definitely a
6:28disappointment when I ran out of boxes
6:30and I didn't hit it. And so that didn't
6:31feel very good. I think another way that
6:33we all collectively gamble in this
6:35community that many people may not
6:36recognize as gambling is grading cards.
6:39You know, when we send in our cards,
6:41particularly like I have historically
6:42liked grading with Beckett. And so like
6:44you send in your cards and you're hoping
6:45for that rush of getting back that black
6:47label, right? That's like kind of like
6:48winning a little lottery because your
6:51card is going to be worth so much more,
6:52right? And so like, yeah, I like having
6:55my cards slabbed. I like the way they
6:56look. I like that they're protected, but
6:58also like grading yourself scratches a
7:00gambling itch. So like again, there's
7:02nothing inherently wrong with that, but
7:03if it's making your experience worse,
7:05like it's something to be aware of. And
7:07then there's a side of it that I really,
7:08really, really don't like, and that's
7:10like the GameStop power packs, right?
7:12That's where like basically a big
7:13company is taking advantage of your
7:15passion for the hobby to make money
7:18because they're incentivizing people to
7:20gamble in a way that's going to be a
7:23loss for them the vast majority of the
7:25time. Right? Remember, generally in
7:27gambling, if you're making money, then
7:30the people who are selling the thing are
7:32losing money and that doesn't work for
7:33them. Right? So, the vast majority of
7:35the time you're going to be losing money
7:36in order for them to make money and it
7:38just feels really really sketchy uh when
7:42companies are doing that. Opening packs
7:43is one thing, like that's what you're
7:45physically buying, but like you know, if
7:47you're spending a whole lot of money and
7:48you're getting a sketchy card out of a
7:50power pack, like that feels really bad
7:51to me. So, when is this a problem? Well,
7:53it's definitely a problem if we don't
7:55know that we're losing money, right? I
7:56think this is the most important thing
7:58here is that like some people they like
8:00see the high prices of cards and boxes
8:02and they think I'm going to open a box
8:03and I'm going to get rich. Like they
8:05don't realize that even though there's
8:06expensive cards in there, the vast
8:08majority of the time you're going to
8:09lose money, right? Same thing with like
8:10these power packs, right? They put like
8:12a really cool card on the cover and make
8:13you think you're going to hit something
8:14awesome, but the vast majority of the
8:16time you're going to lose money, right?
8:18When we send our cards in to be graded,
8:20maybe our cards come back worth more,
8:22maybe they don't. But like PSA and
8:24Beckett and all those companies, they
8:25always win, right? The house always wins
8:28because we're paying them money.
8:29Especially if you're grading with PSA
8:30because you're paying them to grade your
8:31card and then you're paying them again
8:33because they gave your card a good
8:34grade, right? As with all this stuff,
8:36when it stops being fun is when it
8:38really becomes a problem. Like if you
8:40set aside a little bit of money to open
8:42packs, you know, my kid and I, we open a
8:45box of OP every set, even though we know
8:47it's going to be a loss most likely,
8:48just because it's really, really fun and
8:50I want to get the commons and the
8:51uncommons and the rares and some of the
8:53super rares and that sort of thing. But
8:54it's fun and that's fine because we are
8:57deliberate and recognize that we are
8:59doing this for fun rather than for
9:01trying to actually gain something of
9:02value. And then the last thing is, and
9:04this is really when you should recognize
9:07that like maybe you're in a problematic
9:09place, which is if you're trying to
9:11recoup losses by ripping packs. Everyone
9:14has probably had this experience of like
9:17you gamble. It doesn't go well. Whether
9:19it's ripping packs, whether it's ripping
9:20power packs, whether it's a slot
9:21machine, whatever. And then you're like,
9:23"Okay, well, I'm due, right? I'm due for
9:25it to go well because it hasn't been
9:27going well. I'm just going to try a few
9:28more times." And then you end up losing
9:30even more money, right? So, what can we
9:32do about this? Well, the first thing is
9:34we can set limits. So, decide how much
9:35you're willing to lose in advance,
9:37right? Because if you identify when
9:38you're of a sober mind, what you're
9:40comfortable losing, then you'll always
9:42be okay. Study the expected value to rip
9:44the best sets. Don't just look at the
9:46top chase card. Look at like what all
9:47the other cards in the boxes are worth
9:49and what their probabilities are. And
9:50then finally, start selling. Um, if you
9:53have a way to sell the less expensive
9:55cards in the boxes, you will be much
9:58better able to recuperate the money that
10:01you spent opening the box. I have a
10:03friend who started a TCG player store um
10:06because she really wanted to open more
10:07boxes and as a result of doing that and
10:09selling all of the lowerc cost cards,
10:11she's been able to keep the chase cards
10:12for herself. So, that can work out super
10:14well. But, if you're just ripping boxes
10:16in hopes of hitting a big chase, like
10:18it's going to be much, much harder for
10:19you to recuperate that value. So the
10:21next habit I want to talk about is
10:22perfectionism. And this is paying huge
10:24premiums for minor differences. Now this
10:27is true in every collecting hobby,
10:29right? But I think it's fascinating how
10:30much more we're willing to pay for
10:32relatively minor differences in quality
10:35and as a result in rarity. Obviously the
10:38bubble mu came to mind as soon as I
10:40thought about this. The same day you had
10:42a bubble mu selling for 2875 versus
10:44$236,000
10:46for the black label. like it's
10:48relatively hard to get a PSA 10 for
10:50Pokemon cards and so like that should
10:52mean something but for it to be like
10:54almost a hundred times more expensive
10:56for a black label is like absolutely
10:58bananas in my opinion. Uh you're not
11:01really paying for the card anymore,
11:02right? You're just paying for the label.
11:03And so to highlight this, I wanted to
11:05bring up three recent sales on eBay for
11:08the first anniversary collection. So the
11:10first one we had was a complete set of
11:12PSA 10s. That's going to be our
11:14benchmark with the first anniversary set
11:16that sold for $16,500.
11:18But then if you wanted a sequential set,
11:21so that meant that all of them were
11:23submitted at the same time. So they're
11:24numbers. They're numbered in sequence.
11:26Obviously very hard to get because that
11:28means every single card you submit has
11:30to be a 10 in order for that to work.
11:31But like it's the same quality cards,
11:34right? They just have different serial
11:36numbers on them. Someone paid $22,000
11:39for that. So that was almost $6,000 more
11:42just to have the serial numbers line up.
11:45And then we had a mixed lot of PSA 9 and
11:4910 sell for $3,689.
11:53So I think there's a couple things here.
11:54Number one, obviously, yes, people are
11:55paying for card quality, but like, let's
11:57be honest, the difference between a 9
11:58and a 10 is like barely noticeable to
12:01most people, but I actually suspect that
12:03you would get more money selling a
12:05complete lot of PSA 9 than you would for
12:08a lot that's like eight PSA 9s and two
12:10PSA 10s if the PSA 10s are not on the
12:13most expensive characters because
12:14people, their perfectionism wants them
12:17to have exactly the same numbers lined
12:19up across all of their cards. And so,
12:22when can this be a problem? Well, number
12:24one, if you do it out of habit and you
12:26don't actually value it as highly,
12:27right? So, if you are like, I have to
12:29get a PSA 10 or I have to get a BGS
12:32black label, right? And that has sort of
12:34lost meaning to you. It's just like what
12:36you do, then you are like paying a
12:37massive premium and I'm not sure that
12:39you're necessarily getting a ton of
12:40value out of it. I understand that they
12:42have better resale values when they're
12:43in higher grades, but like, you know, in
12:44terms of your own collecting journey,
12:46like are you getting a lot of value out
12:48of that difference if you're not really
12:49thinking about it? if it's just what
12:50you're used to doing, you know,
12:52obviously when it prevents you from
12:53getting other things that you care about
12:54more, right? So, like the person who got
12:56the first anniversary set for like less
12:58than $4,000 versus the one who got the
13:01sequential set for $22,000, that person
13:03has $18,000
13:05more to spend on other cards that they
13:07may want, right? So, like again, I'm not
13:10saying that I think the sequential one
13:11is a bad deal, but just like if you are
13:13trying to maximize your collecting and
13:15what you really care about is the art,
13:17who cares, right? Uh, and then finally,
13:19like when it creates lifestyle creep,
13:21right? This has actually been a little
13:22bit of a challenge for me because I
13:24mostly grade my own cards. I've gotten
13:26used to getting like BGS10s of stuff and
13:29then like when I want to display my
13:31complete set of the OP5 SPS or like the
13:34OP4 SPS or whatever, I kind of want them
13:37to match. And so if half of them came
13:39back as 10 and half of them came back as
13:4195s, like do I then need to upgrade the
13:4395s to 10 so that I can display them?
13:46Right? Ultimately, I have decided not to
13:49do that for those cards just because of
13:51how much it would cost. But once you
13:53have those better quality cards, it can
13:54lead to lifestyle creep where you feel
13:56like all of those cards need to match
13:58and all of those cards need to be that
13:59quality. So, in terms of what we can do,
14:01so you can buy raw cards, right? If
14:04you're buying near mint raw cards, like
14:05yeah, there's going to be some
14:06differences in card quality, but like
14:07chances are in the binder you're not
14:09going to really notice. You can collect
14:11less expensive grades and less expensive
14:13card graders. I heard somebody talking
14:15recently about collecting like only PSA
14:178s. I think that's actually a super sick
14:19idea. PSA8s obviously are going to be
14:21cheaper than RAW most of the time.
14:23They're still good-looking cards and
14:25they're still rare, right? So, if you
14:26enjoy the aspect of like having to hunt
14:29for it, as I know many of us do, like
14:32that's a great way to do that and save a
14:33bunch of money, still get a cool card
14:35and still have them in decent condition,
14:36right? You know, another thing you could
14:38do is like don't buy PSA, don't buy
14:40Beckett, buy CGC, buy, you know, a
14:43grading company from another country
14:45that's considered reputable but maybe
14:47doesn't have a huge market here. If your
14:48plan isn't to sell it, but you just like
14:50having it in this lab, then like you
14:53don't have to pay the premium for like
14:55the most liquid graders here, right? And
14:57then finally, have rules for when to
14:59grade yourself and when to buy grade it.
15:01Sometimes people will buy like 20 copies
15:03of a card because they're hunting a
15:05specific grade when in reality the
15:07premium for buying that grade may
15:08actually be lower than the cost of
15:10submitting it themselves and then the
15:11opposite also happens. People will pay
15:13like you know 10x for something in a
15:15grade when in reality it would have been
15:16pretty easy for them to get it
15:18themselves if they graded it. So I think
15:20understanding the balance between those
15:21things so that you know when to grade
15:23yourself versus when to actually buy the
15:25grade I think can save us a bunch of
15:27money over the long term. So next I want
15:28to talk about value maximizing. And this
15:31is probably my number one vice when it
15:33comes to collecting. Uh this is like
15:35buying good deals for stuff that you
15:38don't actually want. Right? When you
15:40spend a lot of time thinking about what
15:41things should cost and what they're
15:43valued at, it can be very painful
15:46sometimes to like go on eBay and see a
15:48card at like 50% of what you think it's
15:50worth. And even if you already have it
15:52and even if you don't necessarily want
15:54it, like how do you not buy it when you
15:56know it's such a good deal, right? So,
15:58I'll give you a quick story of my recent
16:00collecting experience. As I mentioned, I
16:01really like the One Piece base shop set
16:04um where their eyes are like popping out
16:05of their heads. And so, I really wanted
16:06to have a complete set. So, I was on
16:08eBay and I saw this set uh of mixed CGC
16:12numbers uh and I bid on it and it ended
16:14$127.50,
16:16right? Which I thought was a really,
16:17really good deal. Um but then I was
16:21like, well, I have two CGC10 pristines.
16:24like should I just try to get the
16:26complete set in a pristine 10? So then I
16:29started buying up the singles and then I
16:32saw a Luffy and a CGC9. It was only 20
16:35bucks and that was just like way too
16:36cheap. So I had to buy that. And then I
16:39found myself with essentially like a
16:42full set of the pristine tens, which is
16:44what I wanted. And then also like three
16:46extra regular 10ens, like three extra
16:48CGC9s, just like a mix of stuff. And I
16:51was like, "Well, should I try to
16:52complete the CGC 10 set now? Should I
16:54also try to complete the CGC9 set?" And
16:57I was like, "You need to stop."
16:59>> [laughter]
16:59>> Like you basically bought something that
17:02was a good deal because you wanted the
17:04cards and then you decided you wanted
17:06them in a better grade, which is fine.
17:08But now you're letting the fact that you
17:09bought something for a good deal cause
17:11you to buy like six additional cards
17:14that you don't want just to feel like
17:17there was a purpose in you buying these
17:19lower grade cards. Okay. So when can it
17:21be a problem? Well, when it feels like
17:23an obligation, right? If it hurts you to
17:26see like a price for too low on eBay and
17:29you feel like you need to bid on it,
17:30like that's me and that can be a
17:32problem. You know, when you miss out on
17:34things because you're waiting for them
17:35to become a good value. This is another
17:37one that I really struggle with
17:39sometimes. Like the Bubble Zoro, right?
17:41Like absolutely adore that card. I've
17:43thought it was too expensive uh for a
17:46long time. Even when it hit $750, I was
17:48like, it's a fair deal, but it's not a
17:51great deal. And I want a great deal. And
17:54now it's back up to 950 bucks, right?
17:56And like I probably won't ever get one.
17:58And I'm okay with that, but that does
17:59also mean that I missed out on a card
18:01that I really, really like. And then the
18:02last thing is when you end up with
18:03things you just don't want, right? Like
18:06yeah, you got a really good deal, but
18:08what are you going to do with it? Right?
18:10It turns out that even if something is
18:12undervalued, if you don't have anything
18:13to do with it, it's not actually a good
18:15deal. Okay, so what can we do about
18:16this? So the first thing is to identify
18:18what you want and how many you want
18:20absent the price. So, like what I should
18:22have done is I should have said, "Okay,
18:23I want to get the base shop cards. How
18:26do I want them?" I could look around at
18:28prices, see what seems like a good
18:30value. Like I settle on I want a CGC
18:32pristine 10 set, right? That's what I
18:34focus on buying. Don't buy the other
18:36stuff. Don't buy them in mixed lots, you
18:38know? Don't just buy something because
18:40it's cheap. Figure out what you want,
18:41how many of them you want, and then just
18:43do that for the best value that you can.
18:46One of the biggest things that I have
18:47learned is that you cannot just watch
18:49items that you don't plan to buy, right?
18:51Like I don't know if you all do this,
18:52but when I have a card, I'll be like
18:54interested to see what the sales are on
18:56eBay to see how the price is changing.
18:58So, I'll just like save other listings
18:59of those cards to see where they end.
19:01But then sometimes when I check, it's
19:03like, oh, that is way too cheap. Uh,
19:04maybe I should buy that, right? And so,
19:06I need to stop doing that so that I just
19:07don't even like open my eyes to cards
19:11that I should not be buying. Uh, and
19:13then the last option is just to start
19:14selling, right? If you like buying for
19:16incredible value because you think uh
19:18someone else will pay more for it,
19:20that's cool. You just need a way to
19:22actually sell that to the person who's
19:23willing to pay more for it, right? So
19:25like if you're going to become a vendor
19:27yourself, if you have a plan to consign
19:29if you're going to send everything to
19:30the PSA vault and sell through that,
19:32like all that's totally fine, but you
19:34know, don't buy undervalued stuff
19:36without a plan if you don't actually
19:37want it. The next bad habit I want to
19:39talk about is hype chasing. So this is
19:41basically when you love the rush more
19:42than you love the actual collectible.
19:44Now, I've obviously talked about Beanie
19:45Babies before. It's hard to talk about
19:47collectibles without talking about
19:48Beanie Babies. Like, that to me was the
19:50ultimate in just like hype chasing.
19:52Like, how many people actually wanted
19:53these stuffed animals, right? I feel
19:55super different about One Piece. One
19:57Piece is like an iconic IP. It's
19:59incredibly nostalgic for lots of people.
20:01Like, the art is fantastic. Like,
20:03there's reasons why somebody wants OP
20:05that isn't hype. But like how many
20:07people who were paying hundreds or
20:09thousands of dollars for Beanie Babies
20:11cared about these stuffed animals
20:13compared to other stuffed animals,
20:15right? It wasn't nostalgic necessarily.
20:17It didn't tie into any specific IP. Like
20:19I think in retrospect, like hype was
20:22really all there was, right? And so I
20:24think we need to be cognizant of that,
20:25right? And like one of the challenges
20:27with hype is that like when it first
20:28starts, it feels really good. And like
20:31we don't have the benefit of hindsight
20:33like we do with Beanie Babies to know
20:34whether something is going to be the
20:36future or whether it isn't. So like a a
20:39hype that I fell into not too long ago
20:41was when Topps released its digital
20:44baseball cards. I thought that was
20:45really really cool. I liked baseball
20:47cards. I was playing a baseball game at
20:48the time that had digital baseball cards
20:50and I thought like this is both cool and
20:52it could be the future, right? So I
20:54bought a bunch. I didn't spend a ton of
20:55money. Um, but you know, I bought some
20:57and now I frankly don't even know how to
20:59access them anymore. They don't seem to
21:02have become the future, at least not
21:03now. And I basically don't have access
21:06to my collection, right? Which stinks.
21:08So, my point is is that like be very
21:10careful when you're buying something
21:12just for hype. And then the last example
21:13I wanted to talk about here was Dragon
21:15Ball. When One Piece started to erupt, a
21:18bunch of people were like, "Hey, maybe
21:19we should look at other card games." And
21:21they started to buy up Dragon Ball,
21:23right? Like if you're a fan of Dragon
21:24Ball, like if you play the game, if you
21:26like the IP, if you think the cards look
21:28awesome, whatever, cool. But like if
21:30you're just like a random person who
21:31doesn't know anything about Dragon Ball,
21:32don't just like start buying Dragon Ball
21:34cards just because uh some people
21:37started to hype it up, right? And like I
21:39know that sounds obvious, but like when
21:41we feel the hype, when we feel the
21:43excitement, and when we fear that we're
21:45missing out on whatever the next big
21:46thing is, it can be really hard to
21:47resist that. So when does it become a
21:49problem? Well, it becomes a problem when
21:50the hype dies. You lose money and you
21:52end up with something that you don't
21:54want, right? I think that like as
21:55collectors, we should understand that
21:57like when we buy things that are hyped
21:59up, like eventually the hype is going to
22:01die and more often than not we're going
22:03to be left with something that's worth
22:04less than it was at its peak hype. So,
22:06if you're not good with what you're left
22:08with at the price you paid, then do not
22:10buy it. That is my advice. when
22:12everybody's making money off you. You
22:14know, an important thing to understand
22:15is like in the cycle of hype, it's sort
22:18of like a Ponzi scheme, right? Where
22:19like somebody buys something at a high
22:22price and the only way that they're
22:23going to make their money uh is by
22:26selling it to someone else who's willing
22:28to pay more, right? This concept is
22:30called the greater fool and economics.
22:32I'm going to do a video talking more
22:33about it in the future because it's like
22:34so fundamental to how trading card
22:36markets work. Um, but like if you are
22:39the late adopter, if you are the person
22:41who is coming in at the very end, like
22:43you are disproportionately likely to be
22:45the one left holding the bag. And so
22:47chances are people are going to be
22:48making money off you rather than the
22:50other way around. So be the smart money.
22:52Don't be the person who just follows the
22:53hype. And then lastly, when markets are
22:55being heavily manipulated, this is far
22:57more likely. And unfortunately, you
22:59know, given that these are like rare
23:01collectibles and that TCG player and
23:03other markets are like fundamentally
23:06limited in their ability to present
23:07accurate information, it is very easy to
23:09manipulate these types of markets. And
23:11it's very easy for people to get caught
23:13up in these type of markets and lose
23:15money. So remember, if someone is
23:16manipulating the market, they are
23:18targeting people like you who they know
23:20are going to chase hype in order for
23:22them to make money off of you. So what
23:24can we do about this? Well, number one,
23:26recognize when we are hype chasing
23:28versus when we are buying things because
23:29we really genuinely want them. Ask
23:32yourself, if this goes to zero, will I
23:33be happy having it? If the answer is no,
23:36then you probably shouldn't buy it. And
23:38then the final thing you can do is give
23:39yourself a fixed budget, right? And this
23:41is the approach that I took with the
23:42baseball cards, right? I was like, okay,
23:44I'm going to spend $200 max. Like,
23:46that's the limit I'm giving myself. And
23:48it's in the name of fun. Like, if I went
23:50to a casino and I spent $200 and I lost
23:52it, cool. I'm gonna have some fun
23:53opening some digital baseball cards and
23:55if they end up being worth something in
23:57the future, cool. And if not, I
23:59basically lost my money like a slot
24:00machine, but I had a good time. As long
24:01as you're operating within your means,
24:03like that's totally fine. The next bad
24:05habit I want to talk about is the exact
24:07opposite of uh following hype, and that
24:10is contrarianism, [laughter] which is
24:12basically the perspective that if
24:14something is unpopular, that inherently
24:16means that it's a diamond in the rough.
24:18Uh which it turns out most of the time
24:20is not true. Most of the time when
24:21things are unpopular, it's because
24:23they're unpopular and they're never
24:24going to stop being unpopular, right? Or
24:26maybe they're even very popular with a
24:28small group of people, but like they're
24:30not likely to break out of that niche
24:32that they're in. An example of where
24:33I've fallen victim to this is when I
24:35first got back into trading cards. I was
24:37just experimenting with some different
24:38things that I thought would be fun. And
24:40I'm a big Star Wars fan. And so I found
24:42these like Chinese art cards um that
24:46were Star Wars related. And I was like,
24:48"Okay, nobody's on these yet. These are
24:51really cool. China's a huge market.
24:53Like, it's a growing market for trading
24:55cards. Star Wars could be popular in
24:57China, even though it's not currently,
24:58right? Lot of fun opening them, and I
25:00think people will discover them in the
25:01future, and then they'll like go up in
25:03value. I still stand by them being cool
25:04and fun, but have they gone up in value?
25:06No. Are they going to go up in value?
25:08No. It turns out people in China don't
25:10really like Star Wars, and that's
25:11probably not going to change." My
25:13instinct was to say, "Nobody's on this
25:15yet. It's probably a good value." But
25:17like most of the time you're just not
25:19going to get anywhere because things
25:21that are unpopular tend to stay
25:22unpopular. And then I made the opposite
25:24mistake with Destin Rivals, right? Which
25:26was that when Destin Rivals came out, it
25:28was super super expensive and it was
25:30super super hyped. And I was like, I'm
25:32not going to buy any of this set because
25:33it's really really hyped and I'm going
25:34to wait for it to fall to the prices
25:36that the normal sets are. Like I
25:38understand that this is a slightly
25:39better set than most of the other
25:41Scarlet and Violet sets. Um, but I don't
25:43think it's that great. So, I'm not
25:45willing to pay any of these premiums,
25:46which is sort of like a contrarian view,
25:48but the truth is the prices never really
25:50fell. The hype never really went away.
25:52Like, might it happen in the future?
25:53Sure. But most likely, I just missed out
25:55on it because I was being contrarian.
25:57And I'm fine with that. But like, I just
26:00wanted to show that this goes in both
26:01directions, right? Like, you can
26:02overinvest in things that are unpopular
26:06and you can also miss the genuine
26:08popularity in things if you're always
26:10looking at the things that are
26:11unpopular. So, when does this become a
26:12problem? Well, when it's automatic and
26:14when it's not calculated, right? If your
26:16default is always to look in one
26:17direction and to just see something
26:19that's hyped up and say like, "Eh, not
26:21for me. It's hyped. It's overpriced.
26:23It's whatever." Like, and not actually
26:24think about it, that's not very good.
26:26When you end up with a bunch of
26:28worthless stuff is [laughter] when it
26:29becomes a problem, right? Like, if you
26:31buy the Chinese art cards and you think
26:33they're awesome and you love them and
26:34you look at them every day, like, cool.
26:36It doesn't matter that they're not worth
26:37anything, right? But if you're like me
26:39and you have way more stuff than you can
26:41possibly look at all the time, then
26:42you're like not getting a lot of value
26:43out of it. It's both not increasing in
26:45value and it's not providing a ton of
26:46value to me. And then the worst thing is
26:49when you think it's an investment,
26:50right? So if you are like spending money
26:52on stuff that you don't want because you
26:54think it's going to go up, like this is
26:56like buying into hype is bad, but buying
26:59into things that you don't genuinely
27:02enjoy that are currently unpopular is
27:04like a recipe for losing all of your
27:05money. So what can we do about this?
27:07Well, the most important thing, and I
27:08know if you watch this channel, you've
27:10heard me say this many, many times, is
27:12just buy stuff you can actually afford
27:14that you actually love. Because here's
27:16the beautiful thing. If you buy what you
27:18love, over time, somebody might discover
27:21the thing that you love and realize that
27:23it was actually really, really cool and
27:25should be worth more money. Like there
27:27were probably people who were collecting
27:29vintage One Piece for years because they
27:32loved it, not expecting it to go up in
27:34value a ton, and then suddenly the game
27:36came out and like the IP blew up and now
27:39they're worth a fortune, right? At a
27:41minimum, you're still getting what you
27:42love even if you're not making any
27:44money. You know, be honest about why
27:46something may not ever be popular,
27:48right? Just because you think it's cool
27:50does not mean that you are the median
27:51consumer, right? In order for something
27:53to be popular, there needs to be more
27:55people who want it than the total
27:56supply. If it's really, really niche,
27:59even if it's really low supply, it's
28:00probably not going to take off. If it's
28:02high supply, even if it's really, really
28:04popular, it's probably not going to take
28:05off. And then the last thing you can do,
28:07because none of us can predict the
28:08future, is just to diversify. Like this
28:09is like the best piece of advice in like
28:11anything you own, right? Don't buy
28:14things that you don't like just in the
28:15name of diversification. But if you like
28:17Star Wars, if you like One Piece, if you
28:19like a bunch of different stuff, have
28:21some stuff across different things.
28:22You'll enjoy as you eb and flow in terms
28:25of what you're interested in, but also
28:26like it gives you the best chance uh
28:28that something might take off at some
28:30point in the future. And then the final
28:31habit I want to talk about is investing.
28:33And this I put in quotes because I want
28:36to distinguish between people who are
28:38like genuine investors who have like a
28:41strategy and a plan and have a business
28:44versus people who are like, I'm just
28:47going to waltz into something and I'm
28:49going to put some money aside as an
28:50investment. Like if you want to make
28:53money off trading cards, like you have
28:55to have a business. Like your cards
28:57aren't randomly just going to disappear
28:59at some point and be replaced with
29:01money. If you are buying for profit, not
29:04for love, and you have no plan for how
29:08you're going to sell, no exit strategy,
29:10you are walking into trouble. I have
29:12said several times that I am worried
29:13about the state of the sealed Pokemon
29:15market, particularly for modern stuff,
29:17because everybody knows that it's
29:18expensive and it's valuable and that
29:20it's going to go up over time because
29:21that's what's always happened. And so,
29:23you have people that just have like
29:24closets or warehouses full of sealed
29:26product. And we have no idea how much of
29:29that is actually out there. And if the
29:30prices ever fall and if they ever need
29:32to liquidate, prices could crash super
29:35super fast. And so, like, if you have a
29:37business and you're buying inventory,
29:39that's totally fine. If you just have a
29:41garage full of stuff and you have no
29:44exit strategy, like that's extremely
29:46risky and can be very, very dangerous.
29:49Um, you know, I also saw this image of
29:52investment tips for like buying one
29:54piece and it was an explainer of the
29:56rarity system, right? Like if you don't
29:59know enough about the One Piece TCG to
30:01know what the rarity system is, do not
30:04think you're just going to walk into it
30:05and invest, right? Like you might get
30:08lucky. Sure. If you look at any category
30:11of anything throughout history, how many
30:12people have just walked into it with no
30:14knowledge of it and made money, right?
30:16Most of the time those people are the
30:18ones who are going to lose money. It's
30:19the people who knew a lot about it in
30:21the beginning, who knew what was good
30:23and knew what wasn't good, that were
30:25really able to capitalize off the boom.
30:27So, when this becomes a problem is
30:29essentially if you have no plan for
30:30selling, then like there's a good chance
30:32you just get stuck with stuff. If you
30:35aren't the smart money, and I don't mean
30:36this as an insult to anyone, right? But
30:38like I would not walk into Dragon Ball
30:42knowing very little about the IP, even
30:44though I know a good amount about
30:45trading cards, and think that I can
30:47predict which characters are going to be
30:49the most popular. I just don't have that
30:51knowledge. And so like again, if you
30:54follow your passion and what you love,
30:55it will also direct you towards the
30:57things that you know the most about and
30:59that will best position you to be able
31:01to make good decisions. So do not just
31:03like waltz into somebody else's IP or
31:05someone else's passion and assume that
31:07you're going to be able to figure out
31:08how to make money where they have not.
31:11And then the last thing is that when
31:12it's money you need and not recreational
31:14spending, you know, if you're buying
31:16cards because you love them and it's
31:17your hobby, that's recreational
31:19spending, right? like you get joy out of
31:21it. It's no different than taking a
31:23trip. It's no different than buying a
31:24gadget or a watch or whatever. But if
31:27you are foregoing other actual
31:30investments in the name of buying
31:33trading cards as an investment, again
31:35with no exit strategy, with no business,
31:37with no knowledge of it,
31:40then you are more than likely to end up
31:43with less than what you started with.
31:46you have the negative opportunity cost
31:48of not having actually invested that
31:50money and you could put yourself in
31:51financial peril. Like I don't give
31:53financial advice on this channel because
31:54I do not invest in trading cards. Like
31:58you know, talk to a financial adviser if
32:00you're trying to figure out what your
32:01optimal investment strategy is. But I
32:03mean, like I'm not going to lie, it like
32:04makes me nauseous when I hear stories
32:07about people who like went into debt to
32:09buy trading cards. And so finally, what
32:10can we do? If you genuinely want to try
32:13to do this to make money, to make a
32:15business out of it, identify your exit
32:17strategy before you're buying anything.
32:19If you don't have an exit strategy, the
32:21way that you're going to get out of your
32:22products is by selling them at like 60
32:24or 70% to like a store or maybe a vendor
32:27at a card show. So, like, you know,
32:29sure, maybe the product goes up enough
32:32uh that you still make a little bit of
32:33money off top of that, but like could
32:35you imagine if you bought a stock and it
32:37had to increase by more than 30 or 40%
32:40before you broke even? like you would
32:41never ever ever buy that stock, right?
32:44So, like do not buy things with the
32:47explicit purpose of investing unless you
32:48have an exit strategy and you know how
32:50you're going to get your money back. And
32:52then number two, if you love cards and
32:55you don't love business, then treat them
32:56as a hobby and not as a business. This
32:58is part of the reason that I don't
33:00invest in trading cards. like because
33:02I'm passionate about them and I don't
33:04want that joy to be spoiled by buying
33:08things because I think they're going to
33:09go up and losing money on things that I
33:12don't particularly care about and like
33:14having to add the additional stress to
33:16my life of like having an eBay store or
33:18like a TCG player store or like
33:20traveling every weekend to vend just to
33:22make sure that I'm able to make a little
33:23bit of profit, right? That's not fun for
33:26me. If it is fun for you, that's cool.
33:28You should do it. It's great. it's going
33:30to make your experience even better. But
33:32like I separate those two things because
33:34I want mine to be about joy and I want
33:37my decision- making to be about joy and
33:39not fundamentally about finances which
33:41for why for me it's not a business. And
33:43then the last thing that you can do
33:44honestly the simplest strategy of all is
33:47just to only buy MSRP, right? It's both
33:49the lowest risk and it's also like the
33:51highest upside most of the time, right?
33:53And so like for that reason, like if you
33:56are interested in getting into this a
33:59little bit, but you don't know a lot
34:00about it and you're at your local Target
34:02and you see a Celebrations ETB on the
34:04shelf, like buy it. Like that's probably
34:07not going to be a huge loss for you,
34:09right? But like don't just read about
34:12one piece in the newspaper and then go
34:13out and buy a case of blue bottoms,
34:16right? Like that's way too much money to
34:18spend on something that you don't know
34:19anything about. And like that's a way
34:21riskier item because a lot of the value
34:24has already been priced in as opposed to
34:25MSRP where the MSRP may be a significant
34:29underestimation of the current value. So
34:30that's all I have for today. As always,
34:32I hope you found this interesting. You
34:34know, if you found that you related to
34:35any of these things or if there's things
34:36you think that I missed, please hit me
34:38up in the comments. I always love
34:40hearing your take on things. Uh, you
34:42know, if you found the video helpful,
34:43please give us a like. If you haven't
34:44already, you know, please subscribe. If
34:46you're interested in picking up any
34:47cards, we have our TCG Player affiliate
34:49link and our eBay affiliate storefront.
34:51Uh if you choose to purchase something
34:52through there, we'll get a small
34:54commission, which is helpful to us, but
34:55obviously no pressure. So with that, as
34:58always, I really appreciate your time
34:59and I will see you in the next

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