I've been an on-and-off Pokemon card collector for 13 years now, and while I've always enjoyed the collection aspect, there's no doubt that the hobby has... shifted slightly in the last few years. However, with a new goal and mindset, I'm now having more fun with it than ever before, and I'm once again feeling the magic for one of the best card games after the prominence of resellers killed my enthusiasm.
In the Pokemon trading card game (TCG) space, it's a universal experience to want to collect the rarest cards – not much beats the thrill of seeing something cool and sparkly at the back of a pack – but since around 2020, for many people, it's become less about the cards, and more about their value. It's extremely rare we see new TCG sets release these days without being immediately resold to oblivion at launch and beyond, with folks buying as much stock as possible to either resell it sealed, or rip open the packs to resell the hits, all at ridiculously inflated prices. Look, I think Ascended Heroes's Mega Gengar secret illustration rare is as cool as the next person, but you can't tell me that a new card that's still being printed could possibly be truly worth over $3,000.
