POKEMON WHAT IF WEDNESDAY! Weekly Investing & Collecting Q&A!

[00:00:00]Welcome back to another Pokémon What If Wednesday, where every Wednesday morning we go through last week's investing and collecting questions, where your guys' questions will actually be featured in the video and one person's question will help me make the thumbnail every single week. So, please drop your questions down below for a chance to be in next week's video. And if I did comment you saying great question, I might use this and I didn't, please drop that same question and put repeat question to get moved to the top. And I'm not saying I'm some guru who just knows everything, but when I'm unsure, I always like to talk it out with a few people. It always helps me make my final decision. And I have been in the hobby for almost 30 years, so I've been here for a while.

[00:00:27]And we do have to do the question of the day, what Pokémon do you guys think is the most underrated Pokémon? And we do have to give a quick thanks to our video sponsor, and that is Collector. This app is the best of the best when it comes to tracking your collection. No other app even compares. The website also works super good. I use it all the time. And they're always trying to improve, too, by adding new cards, boxes, and features. So, let us know down below if there's anything you want them to add or fix, and they'll get working on that ASAP. They also do more giveaways than anyone in this entire hobby. So, make sure you check them out. I'll have all the links in the description. Promise you you will not be disappointed. And of course, you guys want to try out PSA for your first time, click the link, use the code Beer 25, you get $25 off your first submission. You just have to use a new email for that. And same thing with TAG, use the code Beer 102, and you get 10% off your first submission. And if you guys could do me a massive favor, download the Fanatics Collect app, and go to live, and go to Collect Originals, and you can find my PokeBeer channel, where I will be posting my Market Mondays and my Falling Fridays hours before I post them on YouTube, Thursday 7:00 p.m. Central and Sunday 7:00 p.m.

[00:01:21]Central. And I'm actually live in the chat, and we're doing giveaways and stuff, and the giveaways are going to start getting crazier and crazier. So, set your alarms, and I hope to see you guys there.

[00:01:32]All right. First question, this is from Matt Ramirez me9.

[00:01:37]Looks like the PSA 10 for 151 Charizard is going down. Should I get it now or wait a little bit more to see if it lowers? So, the raw card right now went from 492 to 398, and now it's at like 401, but we still have sales at like 390. So, that's starting to level out a little bit.

[00:01:55]The PSA 10 did get up to 1930 dollars and now last sales at 1569. We got a couple new ones at like 1505 and then I did see one cheaper one at like 1400. So it's dropping.

[00:02:09]I do think the PSA 10 will drop a little bit more this summer. So I would probably wait. I always like to wait till the basically the end of the summer is where I really pick up anything big, especially if it is dropping cuz a lot of times it'll level out a little bit and then drop a little bit more, level out. So you just got to actually watch the card you know don't go a few weeks without checking it cuz it could go back up in that you know amount of time.

[00:02:30]But I could see this being you know a 12, you know, maybe even 1100 dollar card. It could drop down that much especially this summer. So just keep watching it cuz I keep seeing too a ton of other creators making buy now videos of a card that's like going like this.

[00:02:44]It's like if you buy that card now, you're going to lose money on it because it's going to drop a little bit more. We still got you know half the summer to go and a lot of these cards are still dropping.

[00:02:53]Like just a few weeks ago when cards were dropping, I had people in my comments saying they're buying this, buying this and I'm like ah maybe you should wait and they're like I'm just going to get it now. And that card is now like 15 dollars cheaper than it was two weeks ago or you know 50 dollars or 100 dollars if it's bigger cards.

[00:03:08]So just wait as long as you can and you'll start seeing some random sales spike up and I'm sure a few of these cards are going to have random buyouts when they drop down enough cuz that's the only big thing too. We have so many people manipulating the market. That's why I feel like the market will never truly crash because they're not going to let it. You know, they want some of these cards to drop so then they can go pick up a bunch of cheap 151 Charizards, buy it all TCGPlayer, you know, put the listings up for a few hundred dollars more and now Charizard's going back up in price. So yeah, definitely just wait a little bit longer but you got to keep watching it cuz it could go up you know somewhat quick.

[00:03:45]But all right, next question is from Matthew Pokemon Junkie. Hey hey, big fan. What What thoughts on the Pikachu World Championship Deck 2023 promo PSA 10 long-term?

[00:03:55]So, I love this card. We bought this card on my channel when it was super cheap. Raw was dirt cheap. I think we got our PSA 10 for like 100 bucks or something like that. The only bad thing about this card is the pop. So, there's about 28,000 10s and there's only 33,000 total graded. So, very very easy to grade. But, I still do think it's one of the coolest Pikachu cards there is. And I mean, we have a ton of cards that are easy to grade that have crazy high pops that are worth a ton.

[00:04:23]I mean, the lowest listed on eBay right now is 669 or best offer. And we have sales kind of all over the place.

[00:04:30]But, the card is absolutely crazy. But, the card is absolutely crazy. I am personally holding on to all of mine that I picked up. I just think it's a super cool card that I feel like even a lot of people don't even know. And I still think this is one of the coolest special illustration rares of Pikachu that we've gotten so far or special art rares since the Japanese.

[00:04:47]Yeah, I'm holding it long-term. I could see it being, you know, a couple grand card like way down the road.

[00:04:52]Next is from @lemonzero.

[00:04:55]What do you think about the investing in the Umbreon and Espeon promos both raw and graded 10s from the premium figure collection?

[00:05:01]So, let's check those out. Here is the Espeon.

[00:05:04]PSA 10 selling for around 130 bucks.

[00:05:07]And the pop is 10,317 in a 10 and 17,245 total pop. So, not super super difficult to grade.

[00:05:17]But, I mean, for 120 bucks coming from, you know, a very very good set. I think it is a solid pick up. The Umbreon's a little more expensive.

[00:05:26]And there's 12,000 10s of this and 22,000 total graded. They're at 185.

[00:05:32]But, like I said, I feel like there's not terrible. They might get a hair cheaper this summer, but I definitely think it'd be worth picking up the pair.

[00:05:40]I mean, you can never really go wrong with Umbreon and Espeon and coming from a good set, a good box.

[00:05:45]Yeah, I think it's a solid pick up for sure.

[00:05:48]And they could be easier to grade, too.

[00:05:50]So, next is from Adam Brown's fan. Hey Beard, thanks for all the awesome content and congrats on baby number two.

[00:05:55]Thank you.

[00:05:56]I pulled the Chinese exclusive Ponyta from gym pack four and sent it to PSA a few months ago and I was fortunate enough to receive a 10, which is awesome. Not necessarily the biggest Ponyta fan and the exclusives in 10s are going crazy right now. I don't necessarily need the money right now, but that would be a solid return for sure. What are your thoughts on holding or selling? Once again, thanks for all the awesome advice. So, here it is the Ponyta. All the Chinese exclusives went crazy recently.

[00:06:20]Got up to 252 raw. Now dropped back down to 210. PSA 10 got up to 1723.

[00:06:27]Now it says on collector 767.

[00:06:31]So, here's some recently sold on eBay.

[00:06:32]We had one end at like 625 with shipping, one at a thousand, and then one at 783.

[00:06:38]And if we click it, we can actually see the pop. So, the total PSA 10 pop is 210. Total PSA pop total is 256. So, these cards aren't super super difficult to grade. There's just not a ton of them graded. So, actually I mean, the Ponyta is still a pretty new card. I'm sure a lot of them aren't even back yet. But me personally, I'm holding on to all Chinese exclusives.

[00:06:59]I think they are severely slept on. And I mean, even with them going up in price, I mean, they're retracing now.

[00:07:05]I could see them being even higher.

[00:07:07]Especially too, if there's not a ton of them graded and there's so many fakes out there.

[00:07:12]I don't know. I'm a big fan of them. I know Ponyta is not the you know, most popular, but you could possibly sell the Ponyta and buy it back, you know, a few months down the road if you wanted to do that, too. And use that money to buy something else. You might be able to get a little bit cheaper.

[00:07:25]Yeah, I'm all in on the Chinese exclusives. Next is from that Kyle Pittman. Hello, you beautiful bearded man. Thank you. I was very curious to see your opinion on what's going to happen with the Magikarp from Paldea Evolved once we get the reprint. Does the price fall due to there being more of the art or where they'll now be a premium because it's an original? As always, love the content. Thank you for being such a pillar of a community.

[00:07:44]Appreciate that. So, the new Magikarp has a gold border.

[00:07:49]So, I think that's actually pretty sick.

[00:07:51]I don't think it's going to drop the price of our original Magikarp really at all, and I have a feeling this Magikarp's going to be also pretty expensive. I hope it's affordable.

[00:08:00]So, that way people can actually get it cuz, I mean, at 400-something dollars raw, there's a lot of people in the hobby that just can't even afford that.

[00:08:07]So, I hope this thing's, you know, 50 bucks or less. But, I have a feeling with this gold border, I don't know. I just think it looks crazy. I'm a massive fan of the gold border cards though. We've had these, you know, going back throughout the years. Like, some of my secret rares from like the X and Y era, like the Mewtwos and stuff.

[00:08:26]All-time favorite cards. The gold borders just go crazy.

[00:08:30]And here's a regular Magikarp.

[00:08:31]I mean, the gold border even looks better than the silver border like with the card itself.

[00:08:37]I don't know. I'm pretty biased though.

[00:08:39]The raw one, regular one, was at 425. Now, it's at 395, 390, 404, 415, 399. So, it's starting to come down in price a little bit, but literally every other card is also.

[00:08:51]Yeah, I don't think it's going to hurt this Magikarp too much at all.

[00:08:54]And like I said, I have a feeling this gold one's going to be kind of expensive, too.

[00:08:57]Next is from a curdo. Hi Beard. Growing up, Pokémon the Movie 2000 with Lugia was my absolute favorite. I was too young 2003 to know that the ancient Mew card at the end was a real thing. Now just getting into the cards, I'd really like to pick one up. I've seen people on Reddit say they printed millions of these back in the day, so they're pretty common and only worth around 30. But, every listing I see now is well over 100. Since you've been around so long, I was just wondering if you think the current price is all hype or what would be reasonable to try to pick one up at.

[00:09:21]So, that card has recently gone up in price. Just so you know, there is six different versions of that card.

[00:09:27]And there's been so many times where I see people sell them as the cheaper version, but they actually have the rare version.

[00:09:33]So, the rarest version, or my favorite version anyways, is the one that is actually missing the N in Nintendo. It just spells it n i n t e d o.

[00:09:42]That is my all-time favorite. Yeah, there's a ton of different, you know, foil patterns and stuff. As you can see, they just all look slightly different.

[00:09:49]But the international release, that's the one pretty much all of us had. So, I mean, that's your common one. And right now, prices are right around $100.

[00:09:57]And they didn't make a lot of these.

[00:10:00]But I do think 100 bucks is an okay price for that card, to be honest. Just for how old it is, if you can find it in pretty clean condition.

[00:10:06]But if you were going to spend that kind of money anyways, I would always try to get, you know, one of the rarer copies.

[00:10:11]I always like to try to get the rarest version if I'm buying it anyways.

[00:10:15]But that might be out of your price range.

[00:10:17]I can't see it dropping too much in price, though, just because, you know, it is such an old card and actually pretty tough to find in good condition.

[00:10:23]Next is from Matt Bryant, Love Lorne. I just picked up a Gengar reverse holo 16 from the Platinum Arceus set in minty condition. It is a pop zero and a 10, and I think mine has a shot or at least a nine. In your opinion, is worth grading and selling or grading and holding on to? Also take into account the current state of grading PSA.

[00:10:39]Curious what your thoughts are on this card and is it being slept on?

[00:10:42]Appreciate you.

[00:10:44]So, we just had a recent sale on a nine that sold for $2,500.

[00:10:48]Someone listed it at 4,420.

[00:10:51]Cuz right now, anything that's a low pop and it's listed on eBay, if it's the only one on eBay, just know the price that they are asking is at least double from last sold.

[00:11:01]That's happening every time. That's why I'm staying away from any single thing low pop. Cuz if you get stuck holding a ton of low pop stuff that is not super popular and the market cools off, you're going to be stuck with some very expensive bricks.

[00:11:14]But the sale before that was 960. So, even with PSA being expensive to grade right now, and you think the card has a good chance at a nine, I think it is totally worth it to send it in cuz if you do hit that nine, last sold is 2,500 bucks.

[00:11:30]So, not too bad.

[00:11:32]Let me actually see what a PSA 8 is selling for. So, we have an idea.

[00:11:38]So, a PSA 8, 300 bucks. So, you wouldn't really lose any money if you did send it in. I mean, you'd still profit like 100 bucks or 200 bucks even if you got the eight. So, I think it would totally be worth it. Might as well take that chance.

[00:11:51]Next is from @GabrielMartinez.

[00:11:54]Greetings, Bearded Lord of Chaos. Big fan all the way from Puerto Rico here.

[00:11:58]Cool. Never been to Puerto Rico.

[00:12:00]I recently decided to take my profits from a ton of modern sealed and slabs I had and consolidated those gains into some of my all-time favorite vintage grails. What do you think of this? I know you mainly prefer sealed and cards, but want to know your opinion on this.

[00:12:11]So, investment-wise, I usually prefer sealed just cuz it's, you know, easier.

[00:12:15]But, I'm all about getting your vintage grails. Like, this is what it's technically all about, and that's why I do all of this to finish my collections and everything like that. I will probably end up selling all of my sealed products at the end for some cards. So, that is totally fine. I wish I knew what cards you picked up, but yeah. If it's something you truly, truly want, and this is the only way you can afford it, you're good to go.

[00:12:39]Next is from @CascadiaTCG.

[00:12:41]It seems like the summer dip is here. I preemptively sold off a few thousand dollars worth of duplicates that had gained a bunch of value since beginning of the year. What cards {slash} sealed would you look out for over the next couple months that could potentially have future gains around the fall?

[00:12:54]So, I would 100% focus on getting this 30th anniversary locked in.

[00:12:59]Try to get all those pre-orders. Get as many as you can. I know it's going to be just tough to even get anything. But, yeah, just grab whatever you can get. We just had the booster bundles and the mini tin displays drop. I missed it.

[00:13:11]Wasn't even home. And we should have the UPCs dropping this week. So, I'll just be checking every morning, you know, right around 9:00 in the morning checking that Pokémon Center website, 10:00 in the morning. And yeah, use the money for that. Otherwise, once these Chinese exclusives actually come back down in price and level out. If you do not have the Chinese exclusives, I strongly recommend, you know, picking those up. You got to think like the newest set is dropping in April. So, once you're caught up, it's so easy to stay caught up. So, you know, the newest set dropping one card. So, if I was already caught up, which I just got caught up, I only have to get one card for this entire new set, and it's just so easy to stay caught up. And it's such a new thing, the arts are so beautiful, and the Pokémon are top tier that I think it's going to be a no-brainer. And you might want to do it now before you get too far behind and there's hundreds of Chinese exclusives. So, that's what I would honestly do.

[00:14:04]Next is from Matt, that Scythe. Hey Beard, I have two cases of First Partner Series 1's that I got for about 300 each. I would have liked a third case so it would be easier to let one go. Might have it eventually, but to my question, I've been hearing different investor takes on the cases if to keep them sealed or open them and grade it and sell the promos.

[00:14:20]The cases aren't mappable, so there's a chance of no canto and the PSA 10 prices have come down quite a bit.

[00:14:25]So, I would just keep them sealed.

[00:14:28]Don't even worry about it. Especially right now with how expensive it is to get cards graded through PSA, definitely just keep them sealed. Like you said, the PSA 10's are dropping, the raw's dropping.

[00:14:38]Yeah. Sealed cases is where it's at.

[00:14:41]Next is from Matt, tag bdf. What would you consider off the beaten path grails that will do major moves in the extended future?

[00:14:49]So, these cards, even though they have recently gone crazy like Lugia's just so expensive now.

[00:14:56]These are the top's first appearance cards, some of the oldest cards in Pokémon, and almost impossible to find in clean condition. There's just a handful of them. Lugia's obviously the most expensive, but I could see these being like literally the most expensive cards in Pokémon. Especially if you can find them clean, they're like literally impossible to find clean. Like even you can open up a fresh pack and there's a good chance that card is just destroyed. So, big fan of these. I think I got this Ladyba here for like 380 or 400 bucks or something like that in pretty good condition. So, I think these are absolutely crazy. So, actually I think we have a lot of rumors of some new Pokémon top stuff happening.

[00:15:33]You never know, if we do get that these tops cards are going to go crazy. And they got a super cool back, too.

[00:15:40]First appearance on there, so that's what I would go with. Next is from @lockdogbeastmode.

[00:15:45]Hey Beard, how do you feel about Card Ladder for slab pricing and how close they are to market? I have always gone off eBay recently sold engaging the repeated sales of similar prices. Thank you for the advice.

[00:15:54]So, Card Ladder is pretty legit when you're talking about PSA slabs. Because they get their stuff from everywhere and not just eBay. And there's so many other big places and big websites that are having their own auctions now.

[00:16:08]You know, like Golden and Fanatics and stuff to where yeah, Card Ladder is probably the best option for graded cards at the moment.

[00:16:16]Just sucks you have to pay for it. But, eBay recently sold I think does a good enough job. Next is from @RMartin. Which modern set do you consider the anchor for current pricing as in if the set were to crash all others would also? I think it would be Prismatic with Ascended a close second. So, I actually do the opposite and I feel like it is slightly smarter. So, I actually look at the bad sets. Because sets like Prismatic and Ascended are already so expensive they have a good amount of room to drop to where like, you know, if they get a reprint they're going to drop in price a little bit. Like Prismatic was doing before even got to the summer.

[00:16:48]So, I like to look at the sets like you know, Chaos Rising and you know, Perfect Order or even Journey Together. And if those sets are not at MSRP when the market's cooling off, then I am not worried. Like I don't think the actual market's going to just completely cool off. But, once we get Pitch Black, you know, Chaos Rising, all those sets at $160 MSRP, that's when you know the market has truly cooled off. And last on the list is from @forsythetrading. Do you personally believe in the new 30th UPC or PCETB to be more for long term? I know you've always raved about PCETB's, I appreciate it beard man.

[00:17:21]So, I'm going 100% with the UPC's on this one.

[00:17:24]They are crazy, the promos are nuts, and they actually get that pack where it has like the classic collection where you can get like the crystal Lugia and stuff. So, 100% I'm going UPC and it comes with so many packs.

[00:17:36]The PCETB's are also still super super good. I do wish they would have done like what the Celebrations one did for the 25th anniversary and they sprinkle in packs from other sets. Even though the packs they sprinkled in for the 25th weren't that good cuz it was all the sets before Celebrations which didn't have alternate arts.

[00:17:53]But yeah, both are super good. Of course, if you can get anything for a good deal, definitely scoop it up. But these UPC's are literally one of a kind like they blow out every single UPC we've ever gotten. It's not even close. But all right, that was this week's Pokémon What If Wednesday and I'll be vending at the very end of the month, St. Louis, Missouri, July 31st, August 1st, and August 2nd. It's going to be a crazy show, a trading card con, Coop, Beard Dad, and I think even Eric from Violet City is coming. So, it's going to be a ton of fun. I just got a new life-size Psyduck statue that you guys can come hold and take pictures with. And I'm bringing all my other guys too. So, definitely check that out. You can use the code PokeBeard to receive $5 off your tickets. Might as well use that and save that five bucks to get a beautiful flying on illustration rare.

[00:18:35]Then of course, if you guys like this content, want to stay ahead of the market, please make sure you subscribe, hit that notification, and leave a like and comment. If you guys want to support more, check out my Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Fanatics, all that. You guys know it's you guys are the absolute best. But all right, I want you guys to have a great day. Definitely check out my newest vending video above where we're doing a giveaway. I'll be calling the winner on my next Market Monday.

[00:18:53]Crazy vending video from Columbus, Ohio where someone actually gave me a 151 Charizard to give away. So, click that video above, it would really mean a ton.

[00:19:01]And we're also doing a giveaway this Thursday 7:00 p.m. Central on the Fanatics app where you guys can watch my Flying Friday hours early. So, check that out. And then if you guys want to watch any of my other vending videos, I have an entire playlist above also. But all right, see you next time.