Seems like a lot of people aren’t understanding what Shawn is saying. He’s just saying that in the future, we don’t know what the demand is going to be for Pokemon cards. And to make it worse, we don’t know the supply as more people hoard these products. Whereas in 7-10yrs, the s&p will most likely double if not more looking at compounded returns. Sure the pez dispenser analogy might not be an apples to apples comparison, but there have been beloved brands back in the days that lost their luster over time due to various factors.
I don’t disagree with you comment in general. My issue is if conversation keeps circling back on this channel to “you’re better off to own the S/P” - why own ANY collectible category at all when there is probably zero chance any will beat the S/P 500 longterm (having way more liquidity in the S/P)… I’ve heard so many smug comments about where the “smart money is investing” on this channel. Whether it’s currency, comics, antiques the future of EVERY collectible market is uncertain (society constantly evolves and changes) and all likely to under-perform the S/P. Weird circular logic arguments for certain collectible genre’s being smart and negativity against others…. Having a slice of your net worth in collectibles is fun, even if it under-performs the S/P, otherwise no need for this channel, just put a link in the description of where everyone can buy an index fund. When talking pop culture it’s bizarre to compare successful multi-decade IP’s (Pokémon being one) with niche collectible categories like Pez, then saying Pokémon could be like Pez, so buy an index fund instead… by that logic he probably thinks the Super Man #1 comic is an uncertain investment in a fad pop culture category.., oh wait, he likes comics so that’s excluded from the logic of pop culture investing.
@@jordand1554I think the point here is not that it isn’t fun to collect speculative markets like Pokemon “ I myself am a Pokemon collector” but rather that if it your singular goal is to make money your better off with SnP 500
@@jordand1554 In another comment it seems like he likes the WOTC era of Pokemon cards, so it's probably mostly modern stuff he is talking about where people plan on buying and holding for 20 years.
So, I'm an LGS ( Local Game Store ) owner who has been in the TCG market for over 15 years. I'd like to think that makes me somewhat of an expert in this field. I'd say you're 80% right. And that a vast majority of people who think they will retire off their TCG collection will fail. This is because most people won't follow the strict rules on how to do this right. #1. TCGs are a 3rd level of your retirement plan. After owning your own house, and fully funded retirement accounts. ( Roth IRA, Sep IRA / 401K ). #2. No more than 20% of the money you invest each year should be in TCGs #3 Buy and hold ONLY sealed products. These are the ETFs of the TCG world. #4 Research each product and call your shots. Just like buying into blue chip companies. TCGs have blue chip products. #5 Understand when to buy. If you are paying MSRP for an item, you have a much longer, harder road ahead. #6. EVERYTHING else in your financial life needs to be in order so that you are never forced to sell in a down market to keep food on the table. If you don't live by these 6 rules you are setting yourself up for a bad time. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.
Well said! I think Shawn is 50% right at best, but this negativity is his schtick, apparently. You've gotta know what you're doing, have a plan, and invest in other traditional assets.
Well said! This is what I’ve been doing and it’s paid off (not in a life-changing way by any means, but my little “10x booster pack investment mutual fund” returned 49% this year - from $4.9k to ~$7.25k during 2023). I diversified across every set from sun & moon base to present day sets and I CRUSHED IT. Can’t really argue those numbers 🤷🏻♂️
IMO 20% of your money in a collectable is incredibly aggressive for the average collectable investor.. I'd recommend no more than 5% of your wealth in collectables (and even that is a but much) in general noting how most are likely to fall out of popularity in pop culture. General personal finance advice from "experts" is to allocate no more than 10-15% of your portfolio into any given stock, and given most collectables are a bad investment, probs better to play it safe an allocate less than that into collectables. Just my opinion - everyone is entitled to do whatever they want with their own money
Thank you for answeeing my question. I was not trolling you and I was not being sarcastic with this one. But I must admit, that I worded it in a way it would spark your attention. Which it did. I was really curious on your perspective on Pokemon specifically, I saw a good portion of your videos where you touched this subject briefly many times. But in this video, it is perfectly covered as a whole, in depth analysis, targetted specifically to Pokemon collectors. Thank you for that. And dont worry, I am not "crazed collector" or anything near that. But if this video will open the eyes of at least one such collector, I would say that you did a great job! Happy new year🎉
Appreciate the video. I own my house, have a healthy lump sum of money in market wide index funds and other aggregate funds, and I also dabble in collectables. I do have a few high end sealed WOTC booster boxes, which honestly is a lot of money just sitting there. I’ve thought about opportunity costs for sure. But at the end of the day, just as long as you are established financially and not going into debt into this stuff, I see no harm in diversifying! Happy new years Sean I wish you well going into the new year
You sound like the type of person that can absolutely dabble in collectibles. Congrats on being responsible / financially established and also enjoying your hobby!
I absolutely agree with a lot of what you have said Pokémon is a speculative market and you make a lot of valid points, and I don’t believe people should be investing 100% into Pokemon. But your comparison to PEZ is by all means no comparison Pokemon has a world loved anime,a tcg played hundreds of thousands around the world a mobile app that is played by millions Pokemon is the largest franchise is the world so comparing to Pez a little plastic candy dispenser makes no sense to me Great video and great content but there’s more to it than just the points you are making yes who knows in 15 20 yrs Pokemon might not be as popular but with a relatively small investment in Pokemon myself and I plan to make more in the future I buy 2-3 booster boxes of each set I feel my small investment is very safe and even if we’re all to crash I could have fun with friends and family opening the product my self 😊
Well said. I am a long time Comic collector and new to Pokemon. I got in because no Pokemon booster box has ever sold below retail after 3 years. I will take your advice and just buy a Booster box from each set and chill.
There is quite an issue comparing all market between the times. 20-30 years ago we didnt have an internet and as an extra, we live in post covid era. Those only 2 variables lower value of older market behaviours. Even if you look at stock markets, the most profitable are the most popular among the people (like tesla, apple etc). People changes, behaviours change. We cannot look at old stuff and say "yea they failed and now xyz will fail the same"
Buy popular, high grade, low pop, vintage Pokemon at the right price......Should be OK. Although I do 100% agree, put your money into an S&P 500 index fund once the market ajusts closer to fair value.
It can take years for it to adjust or get to a lower level. I learned the best time to buy shares.....is ...well...ALWAYS. I buy low and I buy high...but I keep buying. Ultimately, what I thought was high....looking back.....now looks LOW.
I tried to talk about some of your ideas in a Pokemon investing live stream. All I said was the market may become oversaturated eventually due to too many people hoarding. Got torn to shreds by the RU-vidr and his acolytes. Those guys really don't like any kind of healthy debate. 😬 If you're not with them you're against them kind of mentality. The quote you've used before about men going mad in herds was incredibly insightful.
@@ReservedInvestments Yes it was. Very strange bunch. I even said I'm not exactly bearish on Pokemon, I think it's doing very well. I'm just concerned about holding modern for the long term. No talking to some people I guess.
Brutal honesty that is extremely refreshing to hear. Vintage Pokemon packs and boxes are still available and people weren't stockpiling them the way they are today. Collect these things if you love the hobby, not because you hope you will retire off them someday.
Trying to liquidate my assests in terms of video games just sitting there. That money could be put towards a CD. I think I'll keep psome pokemon cards though not because its a wise financial decision but because I love those cards and want to keep them.
At its heart that's how it should be, collect what you love. Because who will want your Pokemon Pez or comics in 50 years? My grandfather liked stamps. I got his collection about 45 years ago. No Internet, no guide no idea, my attempts to value it came to nothing. Eventually gave them to charity when the time to leave home came around.
"If you're that certain about the investment then you're not properly analysing all the risks and variables". You know who said that? RUDY! The king of modern sealed product!
Hello first off I love this channel and I take in a lot of what you say and talk about . I collect Diecast cars manly vintage 1968 through 1995 . And was just curious why you never touch on this market? Is it because it’s not a graded category or something else ? I would like you to do a video on the Diecast market and your thoughts thanks and stay EZ 😎
I have briefly touched on it in past videos. It is hard to cover the entire market for antiques and collectibles and unfortunately, some markets will get more attention than others. That said, I do not recommend the market for diecast, vintage or otherwise...
I always get a big grin while watching you try to explain reality versus fantasy to some of your audience. As a baby boomer in my 70's I can tell you many of my friends are dying off, and many more are more concerned about their health care than pez dispensers. IT'S THE FACTS OF LIFE. Good luck trying to explain to young people blinded by get rich quick schemes. I grew up with family members who constantly sought after that While I quietly invested in my company's retirement plan. I'm retired and enjoying myself and they are still working.
Here is a serious question… And your input and insight would be helpful to me. After rediscovering my childhood collection of pokemon cards from 1999 and 2000 during covid, I had them all shipped over to me (I’m an expat) and a handful of cards are now graded. The rest are in card savers and in better safer storage. Now, what is better? Sell it now, or do I speculate on it over the long term and hang on to it for another decade or 2? For added context, I have already been putting away near to 20-30% of my income every month for retirement in an investment portfolio for the last 6 years which I am proud of. I am a single man, and do not have aspirations for marriage or starting a family until I am financially secure enough to do it. I live a frugal, but stable lifestyle, have zero debt, and I can easily keep this up for another decade, or even more. So would it still be better to unload my exposure to collectibles now or am I okay to hold on and see what happens in those markets after a few more years?
@@ReservedInvestments true, but the whole IP of Pokémon was built on collecting, wether it be collecting in the video game or tcg. Star Wars was just a popular movie.
Pokémon cards were in prototype stages before the games ever came to be. Not being a troll. No worries. Also you’re speaking on modern but what about vintage ? I just got an 11k card but it’s worth 12k on the market today and with eBay vault there’s zero sales tax. Do you even know about the vault? So that’s 1k profit very quickly on one card. Zero fees. Zero sales tax. You’ll see a lot of lost souls sure but you’ll also get responses from people who’ve educated themselves on the scarcest cards , made big sales, and made a far better living off of selling cards. My Roth and portfolio don’t even compare to the sales I’ve had. I pulled everything out took profits, the market tanked and my Pokémon cards rose. I definitely have a Charizard up my ass. Don’t forget the psa grading registry determining low populations of high end cards. This market has been this way for 4 years now. Most of us want it to tank. If you’re right I’ll come back here and applaud you but you’re speaking about the #1 franchise ingrained in Japanese and Western culture. I don’t think the S&P will outpace most high end pokemon card sales. That being said, it takes work and time to make these things happen. If you become a top seller you take a large market share and have the lowest fees. I find traditional investing extremely dull and I understand that sometimes investing isn’t sexy. But for me personally Pokémon has made traditional investing look terrible. I did enjoy your video though, and many will get burned in this hobby. That’s one thing I will agree with you on. This market could use some FUD so thanks for the injection. The market did retrace quite a bit this past few months. Maybe it’s headed further south. We’ll see soon enough. I don’t think your video prompts an angry response though, just a rationally thinking outsider. I’ve collected things my entire life, none had the returns or short sale turnover like Pokémon cards. I didn’t even want to believe it but my family depends on the hobby now. I still contribute to my Roth and my trading account but it’s just not aggressive growth. You also need to mention age. If I’m in my 20’s I should invest aggressively not conservatively and the S&P is considered conservative investing IMO. You appear much older than me so for you aggressive investments doesn’t quite make sense but I feel if you were in your 20’s you might feel differently. Anywho I enjoyed the video it will help me make one now that my creative ideas are flowing. So thanks! 😎🙏🏼
When you're 80 and homeless and poor, please stop me on the street to tell me about your Poke victories.....I'll need a laugh....oh...and if you ask me for a handout......I"ll be giving you a Pokemon card......and tell you to EAT it.
I sell slowly into the market to capture gains and market averages, after I originally double my investment. I tend to only keep one or two booster boxes for myself.
Collecting modern collectables is great for a flip. Wow! thank you for the heads up on the PEZ Netflix. Just broke away to watch it. Great documentary/show. 'Collecting is more or less a disease'
Hey I appreciate everything you say about collectibles I collect too many things and I got to get rid of stuff and you saying to buy the index funds is probably the best thing I could do
Trust me it is......and when you do start to sell.....you're going to find out that it can be a bit of work and effort. No matter what - do the RIGHT thing with the proceeds from what you sell. 1.If you have debt...use the proceeds to pay off debt 2.If you have a house....put the proceeds on your PRINCIPAL 3.If you have medical costs (heaven forbid)...use it to pay those down or off. 4.If you have children...start a college fund for them...
Hello Shawn. First off, thank you as always for your content. Hope 2024 will be a healthy successful year for you with lots of recorded 3AM rants for us. 🍻 I don’t think I’ve ever heard you talk about the Gambling aspect inherent to pokemon card packs? We see how streamers, pack breakers can make a living off of it and how some people spend/lose ridiculous amounts of $. How do you see it affecting the value of this stuff as time goes by if at all?
Pokemon has been around for nearly 30yrs and every single product has increased in value in one way or another for this entire time. Its not a theory its not speculative thats a straight up fact. It has been is now and will always be an amazing long term investment and a viable way to make money.
Absolut on point as usual but you should intensify the part of the new product. If everybody ist collecting and/or playing with double card sleeves, in 30 years we will have many nice looking cards and they will be cheap. I agree, for financial gain is better to invest in the S&P500 or another stock. Grüße
i think while mtg and yugioh might have another 20-30 years until people start selling collections pokemon probably has a few more years/generations since its still relevant in pop culture. Still no reason to invest in paper cards instead of stocks and real estate but i think theres at least some good arguments for vintage pokemon outperforming mtg and yugioh
@@TheMysteryDriver LOL! problem is there is a ton of this stuff out there. You can still buy it by the sealed case even to this very day! It is equivalent to the junk wax era of sports cards.
Hope you had a happy holiday Shawn and hopefully an even better Happy New Year soon! Thank you for all the insight and content of 2023, looking forward to even more awesome content in 2024!
This is all very junk wax. And there's too many categories being graded. When everything is slabbed, and they are basically giving out decent grades, nothing is special. Grading companies are making a killing, and everybody is hoarding slabs. Only vintage, desired, high grade (or rare in whatever high grade is for that item) stuff will matter. Nothing else.
Are modern collectible coins items of historical value - portraying our times? Or are they just an example of mass produced scarcity? Is the demand for silver proof coins based on sentiment or on history?
@@ReservedInvestments Thanks for a fast and definitive response. I've watched about 20 of Your films in the last few days. And am thinking over my attitude to my coin collecting.
Comparing Pez with Pokemon is like like Comparing Apple with Orange. Second I ll be very cautious in advising people to invest in stock since 2024 may probably see a severe correction. Long term probably stock could do ok, provided past performance and innovation are indicative of future performance.
Over 20-30 years? It’s amazing how you don’t even realize your own speculative mindset in this response. Again, go back and study the collectibles trade of the 80’s and 90’s, the comparisons are valid.
I disagree , pez to pokemon is more like apples to frogs. There’s nothing relating the two. Pokémon are collectibles, yes. The thing that separates Pokémon is a couple things… 1) established brand , spanning worldwide with tens of millions of fans. 2) longevity and the fact that multiple generations are fans of Pokémon (atleast 3 generations, going on 4+). 3) Diversity, there is Pokémon cards, Pokémon toys , Pokémon plushes, Pokémon bedsheets, Pokémon shirts, dozen or more Pokémon games spanning multiple gaming systems, Pokémon movies, Pokémon tv shows. 4) proven results spanning 20+ years. Now remind me again how pez and beanie babies are similar to pokemon??? Pokémon are collectibles but man , you missed the mark on this one. I can appreciate the point you are trying to make but you chose some poor comparisons. You can’t guarantee 10% per year, that’s rediculous and not at all how the stock market works. While we are at it, let’s gloss over the capital gains tax and down years in the stock market, and the possibility of your investment tanking in a huge market downturn. There’s risk in stocks as well my man. If it was as simple as park your money in stocks and get 10%/year everyone would do it. Disney, an established mega corporations stock TANKED big time last few years. I’ll await your response…. (P.s I don’t even know what question or initial pokemon person this video was even about!! Your comparisons just suck!!!)
Totally agree, non valid comparisons at all to pass his own opinion. Looking down on Others so hard, as If He knew the Future of the Stock/pkmn Market. Sure, over 20-30 years the Stock Market will Go Up. Probably around 7% per year. If Pokemon keeps going half as Well as Last decades, you're looking at 12% per year. But everybody IS of course hoarding maaaasssive amounts 😂😂 Not Like 3-4 digits Worth of product, which will totally maaaasssively affect the Market in 20 years.
@@ReservedInvestments 20-30 years no one can predict. 5-10 y maybe. Again, it is based on the asumption that the trend of the stock market is linear - it can as it may not, there are so many variables (ageing population, shift of power west east, etc...). Also in 20-30 years, hopefully you have better things to do with money instead of using it at a time when it doesn't make any more sense (i.e. 60+)
A lot of what this guy says is dead on. He's talking 10-15 YEARS, not 30 years, 40 years. He's absolutely right You can't compare it to Pez, Pez had a short term burst, Pokemon has been an expensive/hot item for 30 years. Im not putting TONS of money into Pokemon, but it's the number one IP out there. Bigger than Disney, bigger than Mario, or anything else. There has never been a point where Pez was the number one IP. Where Beanie Babies was the number one IP Comparing it to junk wax era is perfect. MOST junk wax era sports cards are worthless, BUT there are some that are worth 10s, 20s even 30k. Those things were easily noticable then, the stuff that was much more rare. Do the same with Pokemon now. SO if you're smart with Pokemon, you can easily make a lot of money over the next 10+ years. AND before you say it, I ALREADY KNOW, it's an investment channel not a finance channel. LOL Keep up the good work
I would really love to hear your opinion on vintage vs modern in pokémon. Do you think people will abandon pokémon as a whole if modern tanks, or is it more likely vintage sticks around and continues to do okay even though modern becomes the junk wax era? I don’t know why modern and vintage should share the same fate when some vintage cards only have 200 copies in a 9-10 grade and modern cards have over 10,000 psa 10 copies.
I own a lot of cards with only 20 pop in PSA 10 from Skyridge etc. They sell for around 200 bucks while a 5000 pop modern PSA 10 card can sell for 500-2000 like Moonbreon. End of the day it's only demand that matters not the population for set cards or lower demand species. I wouldn't suggest you go out and purchase low pop Charizard's either though because I don't really know when the market will bottom out. Those cards like Expedition Zard are still around 10k each, same with Expedition Mew so the money is already there.
You’re right because we should be comparing those items to rare coins, historical artifacts, and high end art…oh wait a second, they aren’t even in the same category. I swear, you Timmies…😂
@@ReservedInvestments Im not a Timmy lol you are repeating yourself about Timmies.. in your world only coins and old bibles are collectable. Sure they are, but it’s not only about antiques. I begin to believe that you are pushing an agenda instead of proving a point..
Shawn, I want to sincerely thank you for your insight. Since watching your channel, I’ve sold majority of my collectibles and I feel I have a much better understanding of how these markets work, and how much more reliable, simple, and consistent a diversified portfolio is. Two more things: Your comment about Metazoo was needed And the (Pokémon name) in your anus needs to be an ongoing joke. It’s hilarious. Thanks again!
You don’t understand shawn, I am going to continue to pound thousands and thousands into Pokémon video games every month. I’m not the problem, you are !!!!! ❤
Thousands into something that looks like starburst on the shelf. Do you collect for the Artwork of the pokemon game... or nostalgia of playing the game when you were younger... because i'm half way tempted to invest in UNO as I loved that card game.
The new crazy thing is those Lorcana disney cards... Seen people on Facebook group spending ten of thousands on this new thing... Grading everything and hording.... So sad to see
And that's the whole issue.....nothing is being damaged or destroyed. Never forget the reason OLD baseball cards do well is because kids beat the shit out of them. Same with OLD comic books.....Everything new is being hoarded so NOTHING is rare.
@@DEE-o4v exactly there's no organic collectability. Stuff are pretty much only good for flipping now a days. Not sure when was the last time a product had organic collectability.
Uh I mean youll def get more money from the stock market or even a CD than pokemon investments. That being said I dont think they are going out of style anytime soon. In fact, this is the biggest the hobby has ever been.
To have your youth. You should have been there in the 1990's. It was an amazing time and your comment wouldn't even exist if you were...;) Imagine investing in Pokemon instead of a well diversified portfolio and calling it an investment... ;) Toodles...
@@ReservedInvestmentsI'm just saying you can do both! Btw, the stock market only goes up if we keep buying more stuff, which generally happens because the population keeps increasing. So might be a doozy with that birthrate decline.
I know I've left this comment on a few of your videos, but I'm going to keep posting it in the hopes that some Timmies actually read it: "(insert property here) will ALWAYS be popular and worth money!" The same was said about Popeye. And Dick Tracy. And Gumby. And Howdy Doody. And Hanna-Barbera characters. AND THE LIST GOES ON... AND ON... AND ON...
I'm stopping my Pokémon this year. I like Lorcana. Not a huge amount. Mainly the first set. I like stocks and maybe more crypto this year. I think Pokémon might do well. The only reason is because I see alot of kids and their parents buying it. Also the amount of kids and adults that play. Pez I never understood the appeal, and sports cards don't have 1k or 2k tournaments. Time will tell though. I wouldn't bet my house on it, though.
@user-tl7mj2bm4m Yes, crypto. Yes, I heard of FTX. That's why you go with solid crypto projects. You do your research. Which I have done for years. My highest returns have been in crypto. I bought some cheap and cost average now into a couple. My stock market portfolio is only up 73%.
Give a kid a pez dispenser in their stocking and theyll be happy with the candy for five seconds and never refill it. Give out pokemon cards at Halloween or for birthdays and theyre happy with their collections for many years often a lifetime. Pokemon has stupid staying power. You should take your own advice on repeating a mantra over and over.
I collect Pokemon and MTG, i would never look at it as an investment, I keep about 3% of my wealth in these categories along with Comic books. everything else is in real investments and retirement funds... anyone who puts more than 5% of their wealth in any of the above is a sucka foo
Pokemon and Investing really shouldn't be used in the same sentence. I am a collector/buyer/seller, but I'm not an investor. Pokemon at the core is a luxury item, it's not an investment. I sincerely encourage a "investor" to try and see what he can liquidate for right now....I would be shocked if you could find someone to buy you out at 60% of market. I think there is a baseline across all collectors that we don't want our collection to go to zero, even if we were never planning on selling. There is something comforting looking at a collection you've established that has a monetary value associated...even better if it goes up right? No collector even if you collected dog turds is going to be upset if there collection value rises as they enjoy those items...Eventually though, those items have to be consumed by the market, either by you, or your kids, or your kids kids will look at your beloved items and sell them. I don't know if I can think of a way to validate keeping vs selling an item. For my own collection I obviously don't want to lose money so if something I purchased that I no longer enjoy displaying or just want something else more and plan to sell/trade for it, if I am losing money selling it I will usually keep it, if I'm break even or better I will sell to move into the thing I want more. I guess this is normal collector behavior though? Idk, what do all my pokemon collectors do? How do you determine whether it's time to sell or hold an item that you purchased.
You can tell this person is probably very young and has very little experience of how the actually world out there works. Hope they will get it some day.
Magic flesh and blood lorcana metazoo and one piece are all going to zero. They are trash collectibles just like hasbro cutting jobs. The only Pokemon set is still investing is evolving skies.
All these Timmy’s think they’re the only ones hoarding their little etbs. Like holy shit look around you, everyone around you is doing it, most of this stuff is not going to be rare.
If you’re buying collectibles banking on the dream that eventually you’ll sell it all and make an enormous profit.. you better buckle up, buttercup. 🤡💯
I prefer Bitcoin and altcoin cryptocurrencies are better investments than Pokemon cards. Since black rock and big company want bitcoin etf get approved next year. Timmy and kimmy will strike rich in crypto the next bull run. Since the big institutions are jumping cryptocurrency bandwagon and putting trillion dollar in crypto.
Its funny when people say "good luck". I wanted to get 2k worth of Bitcoin when it first came out. My ex was giving me a hard time. Big mistake. Same nonsense. It's stupid...Good luck. I seen commercials that was questioning it at $352. Now its 42k. Sometimes its best not to listen to anyone. I do have some alt coins. Crypto is definitely where the world is headed. Like it or not.
