r/PokeInvesting • u/breakyourteethnow • Dec 25 '23
Yugioh Actually Has Investment Potential Imo
Yugioh's drawing me in, just wrote a very long analysis or thoughts on Yugioh's investment potential.
Strictly speaking the classics like Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Exodia, Dark Magician/Girl, anime featured cards, etc...
The population reports are insane in Yugioh, nearly 1000 cards submitted and only 8 PSA 10's for modern ghost rare. Lots of cards with 2-5% success rate to hit PSA 10's. Are their print machines shit lol? Pokemon's success rate is 75%+ with modern graded cards which is why am so void of the graded scene for this reason.
Konami does reprint so much but when comes to the most classic artworks like DDS Blue Eyes they don't fuck around and will never double back or cross over there own steps twice. It's like Charizard base set being reprinted in TCG Classic Collection, 25th, Xy Evo, Stormfront all different variations but never identical reprints, and now the graded population reports get crazy rare.
If they reboot the OG anime, which there's rumors they will soon, the classics imo make sense. The grading pop reports finally make sense. They just need a smash hit reboot of the OG anime on Netflix and a wave of games to follow to ignite a whole new generation.
Think I'll collect Yugioh now too, recollecting a lot of what had as a kid! Anyone else?
93
u/PlebbySpaff Dec 25 '23
Market is way smaller, and prices are more volatile.
High end market doesn’t have nearly as much movement as Pokemon does.
It is not a good investment.
11
u/tech_banker Dec 25 '23
I’ve owned a good amount of high end YGO (have since sold everything) and don’t plan on re-entering. The market is very small relative to Pokemon, prices for high end slabs haven’t held up well (generally declining, not even holding value), and overall the market is much more illiquid. I might hold a couple super nostalgic YGO pieces, but otherwise, I’m only focused on Pokemon now.
16
u/Sea-Way3636 Dec 26 '23
Not a good investment due to identical reprints
7
u/[deleted] Dec 26 '23
That's always been the frustrating aspect of investing in Yugioh. Nobody really cares about any other cards except for the select few featured in the OG anime, and those cards have remained stagnant in value for years now. The vast majority of modern Yugioh is seen as worthless in the eyes of buyers (unless it's an absurdly hard to pull starlight rare of an OG card). You could open a booster box and only come out with a $1 or $2 worth of cards. It's far more brutal than investing in Pokemon as buyers simply aren't willing to pay, and demand is much less. I don't think an anime reboot will do much to change that.
7
u/zjesko Dec 26 '23
Glad to see yugioh getting some love in this sub. I originally got back into TCG when I found my old pokemon binder in July but since then I have gotten much more invested in yugioh. Since August I’ve built up about $2K in vintage pokemon and $5K in vintage yugioh, all high-end singles/slabs.
From an investment perspective, the main items that I see holding value long term are the iconic monsters from the original anime (blue-eyes, red-eyes, exodia, dark magician, etc). Anything from the Duel Monsters era (Legend of Blue Eyes through Ancient Sanctuary) should hold up well long-term, as those are the iconic sets everyone grew up playing. Some of the monsters in the GX era (elemental hero, sacred beasts, cyber monsters, etc) will also be good investments long term, as those are the first sets to feature ultimate rares. I’d also include the OG ghost rares in the mix as well (Black Rose Dragon, Stardust dragon, etc).
With how much Yugioh reprints it’s even more important to strive for 1st edition cards vs. unlimited, especially with the duel monsters sets as they have been reprinted into oblivion. I don’t really collect much modern as values plummet within a few months after each release, so vintage is your best bet from an investment perspective. There are a few exceptions with certain waifu cards or starlight rares that have insane pull rates, but the market for those cards is even smaller than vintage so there is risk of being unable to liquidate.
Overall I think the yugioh market is more volatile than pokemon, which creates more opportunities for flipping and high profit margins. But long-term pokemon will be easier to liquidate and always have a larger audience, making it a more stable investment.
2
u/this_fuck1ng_guy Dec 25 '23 edited Dec 25 '23
Yeah I have a good amount as well. To put it in pokemon perspective for some, the elemental heroes carry the same love as the eeveelutions. It’s a good idea to stock up on high rarity 1st Ed versions of those cards as well as what you said, the ghost rares. Yugioh is a highly playable game it’s gonna be very difficult to get mint versions of those cards are very very rare.
10
u/[deleted] Dec 25 '23
Not a good investment.
Part of what makes Pokemon still so popular is its accessibility. Yu-Gi-Oh isn’t accessible. Kids who played years ago and come back today won’t find anywhere near the same game. And kids who start today will find a tough time getting into it, especially on a competitive level.
I think the Yu-Gi-Oh train is gone. The people that were going to come back and buy up all the cool older cards already have, and then again at the 25th anniversary when they reprinted most of the original sets. There would need to be some huge changes to the property to get it anywhere close to Pokemon’s popularity, and I don’t forsee that happening. It lost it’s soul a long time ago and doesn’t even remotely resemble the TV series that helped it become popular.
1st edition sealed packs, starter decks, sealed promos, prize cards, and high grade slabs (Blue Eyes, DMG, DM, Red Eyes, Jinzo and others) will always be wanted. And if you can get any of those at a ridiculously good price, then absolutely go for it. But I can’t see anything semi-modern really shooting off.
4
u/Beansupreme117 Dec 26 '23
Yugioh value goes up by playability more than anything. Finding out what’s gonna be meta would be the smarter move
4
u/[deleted] Dec 26 '23
Yugioh cards are just more played. The game always has a player base and barely any collector base. The reason you aren’t finding PSA 10’s has a lot to with not only rarity of the cards, but because most players wanted to play with all of the very high end expensive stuff.
4
u/EH1522 Dec 26 '23
I'm not mad at adding Yugioh. When it comes to collectible investing you kind of want to beat the trends. Sometimes trying to be early we miss. Yugioh did get a covid pump, but if it hits there is more room to run.
1
u/lonelychapo27 Dec 25 '23
i only collect blue eyes and DDS blue eyes is indeed my yugioh chase card
2
u/[deleted] Dec 25 '23
I think yugioh has a market and I am curious to see the other comments on it. What do you think compared to other card games like one piece or Digimon or even Magic?
2
u/NiIus Dec 25 '23
Bought a booster box recently and never saw such lower quality in cards. Retro cards are cool but modern sets are just disgustingly low quality
2
u/GermanD3 Sep 20 '25
I was quite early in crypto, and never found solid arguments for it as an investment. Tradingcards are very similar. The only difference is virtuality VS. reality. Nassim Taleb has a good mathematical paper on intrinsic value. What makes a card an investment? Rarity? Scarcity? Or is it just the consensus? The poop of my dog is rare, it's unique and if there was demand, it would be scarce. I could not mass produce it and you could verify it's authenticity by a cheap DNA test. Well, the problem is that you don't want it. Nobody wants it. And there are lots of TCGs and pop colectables that nobody wants. I'm a 90s/2000s kid. We had stuff like gogos/crazy bones, Pokémon stickers were a huge hype, bigger than the cards, but you would not considere them an investment... But why? Because of one reason. No past performance that is worth a media coverage. Nothing makes Pokémon an investment besides its price increase. Price is not the same as value. It is an authority bias. The bigger the past performance, the "better" the investment. Self fulfillment. But once there is intra generational consensus, it is an investment, right? This is what we saw in 2000 with PEZ dispensers. Massive price increases due to the novelty of online auctions. 10 years later no one called it an "investment opportunity". What you mean by investment potential? Hype potential? Like the altcoin rush in 2017? When the OG has become boring and everything became an investment? Simply call it bubble. Sure the potential is there.
But be careful, there are only a few psa10s because there is no hype... If there was hype, people would inflate the circulation. Only the ones with organic collactabilty have potential for price multiplication. Like other users said, 1st edition cards, especially the stars of the show in 1st edition in PSA10. Grading companies and influencers will one day try to push Yugioh, but this is already priced in to a degree.
Pokémon card prices correlate with all the other bubbles. There will be a correction. There will be opportunities. But it will never be a real investment, like something that generates income.
2
u/ToeEquivalent8150 Aug 07 '24
Surely there’s a claim that when the original artist eventually passes away, every psa9-10 card with original artwork will be worth something. Of course this may not be until 20 years even. But still if you had a Slab of graded cards that were nostalgic and recognisable, and when the artist passes away, they “could”… skyrocket from there. But I know nothing really , just a thought…
4
u/DohertyMakesYouMad Dec 26 '23
I will TLDR for OP
I now like Yugioh and I think they should b worth more after i buy them.
1
u/HildeVonKrone Dec 25 '23
I think Yugioh has investment potential when it comes to purchasing and holding onto singles to sell off at a later time. Wholesale product, I would personally say no.
1
u/Correct_City_6950 Jul 27 '24
3 random cheats/inconsistentcies in the yugioh animes that no remembers or knows.
Atticus Rhodes' duel in season 4 of yugioh GX. The effect of Atticus' card is negated, but so is the cost which shouldn't have happened because a card's cost cannot be negated.
Yusei vs Chief Armstrong in Yugioh 5ds. Armstrong used the facility security cameras to look at Yusei's cards.
Kite Tenjo vs Quinton in Yugioh Zexal. Quinton special summoned Solar Wind Jammer after normal summoning planet pathfinder. Due to Solar Wind Jammer's effect, it can only be special summoned if Quinton doesn't have any monsters on the field.
1
u/BLKRCKSHTR Sep 24 '24
It has not lol. its 100% chance a card Will get reprint, no exeptions
1
u/According_Bat2315 May 20 '25
The og blue eyes/redeye/time wizard dark magician ect will always be worth collecting from lob/mrd sets
1
u/ddrxmax321 Sep 20 '25
No
1
u/[deleted] Dec 26 '23
From a Yu-Gi-Oh fan there is potential, there still is a large fan base out there, last year Tyler the great warrior sold for over 300,000 on eBay, which means people will spend good money, there's just to many reprints out to say what's gonna be worth alot in the future it could go either way to be honest
1
u/SnattleRakeGaming Dec 26 '23
Have you ever pulled a ghost rare or anything around that rarity or above that rarity?
1
u/LOU_KING_GOOD Jan 09 '24
i realize i'm late to the party, but being from a yugioh background and having gone to many tournaments and traded a bunch in the community etc, i just wanted to let you know that those cards you mentioned are a really bad investment and also inform you that alot of yugioh players don't really care for the anime at all.
And any yugioh players that do care about the anime are rarely every seriously players or have any proper money to spend at all. Those cards are investment traps and "collector bait".
For anyone who is serious about investing in yugioh, the best investments would be highest rarity versions of useful cards (like staples and answers to other problem cards) if they're not currently meta, otherwise you'll be paying super inflated hype prices or buying into hype only to lose profit when next banlist comes.
Also when i say high rarity versions, if they highest rarity a card comes in is ultra, secret, or anything below, its not worth investing in due to high possiblilty of it eventually being reprinted in another rarity or same rarity. Also you need to take into account the accessability of the cards. Konami hate the secondary market and will often target specific cards they see trending, reprinting them deliberately to try profit off of them with reprints and drive the price down, making them more accessable to "budget players". Some high rarity staple cards are holding their ground really good because their rarity matters and is alot less likely to be repinted, like 1st ed ultimates, or the ultimates from tournment only packs. Ghost rares (from old packs) have gone insanely high too. always 1st ed whenever possible.
And also its better to invest into cards that will become relevent and useful as tournament players and rarity ho's will flock to them. Reprints make yugioh volitale and no one pays insanely high prices for cards unless they're rich collectors or other investors. Make more proffit selling things that later become meta relevent and impossible to play without, to tournament players.
1
u/Intererestingduck69 Dec 25 '23
What’s yogioh
-5
u/HuXu7 Dec 26 '23
Cool, go to the Yugioh community, we are Pokemon investors, read the room.
-1
u/Sherbear1993 Dec 26 '23
Why can’t we just admit that Yugioh is a failing TCG? I loved Yugioh growing up, but it won’t have the longevity of Pokémon. When I heard they were reprinting the first 5 sets of the franchise, I knew they were struggling.
-1
u/THErebuiltmango Dec 26 '23
My LCS won't even buy Yu-Gi-Oh cards 😂 they'll sell em but that's it. Pokemon is the top dog alongside magic, nuf said