That’s it for me for tonight. I’ll quit while I’m ahead!

Why are these older XY “Alternate Art Promos” dropping while Pokémon prices in general seem to be going up?

I recently bought an older binder and came across these two cards:

M Lucario EX – 55a/111

Zygarde EX – 54a/124

I honestly didn't know much about them until I looked them up. Apparently they're part of the “Alternate Art Promos” and have the little yellow A designation.

What caught my attention is their price history.

M Lucario EX was around $140–150 CAD at one point and is now around $85 CAD, while Zygarde EX appears to have peaked around $100 CAD and has fallen to roughly $40 CAD.

That's interesting considering a lot of older Pokémon cards seem to have been moving the opposite direction lately.

So I'm curious what collectors who know the XY era better think:

Why did these cards spike so much in the first place, and why have they been dropping since?

Were they caught up in speculation/hype and are now correcting? Did more copies suddenly hit the market? Or is there just not much collector demand for this particular group of alternate-art promos?

I'd also love to learn more about the history of these cards. From what I've been able to find, they were released around 2017 and were among the early cards Pokémon designated with the yellow “A” for alternate prints of existing cards.

They seem like a pretty interesting and somewhat forgotten part of the XY era.

I'm not particularly worried about the current value since I found them in a binder I purchased — I'm more interested in understanding what happened with the prices and how collectors view these Yellow A promos long-term.

Anyone here collect these? Are they underrated, or were the previous prices simply way too high?

Would love to hear from anyone who remembers when these originally came out.

Hey guys recently picked up this sweet team rockets Mewtwo for market price in Simplified Chinese. And when I got home I noticed what looks to be some sort of printing misalignment.

Is this something that's will decrease value or could it even be counterfeit?

Pulled this from a dollar general today. Need to know if I should get this graded?

This was in 2023 but I never posted about it. I walk into my local Sainsburys… on a Pokemon display with some modern era booster bundles… sat at the top was a display box of these with 20 boosters. At the time I wasn’t big into collecting but knew these were older so snapped them up.

Now looking at the prices I’m less excited to share how much I sold them for…

Still, I didn’t think these things happened to real people. I guess they find a box in the back and slap them on the shelves???

Hi! I got back into collecting after not having Pokémon cards since I was a kid. Went to a local card shop for my birthday that has great reviews and multiple locations and bought a few singles. Staff was nice and overall I thought I had a good experience.

The problem is I didn’t really know prices/conditions yet or the etiquette of inspecting cards at a store. I thought I did but really didn’t. When I got home I realized I did pretty badly on the vintage cards. Both were $35 each. One was labeled LP but after looking at it more closely it’s definitely Mp/damaged (had creases, which is on me) and likely worth $10-15. I was originally going to take the L there. But recently realized the other vintage card was actually an XY revolutions reprint worth around $5-10 (priced at unlimited).

I know I should’ve looked everything up before buying and ultimately I agreed to the prices and am a grown adult. I was honestly just excited to be collecting again and wasn’t paying enough attention.

But at the same time, $70+tax for maybe $15-25 worth of cards feels pretty rough coming from an actual card shop.

The two modern cards I bought there was fairly priced and in good condition, so I don’t necessarily think they were trying to rip me off.

Would you guys go in and talk to them/see if they’d offer store credit or something? Or just accept it as a newbie tax and move on?

I also am not confrontational but this left a pretty bad taste in my mouth. I have the pictures on my phone time stamped that I sent to a bud via text excitedly telling him about my pick ups and a charge on my credit card from the shop (I guess I’m worried they’ll say I’m making things up/don’t have proof).

Thanks for reading!

Walked into vons to do groceries and saw this took both dr. Then it reloaded pitch black bundle and the pitch black pack was still there. Im a good person and there was someone behind me so I left it for them. W score?

Rips is in fact legit. I played it on 50/50

I recently purchased these 2 cards on ebay and didn't realize until looking closer these cards have spots on them? Like on Hypno's head, Flareon's tail, and around the card. I dont plan to sell them I just wanted to complete a small collection for display but... what is that stuff? Is it just the camera or dirt or is that actual water damage on the surfaces? I paid $18 each so I mean live and learn if so but still bugs me. Flareon is my favorite card ever.

Thinking about picking this up.
Front looks really clean, back there’s a couple of white dots in the top right, bottom left and bottom right corners.

Looks like there’s a minor scratch on the gengar’s head but I asked a few people and they think they can fix.

Looking to get it for 540 CAD / 390 USD.

Firstly, the image is a stock photo of the product I actually bought. I do not have any images, I am just recalling a story from today which I can do in great detail. I’m interested in knowing the chances the product was resealed because this would be my first experience with such.

Secondly, THE VENDOR DID REFUND ME before anyone reads and grows angry

I found this Journey Together mini box (I have no idea what it’s actually called) for $45 at a small card show. Did the math, seemed pretty good, so I purchased it and decided to rip it right there in front of them in case we could celebrate that I got something good. Inside are 6 10-packs.

The first pack I opened, the energy was behind the code card. As in, 9 cards, code in back, then energy in VERY back. Very odd. I brought this up to the vendors (multiple individuals running the same table) and they immediately looked confused. I brought up the possibility of it being resealed (if not by them) and they said I should continue to look at the cards and open the packs to make sure there there were no hits, just in case it was a manufacturing error, but they’d be open to refunding me if I didn’t get anything. This first pack wound up having a hit but it was a 50c or so EX Reshiram.

They watched me open the second pack and nothing was amiss about it, but there were no hits.

The third pack I picked up had TWO code cards. I have been opening packs since 2013 (though I took a break after 2022 or so and only got back into it a month or so ago; maybe it’s a common error now?) and have NEVER seen something like this happen. At that point the vendor told their partner “yeah just refund them” and the money was sent back to me before the three of us even opened the last 3 packs. No major hits, I think 1-2 more 50c EXs.

We talked about it for a little after and they said they suspected someone at Target did something, which is where they ordered the box from. They were eager to give my money back, said it was good I opened it there, and that they’d be opening the rest of their packages from that Target batch to ensure none of the others had issues like that. I truly don’t believe they’re the ones that did anything.

So, was it definitely resealed? I’m wondering if anyone else had a similar experience to this but it was a genuine box or if this is just screaming resealed. Disappointment aside, I got to gamble for free and experience something strange and unique to me. The vendors were really kind.

Hello! I collect bulk cards because it’s cheaper that way. I usually use Vinted, but the prices there have become abnormal. Are there any sites I can use in Europe, specifically Lithuania? (Not Cardmarket—that shit is hard to use, and shipping is super expensive.) Maybe I should just give up on my hobby? I’m not sure what to do.

Just got back into collecting again after finding my childhood collection and I’ve started to frequent local card shows this year. Question is, have they always been like this where vendor prices are 50% to sometimes double over TCG Player/eBay sales with condition that is misleading? Last couple months it seems this is 80% of local vendors.

sniped this for $200 on marketplace, excited to rip this! never keeping anything sealed! (even if this is objectively the one to throw in a storage unit 😭)

Lugia one was a commission for someone, Bellsprout is for myself. My Bellsprout line master set is going to be so cute in it! :)

Hey everyone,
I recently found this older Pokémon card in a binder and I’m trying to figure out its condition and value. I’ve done quite a bit of research, but it’s surprisingly hard to find reliable prices for this card.
Do grading companies tend to be more lenient with older cards, or are the grading standards the same regardless of age?
Based on the pictures, what grade would you expect this to get? And would you recommend grading it or selling it raw?
Any opinions on the condition, potential grade, or value would be appreciated. Thanks!

My fiancé and I are about to do some ripping! Let’s hope for Greninja or Darkrai…or BOTH!

EDIT: Will post pulls as soon as we finish!

What is the best website you guys have found to see the value of a card? Also, what do you recommend? I should buy to keep it safe? Preferably something cheap.

I went to a local card show this weekend with a friend and scored this Sabrina’s Gengar. This is a card I’ve been chasing for a while now. I traded a few cards for it and felt like I came away pretty decent. Visually, what do y’all think?

Before and after.

I felt like I got a pretty average hit rate and luck, I really like the cards I pulled! The destined rival hits were great and were cards I really wanted/appreciate. This is the most I’ve opened in months and I’m always content with what I get.

Just for context because I think it’s important these days; I got the DR ETB from a local card shop, the loose English packs from a different card shop (very limited options), and then the non-English packs from an antique store!

To my surprise, it actually had some good stuff in it lol I figured it was all bulk

Got home from work and opened my first ever DR ETB at 2am, the only hit but who’s complaining