This was an incredibly eye-opening video, and oddly enough it gave me hope. You pointed out the "idiocracy" side of things and emphasized the necessary reality of things. I'm 30 atm and in the middle of an existential crisis seeing as I was recently let go and had to move back in to my parents, especially when seeing how typically lives are for all of my friends at this age every time I so much as peak at Instagram. But when I really think about it things aren't so bad and I have a solid opportunity here. I have a few thousand in savings, zero credit card debt or student loans, and my parents INSIST that I don't pay them anything and solely focus on myself/future. Instead of thinking of all the negatives I should really focus on the positives, which is I still have a great opportunity to do something with no typical pushbacks like debt, bills, kids, etc. My main focus is to get another job and continue pumping savings while living at my parents, maybe I can really do something here regarding a business. Subscribed, love the few videos I've seen so far and genuinely want to learn more. Take care man!

As always, very informative. Love the time capsule idea, reflection is key! Gengar.

Thank you for the continued honesty. I started my online card shop last year and still going to keep the hustle going in 2024. Looking forward to more content! And my fav Pokémon is Eevee :)

I agree with your takes, it will definitely be interesting to review at the end of the year. There is more clarity hitting the market and it's a good time to be a 'collector' for the joy of the hobby. Prices on purchase and resale will continue to fall and those that are collecting for joy will reap the most benefit in the short term and may enjoy the next upswing if they stick with their passion. Take it from someone that writes death notices for a day-job; build that business, work hard but most importantly enjoy your hobbies. Today and tomorrow matter just as much as the 'future'. Great video, very level-headed and down to earth. Fav pokemon: Trubbish

I’ve bought a fair amount of cards from your store and love how easy it is. Just stumbled on this video and awesome to see you have a growing KZfaq channel and happy to be a new subscriber! Great content and looking forward to following along. I’m a 9-5er and a Pokémon collector but super helpful predictions for 2024 and helps me think about my eBay selling account as I continue to try and grow that this year.

Came here from Instagram to finish the video because I was enjoying it so much! I love the honesty and transparency. Keep it up 😊

Great content as always. Honesty is always appreciated, thanks!

Great video! As someone who has reinvigorated their love for TCG’s recently, and just started selling product at the end of last year, I thank you for this video and wish you a Happy New Year Brian!

Also love this channel! Always a great perspective!

Great update Brian. Appreciate your candid thoughts.

I'm a small business owner (of a tech company), not anything TCG. But I passively collect on the side as a hobby. Love your genuine honesty and discussion on the life of being a small business owner. Great stuff.

Love your out look! It's refreshing.

The key is branding and diversification outside of cards. For me I built up a fan base from my music , and now I’m killing it from selling Pokemon exclusives from Japan outside of the cards. The cards are the top of the funnel offers

I really enjoyed listening to your take and opinions on the 2024 market going forward. Keep it up! 💪

Great transparent video..I agree with MZ crashing by the end of 2024. Keep up the awesome tell it like it is videos you do. I was fortunate to get 3 of the blue bottom OP-1 boosters at $240 each at Collector Store Q1 2013 and keeping it for the long haul. Favorite Pokémon is Umbreon. Thanks bro

Loving the evolution of the content and improvement of quality 😍

Enjoy your honest content. Here to support local Nebraska business

My daughter loves open and build master sets … She hooked me in ( smartly ) and now we are doing it much more business like. Hell I’m getting a PSA submission ready as I watched your video !! Rayquaza

Man love watching your videos even though probably won’t start my own Pokémon business but you never know My favorite Pokémon is charizard hoping to pull the sar from all the boxes of shiny treasures from you

Its good to hear tha your LGS in Omaha iz still bringing in players. I’m located in the north Idaho panhandle where few players attend our 3-4 LGS’s Even so I’ve seen the kids and their parents truly enjoying the recent Pokémon sets Thanks heaps for your candor on the business side of this fun game/hobby Me favorito Pokémon card iz still Pikachu which I’ve been collecting since 1999 - cheers‼️

A definite reality check for anyone already in the TCG space or looking to get into it! Pretty much everything you said goes for MTG as well, with the added bonus of a ridiculous number of missteps by the company over the past year. Views and general negative sentiment certainly reflect that. Keep up the great work, and Happy New Year!👍

I like your honest opinion and also the transparent of your business. Keep going and all the best! 💪🏽 My favourite Pokémon is Salamence. ✌🏼😁

where can i get cards/boxes etc etc for my small card stand at a local swapmeet ?

Much appreciated ✌️ thanks for the video

Well I guess its all up to me to prove PokeNE Wrong this year and keep this hobby and this business BOOMIN. FULL SPEED AHEAD! 😁

Well said all around. Lots of opportunity is out there for fresh ideas to take off!

Dig your authenticity and sharing your real-world experience. Def helps small biz young pups like myself. Also, Magikarp gang 💪🏽🔥💪🏽🔥💪🏽🔥

I like the fact you keep checking yourself and you think what you've said is negative ... it's not negative, it's realistic and people need to hear it. I like your videos, half of it (or a quarter of it) doesn't relate to me as I'm in the UK and the market is different here - smaller country and difference customer base - but this is both good and bad. There are a lot of people who started this during covid (myself included - buying and selling, pokemon, MTG, hell, even Lego!) but now they are struggling and trying to get out. I believe there is a market for those of us who weather the storm, but it will be a difficult 2024. Keep up with the good content ... you might not get millions of subs or views, but it is the most down to earth and "real" overview of the current market anyone can watch and listen to. Oh and favourite Pokemon, Jigglypuff ... the closest Pokemon you will find to everyones drunk "friend", who likes to play jokes by drawing on the faces of their other drunk friends while they are sleeping ...

I'm UK based and started in August, I've got a distributor and have had for a couple months, but the only problem is I'm not vat registered yet. So it works out cheaper for me to shop around instead of using them at the moment.

You helped me realize with this video that I need to keep this sealed investment I'm building as a small portion of my investments. I enjoy this more than my traditional investments, but I also need to remember that I'm not aiming to have a business like yours so I'm probably spending too much time thinking about this. I love Pokemon and I can't wait to sell my sealed in 10+ years, even though it's a long time and then every year I get to sell the next 10+ year product!

Blastoise is my OG favorite but there are some sweet new ones. Enjoyed the video and hope you’re wrong lol. Your content and a few others inspired me to get back into collecting and my inner entrepreneur wants to monetize it. Hoping we can continue to preserve our inner child by riding this wave for as long as possible haha. Keep making the content bro!!!

Correct me if I’m wrong but didn’t Bandai come out and say they wanted One Piece to be a Collectable card game not just a trading one. As in keeping prints tight and low, basically opposite of lorcana.

I 1 million % appreciate your honest content. I gotta agree with @Shadow72eapers this video oddly enough gave me hope. It's a time where everybody has to pay their dues to get in and I want to get in more than anything. Hope I get to meet you at one of the cons sometime.

I liked the video - some mature advice :). Fav is Houndoom.

My favorite pokemon is Lugia, by the way I come from a video game background I sell here and there but I’m not a re seller, even tho I have a big collection of video games and system, I just got into pokemon cards again and truly enough I do it for fun but here and there I do keep sealed products that I know I may sell in a few years down the line, it’s just a fun little thing to do. Great video by the way.

Raichu! Love the honesty and the content as always. Looking forward for more!

Love the time capsule idea! Keep it going.

Honest again! Still working the right angle for a Pokemon business. I know it’s a rough looking year but that seems like more opportunity to me. Low market price on products means perhaps easier to get in on a floor level vs overpriced. Just like anything it goes up them down then up again. Build with the low markets for the next high. Snorlax is my fav! Sure lots will go out of business this year. That’s ok. But there is still opportunity out there.

I’m not buying anymore PSA CGS or Beckett slabs in 2024. Gotta support small business like AGS, SCG, GMA, ACE

Charizard..probably due to Pokémon Red Version being my first Pkm game. Also want to state that I ultimately enjoy straightforward content like this, I’m a PokeNE customer and you’ve definitely inspired me to start my own business called The YGO Market via Mercari. I will as you said maintain realistic expectations but my goal is to of course grow my business to be as successful as yours is. Thank you for the knowledge and advice you give, I ultimately appreciate it.

Darkrai is my fav , & thanks for the video!

Agree with most of that - I think the best thing to learn is the more research, studying, listening you do in the hobby the better the chances are of you succeeding - you have to be passionate and love it to get through the work it will take - short term gains are far and few between and people keep trying to make the pieces fit instead of doing the actual work, that’s where the cracks come from in your foundation as business owner, content creator or collector/investor. Set goals do the work have passion

Idk about those folks but I'm not fooled at all by the illusion content creators have created about money in the pokemon hobby. It's still a hobby to me and it's fun to wheel and deal with pokemon cards, I reached a point in the hobby where I can keep a cash flow from selling and buying more collectables. Instead of constantly just buying.. You definitely hit the nail on the head in this video I'm sure your not wrong about a lot of people who watch nostalgia nomics. I Enjoy your content just as much as him or even opposum. You guys have your own nitch. I definitely got op at MSRP several weeks ago now I'm not buying at the current prices

Thanks for your take!

I'm collecting for myself, really. I've always bought cards or sealed and hold onto it for a long time so I can look at them myself from time to time. I'll probably not sell any of my stuff unless it somehow jumps up to base set prices. And even then, it would hurt me. I even have some weiss cards that are worth a decent amount but I don't want to sell them because they are beautiful. Maybe one day, but it's all about the thrill of the hunt for me. Unless a set like lost origin comes out, and all I want is that single secret art giratina card.

I think the markets more into flipping cards and getting in where you sales say what lane you fit in . Build through tcg and eBay for profits . Also dabble on other cards that you can flip or get graded. The market is moving towards digital and brick and mortar business will be obsolete

My favorite pokemon today is Snorlax! Very informative video, kind of confirms what I've been seeing happening in the last month already. Thank you for your honesty and advice, I am very curious to see this all unfold in 2024!

When are you gunna post international? would love to buy from you here in Australia 🇦🇺

Love the transparency!!!! 🤌🤌🤌 fav pokemon is snorlax and haunter/gengar

Pokemon overextended and vendors will pay the price. Six sets last year, all pushing or exceeding 300 card sets, the back quarter (not even half) was just tripping over itself between OF, 151, and PR. They took it too far by nerfing the pull rates. Low hit value is fine and even a good thing because this is a kids game. But low value and hard pull rates is a toxic combination.

I'm a Lego reseller. I throughly enjoy your content. I find the 2 hobbies very much alike. I'm already starting to see other stores and resellers closing. I'm part time/ hobby store. Keep up the content

I guess I go with mew I named my cat mew and mews got a funny personality in the anime and great backstory. Great video i think good thumbnails also help get more views on KZfaq

Don’t worry I’ll be a content factory for Pokémon this year on my channel aswell!

Jolteon! Thanks again for all the content.

I’m actually looking to buy more one piece over Pokémon right now. However my buying model has always been to buy at or below retail. And if I missed it then I just move to the next set. Not only do me and my kids love one piece, but I feel like since it’s still in the early stages it could be a pretty good gamble. It’s a very solid anime that’s doing a lot of branching out into different communities recently and attracting so many people that don’t watch anime. But I’m loving a lot of these sales for pokemon too. Buy when it’s a sellers market and sell when it’s a buyers market.

Haunter definitely is my favorite, but I'm slowly switching to Gengar because it's hard to find any really cool Haunter merch.

I made some dumb moves last year lol Hopefully I have learned something from these and do better in the futur 😅

Love these long videos. Felt like a 10 minute video. slyveon. waiting for the business video from scratch 👀

Favorite Pokemon hands down, any of the Eve Evolutions.

Favorite part of the video: “I opened an ETB on an active volcano.” Hahah, that’s totally what Mr. Beast would do if he was in the hobby

Capital and patience are the two keys. Very cash poor hobby overall and having the liquidity to weather storms historically has proven to go well (you said weather the storm right after I typed it lol)

Great video! Mine is Feraligatr

At last an honest opinion 😂😂totally agree with you there, everybody who is in the business understands that its slowing down, so so many people are trying to offload thier collection, most influencer are just trying to keep the hype gg to market thier items and collection😂😂

im in the pokemon scene to enjoy the cards and be a collector so trying to make money off of everything is like eh, after covid i learned just to have fun and enjoy life im not here to make alot of money i love to see the scalpers leave to be honest the only positive side. and for the negetive side i do want to support my mom and pa store as much as possible in these hard times, i feel so bad for those lgs stores trying to make it god bless them!

I agree pretty wholeheartedly with a lot of what he is saying. I think the key thing to highlight here is that you can still start a Pokemon business but don’t make it the only thing you’re doing. It’s a great side hustle to generate some income and compliment your full time income. This way when things start to get slow, you don’t have to go sleepless every night worrying about how you’re gonna sell product. I think the other key factor here is to make sure you have all your ducks in a row first too. Don’t just invest the only $1000 you have to your name into a bunch of sealed products or singles in hopes of flipping it for a quick buck. Make sure you have your savings in a comfortable position before you spend any large sum of money on products. The way I started up was by using the money I would typically save from my paycheque and investing it into my business. Obviously this is still a risk, but it was a manageable risk as my other investments are at a comfortable place for me right now. Overall, just be smart when it comes to this because it can be such a cyclical business.

This sounds real, good advice. Slowbro destroyed Kogas daughter for me today in soulsilver so he’s up on my list but honestly Weezing is my favorite. Digital & tcg are totally different worlds lol

Magic karp ❤ but also Van Meter MZ 🔥

Can’t wait for the time capsule video haha.. 2025 HERE WE COME LOL

This was a really great listen. I'd be completely shocked if your predictions don't come true in 2024. Not because I'm some kind of psycho pessimist but I think what you said are just the facts about the hobby and content creation going forward. I can't imagine being a full time TCG seller in the current market. With a majority of sealed products selling below "MSRP", it's kind of a death sentence for a lot of smaller and newer sellers. The distributors don't care. They usually bundle high profile products with a bunch of unwanted crap and tell the buyers they can take it or leave it. It's rough, man. I love the Pokémon hobby but everyone can see it. Things have cooled off. I don't think we'll see plannedemic level hype for a long time (if ever, tbh). I wish the best to anyone willing to keep pursuing this business but man, I think it's rough waters ahead for some time to come.

Hard to say what my favorite Pokémon is but my favorite brand new Pokémon from paradox has to be Scream Tail. Lol hilarious idea

I've been doing this a little over a year and I think you're right. I'm tapped out - I started with english distribution and in the beginning it was pretty good. These last 4 months ish have been hell though. No one wants scarlet violet tbh and it's just killing the ability to do this stuff. I can't compete with bigger retailers selling product at prices lower than what I got from wholesale distribution.

If you want to invest in one piece product, you gotta invest in the pre-errata blue bottom 1st wave print. Because those are never gonna be in circulation again, because it had its text on cards changed and have white bottoms now. Reminds me of shadowless pokemon.

Difference is Bandai stated they arent over printing, and Ravensburger said they will over print . One Piece is here to stay sorry you missed the boat .

Galarian Moltres 💯 The base set is our nostalgia, true. I see a lot of kids running around with new set cards. One day they will also feel the same nostalgia imo. Looking forward to get back on this video in 11 months and maybe in 11yrs when this kids grew up 😅

My favorite is Lugia thanks bro took in the whole video

I got lucky, but got in with southern hobby and madal, I was on a 2 year wait list though for madal

Man, I guess we quit youtube this year. Lol. Great honest take. You admit it's tour opinion and not 100% facts which I can respect. Honestly like where the state of pokemon is at. Can't wait to see what 2024 holds for pokemon and our small rip and ship. Hopefully building up to a brick and mortar. 3-5 year plan!

I think your right on a lot of these points, people are also tired of seeing these vintage boxes being opened tbh, I’m sceptical and I know a lot of other people are on how these vintage 20 something year old boxes keep popping up all over in pristine condition, call it conspiracy theory or whatever but are these getting reprinted to certain influencers? Just sus. But I think in 2024 you should be collecting more One Piece and Evolving Skies leftover product.

Serious question. If i put my all to selling and flipping pokemon cards do you think i can do over 100k in sales first year?

Pikachu is my favorite. Thanks for sharing your thoughts

Nice video, sir.

Sold off my entire Pokémon Card collecting and went over to One Piece like many others in my area. Ill just wait for Pokemon TCG Pocket at this point when it comes to Pokemon..

This is probably not really great for people looking to profit... but I hope prices tank for so many sets. There are so many singles that I want because I like the art or the Pokémon that I'll never be able to afford getting. It'd be nice just to have them to look at or display as art. I'm not really looking to buy and then hoping it goes up in value so I can sell it. I want it to have it.

Favorite Pokémon has got to be Lugia. I started a small business and watched your videos for guidance, but I think you’re right when you say it’s not for everyone 😅 I hopped out a little bit after starting but I found that I enjoy collecting and trading much more than heckling and trying to flip cards in this market. May the market rebound and bring you more wealth!

Man TT is making things really hard right now. Can’t compete with those prices for shiny.

Ludicolo. All the way. Value the content. Business interests me as someone who will soon be retired from career 1 and looking to something more enjoyable to pass the time as, possibly, career 1.5.

Opportunity cost is often disregarded completely in pokemon. Forget the 5% risk free rate which is high in recent times, there are credit card warriors out here shunning 401(k) company matches with tax advantaged guaranteed returns for 20-30% interest credit card debt in ultra modern sealed pokemon with no selling experience at all. Hopefully it is a tiny minority, but it is definitely some amount of people out there.

I've noticed Pokerev hasn't been posting every day at 4pm anymore and Pokevault seems to be doing more lives than videos.

I am a whatnot seller. Early in the game but I've seen some good success not being scammy and operating on a givvy model! A lot of the space is filled with very scammy mystery box bull crap and I hate it! I feel I came up with a model that is working but also keeps the feel of winning bonus stuff after winning an auction. Get what you paid for plus possibly a bonus product!

Leafeon, Pikachu, Snorlax are some of my fave pokemon

Ok, I appreciate what you said about a lot of capital being required to make a long term difference in your life via Pokemon investments. I've thought the same for a long time - people with $1K or $3K or even $5K-$10K. Yeah, you can make a bit of side cash, but most likely you can put that money elsewhere (like in yourself, as you said) and make a bigger difference in your life. I wouldn't consider it investing unless you're really putting lots of money into it. Otherwise, it's just side collecting as a hobby with some potential bonuses. So question: on average, how much capital generally would someone need to make a big financial change in their life via Pokemon investments? $20K, $50K, $100K, $250K, etc..?

tik tok shopping experience, while many don't like it. It is wildly easy and nice for end consumer. Pick what you want, live rip, no trash to deal with, every rip comes in a nice penny sleeve and case. I am SURE prices will rise over time, they have to as tik tok offers start up discounts. But this model is nice. I hate how LCS also charge 30-40% more than I find online. can not afford at all to shop locally, + most local shops are forced online

Great video man 🤙 Gengar for the fav

my favorite pokemon is raikou

When it comes to the overall TCG space, there's just too much disparity between online sellers with sites, micro sellers with streams and on places like FB and IG, scammers all over the place, and finally LGS's. It's made the marketplace a quagmire to navigate at times if you collect multiple TCG's, or even just a TCG like Pokemon that pumps out products every other month.

Interesting to see this cycle. Wonder how long it will take or if it will ever boom again. Maybe not till the kids of today are our age?

I think investing content will die in 2024. Most of the people who make that content have no real investments and it shows. The days of booster boxes doubling in value the same month they release is over and that is a net good thing for the hobby. When the easy money is gone things always change. I enjoyed hearing your thoughts on next year let’s see what happens! Also my fave Pokémon is Alakazam.

Bro, ive got 200$ left, I think Im going to film myself opening an obsidian flames etb on an active volcano 🌋

I would add SGC into the mix of companies that did not go belly up. Bulbasaur.

First time watching you man (All the way from Ireland)… ☘️😅 I have a slightly different take specifically in relation to “content creators” For me content creators will never get old. Well the OGs wont…. Pokerev etc (I don’t like Leonheart) mainly rev in relation to the mega poketubers… why? Pokemon is always coming out with new stuff, sets, gimmicks etc. 6 new sets in 2023 alone, most of his big hitter videos from 2023 all stem from videos related too this format. Like being able to open a new set up maybe a week before anyone else, or opening maybe what 100+ boosters from said new set or however he does it. To me that will always keep the core auidence engaged, Rev just needs to muddle his way through until a new set drops then boom youd better believe im hitting that video up as fast as humanly possible. Pokemon have released over 90+ sets, the actual TCG is more popular than ever now too which helps validate the hobby too to a degree. Basically what im saying is for as long as pokemon keep pumping out new sets Rev doesnt have to look too far, or too hard for new content. Its easy for him now. In saying all this, i must admit you came across very well and i subscribed to the channel. 😊💪 PS, the whole brick and mortar thing drives me up the wall…. In the UK/Ireland we are at a HUGE disadvantage when it comes to availability and competition. Just go to the Pokemon centre website and youll see UK currently has 308 items for sale in regards TCG related items and the US version has over 800. You have TCG player, GameStop, target, Walmart etc. We have……. Ebay. Literally thats all, ive spent an awful lot of time and effort comparing affordability in relation to items in the UK vs US. I recently purchased a 1st edition team Rocket booster pack from ebay for £495. Roughly $600+ in US currency. If i was in the states due how overly saturated the market is, i would confidently say i could have made that very same purchase for $300 easily. The same goes for cards too, Charizard 151 Alt Art lose NM cost me £215 to purchase and that was cheap. 😅 Yet im constantly watching guys like Danny Phantump state its a $115 card. Its crazy over here and over the past 2/3 years o have been collecting its only getting more and more absurd. What im trying to say is supply and demand clearly has a massive role to play and when you compare UK and the US we are miles and miles behind…. However people still happily pay a premium to make those purchases. Myself included 😊 Again id just like to say super stuff. 💪 ☘️