Discussion Okay, Tapu Lele-GX's Price is Outrageous

Matthew the Fairy Lover

The Lover of everything Fairy
Member
This is one of the reasons I don't like about this game, a pay wall into competitive play. Yes, I understand that not all decks need Lele as some decks can play fine without her but 9/10 decks do, just for that Lele into Brigette into 3 Basics Turn 1 play.

One of my friends at the League I go to, she traded for her first one, a normal art at an event that I went with her. Then she got two more on holiday when she went to Italy, another normal art and a rainbow rare, while I haven't pulled or got any, but hey...things happen bro.

But that's not important, I've learned to deal with Lele and it's price and you will probably need it if you want to be competitive, if you can trade for them, do it. Save up some meta cards and see where that takes you. I might be getting a Lele off my friend I mentioned earlier after I told her I pulled a Full Art Darkrai-GX from my first Burning Shadows pack but let's see if that happens.

I'm just happy my league allows the use of at max. 10 proxies for decks.
 

Matthew the Fairy Lover

The Lover of everything Fairy
Member
So you're saying I'm not a serious player?!?!?
No, I'm serious all right, just broke. I do realize the potential of Lele but am broke. I do in fact, want a Lele but DO NOT HAVE THE MEANS TO OBTAIN ONE. This makes me dislike Lele just a bit, because it appears to be, say, a right of passage into being a serious player. Earth to PMJ and Aurajackie, there are serious players who don't have Lele, such as me. Every Friday, my league gets together for battles and whatnot, and everyone there is a serious player, but at first thought, 4-6 people don't have the means to get a Lele, but are still serious. The fact that you two can't see that a stinkin' glittery piece of cardboard does not define the seriousness of the player is either inconsiderate to the broke, or sickening. Because of your points, I can get a clear visual of two people who have the means of obtaining 4 Lele, and don't lose, blaming the losses of your opponent's not on their deck or luck, but on the fact they do not have Tapu Lele.
One question for you un-broke people:
How many Leles do you have?

I'm broke too, but I've learned to accept that. And you don't always have to buy the cards you need. I have a spare binder full of staples, holos and super rares like GXs and such so I can try and get these rare cards. Has it worked yet? No...but I'm still trying, and it's something I want to work towards. And at the end of the day, and when you have your first Tapu Lele-GX, it will feel all the more sweeter and you will feel all the more rewarded and proud of yourself. Just wanted to throw something into the ring.
 

Alphahitman4

Quad Sylveon Master
Member
If you are playing competitvely then you go to regionals and stuff where you have to travel, right? I feel spending money to make good deck is priority before going on competitve scene. I understand cards aint cheap but if you are working full time job hopefully you can save couple hundred a month to spend on cards and/or save up for traveling costs. i guess eveyr one has differing situations. I dont have nay kids and guess some with kids could have more troubling time , but then again people with kids probably dont travel to multiple regionals a year, unless they are really fortunate lol.
 

jessalakasam

Floette is love Floette is life
Member
I think one of the BIGGER problems here is its underprinting. I bought 6 boxes. Out of that only 1 box contained a Lele (Granted it had 2), however I've seen cases with like 1 Lele. 1/216 odds of pulling a highly requested card is just terrible
 

Alphahitman4

Quad Sylveon Master
Member
I think one of the BIGGER problems here is its underprinting. I bought 6 boxes. Out of that only 1 box contained a Lele (Granted it had 2), however I've seen cases with like 1 Lele. 1/216 odds of pulling a highly requested card is just terrible
Agreed, there should be 1 per box. I remember in Yugioh in the day there was one secret rare per box guarenteed and feel like that should be case for this. If you spend money on box you should get the Lele
 

jessalakasam

Floette is love Floette is life
Member
Agreed, there should be 1 per box. I remember in Yugioh in the day there was one secret rare per box guarenteed and feel like that should be case for this. If you spend money on box you should get the Lele
Nah guarenteeing 1 box is something they would never do proabably 1 per 2-3 boxes would be more realistic. Plus I got 2-3 of every other GX within the other 5 boxes and 0 lele
 

Alphahitman4

Quad Sylveon Master
Member
Nah guarenteeing 1 box is something they would never do proabably 1 per 2-3 boxes would be more realistic. Plus I got 2-3 of every other GX within the other 5 boxes and 0 lele
1 out of 2 would be fine..idk bought box of GRI and pulled straight garbage. Was very disapointed. All worth noting was 1 ninetales and 1 metagross. No full art trainers or anythinf
 

gumball51321

*thumbs up*
Member
Also, Lele is one of the cards that maximizes consistency in decks, like Sycamore and Ultra Ball, so draw-passing doesn't happen(and even then it STILL does). If you resort to a deck relying on luck just to get set up, it's obviously not a good deck. If you want to place well in larger tournaments, then you HAVE to shell out money to build the ideal deck. Like @Alphahitman4 said, spending money on a good deck should be prioritized to spending money to go to events. As someone who lives in Texas, I have to compete with a city of some of the best players, whether or not they can travel and get their invites. I know that the whole "oh, well even though not many of our players GET invites, they're still top-notch players" cliche isn't a reliable statement, people like John Kettler or Brad Curcio can tell you that Houston players are smart players. But, there are a whole lot of kids who aren't good players. As much as a scumbag as this makes me sound like, I have to rely on ripping kids off because I'm not old enough to get a job I can reliably go to, and my parents don't buy me cards. Back when Shaymin was printed, I sniped maybe 5 Shaymins from my league(about 200 bucks back in that day) for maybe 30-45 bucks worth of cards. I would literally NOT be able to build competitive decks if I didn't rip off kids who don't know Ebay(not to even mention TCGplayer) exist. To be completely honest, I think Tapu Lele GX' price of 46 USD for a regular copy is a great price. But when Worlds ends, holy crap, you better have Leles, or you better have money, cause those babies are gonna be shootin'.
 

Alphahitman4

Quad Sylveon Master
Member
Also, Lele is one of the cards that maximizes consistency in decks, like Sycamore and Ultra Ball, so draw-passing doesn't happen(and even then it STILL does). If you resort to a deck relying on luck just to get set up, it's obviously not a good deck. If you want to place well in larger tournaments, then you HAVE to shell out money to build the ideal deck. Like @Alphahitman4 said, spending money on a good deck should be prioritized to spending money to go to events. As someone who lives in Texas, I have to compete with a city of some of the best players, whether or not they can travel and get their invites. I know that the whole "oh, well even though not many of our players GET invites, they're still top-notch players" cliche isn't a reliable statement, people like John Kettler or Brad Curcio can tell you that Houston players are smart players. But, there are a whole lot of kids who aren't good players. As much as a scumbag as this makes me sound like, I have to rely on ripping kids off because I'm not old enough to get a job I can reliably go to, and my parents don't buy me cards. Back when Shaymin was printed, I sniped maybe 5 Shaymins from my league(about 200 bucks back in that day) for maybe 30-45 bucks worth of cards. I would literally NOT be able to build competitive decks if I didn't rip off kids who don't know Ebay(not to even mention TCGplayer) exist. To be completely honest, I think Tapu Lele GX' price of 46 USD for a regular copy is a great price. But when Worlds ends, holy crap, you better have Leles, or you better have money, cause those babies are gonna be shootin'.
And I have no problem with this, i have enjoyed competeive card games since I played yugioh. Trading is key to help limit your cost to play but more thann likely you will have to invest money. If you have alot of hobbies that take up moneys tht will make it tough but as this being my only hobby that actively costs money it is more tolerable. Knowing prices are crazy Im just gnna bite the bullet and buy playset of HR Lele, might as wlel get the best ones if im gnna spend the money. They will be good for 2 rotations and then even then you can play them in expanded and get way more than your moneys worth over the years.
 

Matthew the Fairy Lover

The Lover of everything Fairy
Member
Also, Lele is one of the cards that maximizes consistency in decks, like Sycamore and Ultra Ball, so draw-passing doesn't happen(and even then it STILL does). If you resort to a deck relying on luck just to get set up, it's obviously not a good deck. If you want to place well in larger tournaments, then you HAVE to shell out money to build the ideal deck. Like @Alphahitman4 said, spending money on a good deck should be prioritized to spending money to go to events. As someone who lives in Texas, I have to compete with a city of some of the best players, whether or not they can travel and get their invites. I know that the whole "oh, well even though not many of our players GET invites, they're still top-notch players" cliche isn't a reliable statement, people like John Kettler or Brad Curcio can tell you that Houston players are smart players. But, there are a whole lot of kids who aren't good players. As much as a scumbag as this makes me sound like, I have to rely on ripping kids off because I'm not old enough to get a job I can reliably go to, and my parents don't buy me cards. Back when Shaymin was printed, I sniped maybe 5 Shaymins from my league(about 200 bucks back in that day) for maybe 30-45 bucks worth of cards. I would literally NOT be able to build competitive decks if I didn't rip off kids who don't know Ebay(not to even mention TCGplayer) exist. To be completely honest, I think Tapu Lele GX' price of 46 USD for a regular copy is a great price. But when Worlds ends, holy crap, you better have Leles, or you better have money, cause those babies are gonna be shootin'.

Don't feel bad from ripping of kids as I do that too, especially if they have a card I want for my deck. I just show them my binder and I say to them 'Pick a card that you like, and long as you're happy with the trade, that's fine'. I show them my Expanded stuff first, which is good if they want something in Expanded, as I don't play that format so I could really care less.

Do I feel bad? Sometimes. But I feel that as long as the kid is happy with what they have, then that helped with deal with the guilt. And man... 5 Shaymins? You're lucky. I've had none and when I went to tournaments with friends, I had to borrow some of a friend who ran the league I went to.
 

Otaku

The wise fool?
Member
Nah guarenteeing 1 box is something they would never do proabably 1 per 2-3 boxes would be more realistic. Plus I got 2-3 of every other GX within the other 5 boxes and 0 lele

May I propose that the premium rarity should be reserved only for alternate art, FA, Rainbow Rare, etc. printings of cards? I mean, it isn't like they have to mine rare wündertaggium to produce Tapu Lele-GX or any Pokémon-GX. The powers-that-be decided to tie the mechanic into a rarity, and that should really have upset more players. If they insist on so many cards only existing at the rarity twice beyond "Rare", then at least consider creating a "pre-print" mechanic where stuff like Tapu Lele-GX debuts as an Ultra Rare card but then in a set or two it will be reprinted as a normal Rare with different art. I think we can all get used to having to either pay a premium for "instant access" or chilling and waiting for the next set to obtain the "budget" model. Just make sure things are easily distinguished so the originals are still collectible, and we avoid most of this mess.
 

gumball51321

*thumbs up*
Member
May I propose that the premium rarity should be reserved only for alternate art, FA, Rainbow Rare, etc. printings of cards? I mean, it isn't like they have to mine rare wündertaggium to produce Tapu Lele-GX or any Pokémon-GX. The powers-that-be decided to tie the mechanic into a rarity, and that should really have upset more players. If they insist on so many cards only existing at the rarity twice beyond "Rare", then at least consider creating a "pre-print" mechanic where stuff like Tapu Lele-GX debuts as an Ultra Rare card but then in a set or two it will be reprinted as a normal Rare with different art. I think we can all get used to having to either pay a premium for "instant access" or chilling and waiting for the next set to obtain the "budget" model. Just make sure things are easily distinguished so the originals are still collectible, and we avoid most of this mess.
But if this happens, the people who invest in the first one are going to be screwed over because they invested in the first "cheap" one. I think that if you want to be good at something, you have to spend time and money. This is a completely watered down example, but take 1st edition Machamp for example. 1st edition cards were all the rage for collectors(I think, I wasn't born yet)and I'm sure people bought them as singles when they went out of print. Well, they messed up Machamp, and just about every printing for it was the 1st edition Machamp, so they became virtually worthless. Hell, the one that ISN'T 1st edition is the one worth more. I just generally think that from a market standpoint, this is a bad idea for almost any concept
 

gumball51321

*thumbs up*
Member
And I have no problem with this, i have enjoyed competeive card games since I played yugioh. Trading is key to help limit your cost to play but more thann likely you will have to invest money. If you have alot of hobbies that take up moneys tht will make it tough but as this being my only hobby that actively costs money it is more tolerable. Knowing prices are crazy Im just gnna bite the bullet and buy playset of HR Lele, might as wlel get the best ones if im gnna spend the money. They will be good for 2 rotations and then even then you can play them in expanded and get way more than your moneys worth over the years.
If you played YGO, it's no wonder you have no problem with this. I actually want to know your history with YGO and how much stealing and bad sportsmanship you have seen/ knew about, because it seems like that card game community is super toxic about that. But Yu-Gi-Oh aside, Pokemon is my only hobby. I don't get out much and I can't exactly go do anything with no job and parents not really willing to spend the money. I'm about to get money from Troll and Toad from my bulk(which I also get from people who have no idea what they're doing), so I can finally buy BUS stuff that I couldn't snipe early on like I ususally do.
 

nepeta1000

Aspiring Trainer
Member
normal tapu lele gx price is up to 50 bucks luckily the store credit I got for my bulk adds up to that amount. Now to figure out how to get the second one..
 

gumball51321

*thumbs up*
Member
normal tapu lele gx price is up to 50 bucks luckily the store credit I got for my bulk adds up to that amount. Now to figure out how to get the second one..
Meh, I just traded one of my extra RA for a NM Computer Search and a NM FA Ghetsis. I got the better end of the trade, but I didn't really want to get rid of 1. 5 is a weird number to have, I'm gonna go trade the straight Comp. Search to someone for the 6th
 

Otaku

The wise fool?
Member
@gumball51321

Please re-read my comment as you seem to have it backward. Actually, wait; I wrote the post quickly so let me re-read it first. ;)

*re-reads own post*

Yeah, looks like I said what I meant to say, so let's try to clear things up. I proposed two things:

1) Quit making cards that only exist in the highest of the rarities.

2) If #1 isn't an option, then consider making it standard practice to re-release premium rarity cards as "normal" rares in the next expansion.

Either of these could hurt sales, but it could help them as well. How?

It isn't like TPCi is free with their sales data; from what little I've seen, sales seem bigger at places like Wal-Mart and not because competitive players shop there. Or even most collectors. Instead, the bulk of sales are by people who don't truly collect or play, but just want to buy "something Pokémon" or "something Pokémon TCG" related. Might be a parent buying it as a "toy" for the kiddos, might be a nostalgic adult buying it for his or herself. Serious collectors and players tend to order boxes (and not from big retailers) or buy/trade for singles. A serious player might spend even a few hundred per set but when you're outnumbered 1000 to 1, the "random" buyers at big retailers still win out. So changing these things up is unlikely to affect the bulk of purchases. "Random" buyers still buy it because it's Pokémon or a TCG booster or whatever. Collectors still have the higher rarity cards to collect; they haven't gone away, it is just there will be a lower rarity version of the same thing available, eventually. Players might go back to buying more boosters again because they wouldn't be as much of a rip-off. If sales are as disproportionate as I believe they are, it won't make a noticeable difference either way.

But if this happens, the people who invest in the first one are going to be screwed over because they invested in the first "cheap" one.

The first ones are not the cheap ones. They will be the pricier ones, and anyone competent will know that in next set, there will be a normal Rare reprint. Collectors will still need the rarer ones, if they make sure the rarer versions look better, a lot of players will want to use them anyway. For three months, the first release will be the only release, so if your deck needs [insert card], you still have to pony up for it. However, you'll have the option of selling them as the reprints near, or if you cannot afford the premium rare versions, you can try and hold out for three months.

As this was intended to be a standard operating procedure for the game, no one should be screwed over. Some will, but it is the same as now; swindlers gonna swindle, and fools are going to rush in.

I think that if you want to be good at something, you have to spend time and money.

Okay, but that is a faith statement. You haven't given a rational argument why it ought to be that way. I know from experience that some people have natural talents; training will make them better, often investing in high-quality equipment will improve their performance, but they start out good already. Others have to work at it and guess what? That just takes investing time. Requiring people invest money is related, but it isn't always the same thing; though most of us have to earn our money, which means investing time and labor at our jobs.

The big thing is, the cost has been artificially engineered; premium rarity cards cost a bit more to print (due to being Holofoil, commissioning a great artist for a full art, etc.) but these are decisions made by those creating the product, not necessities because the card somehow cannot function if it is instead printed as a normal Rare. If TPCi suddenly started printing all cards as one rarity and some stuff became really, really pricey because demand far outstripped supply, then you might have a better case.

This is a completely watered down example, but take 1st edition Machamp for example. 1st edition cards were all the rage for collectors(I think, I wasn't born yet)and I'm sure people bought them as singles when they went out of print. Well, they messed up Machamp, and just about every printing for it was the 1st edition Machamp, so they became virtually worthless. Hell, the one that ISN'T 1st edition is the one worth more. I just generally think that from a market standpoint, this is a bad idea for almost any concept

What you are describing isn't a watered down example, but an irrelevant one. That might sound harsh, but I'll explain.

Machamp (Base Set) was never released in actual Base Set booster packs; instead, it was only available in the 2-Player Starter Set. I don't remember the demand for it being high, at least relative to most other cards. The reason all Machamp are 1st Edition wasn't an error but was by design. Speculators who tried to "invest" in them didn't actually know what they were doing. Kind of like me and my former comic book collection. XP This was a problem with most early Pokémon cards because the "Pokémon Fad" whipped a lot of folks up into a buying frenzy. Supplies of the early Pokémon sets were far below demand plus most folks didn't know how to play competitively, where to learn what was competitive, and how that might affect short-term value. Prices seem to have finally rebounded now because almost 20 years later, the supply versus the demand is once again favorable to collectors.

People losing money due to poor investing is still a "thing". People try to turn a profit by speculating, and if they guess wrong they lose out. As I proposed changes to how the TCG is handled at the fundamental level, only people who refuse to learn the basics are going to suffer such problems... which is what already happens.

Now you may still disagree, and that's fine. I just want you to disagree with what I'm actually saying (barring some typo I managed to miss each time I read my own words XP).
 

duyGG

Aspiring Trainer
Member
AAY, my SRs went back up in value!

Hah.. well from the looks of it, they are pretty limited, not too many SR listed on TCG and eBay. I got pretty lucky with my 2 SR. For my first one, I end up trading an RA Lele, DarkRai and $10 for one. For my 2nd one, I traded my RA Lele and a $20 Amazon gift card that I got as a gift earlier this year. I still have my 3rd RA from my initial 3x set purchase. About an hr or so ago, I picked up one on eBay for $44. It was a super fresh "Buy it now" listing like I refresh my search and it pop up (the seller is probably thinking... holy smoke that was fast.) It's not a super amazing deal, but it's not $50 either lol.
 

gumball51321

*thumbs up*
Member
Hah.. well from the looks of it, they are pretty limited, not too many SR listed on TCG and eBay. I got pretty lucky with my 2 SR. For my first one, I end up trading an RA Lele, DarkRai and $10 for one. For my 2nd one, I traded my RA Lele and a $20 Amazon gift card that I got as a gift earlier this year. I still have my 3rd RA from my initial 3x set purchase. About an hr or so ago, I picked up one on eBay for $44. It was a super fresh "Buy it now" listing like I refresh my search and it pop up (the seller is probably thinking... holy smoke that was fast.) It's not a super amazing deal, but it's not $50 either lol.
I'm just happy I don't have to worry about Leles anymore. As someone who likes to play max rarity(except for items, because I'm not blowing 250+dollars for a playset of secret rare ultra balls when a reverse playset costs me 2.50), having my RR playset is really nice so I don't have to worry about picking any more up. I also have my FA Sycamore playset, but God knows I can't afford 4 FA N. I sold my old one to invest in the new ones.
 
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