The New Pokemon release, can kids afford to get this board ?

This New series of boards sold out fast. And I mean fast!!! This is what happens these days when a board is sold by the industry as a collectable skateboard. The first price, if you get in line first, is doable for most, but when it gets sold out the prices goes crazy. This phenomenon happens every time there is a new collectable release from any skateboard company or distribution shop. This should be common knowledge by now. 

So it's now sold out and you turn to the 2nd hand market to try and get one. Good luck finding one that is still priced fair!! I went and looked at all the places I could find that deal in the sale of this series, and this is what I found. HIGH PRICES!!!

And if you read the caption from most sellers they don't even have the board yet? WHAT??? And many sellers have more than one to sell. Do you want your -NEW- high priced collected skateboard changing hands over and over before it get's to you? The way we see it, the market for this board series is stacked in the favor of profit, and not in the interest of collectors and skaters.

Then you see this. Someone puts the price on a rocket and the market doesn't know what to think. In my opinion this is why the skateboard collectors market is dying. If people can't afford to buy, then they walk away. Is the skateboard industry's head in the sand? Having a choice to buy a board is one thing but not having a choice will only hurt the end result for the market. This to me is our skateboard culture in a blender with 90% fad and then served to the public with a straw. This also builds a false promise to collectors about their investment when the market price for this board crashes. 

The free market place is about having a choice, but when you don't have a choice, is it still a free market? It seems like the only thing you can do these days is cross your fingers like most collectors and wait for a better price. 

I also believe this is why the skateboard collectors market value as a whole, can only go so far as an invesrment opportunity.

It's a Sad, Sad, Sad, state of affairs these days knowing, that the only company trying to change things with innovation for the skateboard collectors market is, 

Vintage Evolution Skateboards.

This is what I see a day later on the open market place. People opening the bags when they get them to see if they got the one they wanted, and then putting it back out on the market for sale with a markup price. Again this board at the beginning was $109.95, why would you pay more for someone to open the surprise bag?

Was it that hard to open?

This is the board out of the series that most people are looking for. This is what is fueling the sales, the limited Gold boards. From what I have heard there are only 50 copies of each gold design from the Santa Cruz Pokemon collaboration, making them the rarest and most desirable decks available from this series. 

Now many are showing up on the open market places and look at what they are going for!!!

WOW, they must be made out of GOLD !!!

V.E.S. thinks FOOL'S GOLD !!!

I think people have lost there minds. We believe that skateboard collecting and what the market use to stand for is now gone, and it hurts all of us that have invested in this once stable market. But as you can clearly see, 

FAD FAD FAD has taken over.

As of late last night and today, the open market places for this series to be sold, no matter where you look, is now saturated with this product and the price for it is still going up. Most people are now bidding to get a chance, at one of the Gold boards. Also as many more people are getting the boards in hand and not getting the one they wanted, they are throwing them back onto the market trying to make a profit on this short lived fad. I have heard people talking and saying that there is a limited number of these boards for sale, but what I can clearly see, and you can too, if you look, is that there is plenty to go around. V.E.S. believes that this is what is damaging the reputation of the skateboard collectors market, 

beyond repair !!!

Now we are starting to see what we call the Japan dumps. As far as we can tell from watching this, it is mostly happening on the Ebay market. "THE JAPAN DUMPS"

Sometimes a couple of times a week Ebay dumps the Japan market onto the skateboard market place, and all of it at once. And when it does it is usually covers anywhere from 2 pages to sometime we have seen 12 pages, and not much if anything from other sellers get through on these pages. It's pretty solid of just Japan stuff for sale.  

As I was looking to find at-least one on the market that made sense to buy, I came across this. Now will this seller accept a fair bid, maybe or maybe not. Only time will tell and we will let you know if we start seeing more on the market. But just know this, from a collector's point of view that has been watching the market for over 15 years, when you see more people sell this board for cheap, the market for this board, is CRASHING !!!

This sort of behavior in the skateboard market place sold side by side with worthy boards on the market, is why collectors of boards never have any real value they can believe in. Let me put it another way for those that have blindfolds on and can't see what's happening. When you have a cheap Ford Pinto next to a Lamborghini for sale and they are asking more for the Pinto, maybe you're seeing something wrong, with the market !!!

     As you can clearly see there is no shortage of these boards on the open market places 4 days after the release of this board. The rollout of this board was said to be limited, but as you can see, there is plenty on the 2nd hand market today. As I started to research the sale of this board, I looked at Youtube and other influencer chat place's and saw "everyone" promoting this sale, as a limited stock available board, saying, get it while you can.  As you can see 4 days later, not so limited !!!

In our opinion, the Sant Cruz skateboard company bears total responsibility, for pushing this false narrative onto the skateboard collectors market. Having its product dumped in vast numbers for re-sale, just days after its promoted release and sale of this series, has created a dysfunctional view of the skateboard collectors market value for the average skateboard collector enthusiast. V.E.S. believes this is a form of 2nd hand market manipulation, and this form of sale and re-sale  is undermining the skateboard collectors market values as a whole, for all of us skateboard collectors and sellers alike going forward !!!

Again this is just our opinion from what we have seen in our research, what do you think? Let us know.

 I AM AN OLD SCHOOL SKATER 

born with the tough values of the past!!

Criticism to me, is like rough stone under my wheels that I feel, but it doesn't sway my balance of thought.

I also come from a time in this sport, that had a great unknown future, and not like the sport of today, funneled into a short lived fad for profit.

As I started this business, I knew it would be hard and I knew I would have to prove myself out in the world doing work for other people and not just my own. I have done that now for a few years, with great success. And with a record that I can feel good about and can stand on. I have saved skateboards history in a way no one else has, and I did it on my own.

To all you nay-sayers, what have you done to better the memory of this sport for all generations, and not just your own ?

The business I am in allows me to ask other skateboard collectors and sellers question to get their opinions on how they think to make my work going forward better and provide a better service to all.

So I have been poking around places and people to get there opinion on this Pokemon skateboard subject, and this is what I've heard.

I asked one collector, have you ever seen a dump of boards like this so soon after a re-lease ? Answer was, yes, I see it with Powell boards all the time. And I agree with that but, none of the Powell boards, at least the ones I have seen, were taken out of their stock cover and sold for over a thousand dollars more a day after the first sale and in record numbers.

I have also gone onto the Nine Club chat website, a popular place for today's skaters, and asked, don't you think this will hurt the skateboard collectors market ? And most say no, it's just normal these days and I should just chill out !!!

It may be normal if you live day to day but as someone that has watched the collector's market for many years, and from a prospective of a business owner, I see how it affects the long term value of all boards, old and new on the open market place. In my opinion, this so called normal is self defeating in nature, and is only getting much worse. 

I look through a microscope all the time to see and solve skateboard problems for a living, maybe that's why I see what's happening right now so clearly to the skateboard collectors market, and no one else can !!

It's hard to chill out, when so many have invested in our skateboard's history and this market for many years !!!

As I have been looking and documenting the sale of this board and it's release, I came across this person. He is the Sant Cruz brand manager and he can be seen on Youtube talking about the release of the Pokemon board. In the video that is sponsored by Santa Cruz, in the beginning he states that the board in his hands is limited, before he gets to talking about the limited Gold Pokemon you could possibly get. So I went searching to see how limited the 15 silver foil versions could be, besides the fact that they were sold out from most skateboard distributors and everywhere else on the 2nd hand market seemed to have plenty, and opened. I was looking for the specific number Santa Cruz made for the market. I looked and looked and I listen and looked some more, but I can't find any reference to the number dumped onto the skateboard collectors market from anyone, anywhere.

Maybe it's out there some where, but I haven't found it yet, and I have been looking non stop.

I will keep looking and will add the number of boards made if I find it. I also wonder, if saying that the board in his hand is limited, is part of the slight of hand, in his marketing skill. I mean if you don't have any numbers released to the public, any amount could be called limited. And maybe you could see from what he is saying that the collaboration with Pokemon is limited, but I'm not sure, since I can't find the numbers of Pokemon boards made for the skateboard market other than the 250 Gold ones.    

Today we still see more and more being dumped onto the 2nd hand market. This to us doesn't feel like this board is all that limited as stated by most propping up the sale of this board. We would also like to note, that the new Pokemon skateboard series is almost out numbering other skateboards for sale on the newest Ebay skateboard listing pages, and the prices on those pages of other skateboards for sale, as of Sept 19, 2023 at 5:27 pm and when they started to be for sale on the Ebay market. We also see a lot of first time sellers selling them with no past sale status "0". The status mark and number is used to give confidence to the buyer about the seller on the Ebay market place.

If someone new to Ebay wanted to sell or buy a Pokemon skateboard, and they looked at what was going on with the sale of other Pokemon skateboards, don't you think what they saw on the market might influence or affect their decision? You might as well just go gamble your money !! Ebay also has bidders that bid up skateboards and then don't pay. And when the seller puts it back on the market for sale, usually it gets sold for less. I see it happen over and over. Talk about an all over the place market. And we do use Ebay as an example because, it is one of the biggest markets,

 to buy or sell skateboards. 

Well, what is new today? Today marks the average amount of days, boards are bid on, on the Ebay skateboard market, around 5 days. Today we see less on the recently added side of the pages than we have seen since the sale of this board was dumped onto the Ebay market.

 And we are seeing less interest in the opened packaged boards, leading to a lesser price, as a buy now price or any bids placed. Could this be when the market for this board is starting to level out or crash ? Only time will tell, and we will let you know what we see.  

And on the ending soonest pages on Ebay we are seeing what and how much people have bid during this past week on this board series.

This is where people spent the most bidding for this board and we will now watch the ending of these listings and report back what we see as time goes on.

We have also gone and looked at other places on the open market that have been selling this board and we are seeing a decline in sales and interest.

We do this research not just to show that the 2nd hand skateboard market goes up or down

- AS MOST ALREADY KNOW-

 but to also show you what happens when a skateboard company's new release is dumped in vast numbers, in a short time, onto the 2nd hand open skateboard market. And what it might mean for sellers and buyers alike trying to use these markets at the same time, while selling or buying other skateboards product. 

 We also do this to give awareness to consumers and sellers, that places like Ebay and its market, are affected by outside influences out of nowhere, and they should know that if they are buying or selling on these markets. We believe that trusting in stability in this market constantly, is a false promise.

As I look at this price and all the people looking at it,  I'm sure that some of them are kids. This is the problem I am trying to tell people. When a fad is dumped onto the market and in record time and for a record sale of a new product, DON'T YOU THINK THIS HURTS THE MARKET

for all of us collectors now and long term ?

This Fad definitely beats all the other boards, 

for sale on ebay and there is 250 of them made and out in the world !!!

Now for the collectors market, we have seen some priceless boards go for big bucks on Ebay that most can understand being worth it, because they are so few and have a value on this market. And most should agree with that.

But when you have so many watching this take place with this Gold Pokemon skateboard, how can that not hurt the market in some way or form ? And if everyone in the world can see this, and they try to sell their Gold Pokemon for more or less for the same price, how can that be good for the skateboard collectors market ?

Not to mention, if the buyer doesn't pay !!

The future skateboard market is our kids, but if they see this, they don't see our skateboards history as valuable anymore, in our opinion.

And the other problem this could create, is this happening over and over again, and not just by the hands of SANTA CRUZ !!!

As we try to connect the problem of the Pokemon skateboard to the 2nd hand skateboard market problems, have a look at this. This board is a part of skateboard history, and it is in excellent shape, almost new I would say. And it sold for what !!

In our opinion, if this board was for sale a year ago I'm very confident it would have sold for at least $5000 + or more. Right now the market has tons of beat up old vintage boards selling around $500 to $1000 +, so how can those boards compare to this one. THEY CAN'T.

I would say this is evidence the market is way down !!!

Now at the same time, this vintage board was being sold, the Gold Pokemon boards, were being sold on Ebay for around  $10,0000+.

How do they compare to this vintage board ?

In our opinion, they don't.

The 2nd hand skateboard collectors market use to make sense to invest in vintage skateboards, but when people see this side by side sale of an awesome piece of vintage skateboard history go so cheap, and you see a skateboard fad, the Gold Pokemon skateboard, sell for so much more, how can you trust it ?

We know these are 2 different markets, but the problem we see is that they are for sale on the same one. The collectors market has had its up and downs, but when it's down, and you put a fad in-charge, how can it not drag the entire market down even further ?

The average skateboard collector, as an investor, always crosses their fingers that they will get a return for their investment, but when they see this, how can they not loose confidence in the value of what they have ?

Is this proof that Santa Cruz and its marketing is creating a new future skateboard collectors market, that's having its future sales and profit be self perpetuating in nature to only their benefit, and at the same time devaluating the current skateboard collectors market ? And what does that mean for all of us collectors ?

Only-Time-Will-Tell.

But if it is, say good-bye to what you may think the skateboard collector's market has been and what it has been for all skateboard collectors,

 for a long time.

Well, well, well, as if this couldn't have been predicted. And only for $25,000, is it worth it?

I will scream the answer for you in my head !!!

As of today at 9:06 am on Ebay, we have counted 18 Gold Pokemon boards. We added up what was being asked or what the bids were up to and rounded off the prices, to come up with a grand total of, $157,000.

Keep in mind the bids will go up as time goes on and there is still 232 boards out there with an un-known asking price.

If you put all those 250 Gold Pokemon boards on the 2nd hand skateboard market place at the same time, with about the same asking price, the total amount asked would be a considerable amount more than all the other collectable boards on the entire Ebay market put together.

And more Gold Pokemon Skateboards are coming to the market soon !!!

Santa Cruz may have only built this skateboard market bomb, but we do think they have to share some of the responsibility on how the 2nd hand market sets it off. 

Now just imagine all the other un-known numbers of the regular Pokemon boards in this series and what they are being sold for and added up together and dumped onto the 2nd hand market at the same time. 

And you should get the point we are trying make with this research,

I HOPE !!! 

Then you go to this 2nd hand open skateboard market called Mercari and see this. How can the same board on Ebay go for over $20,000 and the same one on this website go for  $100.00 ?

Not sure, but this goes to the bigger question. What is the believable state of the current skateboard market value and it's products, and can a first time market visiter make any sense of it to make the right choice,

to buy or sell a product ?

We believe as we have seen through are research, that when a skateboard fad, pushed onto the 2nd hand open market place, and is un-controlled, it has an un-trust worthy affect leading to a dysfunctional view of the market. And this happening over and over will only hurt the value of all invested and collected skateboards now and going into the future.

I will note this, if you go to Etsy, you will not find any of these Pokemon boards, at least we didn't, and we believe at least for now they are not being dumped onto that market because, they still have a chance to get their maximum profit if sold on the other websites, probably because they are websites that allow you to 

bid for it.

I had to take a day off, but now I'm back. What we are seeing now is the sale of un-opened boxes and bags being sold for even more, as more and more bags have been exposed as to what one was in them and the numbers of open ones are getting less interest because most now want the Gold Pokemon boards to get a big payout. But how do we know there is less, as we can't seem to find the number made of regular Pokemon boards yet? When this series came out, Santa Cruz and its distributors and its promoters only talked about the 250 Gold Pokemon boards as far as we have seen and that's how they promoted the series. We believe by not talking about how many other boards they made, they created this out of hand 2nd hand market sale as we see it today for all other Pokemon boards, feeding this over priced Fad to no end any time soon. Also how would anyone know how many Gold Pokemon boards have been found ? This to us looks like very crafty deceptive marketing by Santa Cruz. Also from what we have heard this release was somewhat unexpected to most, so shorter knowledge equals less time for questions equals un-known numbers of boards. We have trusted in the belief that Santa Cruz will always help save our skateboard history, and they have in some ways like helping museums and promoting their past product and pros. But we think that's where it stops. We feel they have picked a side in our skateboard history at the 50 year mark. And they now seem to be on the side of Fad and profit, going forward into the next 

50 years. They have been very good at playing both sides of the fence, but now we can see they have clearly picked a side.

(IN OUR OPINION !!!!)

We would also like to know how some of these first time sellers on the Ebay market place have gotten their hands on so many Pokemon boards and boxes ? Especially when so many that went to skate shops could only get up to 5 bags if they were lucky ? As we research the sale and the re-sale of the Pokemon skateboard, we have so many more questions 

then answerers !!!! 

This past week and since I've been in business, I get questions like, How much do you think my board is worth, and should I refurbish it, and will it be worth more when the work is done ?

Well,

I use to feel I could answer that for people fairly easy, but as I dive into how the Pokemon sale is going on the 2nd hand open market place, I am less sure on a specific number of value.

I would always give my best judgment based on the current market status and not just my own, but these days I see very clearly the market is a false promise no matter if it's up or down.

As someone that studies the market constantly, so I can give the best answers to skateboard collectors, sellers and buyers alike, I feel I can no longer say, good or bad, it just doesn't exist in my mind anymore. It still may, for others, but not for me. If you want hope then you go get that support from others that think I have no clue.

But if you want the truth and you are willing to listen to me, here you go.

The truth is, our skateboards' history has always had value, and it always will. But to find it you can't just look at collectable skateboards and only see money. You have to look through the value and perspective of time to get a value. Just seeing other people get big bucks for a board is just a small fraction of a board's value. And that's all that most see today and that's why this market is based on the wrong assumption of worth. If no one can see the history, then in my mind it's worthless.

  V.E.S. is all about the personal history that you have with a board, the rare boards that should be saved and not left to turn into dust, the history and time stamp that is specific to a board and not just people trying to keep up with the Joneses for profit. If you have a board and you have history with it, then I say it's priceless. But if all you care about is a profit, then to me it's now worthless and you can go on your way and prove me wrong. We don't flip boards here, we save them. 

And that's the truth !!!!!

As I was stuck at a Honda dealership yesterday getting my wife's new car fixed, so I figured I would research who was talking and what was being said about The Pokemon boards. And this is what I found. Everyone was talking about the big payout of the Gold boards. How much they were getting, how you should try and get one at all cost. Even Nigel Jone's from Braille Skateboards can be heard talking about it on Youtube at the 16:32 mark on this picture description. People on the influencer sites are talking about the Gold Boards in hand. 

I also searched for comments from buyers that give back consumer feedback comments and found quit a few people getting boards that have, printing problems on the graphics. 

This is what I found at nhsskatedirect.com,

quotes from 3 comments, 

The email notification sent for this product was late by 8 minutes but I still managed to grab it. Great design, sadly too many scalpers trying to get this for resell, giving less chance for true collectors to grab them.

Another said,

The turnaround shipping was quick and came with proper protection for the deck. However, there are some printing smudges on the deck that I am not 100% thrilled with.

Another said,

Would have been great if they didn't clear out the inventory in 40 seconds and if you haven't load and it's unavailable. Also worse that they worked with Zumies and their employees and manager hold the boards for themselves and say there's none available at launch. Boards are so contagious that it makes me sick that ya do this to your fans.

As time goes on we will look for even more problems people are having or had with this series.

Just like most do, when you see your banana getting rotten you tend to cut it off. As a collector trying to solve problems for boards, I see the skateboard industry as being half rotten. But what half ? 

Rotten banana may turn some off but some don't care. Sorta like looking at rotten skateboards. It's in the eye of the beholder. So few are left in our skateboard industry that have values of the past. It seems like the values of the present are more profitable to them and the past was just the beginning for them. But I am here to argue against that. Our past is our future and this is why.

If you were on a rocket ship and sent into deep space for years and you went so far you couldnt recognize where you are , don't you think the most valuable info you would need is where you came from ? If you are off by any degree, you will never make it back. And if you just keep going without direction you will only become more lost.

Has Santa Cruz become lost to its past, and is it now half rotten ? I will let you be the judge of that. But just know this, rot goes further than you think, and can see.

This industry use to have many people and skaters that would push back against what they see happening, because the didn't like what was going on, and would be self opinionated with out fear of repercussion. But now from media, to the skaters magazines, to the skateboard pros, to almost everything in this industry,

 now all fall in line !!!!

V.E.S. is our skateboard history, we are not lost because we remember where we come from, we are not afraid to speak our mind, because we cant be controlled, and we are the future of skateboard collecting, because we are saving the past !!!

So what else was being said about Santa Cruz product around the time the Pokemon boards were being released ? 

 A popular forum for skateboard enthusiast is this one pictured. I don't have time to read everything they have ever said, but through my research, I have found most bloggers go in one direction. 

Some will break out of the norm and talk about how tough skateboards are and do they hold up if skated or are they made of good stuff.

But no talk about the Longevity of the skateboard graphics, for say, the skateboard collectors that want too know more. In all fairness maybe they will in 30 years like I am doing now, but I doubt it, because from what I see from the skateboard industry, it won't look good in 30 years.

 Most graphics are just made too thin today to last as the board ages. In our opinion, todays boards are only meant to be skated and not for a collecting longterm.

V.E.S. is going to do something different than most bloggers and talk about the skateboards in this way. For the skateboard collector or investor or refurbisher that wants to know more about a skateboards graphic. What boards do we think will last if collected long term, and are they made with graphics that will last ? Or what to expect or what your alternatives are to prolonging its condition ?

We are also the only skateboard business that is currently working on vintage or new board graphics while we are talk about them and selling them and skating them. We want to move skateboard collecting and conversations into the 21st century as a means to better our current skateboard collectors market.

Now that picture. 

Notice the date it was released ? At the same time Santa Cruz Pokemon was being released. Coincidence or not, you can now go forward and judge all on your own if they all go in the same direction, and I guarantee non of them will mention V.E.S.      

WOW !!! As the great AXL ROSE once said, you are one in a million ! Or at least one in 250. This  obviously wont stay at this price , but I do commend this seller for putting it up for bid and starting low. This is what fair looks like to some dagree. To bad its on Ebay, and as we all know their are people that bid up but don't pay, and that hurts the market for any skateboard. I have also been noticing less interest for the standard open Pokemon boards going for around $200 to $ 500. The sealed bags have also started coming down in price. And the gold Pokemon boards look to be at a breaking point on the high prices that have been asked. 

The history of any of the Gold foil boards that come from the Santa Cruz company have shown to loose value rapidly after the hype is gone. Just look at the Garbage Pail Kids release and what they are going for now. Or the Natas boards release last year. Hardly any value on the market now. So when we see the gold Pokemon boards sell for more than those boards combined, we believe this is a perfect example of a fad hyped up by Sant Cruz to maximize profit.

And at the same time wash their hands clean of the sale by letting the 2nd hand market manage it in the way it has. People are getting ripped off during the hype. We feel as long as skateboard companies sell their product in this way, the skateboard collectors market will always be held back and any belief you have in your boards value is distorted to the market, now and into the future. Trust me, if you paid over $10,000 for a gold Pokemon board, you will not get that back, no matter what you may think.

This should be a warning to all, even the ones just watching !!!!

As seen here, people are now selling the wrapping paper that came with the new 

Santa Cruz Pokemon Skateboards. 

Bid while you can !!!

To all those board bags not open yet, the way to gain maximum profit from this series has just been topped. Open your present the way grandma would, and save your wrapping paper. You could get rich if you sell it or you are the only one with it for sale !!!

Invest now, in Santa Cruz wrapping paper. 

Who knows if it would be worth big buck in the future, especalily on the skateboard market.

Bid !!!!

Bid !!!!

Bid !!!!

I could see this go for at least $2,000

Is this proof that the skateboard market is 

HOT OR NOT ?

Found Sept 30, 2023 on, you guest it Ebay. 

V.E.S. stands for a fair skateboard market for all. And we can do this because we are not in bed with or dependent on the skateboard corporate fall in line rule's that control most.

We are one, but we are not alone !!!

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