Thats kind of how I feel. There are so many middlemen sites/personal shoppers these days that I think people have lost sight on how things used to be when it used to be collector/pickup only. It was easy to be "in the know" if you stayed on the right communities, and people have always been relatively nice and reasonable when it comes to undercutting ebay reseller prices. But with more middlemen/websites, collecting is more accessible to the average person so I can see why pokemon collecting is more popular/widespread now.. but with bootlegs becoming better and more widely sold as well I can see why people are so dead set on mixing them into the pool (it is insanely annoying when they take legitimate tags though, I feel like an ass when I tell someone they have a bootleg despite legitimate tags). It used to be so obvious when you'd see them at conventions, but now unfortunately they're mixed in with the stock and many look relatively good. It'd make it past me if I didn't keep some kind of tab on what plush has/hasnt been made
But god I cant imagine acting so superior to other people on a collectors page. I dont think I've ever needed to here
Yeah, and personally from what I've experienced outside of the community, people really actually quite like bootlegs, which...I know a lot of people simply don't know better, but you're absolutely right. You feel like a total jerk when pointing it out, and when I've done it, a lot of people just haven't cared, which is incredibly disappointing. You wouldn't tolerate a fake card, so why a plush?
My friends actually took me around to booths at conventions to have me tell them what was official and what wasn't, so they were making informed purchases, so some people do still care. But it's hard to get someone who really knows their stuff, and people have to reach out and ask for help.
For some people as well, they overlook the bootlegs because 'they're cheaper' even though bootlegs are a bad/unethical practice to endorse. Or, bootlegs feature Pokémon that don't have many plush or that don't have easily accessible plush.
It can really be a huge downer to see people not care, so whenever anyone reaches out for information I always try to help and be available for answering questions.
But god I cant imagine acting so superior to other people on a collectors page. I dont think I've ever needed to here
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My friends actually took me around to booths at conventions to have me tell them what was official and what wasn't, so they were making informed purchases, so some people do still care. But it's hard to get someone who really knows their stuff, and people have to reach out and ask for help.
For some people as well, they overlook the bootlegs because 'they're cheaper' even though bootlegs are a bad/unethical practice to endorse. Or, bootlegs feature Pokémon that don't have many plush or that don't have easily accessible plush.
It can really be a huge downer to see people not care, so whenever anyone reaches out for information I always try to help and be available for answering questions.
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