Goldenrod Radio

Last week's recording got cut short due to someone doxxing Blaine, so this week we're back. Blaine opens up about what happened on our livestream and why we took time away. Then Seth (Doodtacular) and Blaine (PokeTidalZone) break down card show deal etiquette from both sides of the table, get honest about why so many people hate Pokémon vendors (including calling ourselves out), and react to Coinbase jumping into Pokémon with digital pack rips.

In this episode:

• Why we took a week off, and what's changing for our live streams
• Blaine's $1,500 eBay snipe on a low-pop EX era reverse, whose PSA 10 just sold for $50,000
• Are CGC 10s undervalued compared to PSA 10s?
• Card show deal etiquette: condition, knowing your number, the handshake, and never asking for more after
• Unpriced cards, "what's your best price," case candy, and why you need a separate trade binder
• Vendors shopping your offer around the show, and backing out of deals
• This is why people hate Pokémon vendors: lowballing, scalping, gambling gimmicks, and stealing
• Is everyone in this hobby technically a scalper?
• Coinbase is getting into Pokémon packs. Are we near the top?
• Rip-pack sponsorships and why we turn most of them down

Fortune just ran a piece on a venture capitalist sitting on 500,000 trading cards who won't keep the good ones in his own house. Meanwhile, at card shows, guys are walking the aisles with French Bulldog puppies trying to trade them for four and five-figure slabs. Seth (Doodtacular) and Blaine (PokeTidalZone) get into both ends of that, what outside investor money actually does to the cards we're all trying to buy, and the Puppygate videos that have the whole hobby arguing about what belongs at a card show.

In this episode:

• The VC with 500,000 cards who keeps the good stuff in a vault
• Pokémon returning 3,821% since 2004 against the S&P's 483%
• Kevin O'Leary telling people to put 3–5% of their portfolio in cardboard
• Is it really a level playing field, or is that just what rich guys say
• Why we're both more careful about where the collection sleeps at night
• Puppygate; breeders trading dogs for slabs, and why nobody's stopping it
• What card shows need to start policing before this gets worse
• A $20,000 RGB Mew that Pokémon still hasn't acknowledged exists
• 30th Anniversary lines, lawn chairs at Best Buy, and shops pricing above scalpers
• The take that 95% of reverse stamps are overvalued — and why we hard disagree
• The worst and best modern chase cards ever printed

Goldenrod Radio is back and Card Party Dallas gave us the best show we've vended yet, and we're still catching up on everything that happened. From trade night chaos, an attendee who tried to charge a "buyer's premium" mid-deal, and a wild run of vintage flips in a single weekend. Seth (Doodtacular) and Blaine (PokeTidalZone) also get into why Gold Stars are suddenly back in a big way, react to Natalie Roush opening unreleased 30th Anniversary product on camera, and why the Pokemon community reacted the way it did.

In this episode:

• How to make great deals at a slow show, and when it actually works.
• Why condition standards matter more than people think (and how disputes start).
• Gold Stars continue to trend... is this a real run or a correction waiting to happen?
• The resurgence of PSA 8s and 9s in vintage.
• What a "buyer's premium" actually is, and why people are trying to do to.
• Trade night: the good, the chaotic, and the stuff that needs to change.
• Natalie Roush opened an unreleased 30th Anniversary UPC and the aftermath
• The 30th Anniversary binder delay, and what it might mean for the rest of the set
• Building real vendor relationships vs. one-off flips
• How to avoid FOMO and still make profitable trades

A Gold Star Rayquaza just sold for $1,020,000... making it the first English Pokémon card ever to cross a million sale. Three days later a Gold Star Torchic that last comped at $35,000 over 18 months ago was sitting north of that in extended bidding. Seth (Doodtacular) and Blaine (PokeTidalZone) get into what a CGC Pristine 10 actually does to a card's value, whether the whole EX era just got dragged up with it, and the Pokemon Worlds trade that had the internet convicting a vendor for scamming a kid before the facts showed up.

In this episode:

- The first English Pokémon card to break $1 million... and why this one.
- Pristine 10 vs. Gem Mint 10, and the $852,000 gap between two labels.
- A Torchic that comped at $35K going for multiples of that with only 19 in a 10.
- Is the whole EX era about to get pulled up, or is this a Gold Star bubble?
- Are EX-era cards officially vintage now?
- The Pokemon Worlds trade that blew up on X and what really happened.
- What vendors owe kids who walk up to the table without a parent.
- The EX Star logo Pokémon quietly dropped at the closing ceremony.
- Whether Gold Stars come back as a modern rarity or a gameplay mechanic.
- Vintage, EX, and modern... where we think the money actually goes next.

30th Celebration cards are already changing hands weeks before release, and eBay has started pulling the listings. Seth (Doodtacular) and Blaine (PokeTidalZone) get into where those cards came from, what it was like seeing one in person at a show, and where the line actually sits on card restoration... plus how five waves of product in twelve weeks is going to hit your wallet before the year is out.

In this episode:

• Leaked 30th Celebration cards turning up in hand before release
• Why eBay started pulling the in-hand listings
• Seeing one of the leaked cards in person at a show
• Where the line is on restoration... and whether it's ruining the hobby
• How the grading companies actually detect trimming, recoloring, and pressing
• What restoration does to a card's real value once it's disclosed
• The $115,000 Mewtwo sale that happened
• Gold Star pickups and what Blaine dragged home this week
• Five waves of product in twelve weeks and how to budget for it
• Scalping and market manipulation around new releases

Modern chases are getting dumped on tables at every card show; is this the normal summer slowdown, or the start of a real correction? Seth (Doodtacular) and Blaine (PokeTidalZone) break down what they saw on the floor at NonaNerds, why the Gold Stars keep skyrocketing and whether it's worth sending anything in to grade right now.

In this episode:

- Modern chase cards showing up dumped at shows... and what's actually driving it.
- Summer slowdown vs. serious market correction.
- Gold Stars: real demand, or hype and manipulation on a recycling loop?
- Private sales vs. comps, and why the public number isn't the number.
- Why low pop matters more than raw price when you're buying to hold.
- What grading delays are doing to the hobby and to the grading companies themselves.
- Is it worth grading your cards right now?
- Offloading bricks, vendor-to-vendor deals, and the 80–85% case buyers.
- How content creation actually changes what you can do as a vendor.
- Why relationships beat comps at the table.

"Go to eBay for vintage cards, not TCGplayer." Blaine and Seth aren't budging on that one and it's just the start of how deep they get into buying strategy this episode.

On this episode of Goldenrod Radio, Seth and Blaine break down exactly how they decide what to buy; vintage vs. modern, conditioning, grading, and reading percentages before committing... plus where AI actually earns a spot in a vendor's toolkit, how to build a brand that stands out at shows, and the toxicity that's been creeping into the Pokémon content creator space.

We get into:

- How they actually buy vintage vs. modern cards, and why eBay beats TCGplayer for vintage. - Which cards sell fastest at shows right now, and what that says about demand.
- Condition, grading, and pricing strategies that protect your margins.
- Where AI genuinely helps with sales tracking and organization and where it doesn't.
- Building a vendor brand and marketing yourself without burning out on social media.
- The toxicity surfacing in Pokemon content creators.
- How to choose the right shows to attend, and real networking tips for new vendors

Whether you're figuring out where to buy your next vintage pickup, building your own table presence, or just trying to stay sane in a hobby that moves fast, this one's essential listening. Real stories, real numbers, and genuinely useful advice from two people who love this hobby as much as you do.

1,000+ vendor tables. Roughly 10,000 fans through the door across the whole weekend. Do the math, and Card Party 4 doesn't look great for anyone trying to sell cards. Seth (Doodtacular) and Blaine (PokeTidalZone) break down exactly what went wrong, and what saved the weekend, at Card Party 4 in Fort Lauderdale.

On this episode of Goldenrod Radio, Seth and Blaine get real about the economics of vending in 2026 — what a slow show actually costs you, why trade night can outsell two full vendor days combined, and how to build a Pokémon collection (or a table) with an actual game plan instead of just vibes.

We get into:

• Card Party 4 postmortem — 1,200 tables, $75 tickets, and why Sunday's low-percentage bulk deals outperformed Friday and Saturday put together
• Starting From Zero in 2026 — a real $1,000 breakdown for a new collector, and the case for buying vintage over modern right now
• Vendor rules that actually matter — comping every card before you buy it, catching condition issues before they cost you hundreds, and why a table with no stickers is a red flag
• New set leaks — first reactions to the leaked SIRs, a Hoenn wishlist nobody's talking about, and whether the Gen 10 starters are the best lineup in years

Whether you're weighing your next show, building your collection on a real budget, or just want to know if the new set lives up to the hype, this one's essential listening. Real stories, real numbers, and genuinely useful advice from two people who love this hobby as much as you do.

Two shows, same weekend, ten minutes apart — is the card show scene
oversaturated? Seth (Doodtacular) and Blaine (PokeTidalZone) break down whether there are officially too many Pokémon card shows in 2026, plus the 30th Celebration preorder meltdown, wholesaler lowball offers, and a 2AM line outside Sam's Club.

On this episode of Goldenrod Radio, we pull back the curtain on what it
actually takes to survive as a Pokémon vendor and content creator in 2026. From vendor POV content saturation to the shifting economics of card shows and wholesaling, Seth and Blaine share raw, unfiltered takes on how to navigate and stay sane in a hobby that's changing fast.

We get into:
- The 30th Celebration preorder disaster — hours-long queues, error screens, and collectors getting BANNED for retrying too many times
- The 2AM Sam's Club line for the Ascended Heroes drop — rational, or has the hobby lost it?
- Are there too many card shows? Two events, one weekend, ten minutes apart

Whether you're a seasoned vendor, a collector weighing your next move, or new to Pokémon and trying to avoid the pitfalls, this one's essential listening. Real stories, real numbers, and genuinely useful advice from two people who love this hobby as much as you do.

On the first-ever episode of Goldenrod Radio, we get into whether vendor content is actually cooked, what vending really looks like in 2026, and the wholesalers walking the floor with lowball offers... including the 70% Blaine just got on $22k of sealed.

Tune in, trade up.