It’s my kid‘s birthday next week and she loves Pokemon, but has absolutely no idea which cards are valuable, so I’m able to just buy her a bunch of $3 shiny ones that look cool and expensive and it’s as if I brought home the rarest Charizard in existence. Kids are much more pure than us. And thankfully much lighter on the wallet.
One of my favorite Pokemon cards in my collection is this Van Gough Museum special edition Grey Felt Hat Pikachu. It's ungraded, but I got the little package and card on eBay for $100 a couple of years ago, and it has really shot up in value.
After over 20 years I just started back in the hobby. I found my old Pokemon cards and found out this shadowless pikachu red cheeks are worth something if graded. This is one that came back. I’m was presently surprised to get a 10.