How to begin collecting??

[Ruckus09]

I am looking to start back collecting pokemon cards. I started collecting as a kid but as a kid i was broke and couldnt buy my own. Fast forward 10 years later and now I can finally afford buying but since then like a million cards came out. different editions different versions and its a bit overwhelming. sooo... where do I start? also I am new to this forum so I hope I put this in the right section sorry if i didnt.

 

[donavannj]

Thing is, you can start collecting whichever sets you want! What sets hold the most nostalgia for you? Are you looking to start going to leagues and tournaments to play the game? Or are you just looking to collect?

 

[Ruckus09]

definitely like the Base set series n the gym heroes series. but aside from that I was thinking I would just buy some sleeves buy a new binder and then buy some cards lol.

and just collecting no tournies for me.

 

[donavannj]

Well, for those earlier sets, it's going to be far cheaper to buy singles than it is to buy the booster packs. Unopened boosters for the earliest sets are ridiculously rare and therefore ridiculously valuable, while the singles for most of the cards are quite abundant and the commons of the sets could be had for dirt cheap. I'd suggest familiarizing yourself with what legitimate cards from those early sets look like before you start buying.

 

[Ruckus09]

Oh believe me I know those lol that was my child hood. Lol. Would you suggest any places to buy online? I don't really trust ebay

 

[donavannj]

Oh believe me I know those lol that was my child hood. Lol. Would you suggest any places to buy online? I don't really trust ebay

Trusted Sellers on eBay are one of the better options for acquiring singles (notice I said Trusted Sellers - buying from untrusted sellers takes a bit more knowledge of what a bogus lot looks like). Sites like TrollandToad, PokeOrder, Professor Oak, and Collector's Cache might all be worth a look, though, but beware that they may not have the card you're looking for in stock. There are other sites as well, just none that pop into my head at this moment.

 

[Ruckus09]

Cool. I just ordered a 400 card lot from eBay. Didn't exactly specify as to which sets they came from but for 35 bucks I figure it was a pretty good **** in the dark for me to get a good basis to start from. And anything I don't want I can always sell.

 

[tripitaka]

Hi there, I buy most of my cards on eBay. I have only ever received a handfull of fake cards. I get more fakes from Craigslist. I then destroy all of the fakes. I have collected maybe 5000 unique cards this way. Completed a bunch of the early sets too. Plus after selling the duplicates I am actually making a little money. It's a fun thing to do but quite time consuming. But I guess that is what a hobby is.

Ps. $35 for about 500 cards is a decent price. I usually sell 500 unique cards for $32. That includes shipping. But I have paid more for collections with valuable cards.

Anyway. Have fun

Ps. Check the bulbapedia for a list of all of the tcg sets. A vey useful resource.

 

[Ruckus09]

So ive bought 2 sets of 400+ cards im like 150 cards short of 1000 cards. and in my binder it looks pretty impressive. I did the math and if I did catchem all its at least 7118 cards. NOT including errors and holos o_O o_O o_O o_O o_O o_O o_O o_O o_O o_O o_O

do all cards have a holo version to them?

 

[donavannj]

So ive bought 2 sets of 400+ cards im like 150 cards short of 1000 cards. and in my binder it looks pretty impressive. I did the math and if I did catchem all its at least 7118 cards. NOT including errors and holos o_O o_O o_O o_O o_O o_O o_O o_O o_O o_O o_O

do all cards have a holo version to them?

Not all cards have a holo version or an alternate holo version. Just large portions of nearly every set printed since the Legendary Collection was printed.

 

[TouchingEvil]

Start collecting ex cards like i did, they are so shiny :)

 

[DeekBoy]

So ive bought 2 sets of 400+ cards im like 150 cards short of 1000 cards. and in my binder it looks pretty impressive. I did the math and if I did catchem all its at least 7118 cards. NOT including errors and holos o_O o_O o_O o_O o_O o_O o_O o_O o_O o_O o_O

do all cards have a holo version to them?

Bulbapedia will let you know whether a card had a holo form for it. The fossil set is know to have a holo and non holo of the rares. Same with the Jungle set i believe.