TCG Thread (Pokemon, Yugioh, MTG, DBZ, and more)

[Justwinning]

I'm wondering if there's any fellow nerds out here who collect Pokemon cards or other trading card game? I figured this could be a thread to talk about collecting, investing, and playing the TCG.

 

Introduce yourself, share a little about your collection, and perhaps a memory from your childhood regarding trading cards.

 

 

Edited March 30, 2021 by Justwinning
Edit

[Justwinning]

I'll go first.

 

So I'm 30 (90's kid baby!) and juuuust got back into the hobby this past December. One of my best friends showed me a clip of a stream from Twitch where he bought a few packs for the streamer to break live. I thought it was so cool so I tried it too and felt the rush of nostalgia. Within a few weeks, I was scouring apps like OfferUp and eBay for cards since retail stores are always wiped out. I've put together a nice collection so far of both vintage and modern (will post pics later). My crown jewel so far is light-play Japanese Lugia from Neo Genesis and a minty Sabrina's Gengar from Gym Heroes.

As for a childhood memory, I remember the new fad of Pokemon at the time. My mom had bought me a basic starter deck that came with a 1st edition Machamp. I had so many of those and now they're all worth a decent amount 20 years later lol. I collected Base Set along with the Jungle and Fossil expansions, but then lost interest in the cards shortly after that. I remember having a Blastoise, holo Kabutops, holo Nidoqueen and holo Vaporeon. Where are they now? My mom probably gave them away or threw them away 🙃

 

Looking forward to meeting other collectors! Cheers!

Edited March 24, 2021 by Justwinning

[JonStark]

I actually just found a bunch of my old pokemon card. Sold a bulk lot for $1600, but kept a few out. Have a few Charizards and a 1st edition Pikachu that should be getting back from BGS this weekend, and just sent out a shadowless 1st edition Chamander, Bulbasaur, and Dragonair. 

Also have shadowless of the starters and their 2nd evolutions that I'm debating whether or not to sell. I want to hold on to some of it for nostalgia but the old ones are worth some serious money. 

[Justwinning]

3 minutes ago, JonStark said:

I actually just found a bunch of my old pokemon card. Sold a bulk lot for $1600, but kept a few out. Have a few Charizards and a 1st edition Pikachu that should be getting back from BGS this weekend, and just sent out a shadowless 1st edition Chamander, Bulbasaur, and Dragonair. 

Also have shadowless of the starters and their 2nd evolutions that I'm debating whether or not to sell. I want to hold on to some of it for nostalgia but the old ones are worth some serious money. 

Dude that's amazing!

How long ago did you send those cards out for grading?

I sent my first batch of cards for grading in February just before PSA increased their prices. Probably won't see them until December.

[Dwight_Schrute]

Collected a bunch when I was a kid, and they were definitely the OG sets. I vaguely remember my mom giving some to my cousins and bundling them up in lots to sell at rummage sales.

[JonStark]

7 hours ago, Justwinning said:

Dude that's amazing!

How long ago did you send those cards out for grading?

I sent my first batch of cards for grading in February just before PSA increased their prices. Probably won't see them until December.

I sent them out back in August. It was pretty frustrating because every time I would call, they would give me a new date and that would come and go. I waited to make sure they were actually getting shipped back before sending out the bigger guns. I don't mind waiting that long right now but I just wanted to make sure I was actually getting them back.

The order I just sent out as the 3 1st edition shadowless, a Justin Herbert prizm RC, Patrick Mahommes RC, and an Aaron Donald RC, so this next 6 months might take a few years off my life haha. 

[Justwinning]

19 hours ago, Dwight_Schrute said:

Collected a bunch when I was a kid, and they were definitely the OG sets. I vaguely remember my mom giving some to my cousins and bundling them up in lots to sell at rummage sales.

Do you collect now? It probably hurts more to know you had some great stuff back then if you do currently collect lol

[Justwinning]

16 hours ago, JonStark said:

I sent them out back in August. It was pretty frustrating because every time I would call, they would give me a new date and that would come and go. I waited to make sure they were actually getting shipped back before sending out the bigger guns. I don't mind waiting that long right now but I just wanted to make sure I was actually getting them back.

The order I just sent out as the 3 1st edition shadowless, a Justin Herbert prizm RC, Patrick Mahommes RC, and an Aaron Donald RC, so this next 6 months might take a few years off my life haha. 

I can totally relate. I was so nervous about sending out some valuable cards in the mail. I was so happy when I got the email saying they received it lol

Oh man, you got some good ones! Try not to think about it. It will come soon enough LOL

[DoleINGout]

Maybe just rename this the Trading Cards Thread because I also like and collect a bunch of Digimon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and dabbled in sports cards and Dragon Ball Z before in addition to Pokemon. I know there are a lot of Magic The Gathering people out there too.

[Justwinning]

1 hour ago, DoleINGout said:

Maybe just rename this the Trading Cards Thread because I also like and collect a bunch of Digimon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and dabbled in sports cards and Dragon Ball Z before in addition to Pokemon. I know there are a lot of Magic The Gathering people out there too.

You got it.

[DoleINGout]

3 minutes ago, Justwinning said:

You got it.

Trading Cards Thread (Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Digimon, Magic the Gathering, ect.)

[DoleINGout]

So in total in my lifetime I'd say I've spent/invested approximately ... $6,000 into TCG. Mostly Yu-Gi-Oh! and Pokemon. But also with Digimon in there a bit.

[drew39k]

Well....

I fell down the Rabbit hole.

Like a month ago I had heard that pokemon cards were selling like hot cakes. I thought, I guess now is a good a time as any to sell them, right? I was about to just bring the whole lot to a local shop and see what they would give, but I didn't want to be a fool so I googled around on some of the card to look out for that might be worth real money. Turns out I guess I need to get A LOT of cards graded. The entire process is incredibly daunting at this point too because the rates PSA is charging along with the backlog. Im really torn as to whether I should just sell now while they are hot or spend the money and time to have them graded and hope the bubble doest burst while the graders clear their backlogs(all those backlogged cards are going to flood the market and reduce the rarity of grades).

The whole process, though, of researching card values led me to watching unboxing vids which got me excited about buying MORE cards. I ordered a booster box of battle styles hoping to get some good hits(like that awesome looking tyranitar) but only landed the alternate art empoleon(still cool but only worth like 50 bucks). Some other decent pulls, but not worth the 150 I spent on it value wise. Was still fun to do and am very tempted to try and get another booster box, maybe of a different set though because battle styles has a low hit rate.

I have been in the process of uploading pics of my cards to imgur. Got a lot of the shadowless and lower value first editions uploaded. Need to go and do all the holos and high value shadowless/first edition/ promo/ error/banned cards.

If I can ever figure out how imgur works I'll post a link to my cards.

Base set holo charizard https://imgur.com/gallery/uNMJdBz

Edited March 31, 2021 by drew39k

[naptownskinsfan]

I still have some of the first Pokémon cards in a box downstairs at my grandmothers.  Probably even have some of the Japanese ones in there too.  I honestly have no clue where to start as far as selling goes, because I don’t do eBay.  Maybe there is a reseller in my area who would do it?  I’d gladly give the commission at this point because I do NOT have the time to go through and begin to even think about the eBay process, much less do it.  

I never played Pokémon but I did play Magic in high school.  I got in during the original Mirrodin, and played through the next set- maybe Base 9 if I recall.  There was a shop near me that had old packs so I did get some older cards.  My older cards are in a box downstairs (I guess you sense a theme) and my decks are still upstairs in a closet.  I do not know anyone who plays anymore but I would get into it again, but I know there have been a lot of changes to the game. 

[drew39k]

22 hours ago, naptownskinsfan said:

I still have some of the first Pokémon cards in a box downstairs at my grandmothers.  Probably even have some of the Japanese ones in there too.  I honestly have no clue where to start as far as selling goes, because I don’t do eBay.  Maybe there is a reseller in my area who would do it?  I’d gladly give the commission at this point because I do NOT have the time to go through and begin to even think about the eBay process, much less do it.  

I never played Pokémon but I did play Magic in high school.  I got in during the original Mirrodin, and played through the next set- maybe Base 9 if I recall.  There was a shop near me that had old packs so I did get some older cards.  My older cards are in a box downstairs (I guess you sense a theme) and my decks are still upstairs in a closet.  I do not know anyone who plays anymore but I would get into it again, but I know there have been a lot of changes to the game. 

I know the local comic shops near me will by cards. If you aren't looking for top dollar you could probably bring them to a shop near you. Bear in mind though, the shops near me only offer 50% of values listed on pricing sites for store credit. If I wanted cash it would only be 30%.

Any idea what condition your pokemon cards are in? Where they played with as a kid and just stored in a box or did you put them into binders/top loaders?

At a bare minimum you should get them from your grandmother's basement. Some cards to look out for are anything stamped first edition, base set holos, shadowless base set cards, and error cards. (Notable errors are red cheeks base set pikachu, non holo rocket dragonite listed as the 5th card in it's set, miscellaneous jungle cards missing the jungle logo,base set diglett with the energy cost symbol turned sideways, and first edition cards where the 1st edition stamp is off center so it looks like a "d".

Also if you have japanese cards there are a few valuable banned cards.(grimer whose eyes appear to be looking up a skirt, trainers gaze where it looks like the trainer is flipping the bird, a misty trainer card where she appears to be sillouhetted naked,a zubat with a symbol similar to a swastika,and a jynx that is black instead of purple.

If you get your cards and take some pics, I'd love to see em.